OK. Fran finally left me at home for an hourish so I was able to sneak in time on the DIS. Enough to answer one reply on my thread and quote these things on your post. Now at least it's been multi-quoted and I saw the pictures from my computer, I'll have to do the rest of the reply on my phone.
No. I mean it's really cold outside.
Okay, I'm not making myself clear, here.
I mean it's REALLY cold outside.
See its actually starting to get cold here (for us). I've started wearing long pants and for the last few evenings I've even put on an overshirt to go out. I might even get to wear a jacket when we go to San Jose!
Now some people think of the "North"
as something like this:
Actually I've only visited when the weather is nice, so that's what
I think of.
what jogging in
colder temperatures look like
Nope, nopity, nope, nope, nope!
I took that photo on a run I took
when it was about -25C/-13F.
I would
never leave the house!
Tom Cochrane, a rock singer
(if you didn't know) was born there.
I'm not sure I ever heard of him.
Tom Cochrane, a rock singer
(if you didn't know) was born there.
Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway (Official Video) - YouTube
And here I thought Rascal Flats wrote that song.
Also, cartoonist Lynn Johnston
spent several years there,
where she started her career.
You may have seen her cartoons
in your local newspaper.
OK I read her cartoons back when newspapers were a thing.
It covers approximately 60% of Canada's
land area, which, when you consider that
Canada is the 2nd largest country in
the world, is a heck of a lot of trees!)
That
is a lot of trees!
People would walk up to the bank,
drop off the keys to their house and home
and simply walk away.
And then what?
We drove into town with boarded up,
abandoned buildings standing as silent
sentinels of a bygone era.
We overnighted in the one hotel
that Lynn had to offer while we waited
for our belongings to arrive.
I spent most of the night
consoling a distraught, crying wife.
I felt like crying, myself.
Ugh. I suppose this was before there was the interwebs where you could research places too....
Fruits and vegetables were either
nonexistent or mostly rotten when
they were available.
Meat wasn't much better.
We survived on frozen and canned goods.
I suppose Stouffers was your friend. Do you have Stouffers in Canada?
We had a saying...
Lynn Lake isn't Hell...
But you can see it from there.
Sounds legit.
Churchill is a town located on the shores
of Hudson Bay, a scant 830km/500 miles
from the Arctic Circle.
Well....sounds promising.
There are no roads to Churchill.
If you take your car, you can't get there from here.
Or from anywhere.
Let that sink in.
It's so remote that you can't drive to it.
Sounds like it's almost an island....
Not that you were frequently flying.
If you were to book a round trip flight
Winnipeg - Churchill today, it would set
you back $1,300CDN... per person.
(Approx $1,035USD.)
You can fly Winnipeg to Singapore
for about the same price.
Living in the North is not cheap.
Living anywhere remote is not cheap.
Churchill differed quite a bit from
Lynn Lake in some very good ways.
There were restaurants!
Anywhere from 2-3 to half a dozen
(depending on the season... more on that, too.)
There was a theatre, a library, a bowling alley, a pool!
A museum, gift shop(s), a deli, a bakery.
Yes, there was much more going for Churchill
than was available in Lynn Lake.
But there were some... obstacles to overcome, as well.
Wow! A real metropolis!
Spring is when flowers bloom!
Summer is hot!
Fall is cool and leaves changing!
Winter is cold!
(YMMV)
Well I guess that is true, but it's all relative....
The Bay is huge. It’s almost twice the size of Texas.
That is big!
Spring in Churchill begins usually
some time in June.
This is where it is relative. Spring begins mid February here.
Hudson's Bay is ocean.
It has tides.
Low tide is around 2 feet,
but high tide can be upwards
of 15 feet or more.
More than enough for ice
to get stranded on land
when the tide goes out.
I wish there were things in these pictures to indicate size. My perception is that they are a few feet across, but you said they range from the size of a VW to a school bus.
And if you close your eyes...
it sounds just like you're standing in
the middle of a summer rain shower.
Except the sun is warming you and
you are not getting wet.
Just like me on Monday in the garage under the vacant apartment. But I was getting wet.
This one is my favorite!
I vividly recall one day,
I had just gotten off work
and it was a gorgeous
early summer day.
The sun was shining and the
temperature hovered around 20C/70F.
I arrived at home and told my DW
that we should take advantage
of the day and go for a walk.
She immediately agreed and
said "Gimme one sec to change my top."
In under 5 minutes she was ready.
We opened the door and stepped out into...
A cold and blustery 3C/37F.
The wind had shifted just enough
so that instead of blowing across
the warm land, it was now coming
in off the frigid Bay.
A 17C/33F degree temperature drop
in about five minutes.
That would never happen here!
From mid-June (dependent on weather)
to mid-August, approximately four thousand
Beluga whales come to Churchill
to feed, mate, and give birth.
Wow!
Interestingly, their behaviour
drastically changes mid-August
and they shun all contact with
people and boats.
I bet they're "in heat" or some form of it. Kitties who are in heat or pregnant are super friendly and then once they give birth they turn protective and hide their offspring.
Churchill is famously known
as the Polar Bear capitol of the world.
So that how you "knew" that Polar Bears do not behave like the ones in Soarin' over the World.
When the temperature changes
and the days grow shorter,
the bears begin to awaken and stir.
Interesting. I wouldn't have known that. Here in So Cal the bears hardly hibernate at all. They dig through trash cans year round!
I did have, on more than one occasion,
the experience of seeing a bear being
"escorted" out of town by Natural Resources officers.
(Escorted meaning they fire cracker shells at their
feet to encourage them to leave.)
Poor things!
the shortest day of the year,
December 21st, has the Sun
rising at 9:05am and setting
at 3:20pm.
It gets dark fast.
Yikes!
Winter transforms the landscape
from spring's rainbow of colour
and summer's muted tones
to a monochromatic blanket
of snow and sleeping trees and bushes.
Looks beautiful. From my warm home, where the outside low will be 50°F this evening.
Aurora Borealis dance across the night sky,
constantly changing in motion, and
while commonly green, occasionally
presenting itself in
vivid reds and purples.
Wow! I'd like to see that some day.
The Arctic Fox is a smaller
fox and almost pet-like in
its demeanour.
What a little cutie!
I can't think of a better spot to end
this update.
Great update! How long ago did you live in these places? Were your kids already born or did your wife have the kids in such a remote location?
Reminds me of that 911 call where the guy hit the deer and put it in the back of his truck.
here is why. I kept thinking wow, I never dreamed Winnipeg was that close to Hudson Bay and wow how can Winnipeg be that cold with Polar Bears around, don’t laugh at me now. 
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