Bloggeversary

Today is my blog's bloggeversary.

Happy bloggeversary, by SHANNON LEE.

I began this blog on June 12, 2011, on the road to Yellowknife. 

You can read all about the monumental cross-Canada drive that started it all by clicking on the Yellowknife or Bust tab on the top of the blog anytime.

I have posted all the links to the trip in chronological order there.

So, what has a year done?  Well...

1. I have bangs. 

2. We discovered that working two full-time jobs with two full-time school girlies requires balancing.  AND, we did it!

3. Autumn and Spring do not exist in the North.  In fact, you might remember last summer about me blogging about Autumn in August (I was wearing a toque on August 20th last year on an evening walk).

4. The Northern sky is huge, spectacular, and unlike any other perspective in Canada.  I would say that it is my favourite thing about the landscape and climate up here.

5. The girls are happy where their little family is.

6. It's freakin' cold up here, and there is snow from September to May. 

7. Spring is sloooow coming.  The picture above is the first day of spring.

8. Northern means EXTREME... extreme darkness, extreme daylight, extreme coldness, extreme sun.

9. The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) are worth living here for.  Period.

10. Eli loves his boat.  And, boats in general.



A few stats on the year... 

10421+ page views in one year (excluding my computers, for checking on formatting and the like)... wowsers.

The highest readership was at the beginning, peaking on our arrival in Yellowknife the end of July 2011, and again in December 2011 and March 2012.

Most of you read more when I was posting links on Facebook.  I'm not on there now, so I wonder if that is very inconvenient for you?

I've made 160 posts, including this one, in a year.

I've had web traffic from all over Canada, the United States, Belgium, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Indonesia, Argentina and Mexico.

Thank you for reading!!

Solar Storm on the Ice Road

Last night, the Northern Lights were dancing outside our front door.

There was a solar storm reaching the Earth, and the auroras were supposed to be bright and strong.



So, Eli and I drove out onto the ice road to check them out.

The moon was very bright, so I aimed away from the moon to try to capture the lights. 

This is the view from the side of the ice road. 

There was a fair bit of traffic because of the Northern Lights.

And, it was freakin' COLD!

My thumbs were numb in a few short minutes, even with a pair of gloves and mitts.

Tying to set up the tripod and the camera settings in the dark, cold and wind was chilly! 

The pictures really do not do the lights justice. 

They were ALL over the sky... above, around, even ringing the moon. 

And, of course, they move constantly. 

Just before we took this fuzzy picture, we heard a big SNAP.

The ice road cracked.

It's normal, but still spooky when it is so dark.

Four feet of ice and 100+ feet of cold water.

Even Eli gets the weebie jeebies if you think about it for to long.

We went home, and bundled Miss G so she could see them from the front deck.

Miss A refused to be woken.

This morning, Miss G did not remember seeing them, at all.

Our girls are heavy sleepers!

We'll try again another night.

Dog Sledding Under the Aurora Borealis

Last night, Eli and I took Nanny and Papa out for a very Northern experience, and Gramma and Grampum stayed at our place with the sleeping girls.

It was a bit of a birthday gift for Eli, too (his birthday was March 1).  I have not forgotten to write about Eli's birthday... really... but, I need a few pictures from his BlackBerry to really illustrate a part of the story, so you will have to wait until tomorrow to read about his birthday, because he is ice fishing today.

I booked a dog sledding tour to a remote cabin so we could view the Northern Lights with Beck's Kennels before Nanny and Papa arrived.

The night was cool (around -25 degrees Celsius), but there was no wind, so dressing warmly kept us cosy and comfortable.

This is the sled that we sat in for the ride.

Along with the four of us, three other visitors were along for the same ride.

On the way to the cabin, Eli got to stand on the back of the sled with the musher, which was pretty cool... I mean cold.

We sat with one person at the back, and each person nestled in front. 

The sled is lined with warm blankets, so it was a cosy cushy ride.

There are about 100 dogs at Beck's Kennels, and were they every eager!

You should have heard the anticipation and eager barking and howling, as the dogs waited to see if they would be chosen for the run.

We had a team of 14 dogs pull the sled, and they barked and howled right up until the musher gave the "go" command, which was "hike."

As soon as the dogs got that command, they TOOK OFF, with not a sound to be heard except their feet hitting snow until they got to their destination.

The musher made a kissing sound to speed up, and said "gee" for turn right, and "haw" for left.

 I was sitting in the very front of the sled, so this is a little video (terrible quality, really), that will give you a sense of what it was like on the sled, travelling onto the ice and snow-covered lakes.

Then... AWE. 

I brought my good camera with the wide angle lens, but my night vision, even with my glasses, is so crappy and you absolutely must set the focus manually, so I am afraid that we are out of focus in many of the pictures, but, really the aurora borealis is the star of this blog. 

Under normal circumstances, I do not trust myself to use manual focus just because of my vision, and this is why.  Oh, to have 20-20 vision! 

Hello, Aurora! 

Our sled under the cold Northern night sky. 

The rustic cabin that we could warm up inside. 

A view looking towards the very mild glow from the city (which is almost invisible to the eye, but shows up in pictures).

The dogs are relaxing in their little kennels placed on the lake.

Here are the four of us on the hill in front of the cabin with Aurora showing off behind us. 

You could lay on the snow and hear total peace. 

Eli and me 

Here, I set the ISO high (3200), and the shutter speed long, to let in as much light as possible here, so the sky looks much much lighter than it was (I assure that it was nearly midnight). 

The aurora takes up the whole sky, and never stops moving. 

Papa and Nanny 

I snapped this shot just as we were leaving.

Our trip ran from about 8 pm to 1 am, and just as we arrived back at the kennels, the sky was beginning to cloud over, so we were very fortunate to see the Aurora display that we did. 

On Sunday afternoon, we are going back to take the girls for a traditional ride (not at night) on the lake.

I Shall Call Her Aurora

Well, it's no big secret that I miss home. 

Home with seasons and winter.

But, man alive! Yellowknife has thrown me a frikin' bone tonight!!

After WEEKS of cloud cover, we got a clear, dark starry night.

And the auroras were out.

I stayed close to home because the girls were going to bed, and it's our first day of school tomorrow, but on a night with a solar storm, Eli and I will head to the big lake with the wide angle lens to take some pictures with no light pollution.

Alright, Yellowknife, I might have a little thing for you.  Between the midnight summer sun and the aurora borealis, I'll give you some major credit.  I guess I'll stay a while.

But, I warn you, Yellowknife, you take away the sun and the auroras, and I'm out of here!

I guess I should thank Eli for bringing me here.

Thanks, Eli.