After the Storm

We had an amazing light and picture show last night, with a thunderstorm at 3 a.m. that made many a dog "wiggy" and woke up their masters. Heavy rain, loud thunder and lightning joined forces that resulted in yet another power outage. For the first time since I arrived, my suite was in total darkness. A combination of the rain-laden skies and lack of illumination from neon signs outside and digital clocks inside prevented any light from penetrating the rooms. I've become so accustomed to nights that never get beyond twilight, that it was a shock to navigate in the dark.

Fortunately, the power returned in time for morning coffee. I had to take a taxi to work because of the heavy rainfall, but happily I returned home via the Frame Lake Trail. And here's a family--actually it looks like a couple of families of ducks I came across. This photo is super-zoomed so the quality isn't terrific, but there are about 12 baby ducks in this grouping.

Another Beach Day

When I hear about summer in the rest of the country, I realize how luck I am to be in Yellowknife. I'm loving the weather here. This weekend the temperature ranged between 22-24 degrees, with some clouds, which keep the sun from getting too intense. Today was even warmer at Long Lake because the breeze wasn't as strong as last weekend. I read my novel, dipping in and out of the water. As I swam in the lake, looking out towards the rocky shores and back to the sand-filled beach, I felt a pang, knowing I'll soon be leaving this all behind. I've been so fortunate to get a chance to experience Yellowknife again.

Charades and an Anniversary

"Holy Crap," read the invitation for Keith and Diane's 25th anniversary party. "I've never dated someone this long." Keith MacNeill is producer of Iqalaaq, the TV program in Inuktitut that airs daily at 4 p.m. The MacNeills have a huge backyard by Yellowknife standards, filled with potted plants in all kinds of interesting containers. Their vegetable garden is impressive, with tomatoes, peas, beets and a first this year, turnips. The strawberries and raspberries are just producing fruit now. Yellowknifers, I find, are passionate about their gardens. People at the party discussed what works, what doesn't and their frustrations at not getting certain plants. Vesey's came up as a good source for seeds.

The party included a large group of young people, friends of the MacNeills three daughters. They launched into charades and I joined in, along with Judy McLinton. Judy is one of the three people I've tracked down from my stint here int he late '70's. Judy was sports reporter at News of the North, spent a few years at the CBC and is now manager of communications of Environment and Natural Resources for the territorial government.

It's been a busy summer for her with all the forest fires and anthrax outbreak at Wood Buffalo National Park.

Judy and I were left in the dust by these kids, who were not only fast at the draw, but also very intuitive. I didn't guess any of the items correctly. However, my actions for "Moby Dick" were picked up on immediately. Anyone who has played charades with me knows I'm not shy about acting these things out.

Here are Keith and Dianne opening a present. I just realized that he's wearing a polo shirt with a Lunenburg, N.S. logo on it. I must ask him where he got it. Maybe at St. Patrick's flea market, where I went Saturday morning. I got some tops for a dollar each and five novels for $1.25 (total). It's a weekly event in the parish hall, and came highly recommended by a CBC reporter and former radio host, who is smartly dressed from his flea market finds. I bumped into our HR guy, Jamie Hubbs, on the prowl for books, I expect. He was sporting an amazing tan after a 3-day fishing expedition at a resort.

By the way, I left the party just before midnight. It was still light, though the sun is now setting around 10:30 p.m.

Radio News Class Photo

Today we held a review of radio news, the first time it had been done in Yellowknife, at least as far as anyone can remember. We listened to several newscasts, then an outside reviewer offered her constructive criticisms, before everyone else joined in. Over sandwiches and fruit from the Co-op, we developed an action plan for improving news at the station. Everyone was engaged, and from what I hear, appreciated the opportunity to talk about what they do every day, and how to do it better. Here's the cast at the review:

Left to right, back row: reporter Richard Gleeson, news producer Harmen Meinders, regional director John Agnew. Middle row: news reader/reporter Kirsten Murphy, executive producer Marilyn Robak, reporter Joslyn Oosenbrug, reporter Dawn Ostrem, Inuvik reporter Marc Winkler. And in the front, reporter Julie Green.

