TCC for 2/7/08

The Caretaker's Concern 2/7/08
Ghetto temp. 52 F. and rising.
Island tmp. 26 F. Yesterday's L/H: 24/36 F.
Current conditions: Light snow, medium to large flakes. Little to no wind.

It was a decent snow fall last night, however the wind was such that much of the snow was blown right off the Island. Although a considerable amount of snow did remain, x-c skiing on the Island is not yet an option, there are still a number spots that are too thin of snow--a complete loop of a usable size is yet to be had.

The blowing wind has opened up the Ice between here and Clay. The wind has been blowing from the Narrows for the past few days at such a sustained force that the Caretaker is somewhat surprised that much more of the ice has not broken up. Eventually the wind died down today, hopefully it will stay away with the coming cold temperatures so all this open water will freeze over again.

This dark water glares out of the surrounding bright snow covered ice like a gash, and the wound seems to be only getting bigger. Hopefully the cold will come soon, hopefully it will be deep, hopefully it will reach into the water and heal it over with a thick layer of ice.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 2/6/08

The Caretaker's Concern 2/6/08
Ghetto temp. 39 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 30 F. Yesterday's L/H: 38/32 F.
Current conditions: Complete cloud coverage, wind mixed from the East and North, out of the Narrows and the NorthWest Bay, 15 to 20 mph, gusting to 25/35.

The wind never gave up the entire night and into this morning. When the Caretaker emerged from the Ghetto for the first time today he was greeted by the sight of a snow covered Island peppered with green pine needles. While out and about, a number of branches were noticed to have come down from the trees--mostly white pine. During the night the Caretaker heard an occasional crash upon the roof of the Ghetto, his assumption was that it was a result of limbs being brought down due to the high winds. Thus he was not all too surprised to see a few crooked tree limbs splayed out awkwardly on the Island--their dark black bark in deep contrast to the white snow. Next time the wind blows from the South the Caretaker will have himself a good burn-off.

The winds of late have worn away more of the ice, the distance between the Island and open water is now down to 50 yards or so. If this keeps up the Caretaker will be able to go canoeing without the need for ski poles. Overall, last night, not a good time to be squirrel.

--The Caretaker

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