Smoke in the Air

The 53 forest fires burning in the NWT so far this year aren't considered out of the usual. None is near a community. Today Yellowknife was enveloped in a smokey haze, and the smell seeped inside buildings. But the smoke came from two fires burning in Wood Buffalo National Park, and these fires have been burning since May. Tonight, thankfully, the air is clearer. Apparently in 1998, a haze of smoke covered the city for the entire summer.

Here's a reminder of home: wild roses are everywhere--in subdivisions, along the trails and these ones were on the island that I canoed to on the weekend.

Magic in the Canoe

Three fit quite nicely into this 16-foot canoe, even when one of the non-paddlers is a husky. Magic is the pet of Aggie and Terry, who also have a team of huskies they use to pull a sled in the winter. Magic, however, is the canoe husky. She tends to shift around a lot, and, as you can see, we had a bonding moment when I turned around for Aggie to take my photo.

We set out from Back Bay, which is sheltered and calm, then headed over to an island in Great Slave Lake. Terry went solo in a chestnut canoe they'd bought for $2 and refurbished.

This island is a popular spot for campers and partiers because it's so close to Yellowknife. You can see the city in the distance here. We had it to ourselves, but Terry was upset to find someone had recently chopped down some birch trees for no apparent reason.

We enjoyed a lunch of brie, french bread, veggies and cherries, after sunning on the rock. It was a perfect day with just enough breeze to keep the bugs away, and the bugs that did come hovered around Magic, the black bug magnet. Dark clouds in the distance motivated us to pack up and head back. Afternoon winds can make the lake quite choppy, not to mention waves created by power boats and float planes.

Those white dots in the distance are sailboats--there was a fund-raising race for the Council of Persons with Disabilities. Sailing has become a popular activity here, growing from one sailboat to two sailing clubs over the last 30 years. That island you can see is Hideaway, the location for a wedding I'm going to next Saturday.

Rent-a-Relic

Cracked windshields are so common that insurance companies won't cover them up here. My first weekend renting a car I balked at the cracked windshield on the Ford Escort. I was offered a Ford Focus instead, and every weekend I've been given the same model in different colours. One had a cigarette burn in the driver's seat, another had a loose gear shift, all reek of smoke.

I had to call Roy at the auto rental place when one car wouldn't start. Then I got demoted from power windows to wind-up. Turns out I'm dealing with Rent-a-Relic. The sign at the place says Roy's Auto but my receipts indicate otherwise.

This weekend I was given the Escort again. So, I'm driving around in a smelly car with two cracks in the windshield.

Passed up the chance to go to the 19th Annual Pontoon Lake Medieval Summer Solstice Pig Roast tonight. Given that I have neither a costume, coat of arms, or codpiece, I figured I wouldn't be into the spirit of this party. Too bad, because I was looking forward to the women's frying pan toss.

The Spirit Bear

Okay, I know, I'm a little obsessed with bears in this blog. But the Bear Report happens to be one of the best items shaping up on the morning show. Actually, we had a contest to rename the segment and, henceforth, it will be called "Creature Feature". We needed a broader title to include other animals.

This week, a regional government biologist made the news when he said a white bear had been photographed by a helicoper pilot north of Yellowknife. Look hard to see it between two black bears. It is neither a polar bear nor an albino. It's a Kermode Bear, more commonly seen in B.C.

White bears are sacred to the Dene people and, so, they're known as "Spirit Bears". Scientists are still trying to find the gene that causes the white coat.
We were careful not to reveal the exact location of the Kermode Bear siting because the last time news was spread about the "Grolar Bear"--half grizzly, half polar--an American hunter came up and shot it.

The Sun Shines on Aboriginal Day

After a week of cool weather, the sun spread warmth on Sombe K'e Park today for the festivities. The sun sets tonight at 23:39 and rises tomorrow morning at 3:39. Already people are moaning that the days will be getting shorter.

From noon on people filled the park, and our CBC tent ran out of coffee and dried caribou by 3 p.m. I chewed on a bit of the meat, but it's definitely an acquired taste.

