Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
A fox!
Well I always used to think I was a very light sleeper, always waking up quickly from incongruent noises in the night. Lately I haven't been so sure, but this morning maybe proves I still am a light sleeper.
It is 4am, and I have just been woken up by the rooster at the house I am house sitting at this week. Normally the rooster starts crowing between now and 5 am, I just ignore him.
This morning though a very agitated sound is coming from the chicken coop. It is a hard sound to describe but it has urgency and fright in it. This is what I wake up to and for some reason instead of just ignoring "that stupid chicken", I bolt up from my bed and look out the window just in time to see a glimpse of reddish fur/hair at the top of the yard heading down towards the chicken coop....a fox! I yell out the window and the fox pauses but doesn't run away so out if my room I bolt grabbing a jacket along the way. I run out clapping and making noise and watch the run back up the hill, melting into the background...
I check the chickens, both are okay, a bit agitated but the rooster has done his job. His noise made the fox more hesitant (I think) and fortunately, woke me up.
Now to try to catch a few more hours sleep before work.
Good start to the day
Today has started well, slept pretty good last night. Got a bank account setup this morning (finally, now just waiting on that pesky residence permit) and Angelika brought in some blueberry cheesecake for me.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Friday, July 26, 2013
One of my buoys beached! BUT WENT BACK OUT TO SEA!!!
Hey Everyone,
Today's post is a bit different, I will talk a tiny little bit about my research, but don't worry it should be fun or at least interesting.
I want to tell you about a buoy, a small buoy, that has had an interesting life and has recently beached on the Shetland Islands (Scotland).
Buoy 300234010730040 is a small iSphere drifting type buoy. These buoys, developed by MetOcean are designed to be deployed in open water and track the drift of the surface water. They are very much like the MetOcean SVP, or the MetOcean Polar iSVP but are more simple (maybe I should get paid some advertising money by MetOcean??). The buoys have a normal maximum life time of about 12-18 months, at least from our experience. They are rated for longer, but often stop working, either crushed by the ice or ??
They are used in the sea ice community as an inexpensive drift buoy for tracking the motion of sea ice, we just place them on the ice instead of in water. The buoys provide measurements of their position via GPS. You can also request other sensors such as air temperature, sea surface temperature, barometric pressure, humidity and other sensors (see the website).
Now Buoy 300234010730040 is a simple model, just has temperature and position. We deployed this buoy in the Lincoln Sea of the Arctic Ocean during the ESA CryoVEx campaign in April 2011. The Lincoln Sea is between Greenland and northern Ellesmere Island. It is the main study region of our group because the ice drifts towards the coasts in this region producing very thick sea ice that usually survives the summer to become multi-year ice. The Lincoln Sea sits north of Nares Strait, where sea ice can flow out of the Arctic Ocean to the warmer waters to the south and then melt.
During the CryoVEx campaign we deployed four of these buoys. We had two main research sites called North and South at 85.5 and 83.5, respectively. At each site we put out two buoys to track the location of the sites between two visits we made and for aircraft surveys over the sites. Above each buoy we placed a corner reflector. A corner reflector is just a bit of metal that is shaped into a corner and then point so that the bottom of the corner is down. When radar signals from the aircraft hit the corner reflector they bounce right back to the sensor. Normally, when radar hits a surface, only some of the energy goes back to the sensor, the rest is mainly reflected away.
Okay, so we used the buoys successfully during the campaign, we took down our corner reflectors on the second visit the in-situ team made and decided to leave the buoys to track the ice.
Okay, now the interesting bit, of the four buoys that we deployed, two are still working. One of the buoys from the north site died in October of 2011, so it definitely did not make the 18 month expected lifetime.
The second buoy from the north site is still operational, and amazingly is still in the Lincoln Sea. It has spent more than two years there now, it is a pretty interesting data record. In 2012, we looked for it from the air, but I think it was buried. I guess this because 1) they are bright orange and can be pretty easy to spot, and 2) the temperature profile from the buoy was very smooth in 2012, which may indicate it was buried in snow as the snow would limit fluctuations in temperature.