Service: The Bad & the Good

You hear lots of stories about the difficulties of finding people to work for basic wages in Yk. I see signs at all the fast food joints looking for help. Javaroma--the one good coffee joint here--has been advertising for a general manager, assistant manager, baristas and other help, for weeks. It looks as though 12-year-olds are working there on weekends. I've been to a restaurant for breakfast where I was warned it would take half an hour because they had only one cook. The difficulty in attracting workers no doubt affects the hotel trade too. That may explain the inconsistency in service here at the Nova Court Suites. OK, I'm living the good life, with maid service twice a week. But that's part of the deal, so when you come home and find the garbage hasn't been removed or the towels not replaced, it's an annoyance. Sometimes they forget to give me a clean dish cloth and tea towel (though the dirty ones have been spirited away). But the biggest headache has to do with towels. At first, I noticed not as many were being replaced. Then I wasn't getting any facecloths. After Carsten left, and I had a huge load of dirty towels, they didn't give me clean ones for a week! And, as you can see in the above photo, some of the linen looks like it's been put through a shredder. When I complain, the answer is: Oh, we don't have enough to go around.

The women who clean the rooms aren't given enough supplies from day to day. The unhelpful redhead at the front desk, shrugs and says she can't do anything. When I suggested to one person, that I'd have to complain to management, she responded: "He can't do anything, it's all handled in Edmonton." This hotel/apartment/suite complex is part of a chain.
I wondered why I kept seeing bags of garbage by the elevator--now I know why: after a week of no pick-up, I too have resorted to the same direct action. I don't know whether my complaints have had an impact, or it's just another example of the inconsistency but my room was cleaned this week on Friday, Sunday & Monday. Today they didn't take my garbage and, for some reason, took away my cutting board. But I did get two facecloths and towels!


On a another positive note: after much fear and trepidation, I had my hair cut and coloured after work today. I'd been told before I came up that the only haircutting place in town is The Chopping Block. However, there are a few other places, including Vixen, the trendiest place in town.


Twenty-year-old Lacey renewed my blondness and gave me a "contour" cut. It was twice the price that I pay in Halifax, but I pay an absurdly low fee there.

Lacey has lived here 15 years and loves it. She couldn't wait to get out of Edmonton where she took her hairstyling course. Her parents take in foster kids. They have five boys now, all with disabilities. Most are crack or FAS babies.

The Beach at Long Lake

I had my first swim of the summer today, and it was glorious. The water at Long Lake is definitely warmer than either the Atlantic Ocean or the Minas Basin. The beach is unsupervised, but there's a buoyed off area for little kids, and it's very shallow even well beyond the buoys. It was a perfect afternoon, with the temperature in the mid-twenties and the sun moving in and out behind the clouds.

Throughout the weekend a beach volleyball tournament was going on, with several nets set up across the beach. However, there was still plenty of room for sunbathers and castle builders. This one, with its wildflowers and feather decoration, had the name Castle Desiree etched in the sand.

I met a woman from Cambridge Bay, slowly making her way into the water, when I was getting out. She said she's been swimming in the lakes further north, which are warm because of the intensity of the sun up there, even though the air temps aren't as high as in Yellowknife.

Turns out she lived in Yellowknife when I did in the late 70's, and helped get the Wild Cafe going. Married to an Inuk, she's an artist and consultant in Inuktitut. We had a grand old yak, standing in the water.
I'm getting to be a master at striking up conversations with strangers. This weekend I was on my own--and other than phone calls to the family--it was me, myself and Susan. So, if I don't want to talk to myself, I have to find people to chat up!

Stormy Skies and Fresh Fruit

I'm in a race against time to do my blog because I just know the power will go out again soon. It's been on and off all day long, starting at about 5 a.m. this morning. My fan shut off and I immediately woke up. At work, the power went out repeatedly until about 12:30. Many people are on emergency power, but I'm not set up for that so I kept losing emails that I was trying to write. The cause was lightening to the south of us where there were storms and heavy rain, while in Yellowknife the sun shone. However, this evening, as you can see, the skies are threatening. The power went off once during the supper hour news.