So many cute babies, but this one takes the prize: she's one-year-old.

The three companies mining for diamonds in the NWT
served up free fish, corn on the cob and bannock.

The smell of fish filled the air, and the lineups snaked along the long tables. However, it was well worth the wait. I sampled both the whitefish and lake trout--equally delicious.

The afternoon show closed with these Inuit throat singers.

On the right is Seporah, wife of the morning show host.

The CBC carried six hours of live programming, while live music played from the main stage. We were set up in a tiny tent, wedged between a palm reader and an artist. It was a marathon for technician Phil Morck. At one point, he had to ask host Norbert Poitras to operate the board so he could take a pee, which Norbert, gleefully reported to listeners.

It was a day of sun and celebration.

Hooping it Up

Summer Solstice activities started today in the Sombe K'e Park near city hall. I wandered over after work, on the eve of the longest day. A Cree dancer from Alberta had just begun two traditional dances. This is the Hoop dance, which the emcee said women never performed in the early days.

She also did a traditional dance, a very subtle routine, set to a "story song", about girls taken and abandoned by fur traders when they returned to their women back home. They were called "country wives".

The usual festival fare of hot dogs and cotton candy was supplemented by the surprising offering of perogies and sausage ($5) from the Yk Ukranian Association.

Tomorrow the park will be abuzz with music. And CBC will do six hours of live programming from noon to six. The aboriginal broadcasters don't book guests ahead of time--they find people in the crowd to bring into the tent for interviews. Now that's spontaneous programming! Last year none of the guests lined up for the English afternoon program showed up. So they went into the crowd, roped in some people the host knew and the show, I'm told, was terrific. I think of all the hours we put into preparation for our remote shows in Halifax...

The Deal Breaker

We have a reporter from Iqaluit doing a feature on 30 students going to Toronto from Kugluktuk for a soccer camp and to attend the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Kugluktuk is in Nunavut, and was formerly called Coppermine. So many communities in the NWT and Nunavut have changed their names since I was last here. Snowdrift is now Lutselk'e and Homan is Ulukhaktok. I'm still trying to learn all the new names...

Kugluktuk is a community of 1362 people and, like so many places in the north, doesn't have much to offer in the way of accommodations. You can easily play $150 to stay in a rundown prefab unit. The reporter and cameraperson couldn't book anything, so they found a couple willing to take them in during the shoot. But this couple indicated they didn't want cash as payment. Nope--they want dog food. So, I signed a petty cash voucher today for a 50-pound bag of dog food that the crew will lug with them, along with the camera gear, to pay for their accommodation in Kugluktuk. A real deal at $25.

A Memorable Walk

Given the strong maritime contingent here, I guess it's no surprise that bagpipes have made their way north too. This is the NWT Pipe Band, which led the Alzheimer's fund raising walk this afternoon.

The band only has about seven pipers and three drummers, but they're well turned out. I participated in the 3.5 km walk from the senior's centre to the legislature and back.

Money raised will go towards a centre for people with dementia. As it stands now, people who need institutional care are sent to Alberta.

On my way back I saw this woman with her blue-eyed lab. Clearly he's got some husky genes in him.

Nova Scotia Connections

I had to pick up my White Stripes concert ticket today, at the Birchwood Gallery, which features a spectrum of northern and Canadian artists.

There, I discovered Rod Charlesworth, who has a couple of paintings with Nova Scotian themes. He's from B.C., but apparently his work is in galleries throughout Canada and overseas.

"Inukshuk sun" ______________________________"Annapolis Royal"

There are lots of Nova Scotian connections here: the supper hour TV show has a regular columnist, originally from Middleton. The same night he was on the program, there was an item about an art camp for kids, led by a NASCAD grad.

