Churchill Redux: 2014: A post a day....just a pipe dream

Well, all my good intentions of posting on a regular or daily basis are as ethereal as the auroras. But, with renewed resolve and a tipple of Southern Comfort, I will try again. I'll also try to include a feature of Past Events of Note and Not So Noteworthy.

Let's start off in the wee hour of 0200 (that's 2 AM, learn your 24 hour time everyone) when 14 hours ago the knock came at the door from the Earthwatch aurora watcher that the lights were on. Now this was supposed to be a possible big Valentine's aurora so up we got, Linda to the dome and me to my camera to go outside. Linda, being the saner of us two, quickly surmised it wasn't worth loosing sleep over and went back to bed. I, however, ventured outdoors only to discover the same thing but was jolted wide awake by the cold which wasn't really too bad as there was no wind. There was also no aurora. Minutes and seconds can count in aurora hunting. But, others were up, had actually seen some weak green streaks, so I with hope decided to stay up for awhile (0200 to 0400 can be a good time usually), help people with their cameras, and did get a few shots although nothing to write home about although apparently I am doing just that. I'll update this later with a pic or two.

Tonight, VD +1, there is an expectation that there will be a nice show and it is still clear so I took a good nap in preparation and to make sure I didn't fall asleep doing dishes at dinner from last night's deprivation. See tomorrow's report on how that went. Update: rats, just read this on Spaceweather.com: STORM WARNING: As expected a "cannibal CME" hit Earth's magnetic field on Feb. 15th at 1300 UT. However, the impact did not spark a geomagnetic storm. Storming could still happen, though, as another CME is en route, due to arrive on Feb. 15-16. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. We'll have to see tonight!

Igloos - today the Earthwatch team set out to build their igloo with gusto and a lot of hand warmers. They plan to sleep in it in teams of three over the course of the next week. Linda and I, having done it last year, plan to provide our lessons learned: take a large 1 gallon wide mouth mayo jar and don't be bashful as you don't want to get dressed just to go outside to pee.

Note Miss Delicica in foreground who I found in RustyBear geocache nearby

mining the blocks with handsaw

Muqpauraq dogs for lunch. Muqpauraq, better known to us as bannock, being a staple of early explorer's basic food is an unleavened baked bread. Wrapped around a hot dog with mustard it is quite good.

Past Events of Note and Not So Noteworthy: Valentine's Day (oh, no, you won't hear the best part of that day) was a nice day for a walk so I took my two women in Inuit fashion and we headed out to take pics and go to the RustyBear geocache. Finding the cache is easy as I've been there before but no one had been to it since Oct 30 2013 while under armed guard during bear season, Picked up another woman while I was there name of Miss Delicica but see above igloo pic so you don't think I had the best Valentine Day ever. It was Donna's first time....finding a geocache. And we bumped into mischievous snow people.