TCC for 2/5/08

The Caretaker's Concern 2/5/08
Ghetto temp. 53 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 35 F. Yesterday's L/H: 32.5/37 F.
Current conditions:
Light fog, mild wind from the South

Today was cloudy and foggy for most of the day. There was a brief break of some sunlight and blue sky which the Caretaker was able to catch some photos of. The Caretaker is looking forward to when this current weather system blows out of here, however it is not looking like it will happen anytime soon. Come nightfall it began to sleet which then turned to rain. Late at night, at around 2 am the Caretaker was in bed having slept for a while then he woke up for no apparent reason. Five minutes later he heard a tremendous crack of thunder. It was like an explosion right above the Island, it thundered across the sky from North to South. The Caretaker found this a bit disquieting. Not because he doesn't care for thunder and lightening, here on the Island it is a regular occurrence during the warmer months. Both the lightening and thunder can be very impressive at times. Just this last June there was a storm that thundered so close over head that during one crack the Caretaker felt the concussion in his chest. Many times the show of lightening is much more impressive than fireworks. What the Caretaker found disquieting about last nights crash of thunder was the time of year, although it is possible for there to be thunder and lightening in the winter it is not very common.

The Caretaker heard some while back that there is no word for either rain and/or thunder and lightening in the Inuit language. This is because neither of these events ever occurred up in the far North reaches of the continent. The Caretaker can not confirm the truth of this, but he does know that in recent years they have had to come up with words for these events. Apparently global warming has caused rain storms where traditionally there where only snow storms.

In other news, the Caretaker's friend B. was kind enough to pass on some information as to why the sky is blue. Special thanks to her for passing on the information. The Caretaker had it totally wrong, the oceans have nothing to do with the color of the sky. The link to this information, for those who are interested, is below:

http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/sky_blue.html

To read the part specifically on the color of the sky scroll down a bit to "Why is the Sky Blue".

--The Caretaker

TCC for 2/4/08

The Caretaker's Concern 2/4/08
Ghetto temp. 52 F. and rising.
Island tmp. 32 F. Yesterday's L/H: 26/37 F.
Current conditions: No wind, complete cloud coverage.

Yet another slow day on the Island. The recent warm weather is slowly melting the snow, this morning felt like early, early Spring--cool humidity. In the afternoon the Caretaker stepped outside of the Ghetto and heard a loud slap, it sounded much like a gun shot from a .22 rifle. The Caretaker looked up and saw a Eagle taking flight. It had been roosting on a tree just off the North corner of the Ghetto. The sound was the slap of its wings coming together upon taking flight. The Caretaker went down to Cocktail point to watch where it might fly to. It landed on the ice about 500 yards off the North side of Cocktail point. The Caretaker ran back for his camera, unfortunately by the time he returned the Eagle was nowhere to be seen. Oh well, perhaps next time.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 2/3/08

The Caretaker's Concern 2/3/08
Ghetto temp. 55 F. and steady
Island tmp. 35 F. Yesterday's L/H: 26/32 F.
Current conditions: Little to no wind, complete cloud coverage.

It has been a mostly colorless day. The cloud coverage has been so thick that the sun only appeared vaguely for a few moments. The diffused light stripped most all of the color from the scenery. Mostly a day of gray and white. The Caretaker spent the day in front of the fire in the main house giving his kerosene heater a complete overhaul. A pleasant day of repose.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 2/2/08

The Caretaker's Concern 2/2/08
Ghetto temp. 55 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 32 F. Yesterday's L/H: 26/32.5 F.
Current conditions: Cloud covered sky, no wind.

Mostly a quiet day on the Island today. The sky was completely cloud covered, many were rather low. Overall a gray day, the kind of day when it might as well have rained but it didn't. The rain of late is certainly out of place for this time of year, but then again perhaps it is the beginning of a new trend. How long will the trend last? Hopefully not long. It would be a shame if these Northern parts became the place of retreat for snowbirds. Then again, China seems to be getting whacked pretty hard these days. Are there any ski resorts in China? Do the Chinese ski? Based on their transportation problems of late they would probably be better off if they did. The Caretaker was expecting to be cross-country skiing by now, take a few steps from the Ghetto, slap on the skis and head out on to the Lake. Unfortunately that hasn't been an option yet. Perhaps later in February the weather will begin to cooperate.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 2/1/08

The Caretaker's Concern 2/1/08
Ghetto temp. 58 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 28 F. Yesterday's L/H: 27/26 F.
Cloud covered, light rain/sleet.

The day started out with rain, it then turned to sleet, then snow for a while, about two to three inches and then went on to become freezing rain. The ice is now snow covered, which won't help it get any thicker. It also means that the Caretaker will not be able to scoot across the ice in the canoe, sliding across the ice in a canoe is not much work, pushing through the snow in a canoe is utterly miserable. Most likely the rain will eventually wash away the snow, but until it does, the Caretaker won't be making any trips to the mainland any time soon.