While I was downtown I dropped into Overlander, the MEC of Yellowknife. I was all set to buy some kind of bear repellant, after hearing our first Bear Report broadcast on the morning show Friday. But I couldn't decide between the spray, which is in a hefty canister and the bangers, which consist of a launcher and pak of flares.
The spray would be like carting a fire extinguisher around with you and the bangers seem far too complicated in a moment when steady hands are required to assemble and set them off. Both cost around $31, though the spray is usable only once and there are six flares. Not sure if the idea is to launch them all, or keep them for separate encounters.
I think I'll wait for Carsten's upcoming visit on July 7th before venturing into the bush again. He can be my bear bait...

Soaking up the culture

Call me crazy, but I'm going to see the White Stripes on June 26th, the 3rd stop in their upcoming Canadian tour. Hey, any band that wants to perform in Glace Bay and Iqaluit is worth checking out. There was a bit of a stink over the Iqaluit gig when it was revealed kids under 19 couldn't get tickets because of liquor regulations.

My ticket cost $40 for a bleacher seat at the Multiplex Arena--same place I went to the flea market a couple of weeks ago. And the proceeds go to the SPCA, so I'm doing a good deed at the same time!

Bronwyn is a huge White Stripes fans, and has a ticket for their Toronto performance, which is on my birthday in July. It all seems so connected.

The tinkling of candle ice

It may be warm and sunny here in Yellowknife, but in points north people are still in parkas and the ice is still breaking up.
Today we played the most amazing bit of audio on the radio --the tinkling sound of candle ice. As the ice melts on rivers and lakes across the NWT, it turns into thousands of candle-shaped pieces that make music when they're jostled by the wind or waves. It sounds like a wind chime. This phenom happens only two or three days a year, and our reporter in Inuvik has tried to get this sound for years. He was finally successful.

On a less joyful note, these posters are all over the Frame Lake trail. Of course, I immediately thought of Spetse, the Yorkie who accompanied me to Yellowknife all those years ago. I do wonder sometimes how she survived the cold and ravens. (I occasionally let her out to pee unattended during a party.) I despair for this 7-pound terrior's chances of survival, given the number of foxes I've seen. The last one had a hefty animal in his jaws, the entrails dragging on the ground.

Dogs are very popular in Yellowknife: they come in all shapes and sizes--from toy terriers to huskies. Free bags are stashed in boxes on the trail to encourage owners to clean up after their pets.

Peek-a-boo with the Stick Man

See that little blue sign on the Jack pine? Well, it's just as hard to spot while negotiating the Prelude Nature Trail. It's an hour hike and took me close to two as I kept backtracking, in search of the stick man.

The trail is a big loop that starts off in rock and bush, climbing eventually above the lake. But there's no obvious path most of the time; mostly, you're scrambling over rock or lichen. What was particularly scary is that when I couldn't find the stick man and went to head back to the next one, he was lurking behind the tree and not visible from the other side. At one point I was going to turn around to head back, but realized it would be impossible to retrace my steps.


At times, the sign is quite visible, but the direction is open to interpretation. I thought I should go right here, because it's about a 12 foot drop-off in front. However, after searching fruitlessly for the stick man's clones, I discovered that yes, indeed, the idea was to head straight down.

If there were any spruce or ruffled grouse or whiskey-jacks, I didn't see them because I was too occupied with finding my way.

But I did stop to read the interpretative signs and learned that the densely packed pine cones are covered in resin, just waiting for a fire. The heat melts the resin, allowing the seeds to disperse and the pines to get a leg up in reproducing themselves. The clusters of cones look like fossilized slugs, wrapped around the branches.
The branches close to the ground send roots into the soil as another way of reproducing in a far from womb-like environment.

Before I set out on the trail, I checked in at the office, which is why I wasn't too worried about getting lost. I figured if the attendant saw my car sitting in the lot tonight he might search for me. When I asked about bears, he said 'no problem'--and then casually mentioned that a lynx had been spotted at another lake closer to Yellowknife, and much more in the open.

Prelude Lake is 29 km from Yellowknife on the Ingraham Trail, on a paved road that is 65 km
long with all kinds of picnic spots, boat launches and campgrounds along the way. The road is dotted with pot holes and loose gravel: Dust envelops the car when another vehicle passes you. Cracked windshields are as common on vehicles here as bird poop is on windshields at home.