So, I went out to take pix of the sky and to check out the fruit guy. Let me rephrase that: I went to check out his fruit. He parks his truck in the Walmart parking lot and ships in fruit and veggies from the family orchard in Summerland, B.C.

He's been doing this for eight years, from the end of June to mid-August. Then he heads to farmers' markets in Alberta. I got some cherries, blueberries, peaches and tomatoes. After weeks of eating California stuff, I'm excited to get some Canadian produce. And that's about as local as it gets here.

Buddies in Behchoko

I acquired a couple of groupies during day 2 in Behchoko. Pierre and Roslen kept coming back to the CBC tent, mostly in search of free stuff. And I think they spread the word around because we were inundated with kids all of a sudden, who heard we had stickers, buttons, pens and tags to give out. But these two buddies kept hanging around, asking questions.

It was less hot today but very windy, so windy that people had to help us out to tie down our tent, which threatened to flap away. The velcro straps wouldn't stick and we could only get the pegs in so far because of the rocky ground. The Tlicho and Dene had trouble with their two big tents too. What they did was to quickly build half walls out of plywood, which they erected inside, to stop the walls from flapping. The housing authority loaned them the wood, which they'll return after the assemblies. It was amazing to watch how fast they put up those walls.

Our broadcasting still was rough today, with a false start at the beginning and malfunctioning mics throughout. I'd taken along a radio and headset so I could listen to us on air, but the radio wouldn't work as soon as I got outside.

Reporter Darren Stewart comes out with us to gather news for radio. Here, he's interviewing actor Dakota House from the hit series North of 60, for the morning show. Known as TeeVee on the former TV show, Dakota is in Behchoko as part of a team of 12 doing workshops with youth, to help them become active in their communities.

The Road to Behchoko

The road to Behchoko is Highway 3, the route south to Alberta. Behchoko is actually north of Yellowknife on the North Arm of Great Slave Lake, then you head south to Fort Providence and the ferry. Formerly called Rae-Edzo, this community is the site of joint Dene and Tlicho assemblies this week. Our aboriginal broadcasters are doing a live remote show from there for three days, and I'm helping out.

From left to right are Alice MacKenzie, Leitha Kochon, Harriet Paul and Tony Buggins. Alice and Harriet speak Dogrib, Leitha speaks Slavey and Tony's first language is Chipewyan. They do individual shows in these languages but for this 3-hour remote they took turns interviewing guests and doing the weather and news in their own languages.

It was my job to keep things rolling on the ground, making sure the hosts had interviews lined up and everyone knew who was up next. And it's all done on the spot--none of the guests are lined up ahead of time. The hosts simply survey the crowd and grab someone who a) can speak their language and b) has something interesting to say.

The beginning of the live show was quite rocky because the wireless mics weren't working well and, at one point the computer crashed, knocking us off the air for five minutes. Then we had to pull Harriet off the show because she was losing her voice. Fortunately, Alice, who had come along as an extra to gather tape, stepped in. Harriet had arrived at the site by canoe yesterday, along with 300 others attending the assemblies. She found the dusty air was affecting her voice. It certainly was dry and sandy--much like Folk on the Rocks. For three days now I feel as though sand has entered my every pore. I hate to say it, but we could do with some rain.

Back on the road tomorrow, which is a roller-coaster of a ride. Last time I drove along the Mackenzie it was all gravel; now the highway is paved, but frost has caused heaving, while big sections have gravel patches. There are signs for bison crossing; however, the only wildlife I saw was a wolf, standing on the rocks some distance from the road.

FOTR Day 2

Carsten got on a plane at 7:15 this morning, ending his visit to Yellowknife and leaving me a little lonely. Even though I'll get to see him in Jasper in September, before I head home to Halifax, each good-bye is a reminder that he's living his own life, far away from Nova Scotia. I headed back to the festival on my own to take in a few more events under yet another big summer sky.
First up was Sarah Harmer, on stage with other female performers from the NWT and Saskatchewan.
Above is an interesting musical combo given the ad hoc name, "A Celtic Tartan Made of Chinese Silk". Three featured groups got together on one of the small stages to make music. From right to left: a Chinese troupe from B.C. called Silk Road Music that fuses traditional Chinese music with non-Asian traditions; Zephyr Artillerie, a Quebec band that blends folk, punk and poetry and a trio of Cape Bretoners--fiddler Rosie Mackenzie (formerly of the Cottars), Howie MacDonald and guitarist Dave MacIsaac.

