Fort Albany, Saturday March 31, 2012

Apologies for the delay, internet hasn't been worth using for the last couple of days, but - 'Flood Watch' is still on!

There are no recorded changes in the rivers; levels remain the same (too high) and nothing new has broken up. Most of the those around us have frozen back over slightly but there are still huge chunks of ice sticking up everywhere. When the light hits it exactly right a lot of them turn a gorgeous light blue, almost aqua colour.


Word along the grape vine is that we may not see break up until mid April. There's more than one household ready for it. Walking to look at the Causeway and back you can see many people have turned over their boats on their front lawns and are ready for a BIG flood. I wasn't too worried until I saw how many locals were freaked out by this. When in Rome...

There's a fairly consistent open spot in the ice across the smaller causeway from the main island to Anderson's Island, so the band office organized a couple of people to use their boats and ferry people across to get supplies at the Northern store. It's free and I was looking forward to it, but they've only done it once so far. We'll have to wait until next week and see what happens.




Gas prices are up considerably from previous years so they aren't offering the much talked of $40/person helicopter rides. So, unfortunately the only way I'm getting on is if we evacuate. They still have one circling around every 15 minutes or so, monitoring levels around Albany. They're doing a great job.



Via the school web page, teachers were called into school to prepare work packages on Thursday evening for delivery Friday. It was meant to be enough for four days and I expect we'll be called in to do it again next week.
We were just about to do a test in math, so what I gave them so far is simply review. I'm not sure they'd be able to start a new chapter on their own but we may have to try it out...
Oh and we also had our Farmer's Market. We showed up literally two minutes after it began and most of the tables were next to empty; I've never seen the cafeteria so full. I guess not everyone was able to get on the boats.

My friend commissioned one of his younger cousins to drive us via ski-doo across to Northern just yesterday. It was a beautiful and much-needed break from the monotony of early retirement. We went early on in the morning halfway down the dyke road before the ice melted any. Even so there were a couple slush pockets we got splattered in. Later on we heard someone went through and got stuck, but no one hurt and the machine got out too!

 Have a beautiful weekend and enjoy the day everyone :)

Fort Albany, Tuesday March 27, 2012

It's going on our fourth day of "Flood Watch" and our second day off work. They're still keeping everyone updated on water levels, ice blocks, and have a live video feed coming from a circling helicopter. I'm not sure why, but they've made it available on the school web page instead of the facebook page.




We had a couple decently cold days, keeping everything pretty much blocked up, but now that it's warming up people are actually starting to talk about flooding.

Only a few people from the hospital have been taken out early, but the actual evacuation plan is on hold for now.


That's the flooded causeway behind me - we're actually isolated now since the airport, hospital, and Northern Store are on the 'mainland'. You can get across by helicopter if you need groceries or anything, but apparently it's around $40/person.



The dogs have provided no end for entertainment needs, but even so it's really very quiet around here. Someone's having a potluck at their place tonight so now the biggest dilema in my life is whether to make meat balls or cinnamon buns...

Fort Albany, Sunday March 25, 2012

Every year when the weather warms up the ineventible happens and the ice in all the rivers melt and flow toward James Bay. This year it's obviously happening a bit early, by about a month. No one should really be surprised I guess, but we are. The flood co-ordinator was meant to be hired Monday. When levels were recorded on Friday, that plan was quickly altered and someone was hired Saturday afternoon. Evacuations are being talked of, we're being updated on Facebook, and the local radio station (first in Cree and then in English) but right now it doesn't look like it'll be too extreme.
The causeway across to the mainland flooded early this morning and we keep getting reports that one river's blocked with ice while the other's moving and vice versa. The two orange pilons behind me in the picture kind of show where the road leads down. The dip in the land across the 'lake' is where the road goes back up. It's under!

They blocked the causeway last night well before it flooded for safety's sake as well as the road across to Anderson's Island, though it still has a ways to go.

I've got three dogs in the house right now for various reasons so we went out for a walk this morning to check out the river and work out some bottled energy. The pictures here are where we usually go for our walk, and where I took my mom out onto the ice just last week during her visit. Apparently it was about four feet higher but dropped down again around 8am when the ice started moving again.

Fort Albany, Saturday March 24, 2012

Break-up is happening!!!