Strolling but no Stunting

The temperature was supposedly in the single digits this morning but, when the sky is clear and there's no wind, it feels way warmer. I strolled downtown to check out some of the stores, stopping at Javaroma for a skinny latte.
When I was in one of the shops, the power went out--as I've mentioned this is a regular occurence. Checked out the price of polar bear diamonds at one jewellery store: one carat starts at $8,000. Guess I won't be dripping with gems when I come home.
I also had a look at parkas in a touristy type shop and some of the fur coats were made in China... However, I discovered that if I am in need of retail therapy, I can definitely find help at a couple of first-rate women's stores. And Elaine from the CBC works occasionally at a lovely gift shop that sells Belgian chocolate. She just happened to be unpacking some when I arrived, and gave me a few of the broken ones.

I spotted this Smart Car in the parking lot of the hospital. Note the license plate: 2 Cute.
In the north, I'd be looking for something more than cuteness in a vehicle, especially on the highway were bison regularly wander onto the road.

I also noticed this sign on today's walk through the hospital grounds. The stunters have moved over to the Nova Court suites where I'm staying. Sometimes late at night I hear skateboarders doing their tricks on the pavement below my window. But I'm learning to fall asleep in all kinds of challenging circumstances--in the daylight and to the rhythm of stunters.

Fiddling Around

Fiddles are as big in the NWT as they are in Nova Scotia. Julie Green is a novice, but she decided to play "Happy Birthday" on her violin for Darren Stewart. Darren is 29, and he leaves the CBC this fall to go to law school.

Julie and her partner Jan hosted a barbecue birthday for Darren after work today. For awhile Julie wondered who all might show up, because the afternoon radio host asked the news reader what she was doing this weekend, and she jokingly invited listeners to come to the party at Julie's house. That's about how casual the social scene is here.

It was a cool night but here it is at 11 p.m. around the firepit, the sky still bright.
From left to right are Phil Morck, the morning show tech , Jan McKenna, Harmen Meinders (King's Grad) and news producer, and his girlfriend Jasmine, who works at the magazine "Up Here".
Jan is from Antigonish but has been in Yk for 21 years, as a social worker. Jim Nunn is her cousin--just about everyone I meet has a maritime connection of some sort.

A Smorgasbord of Stuff

At the last day of our regional leaders' meetings, we all received a copy of this book which, the cover states, includes "In-depth Self-discovery exercises". Well, there's my weekend all lined up ...

For lunch we walked over to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre (I posted a photo earlier) where there's a wonderful cafe. I had a few moments to explore the exhibits, but I'll return later to spend more time. The Legislative Assembly is next door, so MLAs often eat at the centre. Charles Dent, who is now Minister of a million portfolios-- known to me when he worked for the mayor of Yk and hung around at the press club-- was seated at the next table.

Laying low tonight after such a busy week. But here are some nuggets gleaned from this week's edition of News/North NWT:

• a 12-pack of pop apparently fetched as much as $50 in Ulukhaktok when the community ran out of soft drinks--an "underground economy" developed
• Sachs Harbour is like a ghost town these days because everyone, from the kids to the elders, have gone goose hunting
• there's a mobile home for rent in Yk for $1,500 a month, plus utilities
• and a 2300 square foot home with 3 bedrooms and bathrooms plus den and playroom for a cool $469,000
• a fire fighter job is open for about $61,000 per year plus a northern allowance of $2,500
• an administrative asst. job with the territorial gov't offers $47,288 plus a northern allowance of close to $5,000

Standing with the Enemy

Grizzly's are cute when they're stuffed. This guy at the Visitor's Centre looks friendly compared to the wolverine and fox, which are posed in the act of devouring birds.

I'm taking a break during the second day of our regional leaders' meetings. Leadership competencies, behavioural interviewing--this is the stuff we're talking about. Believe it or not, I'm enjoying these sessions and learning so much about both management and leadership.

