There is no doubt you have experienced the warm weather Yellowknife is having, if you haven’t you should definitely come on up. Part of me can’t believe I’m going to say this, but this the warmest March 1 I have experienced in the north. I can remember 6 years ago camping towards the end of March in a tent at the other end of Prosperous Lake in -50 temperatures.

Without getting in to the argument about the environment and Global Warming I curious to hear other thoughts on this weather. I know personally, I have had my guard up this entire winter in anticipation for -40 weather. I even am still betting we will get a least a week of -20 to -35 weather before the spring actually gets here.

With the warm weather brings on the mucky roads and sidewalks. Stores have trails of rocks and mud through out. Here are some pictures from this afternoon.

Over and over I seem to be talking about why I love Yellowknife and the North. Well I have once again found another reason. I mentioned that I love the clear, blue skied, days we get here in the winter and alone with those days we seem to see more visitors. Not the visitors like you think though, I was thinking more of the white, fluffy, winged kind or better know as Ptarmigan.

You may not think they are good for anything, or good at anything either, but you are wrong. Well, okay, maybe you’d be slightly right, and I suppose they can’t figure out how to pick through your garbage like their second cousin the Raven. What they can do magnificently well though, is camouflage. Have you ever seen a ptarmigan in the summer? Probably not! That is because they’ll look like just another bush among the trees. It is much the same in the winter; the white balls of fluff plop themselves in the fluffy snow and you’d never know they were there.

That is exactly what happened to me the other day. I walked up my driveway and in the front door and found a cat that was going crazy at the front window. When I peered out the window to see what the commotion was I was shock to see what I had just walked past. No word of a lie there must have been 50 ptarmigan sitting on the lawn. I quickly grabbed my camera and snuck back outside, only scaring away a couple.

A couple weeks ago I took a basic digital photography class put on by Dave Brosha, so as I was prancing around the yard I was trying to remember what he had taught me. I’m sure if I had of practiced what he had taught me the following photos would have turned out better, but here are some ptarmigan for your enjoyment. Tell me what you like the most about Yellowknife Winters?

Here is a quick video of them:

As I walked down main street at lunch time I ran into Snowbelle and a gang of volunteers who looked excited about the Snowking’s upcoming Winter Festival. Well, okay, maybe they were just cold. None-the-less they were however handing out schedules for the upcoming event, which kicks off this Sunday evening.  Today was their first day on the streets promoting the event, they will also be in front of the Canada Post building tomorrow (Feb 24) and Thursday. Along with getting a trusty schedule of festival goodness, you can also buy a seasonal pass to the festival, which takes place throughout March. Seasonal Passes are $20 for Adults & $10 for Children 12 & under. This pass will get you in the door everyday and reduces evening event prices by 50%.

When I asked if the rest of the crew was down at the castle putting in the long hours to have everything ready, I got a reassuring yes, with an ever so slight bit of sarcasm. I’m sure everything will be good to go for the opening Sunday evening, which I will have more details later in the week. Make sure you head over to the Canada Post building a lunch to get your schedule and pass. See you at the Castle.

With all the warm weather we have had lately I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get out on the snowmobile and explore Yellowknife Bay. I started on Frame Lake and made my way to Back Bay and Yellowknife Bay from there. If you have never had the opportunity to walk, ski, drive or snowmobile Yellowknife Bay I highly recommend you do so. The Bay holds a very special place in Yellowknife, with so many unique things to see.

One of them being something we may take for granted is the road system on the ice. With roads leading from houseboat to houseboat to the castle and the Fish Plant all built on a couple feet of ice. It is something that is just neat in its self. Having roads leading from place to place you have a better chance to get up close to the several houseboats occupying the area and admire some of the architecture. Along with seeing the houseboats you of course can also see the construction of the Snow King’s Castle, if it isn’t finished already, and see what hard work is put into each year.

I always find it surreal to drive a vehicle on the ice right beside a boat frozen in the ice. Just the thought alone sounds surreal, this is why I love Yellowknife.

There are so many interesting and unique places and structures around the bay, to many to name all of them. What are your favorite things around the bay or rather what sticks out the most to you?

Earlier today when I finished one job I proceeded out to my truck, which was parked on 47th St. While waiting for my truck to warm up a tab I noticed something I don’t often see anymore. Although not seen very often anymore in Yellowknife it was unsurprising to see.

It is a widely used mode of transportation to get around all across the north. It’s more popular in the smaller community across the north for daily transportation, none-the-less used as though a normal car, the snowmobile below was park in its own parking spot.

Keeping things lite and humorous I thought we could start a new segment here on YkOnline called Over Heard Around Town. Where anyone can submit random and funny things they over here throughout town. So I will start this week.

Wife: Here honey can you hold these, oh your not my husband!

Strange Man: No, but I could be.

Wife: Well, you look better than him.

Strange Man: Excellent

Husband: Dear I found us a seat.

At which point Strange Man turned around and walked away.
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Did your hear something odd around town that you think is funny and want to share a laugh with everyone else, consider sending it in. Use our easy to use submit form found by clicking here.

This is the story of Jeannine a single mother trying to make it in Yellowknife while raising her son. She is the first women in Canada to be a certified Diamond Cutter. For the next 7 years she excelled at her job for a local diamond plant, until the industry took a turn for the worse. Here her story in her own words in this sound slide.