From the South site both buoys drifted out of the Lincoln Sea through Nares Strait in October 2011. And then their lives get interesting. Below is a map showing the positions from Buoy 30023401070040 (i.e. the buoy that is still going).
Both buoys drifted south into Nares Strait. Both had drifted quite aways south but then a strong wind from the south sent the ice drifting back up the strait but this time on the opposite side of the channel. Pretty cool.
After this they flowed south past Baffin Island and into Hudson Strait. The buoy that is still running drifted back out, while the other one beached on shore.
Here you can see that the buoy spent a bit of time circulating in and out of Hudson Strait/ Ungava Bay.
Since then the buoy has travelled all the way to Ireland, then most of the way back to Greenland and then now up to the Shetland Islands.
Buoy 300234010730040 travelled somewhere around 22,000km (I have not gone through all the gps points to remove outliers, but did remove a couple). 22,000km is longer than all of the coastline of the U.S.A. (according to the CIA World Fact Book (here), or a little less than 4 times the distance from Edmonton to Tromso, or (last one I promise) about 5 times the distance between Edmonton, AB and the North Pole.
Compare this to the buoy (300234010735050) that has stayed in the Lincoln Sea. In two years, it has travelled only about 1700km! That's less than 10% of Buoy 300234010730040.
Here is the temperature record from the buoy. Some interesting things, the melt in 2011, then maybe sitting in water, maybe a melt pond, or open water, then back down to freezing temperatures and then finally warming. Can see some points big changes in temperature in May and June 2012, but it was near Hudson Strait then.
If you look at all the buoys together, there are many cool features sitting in this data, for instance, Buoy S1 and S2 were together, separated by about 460m until September 5, 2011. Then the ice floes that each one was on started drifting apart, then smashing back together, then apart, and eventually one or both of the floes was/were turning and coming closer to the/each other.
OKAY! BACK TO THE BUOY'S DRIFTING LIFE:
Last week, the buoy was beached on a small beach near Gunnister, Shetland Islands, Scotland.
It spent a couple days on the beach, and then with a high tide ?? and maybe some wind and good fortune, it drifted back out to sea. Who knows maybe some one pushed it back out. In any event, it can continue on its' merry way. Below are some Google Maps Street View pictures of as close to the spot the buoy beached as you can get.
I had hoped it would go up the coast of Norway, but hey let's just see where time takes it. It is currently heading back out into the Atlantic towards Greenland ( though still not far from the Shetlands). I'll try to remember to post about this buoy when it finally dies, as it inevitably will. For now, the battery voltage is high (very high actually), so who knows where it will end up and when it will die, hopefully not for awhile.
Today's post is a bit different, I will talk a tiny little bit about my research, but don't worry it should be fun or at least interesting.
I want to tell you about a buoy, a small buoy, that has had an interesting life and has recently beached on the Shetland Islands (Scotland).
Buoy 300234010730040 is a small iSphere drifting type buoy. These buoys, developed by MetOcean are designed to be deployed in open water and track the drift of the surface water. They are very much like the MetOcean SVP, or the MetOcean Polar iSVP but are more simple (maybe I should get paid some advertising money by MetOcean??). The buoys have a normal maximum life time of about 12-18 months, at least from our experience. They are rated for longer, but often stop working, either crushed by the ice or ??
They are used in the sea ice community as an inexpensive drift buoy for tracking the motion of sea ice, we just place them on the ice instead of in water. The buoys provide measurements of their position via GPS. You can also request other sensors such as air temperature, sea surface temperature, barometric pressure, humidity and other sensors (see the website).
