Got back from up to the Straits Friday after a couple nights stay at Forteau. I stayed at the Florian Hotel for ENR department meetings. It was good. I got to meet everyone in the department. We went on a tour of Point Amour Lighthouse. I liked that. Someone saw some Orcas from up in the lighthouse but I missed it. And the Capelin was rolling in on the beaches at L'Anse au Clair, Forteau and L'Anse au Loup. I wish the kids could have been there.
The price of gas is gone way up.
Locked down again! We are back to Alert Level 5. All non essential businesses and services are to close. Schools are closing and will switch to online learning. Julie will be coming home. What distresses me most though is the kids. They won't be able to hang out with their friends.
There was an outbreak in the St. John's and Avalon area which quickly spread. 50 cases one day when there were normally only 1-4 cases, 100 the next and 50 again yesterday. Turns out the reason why it spread so fast is was that it was the new more contagious variant B117, first detected in the UK.
I was supposed to go on a Ranger outing this morning but that was cancelled. They left yesterday morning but broke camp and came home this morning. A couple Rangers were supposed to come get me this morning.
Phone and Internet and cell service were restored about 24 hours after it went. There was a break in the fibre line up around Red Bay, which is something I don't understand because we use microwave towers for our communications. Service was lost right from Rigolet down to Mary's Harbour.
We are having normal winter temperatures now. For a long time we were having spring like temperatures and wet weather.
My friend PJ had a stroke. He is only about a year older than me.
There were 6 or 7 poles snapped off after that ice storm, thousands of trees either bent over or snapped off. I saw 4 or more inches of ice covering some of the trees up on the hill where the microwave towers are. The towers are on backup power. If that goes no internet, phone or cell services.
This winter is turning out to be way warmer than it normal. Even up in the high Arctic in places like Iqaluit is 10 or 20 degrees warmer than normal. Half way around the world over in Siberia it is the opposite with much colder temperatures than is normal.
Made another trip to Goose Bay and back. For First Aid training this time. The wife stayed with me while I was there this time. Friday night I did not get a good sleep. There were some people next door drinking all night and into next morning. What a racket, bawling and banging. The cops were called 2 or 3 times. Gary Bird, who just had back surgery, and his girlfriend were sleeping below them. They didn't get any sleep either.
Quite the weather we had last week. We had four days of freezing rain. An awful lot of trees either bent or broken, probably thousands, mostly Juniper, Birch and Willows. I went up on the Base(everyone calls the hill where the microwave towers are "the Base" because there used to be an American manned radar station there, part of the Pinetree Line) for a look Saturday. Some places ALL the trees were bent over and there was 4 inches or more of built up ice on a lot of the trees. There were several poles broke off going to the microwave towers. Power was cut in order to replace the poles. They are on back up generator power now, if not then we would have lost phones and internet. We were real lucky we never lost power to the whole town.
We are in the midst of another warm wet spell. Pouring rain, freezing rain today and yesterday. All the trees are bent over, some broken from the weight of the ice. School was cancelled today because it was too slippery. Weather is not fit.
Absolute chaos on Capitol Hill yesterday. 4 people died, one was shot. There was a huge disparity in these riots and the BLM movement with some people saying if it were black people there would have been mass casualties. Donald Trump fomented the violence. His actions were so dastardly that there is talk of removing him from office under the 25th Amendment. He has been banned from Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram for the remainder of his presidency.
The kids had a good Christmas. They both got a cell phone and James got a brand new Ski-Doo, courtesy of his Nan and Pop. James don't jump for joy or show emotion like other kids but I could tell he was beaming.
It is really warm. Plus 8 degrees Celsius on December 26 and it doesn't look like it is going to cool off much over the next week. I hope we don't have another winter like we did 11 or 12 years ago when we had spring instead of winter.
Christmas is almost here again. I think this is the busiest I ever was.
Went to Goose bay five days ago, on Saturday. The road was bumpy. Left in the dark and got back in the dark. Rosie and the kids were really glad to see their Mom.
Gonna be really warm and wet over the next few days. The harbour is still not froze over proper. We are after having quite a few warm spells this fall and winter.
Almost forgot. I am now the mayor of Cartwright. I was nominated a week or two ago. No one else wanted it, I was nominated and accepted. I will stay on till the next election at least.
I have been truly blessed. I got a job, a permanent full time job with good pay and benefits. I got back from Goose Bay Dec 04 after doing my orientation training. They paid for my meals and 4 nights stay at the Royal Inn in a room that was essentially a small apartment. My official title is Resource Technician with NunatuKavut. I like my job so far. NCC is a great bunch to work for.
While I was there our winter turned to spring. We had lots of rain and very warm temperatures. Apparently it was like it all over the north.
There was a lot of snow on the ground going down. But coming back it was all gone, except between Beaver Brook and Paradise River was all ice. Was a long drive even though it only 41/2 hours.
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| Paradise River on the way back |
We had another foot of snow Dec 08 and another long warm spell. The snow was heavy and wet too. It is supposed to cool off again soon though. Seems like every once in a while we will get long stretches of well above normal temperatures.
Someone in Sheshatshiu tested positive for Covid 19. I didn't see anything in the news though. The good news is a vaccine will soon be distributed possibly in a week. The Canadian Rangers may be tasked with distributing it.
I am working from home for a bit due to issues with the office.
Chuck Yaeger died Dec 07.
Oh my, what did I get myself into now I wonder. I attended a council meeting last night and I am now the Mayor of Cartwright. No one else wanted the role, I was nominated, so I accepted. I'm busy enough as it is with a new job. We'll see when elections come around in a year I guess whether or not I want to stay on as Mayor.
