I can hardly believe I've been at Bear Brook for over two months. We just finished week four in our classrooms, so we're almost half way done with education season. Schools were out for the final week of February so instead of teaching we did training and had a few guest speakers. All in all it was good to have a break out of schools but I'm glad to be getting back into it.
I also am having trouble believing that winter is nearly over. While we still have over two feet of snow on the ground, it's quickly melting due to temperatures above freezing every day this week. I started off March by spending a weekend in Montreal, Canada. That was an amazing, yet fairly chilly experience. We spent Friday night at a friend's house in Vermont and then drove into Montreal Saturday. We spent the day exploring the city and waiting for the reason for our travel, the Nuit Blanche festival. In a nutshell this event incorporates art, music, games, food, and sight seeing into an all night adventure. Most of the activities stayed open til 3 am. I stayed up til nearly 2 am and then walked back to our hostel for the night. I look forward to seeing the city again when I'm not shivering every time I walk outside.
So back to the spring weather. While days here have been increasingly warm, the nights are still quite cold. This has been causing our roads to thaw during the day and re freeze overnight. It's a good thing we have a sander to keep our roads safe. It amazes me that I have yet to see any bit of the ground. The night before I arrived here a snow storm came through and there has been almost no melting since then. With the warmer temperatures also will come a thaw of our frozen ponds. Last week we measured the thickness of the ice at 22 inches, but I suspect that will rapidly decrease. While I'm looking forward to spring and slightly warmer temperatures, I'm not looking forward to a hot and humid summer. I'm sure soon enough I'll be wishing for single digits again so I'm cool enough to sleep by the fire.
For now that's all my updates. Right now I'm enjoying a lazy afternoon in the lodge. Some people are out in town and others are staying in camp. As per usual, I won't see everyone again until Monday morning. But sometimes the quiet is a nice change.
