It's Here! It's Here!

Summer is here!! The past couple of days have been beautiful here in Baker Lake - warm (15 degrees), sunny and no wind. I've been going for walks with Pepper and neither of us have had to wear jackets! We've certainly been keeping the sun busy since we get about 21 hours of daylight these days, so our blackout curtains have been well utilized each evening. It's not uncommon to be sitting on the couch and not realizing that it's almost midnight because it's still so bright outside and you can still hear the kids playing in the street. We have to consciously mind the time or it's much too easy to stay up way past our bedtime.

One night in particular, the colour of the sky caught my eye as I was pulling the drapes closed and I threw on my robe and slippers and grabbed the camera to run downstairs and out the door. It was a gorgeous pink sky and a double rainbow (it had been raining all afternoon/evening) that was a perfect half circle across the horizon. I had to go from the front of the house to the back to take the pictures, but it was a beautiful, beautiful sight that took my breath away. My camera doesn't do it justice, but it was probably the prettiest sky I've seen since we moved. Where else can you get such an amazing view at 11:45pm?

Of course with all of this warm weather, the snow is rapidly melting and we're seeing less and less white every day. The lake is starting to thaw out and you see a bit more water each morning - it should be a few more weeks until it completely melts, but you can see it starting. What's amazing is seeing snowmobiles still zipping across the ice even though there are huge pockets of water. They actually skip from ice to ice, over the melted areas - it's terrifying and exciting to watch because it looks so dangerous if they were to misjudge and fall into the deep lake.

I also didn't realize how thick the snow actually was until I saw it starting to melt. Here's a picture that I took while out on a walk with Pepper, and you can see the "waterfall" that has been created by the snow melting - but more importantly, you can see how thick the snow actually was by looking at the sides of the little canyon that's formed.

The water from the above picture flows under the road and towards the lake, which is also helping the edge by the shore melt quicker than the lake further away.

Not only is the snow melting, but you can start to see the little buds growing on some of the plant life - soon they will turn into pretty purple flowers everywhere and the landscape is covered with them. I can't wait!! Summer's here and I love it!

-L