Pre-Winter Update

Hello Everyone!

Thanks to the heavy snowfall and dropping temperatures I have been keeping myself busy these days.

Daylight Savings cut back my afternoon sunlight, so I have about 15 minutes between leaving school and sunset now...this is not ideal when wanting to take 30-minute off-leash walks every day!

My friend and I have come up a new solution to the sunlight problem, we chase the dogs around the backyard for 30 minutes instead! This gives us the heart-rate workout we want, as well as some quality exercise time for the pups.

The Mistissini Lodge is a ten-minute walk from our homes, so we have started taking the dogs to the lodge and lake in the afternoon when it's not too windy. The dogs love it because sometimes they see other dog friends and the views are beautiful.

The photo above was from one of our sunset walks, the sky is very pink at the horizon and what you see of the snow is actually Lake Mistassini! The snow has almost covered the entire lake at this point, but we are far from being able to snowshoe or ski-doo on it. Come January, we will be able to take snowshoe walks all the way to that little island you can see in the middle of the picture. The round-trip of that walk is about 2 hours if the wind isn't too strong.

The coldest part of winter comes from the winds, I've been wondering lately why I don't feel as cold as I think I should. It says -20C (-4F) outside, but it feels more like 0C(32F) to me! This is partially because I bundle myself up like a snowman every time I set foot outside my house, only letting my nose be exposed, but it's also partly due to the lack of wind. This is a fact I will not complain about at all, because once the wind kicks in, the cold chills you to the bone. At that point, I get jealous of the dogs for having such thick fur to protect their bodies!

Mistissini hosted the annual hockey tournament this month, and it was so amazing to see students of all ages show off their natural talent on the ice. Although some of the teams lost, they were great sports and showed good sportsmanship at the end during the handshake. I always love this part of the game because it shows respect to each other no matter the outcome.

It feels like the only thing I've been doing these days is taking walks on the trails around the community, but how can I not with such beautiful snow and views! Lily is such a good companion in the snow, even though sometimes she evades being put on leash because she just wants to stay outside! We even have doggie friends that follow us on our walks sometimes, these are dogs that live in the community, they may or may not have owners, but they are friendly and join us on our walks.

The picture below is of a big husky mix that was a lot of fun to walk with, he was so much bigger than Lily, but very gentle.

Our biggest snowfall was a few weeks ago with close to two feet of snow throughout the weekend. Since then, it hasn't snowed as much, but the weather has dipped significantly. We are looking at a warm weekend, fingers crossed! It's supposed to hover close to freezing with more snow to come. 

American Thanksgiving is this week for most of you, so if you are celebrating please stuff your bellies full of turkey for me! I have a full week of school, so no mid-November break for me! I am sure I will find a way to celebrate with my Northern family :)

Stay warm, safe and thankful this month!

Thanks for staying with me throughout my journey,

~Vicki