THIS WILL COOL YOU OFF !

     In many places this has been a very hot summer. I for one don't like hot weather. I know many other people don't like hot weather either.

    People have many ways of keeping cool. Air conditioning! Fans! Shade! Cool drinks! Swimming! Ice cream! I think this list could get very long.

    I quite often think back to my summers in the Arctic. Yes, we had some pleasant weather. I even water skied above the Arctic circle! Believe me that water was cold . You didn't want to fall. The lake water was very, very cold.

   What I think about most often is when I lived on the coast for two years. I lived on a beautiful bay that was 24 miles long and the widest point was about 7 miles.  There were very high tides...45 feet. That was a lot of water going in and out of the bay twice a day.  At the mouth of the bay there were fast currents. When bay water met strait water there were some interesting waves.

    Now the bay didn't freeze until November because of the tides. Once it froze the ice got very thick. There were huge house sized rocks on the beach. When the tide went out in the winter the ice lodged up on the rocks. At times we would find a hole in the ice, stick a ladder down and walk under the ice picking mussels. Google this one and you should find some articles and photos.

    However, (are you ready for this?) one summer the ice went out on July 22. Now does that cool you off? I'll bet it did.

    The bay was completely covered in ice. We knew that the ice would be taken out with the tides but didn't know what day. All of a sudden you look out and you could tell the the ice was moving. In a few hours the ice would be gone. Everything stopped and we met on the beach to watch such an exciting spectacle.


    One year a hunter was on the ice and of course the ice leaves the shore. There was quite the excitement to get him off. At a place where the ice was near the shore another hunter took his kayak and got the guy off the ice.

    So if this doesn't cool you off, I don't know what will!

GETTING ACQUAINTED

     The first time I had some free time I headed to the ocean shore. For this prairie boy it was the first time I lived on a coast and I was eager to get acquainted with the new territory.

      I watched until the tide went out and took my walk. The beach is very rocky and pebbly. It's also slippery. I boldy walked down to the edge of the water. Then I looked back. I became alarmed. I was looking up a hill. I almost panicked for an instant but I looked back at the beach and let it sink in. Tides there were a little over 40 ft. Currents in and out of the bay were 10 - 12 mph.

      The bay would freeze over with these huge tides. The ice would lie on the beach and when the water came back in the ice would rise. There were huge boulders and the ice would lean on the boulders. We could always walk out on the ice without worrying about going through a hole.

    So quickly back up to the high water mark. The settlement was on a steep slope. The government in its wisdom chose to put its buildings up at the top of the slope. The Administrator (me) could look out over his kingdom and have a good view. The Inuit were at the bottom of the slope close to the beach. The Inuit did not have to walk up the hill. Their business was at the water line where they would come and go and bring back seals and fish. Any time I had business I walked down the hill and then back up. I lost weight! I paid for my beautiful view.

   After 2  or 3 nights I heard and awful bang on the side of my house. It was a whoomf sound. It sounded as if a train hit the house. 3 or 4 days later another whoomf. The siding on the house was metal. I couldn't figure out what caused the noise. Gradually I discovered a strong wind would come up suddenly and hit the side of the house and the metal would bend in and make the noise. I had to get used to this for two years.

    It was very windy at times and the wind would blow for days on end. I looked at the weather yesterday and it was minus 24 C and the wind was 49 KMH.

   I consider myself to be lucky to live in a place with a beautiful sea and interesting terrain which was very colorful at times when there were different colored plants. Then there was a long time where things were white.

    The top of Quebec is fairly flat and drops sharply off into the sea. There are 1000 m (1600 ft) cliffs along the edge of the sea. There were some interesting places to walk. Almost every time I went out for a walk a few kids would show up and walk with me. I remember them telling me "Don't go there." if they thought it was dangerous for me.

     I'll finally get to work here but I wanted you to know what the place was like. I have many slides but haven't scanned them.