Over at the cultural area, the Tulita Drummers were performing again, but this time the audience joined in for traditional Dene dancing, including Catherine Pigott and her dog Sah'dah, who has aboriginal roots of his own. Sah'dah comes from Lustelk'e and his original owner is Dene. But I'm sure Sah'dah enjoyed the caribou bones more than the dancing. I hadn't realized yesterday that there was free barbequed caribou, moose, buffalo and trout in the cultural area, all provided by the Dene. Why pay $5 for a
burger at one of the concessions?

I discovered that the sound technician for the Beer Garden was Norbert Poitras, the host/operator for Trail's End, the afternoon radio show.

Everywhere I went, I ran into people I know--some from the past, many new and then John Dunsworth from the Trailer Park Boys, who I had lunch with once in Halifax to book him for a special appearance on a Christmas show.

Today, as I leaned over the fence of the beer garden, listening to one last band before heading back to my suite, it struck me how amazing this experience of returning to the north is. Standing under the full sun on a field of sand, surrounded by a sea of interesting folk, I felt blessed to live once again in such a unique place.

Folk on the Rocks

A warm gorgeous day unfolded for the annual Folk on the Rocks festival, which takes place on the sandy shores of Long Lake. Carsten and I spent the afternoon there, rotating back and forth between the beer garden and main stage. The sun and hard lemonade were both cumulatively strong, and he has an early morning flight, so we didn't stay late into the night. But we took in a lot in those few hours. Sarah Harmer was there, performing with the Bebop Cowboys from Ontario. It was another trip down memory lane for me when The Sadies got on stage: two of the members are the sons of The Good Brothers, a band from my high school days, who performed regularly at a coffee club in Richmond Hill. We also heard and saw the Great Slave Swimmers play with the Greasy Twigs. And below are emcees Mr. Lahey and Randy of theTrailer Park Boys, entertaining the crowd before the Tulita drummers performed on the main stage. One of the drummers is a reporter on Northbeat, the supper hour TV show. The money shot is this volunteer with his Jack Russell terrier.

Yk from a Chopper

Carsten got his ride on a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter this morning for a view of the city from 1200 feet above. It's a four-seater (including the pilot), but there were only three people, and Carsten was up front with the pilot. That's Ben Meinders with him, brother to the radio news producer at the CBC. Ben drove up from Winnipeg for a surprise visit.

It's great to get this perspective because, otherwise, you don't have a sense of how isolated Yellowknife is, or of how many lakes surround the city. And the view is amazing from a chopper because it's like being in a bubble--this one even had a glass panel on the floor.

The company, Great Slave Helicopters, owns about 80 choppers, which they use to fly crews out to camps, not for tourism.

It's a Small Country

Carsten must have taken this photo in the wee hours last night from our balcony. I downloaded my pix this evening, and there were a bunch of photos that he obviously took while I was sleeping off that Rusty Nail.

He's out on the town with a high school buddy. There we were at Sam's Monkey Tree, taking in the Thursday night special (two beers and a burger for $8) when a young guy sits down at the our table on the outdoor patio.

It was Evan, a close friend from King's Edgehill and Avon View. Evan was a year ahead of Carsten and took helicopter maintenance at community college. They lost touch last year, and it turns out Evan got a job in Yellowknife this
spring. He's here with another young man from Brooklyn, who went to Brooklyn Elementary School with Carsten.

I've been ditched for the night, while the boys continue on at the pub. That's OK--this old girl can't keep up the pace. Carsten has to be up early for a helicopter ride tomorrow morning. The news producer at CBC, Harmen Meinders, arranged for his visiting brother to go up in a chopper with a friend who works at Great Slave Helicopters. And that just happens to be where Evan works!