Now Buoy 300234010730040 is a simple model, just has temperature and position. We deployed this buoy in the Lincoln Sea of the Arctic Ocean during the ESA CryoVEx campaign in April 2011. The Lincoln Sea is between Greenland and northern Ellesmere Island. It is the main study region of our group because the ice drifts towards the coasts in this region producing very thick sea ice that usually survives the summer to become multi-year ice. The Lincoln Sea sits north of Nares Strait, where sea ice can flow out of the Arctic Ocean to the warmer waters to the south and then melt.
During the CryoVEx campaign we deployed four of these buoys. We had two main research sites called North and South at 85.5 and 83.5, respectively. At each site we put out two buoys to track the location of the sites between two visits we made and for aircraft surveys over the sites. Above each buoy we placed a corner reflector. A corner reflector is just a bit of metal that is shaped into a corner and then point so that the bottom of the corner is down. When radar signals from the aircraft hit the corner reflector they bounce right back to the sensor. Normally, when radar hits a surface, only some of the energy goes back to the sensor, the rest is mainly reflected away.
 |
| Buoy and Corner Reflector. Photo Courtesy of Rosemary Willatt, (C) 2011. |
Okay, so we used the buoys successfully during the campaign, we took down our corner reflectors on the second visit the in-situ team made and decided to leave the buoys to track the ice.
Okay, now the interesting bit, of the four buoys that we deployed, two are still working. One of the buoys from the north site died in October of 2011, so it definitely did not make the 18 month expected lifetime.
The second buoy from the north site is still operational, and amazingly is still in the Lincoln Sea. It has spent more than two years there now, it is a pretty interesting data record. In 2012, we looked for it from the air, but I think it was buried. I guess this because 1) they are bright orange and can be pretty easy to spot, and 2) the temperature profile from the buoy was very smooth in 2012, which may indicate it was buried in snow as the snow would limit fluctuations in temperature.
From the South site both buoys drifted out of the Lincoln Sea through Nares Strait in October 2011. And then their lives get interesting. Below is a map showing the positions from Buoy 30023401070040 (i.e. the buoy that is still going).
Both buoys drifted south into Nares Strait. Both had drifted quite aways south but then a strong wind from the south sent the ice drifting back up the strait but this time on the opposite side of the channel. Pretty cool.
After this they flowed south past Baffin Island and into Hudson Strait. The buoy that is still running drifted back out, while the other one beached on shore.
Here you can see that the buoy spent a bit of time circulating in and out of Hudson Strait/ Ungava Bay.
Since then the buoy has travelled all the way to Ireland, then most of the way back to Greenland and then now up to the Shetland Islands.
Buoy 300234010730040 travelled somewhere around 22,000km (I have not gone through all the gps points to remove outliers, but did remove a couple). 22,000km is longer than all of the coastline of the U.S.A. (according to the CIA World Fact Book (here), or a little less than 4 times the distance from Edmonton to Tromso, or (last one I promise) about 5 times the distance between Edmonton, AB and the North Pole.
Compare this to the buoy (300234010735050) that has stayed in the Lincoln Sea. In two years, it has travelled only about 1700km! That's less than 10% of Buoy 300234010730040.
Here is the temperature record from the buoy. Some interesting things, the melt in 2011, then maybe sitting in water, maybe a melt pond, or open water, then back down to freezing temperatures and then finally warming. Can see some points big changes in temperature in May and June 2012, but it was near Hudson Strait then.
If you look at all the buoys together, there are many cool features sitting in this data, for instance, Buoy S1 and S2 were together, separated by about 460m until September 5, 2011. Then the ice floes that each one was on started drifting apart, then smashing back together, then apart, and eventually one or both of the floes was/were turning and coming closer to the/each other.
OKAY! BACK TO THE BUOY'S DRIFTING LIFE:
Last week, the buoy was beached on a small beach near Gunnister, Shetland Islands, Scotland.