And we played another team building game that involved putting stickers on our foreheads that indicated how others were supposed to treat us during an exercise to come up with a solution to a problem. We didn't know what our particular label said, but it didn't take long to figure it out. One person was designated as the leader who must be obeyed; the others had such labels as "ignore me", "interrupt me" or "laugh at me". During the cash game, groups of 3 were given two five dollar bills. We had five minutes to figure out who should get the money. If we didn't decide, it would be forfeited. None of us fought over the money, because the stakes weren't high enough. In our group, we decided the two women should get it.

For dinner, we all went to the Wild Cat Cafe--I've been there more than most people who live in Yellowknife! I had the special of the day-- pickerel, with a garden green salad and rhubarb crumble for dessert. Jeff Gardiner, who heads up IT here, says he has tons of rhubarb and I can come over to pick some. Yahoo--I've been missing my spring hit of rhubarb.

Back to the bears: Apparently, the black variety have been known to wander the more ungroomed portion of Frame Lake Trail, where I walked on Sunday. It's been suggested I get some kind of Bear flare--you let it off and it should scare him or her into running away. But you have to make sure not to let the flare hit the bear because that pisses them off.

The Gang of 12

My first day of regional leaders' meetings, and I'm wondering if all CBC management sessions are this interesting. The challenges of programming in places like Iqaluit and northern Quebec, especially, are many and costly. The closest community to Montreal, which is the centre of Cree programming, is 9 hours away, making it difficult to get items in the field.

In Iqaluit, the program manager struggles to find and keep people who speak Inuktitut now that government competes for aboriginal employees. And the CBC there is pressured to preserve the language at a time when younger people aren't as well grounded in their original voice. Until I came back up here, I didn't realize how much aboriginal programming in radio is broadcast in the north.

We did some fun team development stuff too, including putting together puzzles in groups of 3. We were instructed to work as a team. Most of us interpreted that to mean our little group. But, as we discovered, the puzzle pieces had been mixed between groups and, so, to succeed you had to work with everyone in the room. There were prizes for the group that finished first--not mine.
However, I did win a giant chocolate bar in an earlier session where everyone had to tell a story about themselves that no one would already know. Of course, that was easy for me.

I revealed that Gordon Lightfoot had asked me to sleep with him when I interviewed him in Yellowknife for News of the North. I didn't give the outcome until the end of the day--gotta keep your audience wanting more...

The Collectors

More catching up with people from the past: Terry and Aggie have stayed in the north all these years. They left the CBC in '82, pursuing independent careers--Terry as a shooter; Aggie as a consultant. But it is their lifestyle that's intriguing. They have a team of sled dogs and spent a year living in the bush. Aggie and I flew to B.C. together when I lived in Yk to buy a car and then drove it to Edmonton where she bought a canoe. It's thanks to her that I got in some canoeing and natural experiences outside of the bars. Terry is quite the collector. This is his collection of wood stove doors, which are nailed to the side of the house.

Terry also has an amazing collection of walking sticks. The one in this photo is also a flute. He has one with an umbrella that pops out of the end and another one that extends into a fishing rod.

I never knew walking sticks could be so multi-purpose. Another entire wall in their house has more of these walking sticks, which Terry started to collect at age 16.

A Backyard BBQ

It's amazing how sun, food and some liquid refreshments enjoyed on a deck is a universal pleasure. I could have been sitting anywhere last evening as I ate my way through ribs, shrimp and sausages done on the barbeque at the home of Kirsten Murphy and her fiancee Jason Squires. They're the ones getting married on an island this summer. While the houses are jammed up against one another in Yellowknife, this house has privacy. An outcropping of rock at the back blocks the view behind. And a greenhouse on one side shields the view of the neighbours. Kirsten is trying to grow tomatoes, a challenge in this climate. But she has a greenhouse.

