So much has happened in the last two weeks....

Over the Easter break we had some interesting events. Some social unrest sparked by protest signs in one of the local's home resulted in the community having no police, and the school losing two teachers. Additionally we lost four more days of instruction, but after having several meetings, one of which was a support show from the parents towards the school. We are now back in business!
The ice on the lakes continues to melt, here I took a picture of the cracks that soon will expand and become liquid. Some areas are melted, and you can see fishing boats out there with their motors. Ricardo is planning to take out the canoe very soon...
Some sad news is that Nanook, his canine friend was shot by one of the locals. Apparently he went for another of the cats, and paid dearly. It reminds me of the old days back in Argentina, when I'd go out to the country and feel very upset when dogs were shot as a means of controlling their numbers.


Ricardo put together a nice fire pit area behind the house which has quickly become an area of socializing. He just picked up odds and bods lying around, and built benches and a small table as well as the pit. It also came in handy two days ago when the community lost power due to one of the generators malfunctioning. A good fire provided for spaghetties for lunch and some hot beverages. The day we took this picture, it was so hot! I think we got up to 30 celcius...
Now we are back to seasonal temperatures, between 0 and 15....

Happy Easter Everyone!

I wasn't able to get a picture of the skating rink with the children on it before it melted....here is the rink anyways. You can tell that it's in the morning, as kids here can't be seen until after 11 am. Many of them are up quite late, and hence the absenteeism problem on school mornings.

Last week we had another round of teacher interviews in Toronto, so I was able to see Alex, Gloria, Thomas and Jason. I also acted as tour guide/driver as I had one of the Education Board Members, Sharon with me. We drove to Niagara Falls, zoomed by Niagara on the Lake, and enjoyed a live band with Alex and a friend the previous night downtown Toronto. A great dinner at a restaurant by Queen's Quay (poor Alex froze at the temperatures had dipped....).

Three days ago, at lunch time we suddenly heard a big bang....a bolt of lightning hit close by. It didn't rain, but made for a good picture composition with the black sky, white lake and green trees....

Today it was snowing again, but the temperatures are too warm for it to stay on the ground, so back to the slushy, sandy grounds again. Yesterday I got stuck in the middle of the road, the back wheels of the F250 I drive got buried in the sand, as the road was too soft. Fortunately Ricardo came to the rescue and was able to engage the 4x4.
As you can see, I'm in my shirt ouside at noon so the temperatures are climbing. The patches in the lake are the areas that are getting thinner, still snowmobiles venture out...