It spent a couple days on the beach, and then with a high tide ?? and maybe some wind and good fortune, it drifted back out to sea. Who knows maybe some one pushed it back out. In any event, it can continue on its' merry way. Below are some Google Maps Street View pictures of as close to the spot the buoy beached as you can get.
In the picture below you can see the beach where the buoy beached. Nice place for a rest.
I had hoped it would go up the coast of Norway, but hey let's just see where time takes it. It is currently heading back out into the Atlantic towards Greenland ( though still not far from the Shetlands). I'll try to remember to post about this buoy when it finally dies, as it inevitably will. For now, the battery voltage is high (very high actually), so who knows where it will end up and when it will die, hopefully not for awhile.
#FieldPhotoFriday
I know a few scientists/researchers who post a field photo on most Fridays. I thought I'd try it.
Today, way back from my work as an undergraduate summer field assistant in 2007 on West Washmawapta Glacier in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, with @JLKavanaugh
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
My cooking is improving
Tonight's dinner might be the best I have made for myself yet while here. Chicken salad with white nectarine, blueberries and cucumber with strawberry balsamic vinaigrette. I made the vinaigrette by stirring together some strawberry jam and balsamic. I also cooked the chicken in a bit of this for the last minute or two.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Saturday Morning Hike Up Nordtinden
Wow, there is just not enough time in the day to get done everything I want.
This quick post is just a few pictures from the top of Nordtinden, a 640m mountain near Skulsfjord where I was staying with my friends Harvey and Angelika and their dog Yukon for the past month.
Now, I am temporarily house-sitting for a researcher who works at NPI. His name is Hakon Hop and he is a biologist and an extremely experienced under-ice diver. I met Hakon in 2010 when I joined two cruises with NPI. He is going on a cruise for two weeks and his family is going to Canada to visit relatives. So this luckily Canadian is house sitting in a BEAUTIFUL house with an great view.
The house is near Tonsvik, another small town near Tromso (about 22km away). The bus connections and internet are a bit better here than in Skulsfjord, but I already notice how quiet it is without Yukon, Harvey and Angelika (probably no great fishing trips in store for me for the next two weeks).
OKAY, back to the real blog post content, my hike up Nordtinden. Saturday morning I woke up and checked the weather forecast. It was going to be overcast until 2pm and then start raining, and it would keep raining all day Saturday and Sunday. So I decided I better take Yukon out while I could stay dry.
Nordtinden is the mountain you can see in this blog post, 7th picture down (from my last longer hiking trip near Skulsfjord). (or you can just look below for the small version, the link has a bigger version).
I wanted to climb up this the last time, but did not, I was tired already and so I just went to the small waterfall you can see in the picture above.
So by about 10:30, off I went with Yukon. It was a nice hike, the very beginning and a short bit near the end were the steepest sections but overall a nice hike, not too difficult.
The clouds were low on Saturday, very low, sometimes they would buildup and surround me and Yukon and then quickly fade away. Luckily when I got to the top we had a bit of a break, the clouds where a bit above us and away from the views.
Well that's all for this post. Want to work a bit on the post about a buoy....coming up very soon I hope, just need to analyze some of the data for you to give you a few figures and facts.
This quick post is just a few pictures from the top of Nordtinden, a 640m mountain near Skulsfjord where I was staying with my friends Harvey and Angelika and their dog Yukon for the past month.
Now, I am temporarily house-sitting for a researcher who works at NPI. His name is Hakon Hop and he is a biologist and an extremely experienced under-ice diver. I met Hakon in 2010 when I joined two cruises with NPI. He is going on a cruise for two weeks and his family is going to Canada to visit relatives. So this luckily Canadian is house sitting in a BEAUTIFUL house with an great view.
The house is near Tonsvik, another small town near Tromso (about 22km away). The bus connections and internet are a bit better here than in Skulsfjord, but I already notice how quiet it is without Yukon, Harvey and Angelika (probably no great fishing trips in store for me for the next two weeks).
