Quiet space losing a dimension

It is quiet here this time of the year: The few birds that did not migrate south are busy finding food and staying warm - they do not have any intention to sing, the sounds of the river and the creek are trapped under their ice-cover, and the snow muffles the sounds of anything that falls or anybody who walks. When - on top of all that - there is no wind and it is not too cold and I am standing still, it is utterly impossible to experience space.

Quiet winter world, February 13, 2013

 

Frosty Math: -35 + 17 = -18

It never fails to astonish me how rapidly the temperature changes here at times: We went to bed at minus 35 degrees and woke to a balmy minus 18. Hardly any wind was noticeable. And the night sky (the darkness extends well into our days at this time of the year) was still clear except for some hazy ice fog over the river.

Addition: By the end of the day we measured (a shocking) minus 5 degrees.

Cold river, November 21, 2013

A pile of wood on an arctic winter day

At minus 35 degrees (Celsius that is) a pile of wood looks like the manifest promise that the cold can do us no harm.

The river ice held, and at these temperatures it is unlikely that it will move again before breakup.

Beautiful firewood (November 21, 2013)

Thursday-Update

The river-ice just stopped here last night. We are doubtful whether it will hold since it is rather warm with only minus 8 degrees. If the ice moves again, big blocks of ice will make for difficult traveling with the snowmobile this winter.

The river a few hours after the ice stopped (November 14, 2013)

Anya loves to play outside. Her current favorite: pulling her toboggan everywhere. I offered to pull her (so we would get home faster), but no, she wanted to pull. Back home, she tested her slide again.

Anya enjoying the balmy temperatures while playing in the snow (November 14, 2013)

Winter has arrived!

For the past three days, the Yukon River has been carrying ice. As the temperatures are dropping, the ice sheets are getting bigger.

Yukon River, ice, the boat (on the shore), and a sunny day on the other side of the river (November 7, 2013)

Ice sheets on the Yukon River, (November 7, 2013)

Yukon River, ice, and a sunny day on the other side of the river (November 7, 2013)

About this blog

I started this blog when I first moved to Poppy Creek, a long way from the closest human settlement in Canada's Yukon Territory. After a few years with just Gaetan, Lance (our dog) and me, we were joined by baby Anya in 2011.

Life all of a sudden changed a lot for us. I did for example not have much time to write while Anya was very young. Gradually though, Anya is growing up and I - having more time - published my first book.

"Wilderness Life in Canada's Yukon Territory" is available on Amazon and includes some of the articles originally published on this blog, but also lots of new photos and stories.

 

This blog is to host short notes and photos about my family's life in the Yukon wilderness.