End of January 2019

In spite of constant temperatures below 0 (usually below -15!) life up here continues to be hectic indoors and outdoors. The temps are crazy low, but you dress for it. Also, between snowfalls the grounds are usually white and frozen and the sun welcomes the world more than I have ever experienced during a Canadian winter on Vancouver Island. As a newcomer to this ever present cold and snow, I still find it quite enchanting.

Each morning I get up at 6:30 a.m. so I have time to look after the cat’s list of jobs (morning bath and brush, feed, radio, etc). my morning jobs, pre-start the vehicle 2x when it’s below -15 and unplug the engine prior to departure. One of my schools is 7 minutes drive towards Topley and I’m on 8:05 a.m. duty each day! I supervise the children who arrive off the first 2 of the 5 buses that transport our students from outlying areas. The policy is they all stay outside unless the temperature drops below -20 Celsius. They are delightful! They read to each other on the mini picnic tables. They play games. They love to shovel snow and build forts in the surrounding forest areas. Some just chill and eat their breakfast. I am learning lots about farming and ranching jobs from some of them.

Once our day starts inside the school the focus at the moment is definitely Science Fair preparation at both of my schools. Students are busy with experiments, typing up their information, and creation of their backboards. I am busy assisting classes. 🙂

After school hours, life is busy with Teacher Professional Development, Dance lessons with Deirdre, exploring around Burns Lake, and keeping the wood stove going when it is below -15. I had my first burn this week! Ouch! Statistics from my blog are very interesting….I wonder who is reading my blog in Italy and France? Arggg! The forecast is for -40 degrees next week!