OKAY, back to the real blog post content, my hike up Nordtinden. Saturday morning I woke up and checked the weather forecast. It was going to be overcast until 2pm and then start raining, and it would keep raining all day Saturday and Sunday. So I decided I better take Yukon out while I could stay dry.
Nordtinden is the mountain you can see in this blog post, 7th picture down (from my last longer hiking trip near Skulsfjord). (or you can just look below for the small version, the link has a bigger version).
 |
| Nordtinden |
I wanted to climb up this the last time, but did not, I was tired already and so I just went to the small waterfall you can see in the picture above.
So by about 10:30, off I went with Yukon. It was a nice hike, the very beginning and a short bit near the end were the steepest sections but overall a nice hike, not too difficult.
The clouds were low on Saturday, very low, sometimes they would buildup and surround me and Yukon and then quickly fade away. Luckily when I got to the top we had a bit of a break, the clouds where a bit above us and away from the views.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Holy Mackerel! and cod!
Maybe you guessed from the title, but I went fishing this weekend, twice, and with great success.
A couple minutes later (at most) I had another bite, and it felt much heavier and stronger...I was excited, was it a much bigger cod, or something else..
Turns out it was just 3 cod, just 3. SWEET! Okay, well if it keeps going like this, maybe we will fill Harvey's freezer, but surely it can't, it must just be beginners luck I thought.
After just a couple hours we had 8 cod, and 3 coal fish, about 15kg (including heads but no guts).
Harvey really did not get much chance to fish, as he was right away gutting and cleaning the fish a bit. I have no idea how to do this but it seems that you make an slice behind the gills and then split open the underside and then remove the guts (feel free to inform me if I am wrong).
We decided that we had enough for one night, it was beginning to rain a bit and it was 9pm and we had not had dinner yet. We arrived in Skulsfjord and the weather was nice, cloudy but no rain here, we anchored the boat and started loading into the dingy. In about 30seconds the weather changed, lots of rain and wind, waves, We sheltered in the boat for a bit, as we would not really be able to paddle the dingy to shore in the wind and waves.
After a few minutes there was a lull and we went for it and made it to shore without problems. Was pretty amazing (and a little stressful) to see how fast the weather can change on you.
After getting back, Harvey turned the kitchen into a slaughter house and we put away the fish. I had the fun task of splitting the heads into smaller pieces so that Yukon (the dog) can have them. This would not have been to bad, except the hatchet I had was a bit dull, okay actually it was really dull. But with a knife to help out and a bit of force, I managed to cut up the heads, and in the process see parts of a fish I'd never had, and still don't have, any interest in seeing.
On Sunday, the weather was again variable in the morning, windy, rainy, then sunny, then windy and rainy all over again. However, at about 2pm the weather cleared. At 5pm we went out fishing again, to a new spot. Again after just 2 to 2.5 hours we caught 15 mackerel. There must have been a school of them swimming around because only one cast had just one fish, all the others had three or four and I think one cast even had 5 fish on it.
Again, Harvey was kept quite busy cleaning and gutting fish, having time to cast once or twice with a rod before having to work at cleaning full time. However we came a bit more preparred today so he had a few more buckets to use to help organize and he was much quicker.
Harvey and Angelika were back from their hiking holiday and we had some sunny breaks.
The weather had been pretty rainy and windy last week, but on Saturday evening, the weather cleared up a bit and we decided to go fishing.
We did not go very far from Skulsfjord, and went near a small island in a fjord. One one side of the island the ground below drops quite quickly and we thought we'd try fishing along the drop as our boat drifted over it.
I cannot remember the last time I went fishing, but it has been awhile, and it has been much longer since I have actually caught something, actually for all I know, I never have. So maybe it was beginners luck, or maybe just Harvey's expertly chosen location but we brought up 15kg of fish, mostly cod. Harvey was fishing shallow with a rod, and I wish fishing near the bottom with a line with multiple hooks on it.
