Although setting up a new lab in a new location is time-consuming and sometimes stressful, it is also fun to work towards the renaissance of the new Doble Lab! Shana has very diligently catalogued our huge inventory of plasmids and cells, and I'm sure she's happy to be done with this job. Victor has found excellent microscope and proteomics facilities that have enabled him to push forward with his project at a nice pace. Things are getting exciting now! We just need a few more students to help build up the  laboratory team.

The weather in Winnipeg has been quite nice. I like snow, and we have quite a bit of it now. I’m glad that I still have my Manitoban tolerance for cold weather after almost 20 years in the much milder weather of southwestern Ontario. The last few days have taken temperatures down to -40˚C with the wind-chill factored in.

Holiday decorations and lights mix nicely with the city blanketed in fresh white snow. I’m hoping that over the holiday break I will also get to witness the Northern Lights. I haven’t seen them in a long time, and the lack of “light pollution” in rural Manitoba makes for some incredible views of the aurora borealis, if one is lucky enough to catch their ethereal display.

When I was in Toronto, I frequently saw raccoons around my apartment downtown, in Burlington I often saw coyotes and skunks and a few rabbits, and around McMaster I saw deer on more than one occasion. Since I’ve returned to Winnipeg, the animal I’ve seen the most of is rabbits. They are everywhere! I’ve attached a few pics of rabbits and their prints in the snow near where I live.