Moving Sucks

I enjoy the idea of a new situation, always, but the actual event of moving, packing, shuffling shit, etc, is not something I enjoy. The mess, the clutter, the bare patches in some spots and stacks of stuff in others. I just want to be outta here, and settled somewhere else again, for another while. Henry has found new quarters...lucky cat. I won't be settled again until February, when I get my own place in Dartmouth. That is, if I'm lucky enough to find a job before then, heh heh. That is the question. The time has come to begin applying, since they take so long to process things sometimes.

I go to bed at night wishing for moving faeries to slip under night's cover and just TAKE CARE OF IT. So far, nothing...

Northern Departures

Well, a lot has happened in just a short while. My dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer last week, and that event has prompted what has been on the back of my mind for some time. I need to move back east to spend time with and help to support my parents.

So there you have it. My great northern adventures are coming to a close, for now. I've been here nearly three years (it will be more than three by the time I leave) and have enjoyed most of it. I've paid off a huge chunk of my student loans (2/3) so I am much better financial shape, not to mention a more well-rounded and skilled social worker. I've been busy sorting through JUNK and throwing out crap. I have so many piles, I'm soon gonna need a shovel. I have a pile for the Salvation Army, a pile for St. Pat's flea market (gotta spread it around, you know), a pile for mailing back east, a pile for a friend, a pile for taking with me in the car, and a room full of shit to sell. And endless trips to the dumpster. Oh, and lets not forget a pile for the laundry room. Our apartment building laundry room has shelves in it for a bit of a "free store" so I put things there that can't really be donated or sold, such as a half of a package of paper, loose envelopes, and used mats/rugs.

I'll be leaving here in mid-December. My last day of work is December 12th. Then I head south for Grande Prairie, ship Stormy out east with my parents while I continue southwest to Vancouver to meet up with my girl, A. We had planned to travel farther south for Christmas, and don't want to cancel that trip, so we will drive down the west coast to Tijuana as planned. I had thought about cancelling, however A. has her heart set on it, and I really want to spend some time with her before heading east, as I don't know when I'll get that chance to spend time with her again anytime soon. Our beach bum tour will take a couple of weeks, and then I bring her back to Vancouver to fly north again, and I head due east...all 7800kms of it. This is after about 6800kms with my girl, and over 3000kms from Yellowknife to Vancouver. Phew. That is a LOT of kilometres on my little car in a very short time. In one month I will have travelled nearly 18,000 kms. Too bad I don't get frequent driver miles. I'm so happy gas prices have started to fall, and hope they continue to fall. I also hope the Canadian dollar recovers from it's low this week. We'll need it in the states.

There you have it. My adventures in the north have been amazing. I've met some brilliant people, been in the presence of some stunning scenery, had some truly interesting experiences, and my memories of the north shall not fade for years to come. The cold was quite bearable, as were the long dark winters. I coped much better than I ever expected to, and found a way to have fun while I'm at it. I don't regret coming to the north at all, and will miss its charm and the "northern ways".

I won't miss the crackheads in the alleys and the drunks in the streets. I won't miss getting into a frozen car with frozen brakes. I won't miss the empty shelves in the grocery stores, and I certainly won't miss the random grossly inflated prices. I won't miss the "bulldog flies" (gigantic horseflies" but I will miss the buffalo they infest.

I am truly looking forward to living on the east coast again. I missed it dearly! The vast expanse of ocean, the smell of the salt air, the familiar dialect, and the close proximity of so many family members. I think I missed that the most, and visiting the east coast this summer just rejuvenated that homesickness in me. It can get rather lonesome here in the cold, dark north. While I've made some terrific friends, it's family that I miss the most, particularly my parents.

The photo was taken by a professional photographer for a recruitment website...whose name I cannot remember and I can't find his card...oops...sorry.

October

Well, it was about 14C yesterday. Hardly typical October weather. If I wasn't cooking for a crowd, I may have just gone out kayaking! The water would likely still be warmer than it was in June, when the ice was just going out of the lake. I'm not sure what to make of the warm fall weather we've had so far. While I am certainly enjoying it, I fear it is the calm before the storm, so to speak. We don't really get many storms, but it could me a damn cold winter. I must consult the farmer's almanac, even though there are no farmers here...

If nothing else, it has meant warm weather for viewing the aurora; no down jacket yet, actually no real jacket, just sweaters so far; no shovelling snow (not that I really had to do that much up here); and I've only scraped my car twice so far this fall. I like it. I'm scared.

