No, sadly, this is not northern lights. I was hoping I would catch them since Fort McMurray is at 57 degrees north and it is a fairly common occurrence. This looks like it could be, but actually it is light from a tar sands extraction plant just a few km north of the city. 

Fort McMurray, Alberta. At 57 degrees north, this is the furthest north I have been (as my friend here pointed out). Lucky for me they are experiencing a bit of a heat wave. Yesterday it was a balmy -12 C, and today it is forecast to go above 0. I can tell you it is sunny and very pleasant.

Here is a shot from an exhibit along the highway. This is retired equipment and a technology that apparently is no longer in use here. It is difficult to capture the massiveness of this equipment. Machinery like this, and so many other things about this town tell you how much effort has been put into extracting oil. At least up til now.

Wait. Wasn't I just at the airport yesterday? At least this time it's for vacation. I keep checking for my passport and then feel so good when I remember I don't need it. Don't need to fill out an arrivals card, don't need to pass immigration, don't need foreign currency. It is very exciting. 

The result of this week's efforts. Grey line is water temperature, and blue line is water depth. You can see there was a major rain event on Thursday night and a resulting sudden rise in river depth from about 0.3 metres to 1.5 metres. It was great to be able to check that the installation is solid and was not washed away by all that water. Five days of data doesn't really tell us much. We probably need at least 3 years of data, and better still 5 years of data before we can start to make any kind of meaningful interpretation. Fortunately the logger will just keep taking readings automatically. There is always a risk of vandalism or theft, but the station itself weighs 100 lbs, and is fastened with both a stake and a metal cable, so there would be some work involved for someone to take this thing away. Not entirely out of the question, but not something that someone is just going to do on a whim. But time will tell. At least 5 days out, everything is going well.

Last night I overheard some guests at the hotel talking about how land prices have jumped by huge amounts in a community called Juan Adrian. This because of a new highway under construction from the centre of the country to the west which is transforming Juan Adrian from sleepy mountain village into bustling, near-urban way-stop.

We all have heard about the world's shifting population, and how for the first time in history there are more people living in cities than in rural areas. For me this shift tends to be mostly invisible, and so it is a bit shocking to have such an in-your-face manifestation of global change. This also likely means more deforestation and erosion in a place that was otherwise stable. The area where the highway is going slices right through the very top of the Maimon watershed which feeds the Yuna river, which ultimately flows into Samana bay, a critical breeding area for humpback whales. Not that road building is going to immediately threaten whales, but everything is inter-connected, and protecting the source of the Maimon and Yuna river becomes more important and urgent than before. 

I think--not totally sure--but I think hotel staff are bringing me my breakfast this morning without me ordering. At least a coffee was delivered to my table without me asking for it. And I think I smell eggs frying. Two days in a row now I have ordered an egg and cheese sandwich, so I'm guessing that I'm getting an egg/cheese sandwich today too. Which is what I would have ordered anyway.

I want to say that this is the first time in a while when I have actually felt like blogging. I know that creative energy fluctuates up and down. Difficult to describe but I think everyone knows the feeling: when your energy is down, it is kind of like being a fly on a spider web--the more you try, the worse it gets. Or to put it another way, if you've seen the movie Limitless, the main character, Eddie Morra is trying to write a book, but mostly he is just sitting at his desk bouncing a tennis ball off the wall.

In any case we soldier on, right? I think it was Thomas Edison that said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration".

Today was a good day. So was yesterday if you're asking but today was good also. We secured the water quality monitoring station so it definitely will not wash away in a big storm, and trained staff in how to retrieve the data. Which turns out to be almost too easy. We have invested in some dataloggers which record data automatically and will continue to do so for as long as the battery lasts, about 1 year. And the logger transmits data to your smartphone which means no wading into dangerous rivers, no connecting with complicated cables, very easy sharing of data between users.

I'm also noticing, that at least the two times I have done a water quality datalogger installation, it leads one to some of the most interesting and beautiful places. The upper Ozama river, which you see in the photo, is practically national park material in my opinion. In fact it would be a good step to protecting an important source of water for millions of people, but I don't believe that any such plan exists. If there is a long term plan, it is likely to turn this area over to mining interests. By the way, if you look in the middle of the picture, on the far side of the river, you will see a white post sticking up out of the water. That is our monitoring station--but accessible by phone from this side of the river. Cool huh?

But I digress. This good day is ending with me enjoying a plate of cassava and salt herring--a traditional dish both here and in Haiti. And best of all, when I asked the waitress for water, she didn't bring me bottled water! She brought me regular drinking water like regular non-touristy people drink. Small victory, I know. Still, good end to a good day.

I have no pictures of the 2 staff members and 2 farmers and myself wading around in the Ozama River installing the water quality monitoring station. Mostly because it was raining when we were doing that, and also because my phone may be dead--because of said rain and river. I'm trying to dry it in my room right now using a zip lock bag and packing peanuts which may or may not work as a dessicant. I bought this phone because it was supposedly water resistant. But I guess wading around in a river doesn't count.

Nor do I have photos of us getting a vegetable delivery truck unstuck from the mud in the one lane road that leads to the river. Also no pictures of my pants splattered in mud from the spinning tires of the truck as it slowly slithered its way up the hilly mountain road--more of a path than a road.

And no pictures of the super drunk guy at the next table at this restaurant where I am eating. Even if I had my phone I probably wouldn't take pictures of that. Best that you trust me when I say he is super drunk. 

The view from my room. I guess it should be safe here with the police right across the street. I've never really worried about safety here. Not that things don't happen but I've never felt like I was in an unsafe situation. Honestly right now I feel totally relaxed. Or the nearest analogy to total relaxation that I can achieve.

Well it's not 30 degrees but I've shed my jacket and toque for a tee shirt. It will do.

Here's a view from my dinner table. I am super hungry having got up at 4 to go to airport and had a small sandwich between flights.

I think terminal 3 has improved the check in procedure or something. I felt like I got through in record time. 15 minutes from the parking lot which probably means less than 10 from the time I entered the terminal. 

This morning is one of those times when the strategy of entering the terminal with only the clothes I will use at my destination wasn't the greatest. It was minus 25 outside and I sprinted from parking to the terminal. I guess I would also say this is one of the few times when I feel actually glad to be getting out of the cold. Going from minus 25 to plus 30. Hope it's not too much of a shock to the system.