Lights in the sky and a roof over our head

After a week of “warm” conditions and cloudy skies, we have finally returned to “cooler” temperatures and clear skies. This meant we were able to see our first northern lights. It wasn’t the most spectacular show, but it was quite a sight…especially from the comfort of the apartment. The lights didn’t last long before fading into the night sky, but we managed a few pictures. Most of these were ruined by our projection alarm clock showing up in the reflection of the glass (that’s right, we didn’t bother dressing up and going outside), but here is one:

We attended a talk about the forest fire season around Yellowknife last year put on by the Environment and Natural Resources department of the GNWT on Wednesday night. This is Vanessa’s field, so she came away with some contacts and some swag, but I was the real winner. I won the door prize, consisting of a collapsable water bucket, some pins, a mug, and $100 gift card to one of the grocery stores up here. We also managed to find a place to call our own (well, for three months anyways)!

On Saturday we moved into our fully furnished condo! It is down the road from where we were living before, and cuts my walk to work in half. The condo is located across the road from Tin Can Hill. In the late 1930s, when the Con Mine opened, most miners commuted through the Tin Can Hill area to get back to town. Along the way, they would dump their garbage (hence, the name). In the 1940s, garbage became centralized, so the miners didn’t have to strew their garbage there any more, and finally, in the 1970s, Ecology North began to clean up the area. Today the area is mainly used for recreation, but apparently old tins can still be found. On Sunday morning, we decided to explore the area a little since the weather was favourable (a balmy -17C without the windchill).