For the last couple days, the skies have been clear, sun bright, weather cold and massive sun dogs have appeared. They are spectacular to see in real life but we can’t always stop in the middle of the road and appreciate them. Even if you try to find a great place to see them, by the time you do the sun will have gone down. These sun dogs are something maybe not rare to come by, but a treat when they come out. Here in Yellowknife

Do you see the sun dog at some point in the last couple days? How often do sun dogs normally show up in Yellowknife?

Eight months ago I returned to Yellowknife after a twenty year absence.   The adjustment from living in downtown Vancouver to living in Yellowknife had all the ups-and-downs you might guess.  On the whole the number of delightful surprises I’ve enjoyed in Yellowknife have far outweighed the items that – well, never mind that.  Here’s a list of a few of my Favourite Things that are unique and wonderful elements of my new life in Yellowknife, aspects that I hadn’t expected:

The fish man I don’t know who he is (you likely do – leave his name in the comment section below?) but never anywhere else have I walked out of my office to find I could purchase fresh-caught fish out of a truck on the street.  Love it.

Choral music If any readers were at the Home for the Holidays community concert this past week, I need say no more.  Coming from Vancouver, home of such Canadian choral groups as Elektra and Chor Leoni I hadn’t even thought to hope for the calibre of music Yellowknife enjoys.   Shad, Margo, a heartfelt thank you to what you and the many other uber-talented people contribute to Yellowknife culture.

Re-using stuff Boy, do we reuse stuff here!  The SWAP shop, YK Trader, garage sales (a contact sport!), informal exchanges and of course the legendary dump – I imagine this is as much a function of economics as environmental sensitivity but whatever.  It’s happening on a scale I’ve never seen before!  FTW!

Blogosphere Before I even arrived the local blogosphere invited me to their regular meetup.  I flew in on Friday and on Saturday bravely went to a (then) stranger’s home to meet a group of folks I’d never met IRL, and I haven’t looked back since.  Like nearly all bloggers I’ve ever met, they are warm, open, fun and have made me feel so welcome and included.  For a list of some of Yellowknife’s smartest, opinionated and funny bloggers, visit www.nwtblogs.com.

Housesitting This seems to be nearly an underground economy up here!  But for travelers like me who have dogs, finding a good house sitter is a godsend, and all the more in the winter.   How did I find my amazing house-sitter? In Yellowknife fashion, I asked a friend who asked a friend who gave me a name, et voila.

LEED home Doug and Mary are not building any old home for themselves!  They’re going for LEED PLATINUM status.  This blew my mind.  LEED is world-class design for energy efficiency.  For example, their home has 12″ of insulation rather than 6″, the water used initially for things like showers and dishes gets reused in the toilet, and I think there’s some solar power involved too.  If the Greenstone building can be built here, and now this residence, honestly, Yellowknife can disarm anyone’s excuse for not building efficiently.

Donny Days ‘Nuff said!

Spring at Niven Lake When I was a kid, Niven Lake was the sewage lagoon (sorry for the reminder, Niven residents, but it was!)  While I’d heard about the trail along Frame Lake, Niven was a surprise.  In the spring it’s lovely beyond telling.  The muted, lush colours; the ducks, bugs, muskrats; the many sounds of its fertile eco-system – truly a living prayer.

iPhone Roy’s Audiotronics has set the customer service Record Of All Time in my life.  For month’s I’d harassed them about the iPhone which of course was unfair as they had no control over what Bell offers up here.  And then.   One day.  One glorious day.  April bumped into me on the street, and before I could ask, told me that not only was the rumour true, ie., they were getting iPhones, but she’d already ordered one for me and would set it aside.  A week later when it arrived, indeed there it was for me.  And I’m living happily ever after (as I’m sure their staff are now that I’m not pestering them anymore).  ps:  you can follow them on twitter, too.

Aboriginal Day I knew about Caribou Carnival and Folk on the Rocks but Aboriginal Day was an unexpected delight.  Thank you, my aboriginal brothers and sisters, for sharing your northern space with me, and for the many individuals (you know who you are!) who have taught me so much particularly about Dene culture and history.  Thank you too, artists like Digawolf and Richard Vancamp – I’m so impressed by your work.   I rave about you to all my southern friends.

Power outages in Yellowknife are like second nature. When it happens people just go with it and work around it. I’m currently sitting on my couch in the dark as I type, thinking about all the times the power has gone out.

Some of my best memories from power outages were when I was in elementary school. When the power went out then it was great because we all thought it was an excuse to not do any school work any more. We also thought, maybe it is true but I don’t actually know, that if the power were out for over an hour or two, we would get to go home for the day. Unfortunately that never happened, or maybe it did, but when the power goes out in May or June you’d never know do to all the daylight.

I remember other times; times such as the one I’m in right now. Where I am home and it is near -40 outside. I get such a thrill and excitement knowing we may have to find our own heat, rather than rely on a big oil-burning machine. Luckily we have a wood stove in out basement, which when cranked up can heat the entire house well enough to be comfortable.

I could go on with more memories, I have been here for sometime and these seem to be becoming a more common occurrence but I won’t. Instead I will share with you the one thing I enjoy the most about power outages, the silence. There is no furnace running or fridge or silent noise. It is just silent, peaceful and relaxing. It is, for me, one of the most refreshing things. To be cut off from everything just brings a smile to my face.

Although this is not to say that power outages can’t be bad. Of course they can’t. I can’t imagine how some people feel if their pipes freeze during an outage. Or if they can’t keep warm in there house.

Do you have any Yk Power Outage memories you’d like to share? Good, Bad! In the coming days I will publish a post talking about the issues surrounding Yellowknife Power Outages.

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