Fort Albany, Thursday March 22, 2012

 


Although the March Break is over and done with, I'd still like to invite you to reminince with me over some of the finer days my mom and I spent together...

It turns out that the weather experienced down south was not a concentrated fluke and even in Albany continued on it's upward spiral of intense heat. It's conclusion coming as late as yesterday when it finally hit the minuses over night. Most all of the snow has since melted, the ditches filled, and the foot of slush plowed off the roads twice over. Bel has been soaking it all in like the princess she is.

This of course did not slow us down a great deal as we slopped our way over the upper dyke (sp?) road for an hour or two of hiking through the slush one especially warm day. Bel was absolutely exhausted, though to be honest, time revealed Mom to be the only one not to have resulting sore muscles. Every step taken was half a slide back and had your heel sinking enough to give your calves a good stretch.

Another day we used the ever-shrinking available snow for about 15 minutes of cross country skiing on a small trail behind the school.

We were lucky enough to have a fun little meeting with some of the more excitable young kids as we put our skis away. By the time we got all of the kids out of the pitch-black gym, re-straightened the pile of snow shoes, and picked up the overturned garbage can, they'd already disappeared outside and back into the melting snow heaps...

Of course I must also admit that our Scrabble intake was intensified on especially warm days and on closer inspection, we also managed to complete the entire first season of Corner Gas. We took a few chances to take Bel down to our favourite walking spot at the edge of the river which I think Mom especially appreciated for its view of tall coniferous trees and brisk blowing winds. Always peacefully refreshing.

One day on our return from the Northern store, an especially adorable puppy (I'd nick-named him Charmin's by the time we got home) followed us all the way back to the neighbourhood, made friends with all the pack dogs, and even went out of his way to play with the kids across the road. They're notorious for being a little 'rough' with puppies shall we say. He not only survived it all, but seemed to love every minute of it.
Oh and this last picture's for you Mom. Your pussy willows are out in full bloom all around town and looking beautiful, almost as if to let us know spring's coming a couple months early this year.

Fort Albany, Monday March 11, 2012

It's March Break here in Fort Albany and all is quiet. Eerily so. It looks and sounds like half of the community's gone out for vacation. The minor problem being that of rising temperatures keeping the winter roads all but impassible for everyone excepting die-hards with the next best thing to monster trucks.

My mom arrived on Friday afternoon, the same day as intented and only two hours later than planned. She got the scenic aerial tour of our edge of the James Bay coast making it all the way up to Attawapiskat and back down to Moosonee before getting off in Albany. Gotta keep you on your toes!

So far we've have an enjoyably relaxing time of it; knitting, cross stitching, cooking, walking, and yes even a small dose of shopping at the Northern. A few of the teachers started up a small marshmallow fire in behind the housese this afternoon so that was an added extra for the afternoon. Yesterday we made it to the Catholic church down the road and I think she enjoyed the half English, half Cree service. She concluded that 'Hallelujah' was the same in both languages :)

Fort Albany, Thursday March 8, 2012

It seems some days as though it's all about the weather and this week was no different. Wednesday was rumoured to be going to above zero so the winter road was shut down for the day to 'preserve the road's integrity' as one persone put it. Good thinking. As a result we switched plans quickly to Tuesday, making what could possibly be our last trip to Moosonee and Moose Factory for the season.

On the way there I was finally able to catch a decent picture of a fox. There are always at least two sightings per drive, one way. One of them is a classic red fox and the other is so dark it can almost be described as black. Now at the time, and considering that this picture was taken at dusk during a small snow squall, while the truck was moving, and the fox was running, I thought it was the most fantastic thing in the world.

Most places on our wish list were still open when we arrived, including the diner but discluding the LCBO. The compromise was accepted with grace and a cold bottle of Canadian. Three months doesn't seem so extraordinarily long until you're reminded of what luxuries you're missing out on. The ski-doo alongside here is one of three parked along the side of the road outside the police station. They're obviously designed with the added advantage of blending in on the winter roads and capable of following any boot-legging trails alongside. 

The return trip was the real treat as it provided a curiously curious fox, and one that we haven't yet had the privelage of spotting; an interesting mixing of the orange and black foxes apparently. We were easily able to lure it to within a couple feet of us by shaking a bag and giving it a treat before continuing on. He stuck with us for quite a ways before leaping back over the snow bank and into the mushkeg.