Reflections of the Yukon

Driving home last night as usual, much of the drive is well lit with street lamps, then it all cuts off and one is in the darkness. Usually not a problem, but as soon as I drove into darkness, I couldn't see a damn thing! I flicked on my high beams and again, just a dim glow so I thought maybe my headlights were out, but then DING! The lightbulb went on. It has been very mild here and because they use dirt and sand on the roads as opposed to salt, the spray from the roads is very muddy instead of the usual cloudy salted spray. I pulled over, and checked my headlights...covered in mud. So got the baby wipes and old McDonald's napkins out of my car and cleaned them off...lo and behold, I could see the road again! Something to remember...

There seems to be a major cop out here. Whenever something is a little different than expected, such as prices, bylaws, rules, or general way of doing things, people simply shrug and say "welcome to the Yukon" or "it's the Yukon" etc. which to me seems to be a major cop out for behaviour. I can understand higher prices, sure, after all it is much farther north than the rest of Canada, however not as far north as many other northern communities. Another example...our building's parking lot. There is a mix of staff spots, Yukon Government vehicle spots, and paid parking spots. And it is just a regular parking lot, with no real signage as to direction of traffic or anthing like that. I got told yesterday that I was driving the wrong way out of the parking lot. WTF? There are no signs and what I was told to do goes against anything I have learned about parking, formally or through experience. I generally back the YTG vehicle out and to the right so I can see where I am going. I was told this is wrong and that the parking lot is designed for me to circle counter clockwise in the opposite direction. WTF? You want me to back out into my blind side so I can't see any cars coming, and if anyone is coming in that direction, they might not see around the SUVs and trucks everyone seems to own up here and smash into me. So I mentioned this and how should people know because there isn't any signage...guess what she said - well, that's the Yukon for you, and people are just told how to do things. WHATEVER!

Jaywalking - rampant here in Whitehorse. People seem to assume that you are paying attention to your driving and not talking on your cellphone, putting on makeup, eating your lunch, gawking at something else, rooting in your purse for lip gloss or change for the drive-through...heh heh. I generally see them, but I can't believe more people aren't clipped as they simply start walking across, without looking to see if anything is coming, it's unreal. In Ontario they would be eating pavement by now as no one seems to pay attention there and feel it is their right to mow down jaywalkers. Got bumped myself and so did my daughter and we were on cross walks.

The temperature is very mild here...who said the Yukon was cold anyhow? I know, I know...give it time and it will be cold soon enough.

Ok, the sun has finally risen above the horizon and mountains so I have to go soak up my few short hours of sunlight!!!