After just a few minutes, I had a bite, and up came this cod. I was pretty excited! OKAY! Great!, but Harvey wanted his freezer filled so back to work I went.
 |
| My first fish and cod! |
Turns out it was just 3 cod, just 3. SWEET! Okay, well if it keeps going like this, maybe we will fill Harvey's freezer, but surely it can't, it must just be beginners luck I thought.
 |
| Just a couple minutes later....note there are three!!, that's right 3!!! fish.
A little more time and more fish. Man this is my kind of fishing. I do distinctly remember fishing once for hours and hours on a lake and not catching a thing, but this, this I like.
|
 |
Harvey really did not get much chance to fish, as he was right away gutting and cleaning the fish a bit. I have no idea how to do this but it seems that you make an slice behind the gills and then split open the underside and then remove the guts (feel free to inform me if I am wrong).
 |
| The final haul |
We decided that we had enough for one night, it was beginning to rain a bit and it was 9pm and we had not had dinner yet. We arrived in Skulsfjord and the weather was nice, cloudy but no rain here, we anchored the boat and started loading into the dingy. In about 30seconds the weather changed, lots of rain and wind, waves, We sheltered in the boat for a bit, as we would not really be able to paddle the dingy to shore in the wind and waves.
After a few minutes there was a lull and we went for it and made it to shore without problems. Was pretty amazing (and a little stressful) to see how fast the weather can change on you.
After getting back, Harvey turned the kitchen into a slaughter house and we put away the fish. I had the fun task of splitting the heads into smaller pieces so that Yukon (the dog) can have them. This would not have been to bad, except the hatchet I had was a bit dull, okay actually it was really dull. But with a knife to help out and a bit of force, I managed to cut up the heads, and in the process see parts of a fish I'd never had, and still don't have, any interest in seeing.
On Sunday, the weather was again variable in the morning, windy, rainy, then sunny, then windy and rainy all over again. However, at about 2pm the weather cleared. At 5pm we went out fishing again, to a new spot. Again after just 2 to 2.5 hours we caught 15 mackerel. There must have been a school of them swimming around because only one cast had just one fish, all the others had three or four and I think one cast even had 5 fish on it.
Again, Harvey was kept quite busy cleaning and gutting fish, having time to cast once or twice with a rod before having to work at cleaning full time. However we came a bit more preparred today so he had a few more buckets to use to help organize and he was much quicker.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Check out this XKCD comic: Draining the oceans!
Just saw this cool comic from XKCD.com where the author has answered the question what would happen of we drained the oceans.
Have a look it is pretty interesting.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
A hard day to miss and be missing
Today is an important day, and while I have not forgotten it, I am missing for it. Today's wife and I have been married for three years.
It is a tough day to be away. Sitting here on the bus I've been think about our lives together so far. They have been pretty exciting, lots of milestones, both personal and as a couple (team?).
The day started off dry but it has been raining and windy. But just when I started thinking of my amazing wife, the sun peaked through (really!)
Well I'm getting motion sick staring at and typing on my phone so that is the end of this post.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Good to be back in The Netherlands
Perhaps it is because I speak the language or because my extended family is here but I am very happy to be back in The Netherlands.
I had two productive Days of meetings with fellow CryoSat-2 Sea Ice validation team members at ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk.
In addition to seeing my supervisor I was also able to meet some colleagues and friends.
Now I will spend the weekend with family, first at my aunt and uncle's, then grandparents (Opa and Oma) and finally back to my other aunt and uncle's.
I have until Monday and right now the weather looks good all weekend.
Okay it is now a few hours later and I have had supper and visited with my uncle Maarten and his partner Heleen.
We have had a very nice dinner of pork sate (peanut sauce and pork marinated with garlic and spices).
Tomorrow morning I am off to my grandparents.
Justin
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
On my way to Holland!
Well I am sitting I the Tromsø airport waiting or my flight to Oslo and on to Amsterdam. 