In Search of Summer Savoury

Thankgiving weekend is turkey time, and like many easterners, I put summer savoury in my dressing. The dried kind from Mt Scio Farms in Newfoundland. So I went grocery shopping for the last of the ingredients for Sunday's dinner, and savoury was on the list. I searched up and down at Extra Foods, and couldn't find it. So I asked the meat dept guy. What is savoury? he asked...go ask the guy in produce. I find him, and he is an Asian guy. What do you use it for? he asked...go ask the other guy produce. Another Asian guy. What is savoury? he asked..ok, what the hell. So I was a little irritated and gave up. I was off to Wal-Mart, to get some cat litter, since they didn't seem to have any. (I use non-clumping) Wal-mart did not have cat litter either, or summer savoury. Sigh. Co-op was next. One small bag of non-clumping litter, unless I wanted to spend $16.99 for the huge bag...um, no. However, BINGO on the savoury. They had all sizes shown above. One would think it was an exotic herb...at least now I'm set for Sunday dinner with the gals.

Fall on Tin Can Hill

These were taken on the 27th of September. Fall had fallen weeks ago. Now the leaves are down, and we've had snow a few times already. Nothing serious, just flakes, and I've scraped my window once. It's actually been milder than I was expecting. We're forecasted to get 16C tomorrow - whoo hoo! In one of these photos you can see the building that had a fire last winter. They lost 8 units, and have since built the entire piece back on...it's nearly finished here.

October Skies

I had heard someone mention the northern lights weeks ago, but it's been raining so much lately, I haven't had the opportunity to see them yet this fall...I also forgot to look on the rare clear evening...the rainy days all ran into one...but tonight I remembered to go out for a look and they were pretty awesome tonight. So I grabbed my camera and went wild. The boys were also enjoying the lights, though they can't sit still long enough for the photo (shutter is open several seconds). The nothern lights look like they're going through Stormy in one shot, ha ha. It would have been a great night out on the ice road with the bright skies we have...but the lake isn't frozen all the way over yet...far from it.

Fall's Fleeting Moments

The leaves have all turned...what few there are that turn. Most trees are evergreen. Many have fallen to the ground already, and I saw some snowflakes last week. The temperatures aren't too bad, but expected to drop to -4C this week....snow for sure.

If it was just that, I'd be fine with it. Instead it has been pissing rain nearly every friggin day since I came home from summer vacation where it was pissing rain nearly every friggin day. I thought I lived in a very arid climate, with little rain. Um, no. It's been POURING out at times, and nearly every day. Of course...it could be snow that is pouring out of the sky...small consolation at least.

Fall in the grocery stores seems to be a preview of winter months. Nothing on the shelves. I don't know what the hell is going on, but certain products are just cleaned out at the stores, row after row of empty shelves...the road is open, the ferry is running, so I don't know what is up. The produce at Extra Foods was ridiculous...not much there and what was there was damaged, been frozen, or moldy. I was definitely spoiled this summer with beautiful fruits and vegetables in every store, but it wasn't that bad when I left, so something has changed.

Fall brings with it the new recreation guide for the city. I wanted to take a photography course this fall, but it is only offered on a night when I work, which ordinarily wouldn't be a big problem, because I would just work the full day on that day for the few weeks of the course...but I am running a training program this fall on that day of the week...dammit. So I have to wait and see if they offer it again in the winter. I am going to sign up for dogsledding though...along with my friend K. It's just an afternoon course, and you get to run a sled...cool. There is a painting course I may take too...

Fall brought with it a nasty cold for myself and many of my coworkers. I'm more than annoyed with my cold. It is my 5th one this year...WTF. I don't work in a kindergarten...but I do work in a child protection agency where kids of all shapes and sizes come through, touching the same doors, using the same bathroom...germs!!

This time next month, there will be snow on the ground and Halloween will be just around the corner...whatever shall I dress as this year? Ideas anyone?

Grizzly on the Dempster

An awesome shot of a grizzly bear on the Dempster Highway to that runs through the northeast corner of the Yukon to Inuvik, NT. This was taken by Lawrence Norbert, who is originally from Tsiigehtchic, NT. Be sure to click on the photo for the larger version - I uploaded the original size because it was so gorgeous.