Due to the precipitation today the Caretaker spent most all of the day in the Ghetto. He didn't even get out during the day to take a photo. Originally he was thinking of using a photo from his back-stock, but in keeping with a photo a day he took one of the rain at night. Not much to look at, however, while the Caretaker was out on the water in the canoe yesterday, he did shoot a short video, it is now posted on youtube, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyN-RP9k9kg

Unfortunately due to the Caretaker's very slow internet connection he had to reduce the size so he could upload it in a reasonable amount of time, sorry for the poor quality.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 1/31/08

The Caretaker's Concern 1/31/08
Ghetto temp. 50 F. and rising.
Island tmp. 26 F. Yesterday's L/H: 20/35 F.
Cloud covered sky, little to no wind.

The Caretaker needed to get into town today so he grabbed his life vest, two canoe paddles, and two sets of ski poles. He brought the canoe out to the ice at the shoreline, hopped in and began pushing himself across the ice. Given the uncertainty of the thickness of the ice, the Caretaker decided that pushing across in a canoe would be the safest way across. The ice was clear of snow and very smooth. There was no wind so he had no worries of being blown across the Lake. He made it over to the mainland in no time. Once you build momentum it is very quick going. The only thing you don't want to do is stop. Once you do the canoe sticks to the ice, not that it freezes to the ice permanently, but you do have to do a touch of extra work to get going again. While crossing the ice the Caretaker noticed that the ice was about two to three inches thick, he probably could have just walked across, but why take the chance? Ice-in so far has been rather, slow.

After getting to the mainland the Caretaker had to walk to his car, the ice on the roads was more treacherous than the ice on the Lake. After avoiding to fall a few times the Caretaker made it to his car. Hopped in, drove to town, did what he needed to do, then went back to the Island. After returning to the Island, the Caretaker grabbed his camera and then hopped back into the canoe. A large swath of the Lake, just off of the North East shore of the Island, was all open water. With no wind, it was almost perfect glass. The Caretaker pushed himself out to the open water, slipped in, and then began to paddle. He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity for reflection shots. He paddled around a bit then began to take photos. The water was open all the way over to Dome, so he paddled over there too and took some shoreline shots. Eventually the Caretaker paddled around to the East shore of Dome, the Lake appeared to be open all the way to Pilot Knob. The sun was on its way down so he had little interest in trying to paddle over to the Knob, there isn't much over there anyway. As the Caretaker was paddling back he noticed the water was starting to ice over. Small thin layers of ice were beginning to form, some formations looked like feathers, others looked like bird wings. The Caretaker tried to photograph some of the ice formations but wasn't all too successful, with the sun going down and falling behind thick clouds, it didn't provide too much in the way of bright light.

Overall, a nice day on the Lake.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 1/30/08

The Caretaker's Concern 1/30/08
Ghetto temp. 58 F. and rising.
Island tmp. 23 F. Yesterday's L/H: 32/35 F.
Mostly clear night sky, occasional clouds. Mild wind from the West shore, with occasional gusts.

Both of today's photos were taken today. The one on top was taken early in the morning, the one below was taken around mid-day. The morning started with freezing rain and some hale, mostly light and intermittent with occasional down-pours. By mid-day it became snow, briefly, then stopped. The wind was not as forecasted, but there were plenty of good gusts. The ice has opened up more. The wind pushed it around quite a bit, the ice made all sorts of noises today. The ice has been quite active these past few days, between the lowering of the Lake and the wind, the ice has been quite a symphony. As the Lake lowers, due to a lack of precipitation, it usually cracks and booms as the ice drops. A few times the drop was enough to shake the Island and rattle the Ghetto, almost like a very, very small Earth quake--it is often a touch jarring. When the wind pushes on the ice, today especially, the ice gurgles, pops, and pings. Sometimes it sounds like a slide-whistle as the air pockets move rapidly beneath the ice. Many of the noises from the ice sound as though they are from a Science Fiction movie. Overall the sounds of the ice are not exactly easy to describe, but the Caretaker will make a point to try to do so in the future.

While the Caretaker was at the shoreline he watched the ice move up and down and shift around as the wind gusted. Occasional ice sheets would grind together, their edges breaking up into small shards of what looked like crystal, glistening in the sun. With the warm weather and the thinning ice, it almost seemed like the Spring thaw. However we will be getting some cold weather again, but not for long. Next week's temperature is expected to be rather mild as far as the ice goes. This is not so good for the Caretaker, at least as far as getting to the mainland. The Caretaker will be trying for the mainland tomorrow. His hope is that he will be able to scoot himself along top the ice in a kayak. If it works well he could be over to the mainland in no time. If it doesn't work so well he could be over in a long while, and if it goes utterly terrible he will be pulling himself out of the Lake minus the kayak--or he decides not to go at all. Unfortunately not going to the mainland tomorrow isn't really an option.

--The Caretaker