Spring has Sprung

Just thought I'd write about the beautiful spring weather we are experiencing today. What a great last weekend here in Rovaniemi. The sounds of the birds are a welcoming alarm in the morning hours. I noticed the first snow buntings of the season when I was in northern Lapland this Easter. We also have these in Canada's Arctic, but they come a bit later on in the season.

In Nunavut, Canada this week Toonik Tyme is being celebrated. For me, this is a sign spring has come to the north. Activities such as the uphill snowmobile races, friendly games of hockey between elders, and making ice sculptures (pictures to the left) are all part of the festivities in welcoming back the warmer weather to the Arctic.

There are still many things that I would have loved to have taken in during my time I have spent here in Rovaniemi, but I do know it is impossible to do it all! I think I have seen quite a few sights and have MANY stories to tell to friends & family mambers when I renturn.

I will leave it at that and I will write more when I return to Canada. I will first be spending some time in Nova Scotia, then flying north to Iqaluit, Nunavut where I will spend a month working for the Nunavut Research Institute. Then off to Resolute Bay, Nunaut ~ one of the coldest inhabited places in the world with an average temperature of -16.4 degress celcius!!! I will be working at an Arctic Research Station there as well.

The Arctic Studies Program at the University has been so great in tying together the many aspects of the Circumpolar world. I will return with new eyes and with a deeper understanding how the Arctic and its people are so interrelated.

So to all, enjoy the spring weather and I'll be writing next from Canada :)