The weather was colder than usual this December, so the Christmas landscape had a Narnia-esque feel: brittle, white, still. Hoar frost on the trees, so lace everywhere. Too cold to do much outside, but pretty to look at through the window.
I took some time off work over the holidays, but was back at it last week. I walk to the office, which is a half-hour trek up to the New Town, and then back home again at the end of the day. People seem to admire the fact I do this all year round, even in the middle of winter. In fact, I would much rather pile on the snow pants and parka and trudge up the Franklin Avenue hill than try to manage a car at 30 below.
For several months I make this commute in the dark - in mid-winter we only get about four hours of daylight, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., or so. But yesterday morning, there was a sign that spring is on its way: when I left the house, instead of the usual blackness, there was a line of light along the horizon, topped with a band of turquoise that deepening upward into sapphire blue. So, less than a month since the solstice, it's apparent the days are getting longer.
(Photo: Ice fog rising toward Yellowknife's New Town, taken from the ice of Yellowknife Bay, January 3, 2009.)