Aand we got cell service. It remains to be seen how good it is though. I heard coverage up to Port Hope Simpson and Mary's Harbour was poor. The tower was put down not far from the school when it should have been put on top of Black Head, the hill overlooking town, where it's signal would reach many miles across the bay. Internet has been really bad for around 2 weeks or more now. It might have something to do with the new cell service.
There was another two earthquakes up near Makkovik again. Experts say it was aftershocks from the previous two earthquakes they had a couple weeks ago.
Man we had some nasty weather today. We had a lot of snow. Winds were gusting up around 100kph later today. It was blowing even harder on the North Coast I think. Goose Bay and the North Coast experienced a blizzard. Goose Bay had a record snowfall, 70 cm or more. It's wet heavy snow too. It wouldn't surprise me if the power went out tonight. And it's only November yet, very early in the winter.
A little while ago someone said something to me about alcoholism and drug addiction, that it was a lifestyle. I don't know whether to call that ignorant, ill informed or what because it is just not true. It's not a lifestyle, it's not a choice. I've lived with alcoholism my whole life and I'm still trying to get away from it. My Dad was an alcoholic until he gave his heart and soul to God. I have Aunts and Uncles who are alcoholics. Where I grew up there was always alcohol. It's not something that you choose, it's something that chooses you. It's a complex issue brought on by any number of factors including mental illness such as anxiety and depression, post traumatic stress, violence, sexual or physical abuse or other life experiences growing up. I quit drinking about 14 or more years now, started when I was very young. My Dad quit around 8 years ago I think. I'm waiting for someone else in my life to give it up and to get help. I pray to God that my kids never touch it. It's so harmful. It affects everyone around you, the ones that are addicted to drugs or alcohol. Some people look at it in totally the wrong way when they should be looking at it from a different perspective because the people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs are victims, victims of their own circumstances.
Some good news and some bad news in the media lately. Two vaccines, one by German/US firm Pfizer and BioNtech and the other by US firm Moderna showed to be 90 and 95 percent effective respectively in late stage trials. There has also been significant developments in vaccine trials in China and Russia. But those are two countries you shouldn't trust what they say, especially China. Not surprisingly the effectiveness of China's vaccine has not been released. So hopefully a vaccine will be available to the wider population soon.
The bad news is that we are well into the second stage of the pandemic, with large numbers of active cases in Alberta and Ontario especially. Nunavut which had no cases suddenly has 60 centered around the community of Arviat. Even more worrisome there is the cases of covid 19 is through community spread and they haven't been able to trace the source.
Man it never stops blowing. The weather has stabilised somewhat but not the winds. Looks like I won't be getting out for a hunt to get a winters supply of ducks. Not many complaints about the ferry service this year compared to last year with the exception of the Black Tickle run, namely being she didn't get in one time early on this fall when she could have.
The kids went down to Goose Bay with Mom and Dad for a night. The kids were glad to see their mother.
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| Me and my boy. |
Remembrance Day was different this year due to the pandemic, as was many other things. There was no ceremony or parade.
Trump lost the election but still has not conceded defeat. He has launched numerous lawsuits to get votes tossed out in several states with no evidence to support electoral fraud, despite it being the most secure election in U.S. history.
Bonfire Night aka Guy Fawkes Night
Bonfire Night was a day later for us this year because of high winds. The next night was good, not very cold and hardly any wind. For anyone that don't know Bonfire Night started after the Gun Powder Plot to blow up the House of Lords in 1605 England. Ever since then people have had bonfires to commemorate the event and it is common to burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes in the fire. I'm not sure if it is common in the U.S. but it is in Canada and the UK.
We had some really high winds night before last. Could even feel the house shake and that rarely happens.
Had a busy day today. Cleaned the chimney out and cut some trees down on the end of the house so Dwight could dig a ditch for me with his excavator. I was cooking supper at the same time, and almost ruined it in the process. Then this evening I had a council meeting.
Something woke me up last night. After I got up I learned there was an earthquake up near Makkovik. It could be felt in Rigolet. Maybe that's what woke me up.
The weather is up and down again from one extreme to another. The planet is warming but that doesn't mean the warming is evenly spread. What you're actually seeing is areas such as the North warming much more than everywhere else. And one of the biggest impacts of climate change is more extreme weather events; more storms and hurricanes, more wildfires, El Nino and La Nina becoming more pronounced and lasting longer. Where I live the ice forms later and is not as reliable as it used to be. Happening right now as I write, it is raining and forecast to get up to 10 degrees and high winds when it should be 0 degrees down to about -5 degrees. Tomorrow the temperature will drop to -5 degrees in the afternoon. That's typical. This summer I think it was twice we had high temperatures for a week or more that were higher than normal. I was on patrol with Canadian Rangers in August in Goose Bay and it was HOT. One winter, I think around 10 years ago, we didn't have a proper winter, it was more like Spring all winter. We had a very warm winter that year, a lot of wet weather and flooding of rivers and lakes made it very difficult, even hazardous, travelling by snowmobile. Snowmobiles are very important for travel in the winter around here, Cartwright.
So overall, climate change isn't just a global rise in temperatures. It is more extremes, extremes in temperatures, extreme weather events and more inconsistent weather patterns.
Another Halloween over with. Cold one as usual. There was a lot of kids at some places. Good to see lots of kids out. I wasn't too impressed with the construction going on into dark on the other side of the harbour. They should have stopped with all the kids getting around.
Time went back an hour again last night. I wish they would stop with that. It's been over a century now, since World War I that they started changing the clocks twice a year. There are no tangible benefits, more harm than good really.