Yellowknife in September

I was out this morning with T. & D. (professional photographer) for a photo shoot and took some of my own. I was the subject most of the time as they are getting shots for a webpage they are designing to profile some northern workers for health and social services. It should be up and running by early October. I'll be blogging regularly there about living in the north, what it's like, etc. and people can ask me questions. So while I was out today, the scenery was so terrific, I shot some of my own photos. Some are of Back Bay, which is part of the Great Slave Lake, and the others are of a monument/painted rock found in Yellowknife, not far from where we were shooting.

Back In Da 'Knife

Ok, I am finally back up north. And summer is definitely OVER. It was 4C today, and pissed rain for part of it. If this keeps up, we'll have snow before long. Such is life in the north.

Had a terrific vacation, even if the weather mostly SUCKED ASS. Rain, rain, and oh yeah, more rain. Oh, and throw in some dirty ole fog, and more rain. And let's not forget the suffocating humidity. If there is one thing I do appreciate about the weather in the north, it is how dry the air is. August has apparently been particularly rainy...but the air is dry, and when it's hot, it's terrific.

Back to work tomorrow...sigh...after being away from my desk since the 28th of July, it will be a challenge to focus and sort through the pile of emails, my inbox and the neverending requests from co-workers. However, since I have had such a great vacation and actually came back rested...BRING IT ON! Which is kind of the point of vacations, isn't it? To give one time to recharge, energize, and place one in a better headspace than when they left. Perfect. Count me in.

Since my return Saturday night (thanks again for the pick-up at the airport) I've been fairly busy. Changed my living room around, completely, which is no small feat for those of you who recall my wall unit chock full of STUFF. I have been attempting to trim down my belongings, and taking away the shelving as I do, so I do not fill it right back up with more STUFF. I am down from 4 shelving units to 2...whoo hoo! Mind you, they are rather full, but my living room feels much roomier...and I added some red to brighten it all up. With winter coming on, I want to be prepared this time to actually live in my home, not ready myself for yet another move, as I have in each of the past 3 years. Whoo hoo! No move!

So, I hope to return to regular blogging, though do not expect to post more than once or twice a week, depending on inspirations...

Thunder and Lightening Storm - and I missed It

There was a massive thunder and lightening storm in Yellowknife Sunday night and I MISSED IT! We rarely get them, or any real storms for that matter, snow or rain. A coworker sent me these photos and said that "It was recorded as the biggest storm the NWT has ever had with over 78,000 strikes! 10,000of them positive! Positive strikes are the strikes which start fires,and are a lot more dangerous."

I'm On VACATION

I'm away on vacation until the end of August. I've chosen not to post my vacation pics here as they are not northern photos. You can find them on http://dreamazone2.blogspot.com . See you in September!

One of The Culprits - Becheko Fire

This is a community about 100kms from here where they have real problems with forest fires. We are getting smoke from that direction as well as many others. Check out NWT forest fire management map and report to see what it's like today.

Forecast For Today - Smoke

Yup, that's our forecast. It has been our forecast for a few weeks now...and it's damn gross. There are over 60 fires burning in the NWT at the moment, which is not really unusual for here, but the smoke level in Yellowknife is pretty bad these days. I smell it day and night, and can see it hovering in the city like smog. It comes into our office buildings, my apartment building, my car, you name it. You can smell smoke anywhere. And if you check out The Weather Network, the forecast there says "Smoke". The photo here is what I see looking out the front door of my apartment building - the lovely sunset is complements of SMOKE.

Uzume Taiko

The drum band mentioned in the previous post, Uzume Taiko...terrific!

Folk on the Rocks Music Festival

I was working a non-profit booth at the festival but still managed to take in some of the music...it was a great festival with brilliant weather, even if it did pour rain Sunday morning...it cleared up by noon, and was a bright sunny and hot day - yes, hot in the north. We had about 26C on Saturday and about the same again on Sunday...I sunburned my neck and upper chest...forgot to put sunscreen THERE!! There were lots of people, and the beer gardens were full. We had to wait about 20 minutes to get in, as they had to wait for people to leave before we could get in...imagine! I only wanted just a drink before heading down to mainstage for a drumming group, Uzume Taiko.

I bought a hoodie too, black, with the design for this year wrapping from front to back at the lower left side, and the bands listed on the back. Zip up even, which is different. My current zip up sweatshirts are pretty old...I bought them when I was still in university...more than 6 years ago, all three of them, two of which have the university labelled on them somewhere.

I took some video too...