Hammering a Rusty Nail

Home after a night in the bars. Carsten picked me up at work and we went to the Black Knight Pub for draft and typical pub fare of fish and chips and wings. It was crowded and noisy, and reminiscent of those nights 3 decades ago when I spent far too much time drinking.

For a night cap we headed over to the Mackenzie Lounge in the Yellowknife Inn, a favourite haunt in those days from the past. We ordered Rusty Nails, a drink I remembered ordering back then. The server was dubious, because it's pricey--$15.00 and consists of Scotch and Drambuie, a combination she clearly didn't think belonged together. But I needed to try one after all those years, and, oh, it was right smooth. I could have easily downed another drink but, thankfully, didn't, because, as it was, the walk home seemed interminably long on rubbery legs. Formerly, a popular meeting spot, The Mackenzie is a forsaken place now. The bar manager, it turns out, is from Brier Island and the owner, she said, is also from Nova Scotia.

Great Slave Pike Fishing

Within five minutes of casting, Carsten caught his first pike while fishing on Great Slave Lake today. I sent him out on guided boat trip with Yellowknife Outdoor Adventures. Carlos took him and two retirees, a rancher from Colorado and a fireman from Chicago for a four-hour fishing trip this afternoon.

Carsten had to walk down to the public dock in Old Town (an hour) to board the small outboard for the four-hour expedition. This 28-inch pike is the first of seven he caught. They went far out in the lake, which I just learned is the 7th largest in Canada. They stopped at reedy spots along the shores of various islands, where Carlos has had luck in the past.

The last fish Carsten caught was the biggest catch of the day: 41 1/2 inches and 18 1/2 pounds. All the fish were thrown back into the water.

Note from Carsten: Pike put up quite a fight, and it's definitely a challenge to get them in the boat.

Ragged Ass Rendezvous

It wasn't easy finding Ragged Ass Road. The sign is gone because so many people kept stealing it. There's a store downtown filled with Ragged Ass paraphernalia, including signs like the one at this house. We stopped at the store first to pick up a ball cap and hoodie for Carsten, and then went in search of the road. Finally, we parked the car and walked around, meeting a nasty dog that butted me in my ass and nipped Carsten in the rear a couple of times. We retreated and found the place we'd been looking for around the corner. So finally I was able to take the photo of the day: The ragged ass son on Ragged Ass Road.

Shaking all Over

I'd been warned that the Ingraham Trail worsens after Prelude Lake, which is as far as I ventured last time out. But I wasn't prepared for the washboard that made me lose control of the car momentarily. I hung on for dear life, as we bumped our way over the gravel road. The Chevy Malibu I got this weekend from Rent-a-Relic creaked its way over the road, the suspension groaning and the breaks squeaking. Roy gave me this car for heading out on the trail because it's bigger than the Focus I usually get. But it also had a cracked windshield and damaged bumper. Fortunately, this extremely bad stretch only lasted 10 minutes, then the road was bumpy and rutted, but had lost the gravel washboard effect. At times, hordes of hornets swarmed the car as we drove along. I was thankful for our closed windows and air-conditioning.

It's about a 20-minute hike into Cameron Falls, which drop 17 metres over the river. This is the location where a couple lost their dog to a bear the first weekend I arrived in Yellowknife. That's why I decided we weren't taking food in the backpack for a picnic. Instead, we headed back to Prelude Lake to eat by the water, then had another short hike on the panoramic trail.

Lots of boaters were on the water, including a sailboat. Some kids swam at the beach, where the water felt quite warm--warmer than the Atlantic Ocean. Next time I'll take my swimsuit.

I love the way they build the boardwalks around boulders and trees. It's a bit odd to find these manicured structures in such a rugged place. Most of the time you're scrambling over the boulders. At times I can't figure out why they've built steps or a walkway, except to avoid walking over the bog.

The Prodigal Son

The Mountain Man arrived on time this evening at the Yellowknife airport, after a long bus ride from Jasper and short flight from Edmonton via Canadian North. He's sporting a new beard and moustache. I'm angling to get him over to the Chopping Block for a trim while he's here.

