It was a cold day.

  At one point today, the weather network pinned Whitehorse at -45 with the windchill. Brrr! I'm so thankful that we can plug our car in and for Marcel who heads outside as soon as he gets up to start it. Today I was supply teaching out of town and so I drove in and thankfully nabbed a plug! Usually, as a supply I'm too late for a plug which means I have to sit in my car for 10 minutes at lunch to charge the battery.
  The drive to work was a bumpy one this morning. I've heard of occasions where it gets so cold that your tires turn "square" and so they bump down the road until they've evened out round again. I think that is what happened this morning! The steering wheel and gear shift was also pretty stiff and I knew that "Scout" (our little Nissan Sentra) wanted to stay put, plugged in at home as much as I did. It is also very dark at 7:30 am and often I was blinded by the exhaust smoke of the weary and cold vehicles in front of me as I scaled the Whitehorse hill up to Porter Creek. I've become a very cautious and careful driver around these parts.
  Usually when the temps go below -30 the schools call a "Red Day" which means "indoor recess". The school I was at today has a strategy for lasting through many Red Days in a row. When the recess bell goes, all the students have to either march around the school or run to the back of the school yard and touch the fence before they are allowed back inside. It definitely helps the kids focus for the rest of the afternoon and with putting on and taking off all their "gear" it fills a lot of the recess time that could otherwise be filled with mischief and chaos! However, the school I was at today also gives the students the choice of staying outside in the frigid temps if they so desire and I just happened to be on outdoor duty to supervise the warm-blooded Yukon-bred snow-children. I bundled right up, but I still didn't last the full 30 minutes.
   My lungs were in shock from the cold air, my nostrils were piercing from the cold, my hair became wispy and white, and my eyelids were coated with a layer of hoarfrost that made it feel like I had globbed on double mascara this morning or had fake eyelashes glued to my lids. I wish I could have taken a picture at this point. It is hard to describe, but below are some stolen google images that resemble the occurence.
 

Wispy greys! Maybe that explains Santa Claus' North Pole beard!

 

Okay- a bit of an exaggeration- but you get the idea!
This is what I would look like if I was out in - 40 for a couple hours.

  Slowly, the students began to trickle back inside the school and when I was down to about seven students (after 20 minutes) I herded them back inside. Some of them didn't even have gloves on and their cheeks were getting pretty red (first sign of frostbite, I'm told) and so I think I could legitimately call it a safety hazard for them and me :) It probably was a great idea to send all the kids out for a break though- especially on the second last day of school before Christmas Break!
  
   The Yukon sure is a unique and wild place. It is neat to have all these new experiences and discover another part of Canada and another set of proud Canadians.