I have some meetings at ESA ESTEC in Noordwijk and then I will stay over the weekend to visit family. It is nice to get o see then again so soon.
I even get to stay at a hotel on the beach. Will be nice to sit/walk in the evening.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Quick Fishing Trip
Yesterday Harvey and Angelika returned from their holidays in Germany. I met them at the shopping center in town on their way home from the airport. We had a bit of late dinner. Harvey and I had beer marinated whale meat...mmmmm, delicious!
Then we decided that since it was such a nice night we would go out for a little fishing trip in their boat. Since the boat is just a few hundred meters from the house, this is rather quick and easy to do.
We headed out and I stuck the go pro up front to take some pictures, just in case.
We did not catch any fish, but it was very nice to go out on the water. It was calm and quiet and relaxing (though a surprising number of boats were out and around). We did see some jellyfish.
On the way back, Harvey noticed some ripples that did not seem to just right, so we stopped and turned around and saw a porpoise splashing around.
Then we decided that since it was such a nice night we would go out for a little fishing trip in their boat. Since the boat is just a few hundred meters from the house, this is rather quick and easy to do.
We headed out and I stuck the go pro up front to take some pictures, just in case.
We did not catch any fish, but it was very nice to go out on the water. It was calm and quiet and relaxing (though a surprising number of boats were out and around). We did see some jellyfish.
On the way back, Harvey noticed some ripples that did not seem to just right, so we stopped and turned around and saw a porpoise splashing around.
Monday, July 1, 2013
MY this place is beautiful!
Well it’s the weekend. Usually this would mean relaxing,
sitting back with a good book, maybe catching up on some TV shows, and walking
the dog. And of course running errands, groceries, etc.
Here it is a bit different for me, but not a lot. It still means a bit of relaxing, though I am
also trying to work at least 4-5 hours each weekend day, sometimes taking a
whole day off only to work 8hrs or so the next day.
I find that the weekends is when I most miss my wife and dog. Normally we spend a lot of time together on the weekends. Also my weekends here tend to be just working or hiking, but in any case just me (and Yukon right now).
I find that the weekends is when I most miss my wife and dog. Normally we spend a lot of time together on the weekends. Also my weekends here tend to be just working or hiking, but in any case just me (and Yukon right now).
On Friday I came home, ate a quick supper and then walked
with Yukon for an hour and a half or so.
I finished off the Wheel of Time series and didn’t do too much else
besides staying up late reading.
Yesterday, I slept in, fed the dog, ate breakfast and
relaxed a bit and then worked from noon until 5pm. I’m trying to spend the time working on the
weekends on work that I am not doing here going my fellowship stay. This
weekend, I am looking at some CryoSat-2 data and writing some new scripts.
Last night Yukon and I went for an nice almost three hour
hike to the top of some of the hills/mountains behind Skulsfjord. It was nice
to go around and up and down and so forth.
However, the flies were starting to drive me insane, constantly buzzing
around my head…and my one toe felt like it was starting to blister so we headed
back without going up the bigger peak that I wanted to get to. Nonetheless, the hike offered some amazing views and we did walk a fair bit.
Last night after we got back the local reindeer decided to
come eat the grass near Yukon’s run. He
was a bit excited by this but overall was very calm and behaved considering.
Last night I again stayed up late reading (the new Steve
Berry book, it was only okay), so I slept in again this morning. I went to the kitchen to make
breakfast and found that a spider had made a web from the window to the
sink. So I stopped to take a few
pictures before removing it.
The rest of today I will work a bit, walk the dog and make supper and relax (probably with a book).
On Wednesday I fly to the Netherlands for some meetings at the European Space Agency ESTEC. Then Friday-Sunday I will visit with my family in Holland. Looking forward to seeing them again so soon. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and let me sit outside a bunch and maybe wade around a bit in the ocean, though in this case I will definitely miss the midnight sun.
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