From left to right is: Kirsten, Elaine (she's the person who picked me up my first day), Emma (in for meetings from Montreal where she heads up the Cree unit for northern Quebec, Jamie Hubbs (the HR director) and yours truly. Talk turned to perhaps purchasing a bug zapper or some kind of netting to cover the deck because, inevitably, the biters will hit soon, making it impossible to relax outside.

There were two fires on Latham Island in Old Town last night. One large home was reduced to rubble. For reasons I don't yet understand, the fire department didn't draw water from the lake, which is right there. They don't have fire hydrants in that part of town, so they can only use what's on the truck, and from the water lines that serve the area. The owner was at a neighbour's and saw the fire from their window late in the evening. She lost everything--including her pets-- except one box of photos she'd recently put by the doorway.

Of Dabbling Ducks and Graffiti

I made it all around Frame Lake this morning, which includes the half that is more rugged than the groomed path that leads me to the CBC. From this vantage point, you can see the downtown core in the distance. I'd been warned to go out with someone first time around because the trail on this section isn't well marked. However, while there were no painted footprints like the ones at Range Lake, the red-capped steel posts provided adequate guidance. Besides, all you have to do is find the lake and know you're somewhere in the right vicinity. Most of this part of the trail is over the rock, but occasionally, a bit of boardwalk and stairs ease the scramble over rough terrain.

The bugs were out in full force in some spots, though not biting--at least not me. But the little ones were getting in my eyes. Next time out I'll bring that bug jacket along. I didn't see any of the "dabblers or divers", ducks that feed in the lake. For the birdists out there, the dabbling ducks include the American Widgeon and Pintails, which put their bums in the air while they feed. The divers are the Lesser Scaups and Surf Scouters--all new to me.

However, the graffiti on the tunnel that leads under the roadway at one point on the trail, is a reminder that the north and south do share some other features. I've seen graffiti on large rocks that look as though they'd be impossible to access. But, apparently, not.

From Canadian Tire to Old Town

I was hard-pressed to find a parking spot at Canadian Tire this morning, as everyone was either out buying up plants at the Garden Centre or getting fishing and camping gear. The plant choice isn't as diverse as in the south, but the prices aren't outrageous, except for this display of hanging baskets. A hundred bucks! I'd gone to the store in search of a bug jacket, after being warned I will need one. However, everyone else apparently had the same idea because only a couple of large adult jackets were left. Fortunately, though, I found a large youth one that fit me. I must say I don't look forward to wearing the thing; it makes me feel claustrophobic.

In the early afternoon, I drove around Old Town because it's my favourite part of the city. As I've written before, the architecture is fascinating. This house, built by architect Gino Pin for himself, is an amazing example of building to the terrain. You wouldn't want to be on crutches to live here, though.

Pin has designed alot of other interesting buildings in the north, including the territorial legislature. When I was checking the spelling of his name, I was surprised to learn that he graduated from the Dal School of Architecture in 1965.

The Road to Dettah

One of the reporters went to Dettah this morning to get some tape, so I tagged along. At this time of year, it's a 27 km drive, much of it over a gravel road. During the winter, it's a smoother ride over the 6 km ice road on Yellowknife Bay. That's what you see here in a photo I snagged from the Net.

My camera needed charging, so I lost an opportunity to get some lovely--and more seasonal photos. An elder and her young granddaughter were by the water's edge in this little Dene community. There's a school here, but it was very quiet when we drove in. Today was warm and sunny, but in Dettah where the ice is still on the water, it was much cooler.

On our way back, Kirsten, who was driving her own truck, stopped to pick up a man and woman hitch-hiking out of the community. They were visiting from Rae and were happy to get a lift as far as Yellowknife. The smell of alcohol wafted into the car when we let them in. They were headed for the Gold Range, a notorious bar in Yellowknife.

After work, I met up with a King's journalism grad who I'd taught in his first year, when I was a writing tutor at the university. Guy Quenneville came up right after school to start working at the News/North and Yellowknifer. He's been here only two months and today he found out they're packing him off to the bureau in Iqaluit for three months.
I tried the arctic char burger at Le Frolic.