A soul sucking beginning of February

We right now sit on the cusp of returning to a more familiar Yellowknife February. Nights of -40 appear to be right around the corner, again, but for the last couple of weeks, it has felt more like November.

Nighttime lows have only barely reached the -20s, and then there’s the cloud. So much cloud. Tens of centimetres of new snow. It feels like it never stops.

My night drives have often been long, and not always fruitful. We have sometimes dramatically adjusted our schedule, exploited ice roads for a few extra kilometres of hope, and been painfully patient. The nights of everything coming together have been exhilarating, but the others have been, cumulatively, more than a little exhaustingly heartbreaking.

When you ask what do I do in the summer, and I tell you with a smile and a laugh, “just not think about the weather” — it is entirely serious, and the reprieve from stretches like this are very much needed.