The Last Suppers

Here we are enjoying what's been for me one of many wonderful meals at the home of Aggie and Terry. (Behind Aggie are their friends Lois and Pat.) Terry had just returned from a filming project outside Kugluktuk (formerly known as Coppermine) about a cultural camp for elders and youth. He came home with Arctic Char, which we enjoyed on Saturday night.

We watched some of his footage from the trip above the treeline where the people are wearing their parkas already. During Terry's stay, they caught a bearded seal and the immense hide was spread out on the tundra, drying in the sun. He had scenes of women chewing on caribou to soften it and of the young people working on the hides. Terry pointed to one of the youth, commenting, "I'll be surprised if he's still alive in a few years time."

In one of my previous postings I showed Terry with his flute cane--one of many novelty canes in his collection. Here, his brother Steven plays one of the most unique canes --the fiddle cane.

On Sunday night Brian and I were invited to yet another feast, at the home of Magdy El-Beheiry, who recently moved to the CBC in Yellowknife from Mississauga. He's been here since January, but his wife Debbie and their children Sabrina and Tarik joined him at the beginning of July, after school ended. They cooked up dish after dish, including stuffed grape leaves, taboullah (after searching high and low for fresh parsley) and baklava to die for. Magdy is from Egypt and Debbie moved to Canada from Zimbabwe at age 15.

Magdy had invited several people to the feast, including the regional director for the north, John Agnew and his family. Here, his wife Jody and their two kids, six-month-old Jane and three-year-old George are engaged in pre-dinner play with Tonka trucks and dinky toys.

A Gaggle of Girls

I am not going to tell you what our camera person said to produce all these big grins--something about batteries and pleasure devices ... This photo was taken at the home of Erin Ward during a going away party for me, a week before departure. Yes, there were males there too, but most of the guys were in the kitchen at this moment, except Phil Morck, who offered to be the shooter. And we all know girls have more fun ....

From left to right: Catherine Pigott (Trail's End producer), Julie Green (resources reporter), Kirsten Murphy (news reader and new bride), Sonja Koenig (Trailbreaker producer), yours truly, Marie Morck (departmental assistant) and Erin (hostess and producer-at-large).

Erin and her husband Jake have carved out a comfortable life in Yellowknife, with a lovely home (and hot tub which they plan to use in winter), two dogs, canoe, snowmobile and giant tent with woodstove which they plan to park in the bush. They were married up here in what must have been one of the most stunning weddings ever--they arrived by dog sled to be married in a snow castle. Tony Below, aka the Snow King, hosts the morning show for the Native Communications Society, and he builds the castle on the lake every winter. When he found out Erin and Jake wanted to be married there, he added a chapel. Under her cape and fur and beaded caribou muff, Erin wore a gorgeous champagne evening dress, with train, and beaded kamiks. The intricate kamiks Erin had made for Jake as a wedding present are now displayed on a shelf in their dining room.

Footnote: Erin and Jake met at journalism school at King's College in Halifax!

Wild Time at the Wildcat

The afternoon radio show celebrated the Wildcat Cafe's 70th anniversary today with a live remote from the summertime restaurant. It was a fabulous show that ended with a live play written by the CBC's own David Miller, who also played the role of "Gumshoe". Dubbed the honey bucket caper, it featured local personalities, including the mayor, an RCMP officer and MLA Sandy Lee (above) who, Dave wrote, has "more curves than the Ingraham trail", yet sharp enough to cut a man in half.

Trail's End host Norbert Poitras went into the kitchen to interview chef Pierre LePage, who is known for using northern ingredients creatively.

Pierre cooked up a sizzling dish of muskox and cranberries, one of the menu items available for $44.

Marie Wilson and I had dinner together at the Wildcat, after the remote. We haven't connected since I first arrived; it was great to meet up again now that I've had a few weeks back in the north under my belt. Rumours are that she's running as a candidate in the upcoming territorial election but, wisely, she neither confirmed nor denied. Marie and her family live in an amazing house in Oldtown, designed by architect Gino Pin. The interior is organic, all angles and curves, with soaring ceilings, lofts, and hideaways. And it's packed with arts and crafts from the north. The yard, too, is far from conventional, with its own twists and turns and surprises. Exposed boulders share the space with trees, lawn ornnaments, perennials and plants potted in everything from buckets to shoe-shaped planters.

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.

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.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Very few people I hung out with 29 years ago are still in Yellowknife. However, tonight I connected with Marie Wilson, a CBC reporter back then. It was a pivotal time in the North during those days: the last commissioner left his post, the territories got its own government and the battle brewed over the pipeline. We were a bunch of young passionate journalists reporting on the transitions, both at News of the North, where I became editor, and at the CBC. (We also partied hard in between.) Marie became a national reporter in Quebec during the referendum and, eventually, regional director in the North. Meanwhile, she had married Stephen Kakfwi, who became head of the Dene Nation, and later Premier of the NWT government. At that point, Marie left her job at the CBC because she felt it would be too difficult to continue on, given her husband's political profile.

My apologies to Marie for posting Stephen's photo and not hers--that's all I could find on the web. Marie and I attempted to catch up on almost 3 decades of life, from careers to families, over dinner at Le Frolic Bistro, where Stephen joined us later in the evening. Marie and I split a buffalo burger and Fresh Great Slave Lake Pickerel. I passed on the special of the day: PEI mussels cooked 7 different ways.

Aldous Last Supper

Wine, food and friends--what better way to spend the second last night before leaving. Using lettuce from her cold frame, tomatoes from her greenhouse and a chicken raised on the property, Kathy cooked up one of many scrumptious meals we've enjoyed at Armitage Farm. Don pours a crisp Riesling from Gaspereau Vineyards, which was followed by a bottle of one of his own wines.
Dessert included baked rhubarb, picked from the rows of plants where I usually gather a winter's supply. It is these fresh local foods, from the asparagus to the zucchini, which I will be salivating for in the North.