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.