We dropped off his gear, then headed to Old Town for a drive and dinner.

I've been wanting to try Bullocks, which I'd been told has great fish and big prices. It's a crazy little place, covered in posters, bumper stickers, photos, business cards and names etched on the walls. The fish is served pan-fried, deep fried or grilled. Tonight, they had cod from Great Slave Lake, trout and Arctic Char. I ordered the cod and Carsten the char which was listed as 'market' price. When I went to pay the bill, market price turned out to be $34! And I'd been warned that beer runs at $10, but we went ahead and helped ourselves from the cooler. Total price: $75!!! The experience, priceless.

We started out eating at the picnic tables outside, overlooking the lake. But a light rain fall shooed us indoors for the rest of the meal.

That gave us the chance to see all the crazy stuff inside. And right beside Carsten I spotted the CBC logo on a biz card. Turns out it's from Pauline Daikin, the health reporter in Halifax.

A Rocking Birthday

Ruby and I are having a rocking good time to celebrate my birthday. The five-year-old won the race, but I certainly had the coolest mount, a wooden bunny. Ruby's Mum, Catherine Pigott invited me over for wine and pizza when she discovered I wasn't doing anything in the evening. Catherine and I both worked on Morningside years ago, though at different times. She has been in Yellowknife now for several years, and currently works as producer at Trail's End, the afternoon show.

Her passion is the special projects she gets to work on from time to time, and now she's working on a big proposal about the Mackenzie River, its history and future with the pipeline, for 2008. But that's all worked around a busy life with Ruby, a very active youngster, about to enter Kindergarten this fall.

It was a good Birthday, starting with beautiful flowers from Brian, a lovely card from my friend Aggie, capped by dinner at Catherine's. Best of all, Bronwyn called to say she received her income tax return and will be booking a flight to Yk at the beginning of August. Carsten arrives Saturday and Brian the last week of August, so my entire family (minus the cats) will share my northern experience.

"War and Peace"

Independence Day Dinner

Frederique de Gasquet, it turns out, was working at the CBC in 1979 as a television assistant, when I was here last time around. We didn't meet then but tonight we were both at the home of my Yk friends Aggie and Terry, who invited me to have dinner with a few people. Frederique lives in Aix en Provence, along with four sisters, all of whom have acreages on family property. I've been invited to visit should Brian and I realize our plan to go to France next year.



When Frederique was at the Orly airport, departing for Canada, she saw a guy in a beaded jacket and started to talk to him, figuring he was from the north. Turns out he's from Fort Providence, NWT, and offered up his car--and six year old--to deliver to Yellowknife. That's just how casual and trusting life is here north of 60.



Dinner included tasty barbequed bison steaks, and crisp for dessert, made with rhubarb from Aggie's garden.

Terry's brother Stephen has been in Yellowknife for four years and Diane Boudreau for seven years. Diane is also French speaking, and she's a biologist-turned-installation artist. She's done some large murals on buildings in town, and last summer floated a large cork insect on the lake beside the Visitor's Centre. Everyone has been collecting wine corks for her and she's now working on a large floating dragonfly, with the help of a fellow who is mentally challenged. Diane keeps such people employed by collecting and selling bottles. She has a dream of putting on some kind of raven and fox installation that involves eating cheese, in front of the Post Office. Ah, yes, this is the place of infinitite opportunities.

Pick a style, any style

Back to the Niven Lake subdivision, with its array of houses: Some are innovative; others are butt ugly; all are pricey. What's interesting is how this subdivision reflects so many styles. No cookie cutter approach here, not even with the prefab modular houses that come in two parts. From the top left: 1) a modern teepee; 2) this one reminds me of a maritime home; 3)two ultra modern styles; 4) this smaller suburban house is on sale for $519,000; 5)half of a double wide will soon be plonked down on the rock and connected to its other half and 6)what a double wide can look like when it's pieced together and prettied up. Apparently, the owners of the first big homes that sprang up around the lake weren't thrilled when the prefabs started to show up.