Fundraising

On June 18th I'll be taking part in the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life. If anyone would like to sponsor me you can click this link. I would greatly appreciate any amount contributed but please know that I'd be just as happy to be in your thoughts that night.

Sincerly,

Jesse V.

to care for animals

No more ice.

Though the water level is high I've been told that it's actually much lower than normal.

I took this yesterday. Normally the entire is swamped for several days.

I took this today. Not only is the water level lower than usual; it's also receding faster too.

but in the mean time

The big news around town is that the ice is breaking up on the MacKenzie River. This means the Dempster highway will reopen earlier than expected. My plan was to take these pictures in the early morning hours on the weekend but I'm glad I went out after work. By the time I returned home a lot of the ice was already gone.

I'd like to know where that root came from. It's also interesting to note just how far the ice gets pushed up on land. It's possible to see this process in the video.

I've seen the ice melt on rivers before but never like this. The noise heard in the video is the sound of the ice shards hitting each other in the water. It's a bit muffled in the video but it sounded like rubbing ice cubes together.

My apologies for the poor camera control.

-one last thing - it's possible to click on the pictures to get an enlarged view

I'm here for the money

I can never quite get the midnight sun on film but this is what it's like around 12:00am. There's no more actual darkness - even in the small hours of the morning. I find that I have no trouble sleeping with the light but do have a problem with going to bed.

Last weekend was the convocation ceremony for some of the students of Aurora College. Though the graduates were few the event was attended by the Premier of the N.W.T. and several other prominent figures. The Learning Centre will have a completion ceremony in two weeks. The word 'completion' is misleading - it's actually an event recognizing that students have participated in a year's worth of classes. It is unlikely that any of my 13 math students will finish their math course. Similarly, many of my English students aren't going to pass because they haven't turned in a single assignment.

If you were to take off the"+ gifts" the sign could be grammatically correct; though odd.

This isn't a mangrove. The melting snow and ice has lead to rising water levels and it's now impossible to walk around Boot Lake without getting wet feet. I've been soaked on more than one occasion. Speaking of H20 -the colour of the town's drinking water is now a mellow yellow but still tastes like dirt.

If the movie Cast Away had a volleyball for Chuck Noland's island stay then I think it's only fitting that there would be an old stump for the Arctic Circle. I don't talk to Gwen too often.

handstands

"Okay, so we're going into the canned peach business?"

"With a brand name like 'Success' we can't lose."

"You make a good point but there is some tough competition out there."

"I know - we'll only provide can sizes of 2.84L. We'll offer the public something the competition doesn't and fulfill the prophecy of our brand name."

"Hmm, maybe. But what section of the public is going to want almost three liters of peaches in pear juice from concentrate? And we came up with 'Success' through focus group testing - don't get all weird on me now."

"You're overlooking an often forgotten segment of the general population - sailors, hunters and those planning for the apocalypse."

"You my friend, are a genius."

my boat is sinking

One thing I forgot to mention in my earlier post - a recent inexcusable excuse:

Have to stay home to watch kids. Babysitter is having a baby.

shadows wandering off somewhere

Posting is hard when you feel like you're dwarfed by giants. It's also harder when morale is flagging. However, I just had some coffee and either the sugar or the caffeine is giving me a boost. Or it could be my shorts. The weather has finally come to its senses and warmed up. For about two weeks there was a very angry wind - perhaps bitter about the absence of snow. I think the wind wanted to prove that even though the snow was gone winter wasn't over. Well done Wind - you did it. I watched Boot Lake thaw and then refreeze in the span of two days. My toque and scarf came out of retirement - they complained they were getting too old for this. You know what toque and scarf - so am I.

But today it all changed. The air is warm and the wind gentle.

two mothers

Riddle me this - What's brown, smells swampy and tastes like it smells?

I'm not sure just how dedicated I am to my convictions but I do know that I didn't drink any water on the weekend. On Sunday night I broke down and opened a can of peaches just so I could drink the syrupy juice. It was a great idea until it made me even thirstier.

Spring isn't kind to Inuvik. All the snow that covered the ground for so long is rapidly disappearing (Dear Snow, please come back). This has caused the town water supply to turn kind of brown (it's close in colour to the picture I've added). I've been told that the tap water is okay to drink, and maybe it is, but I'm not drinking it on principal.

In other news - I recently received an e-mail from a fellow member of the Canada World Youth 95-96 New Brunswick/ Egypt exchange. We spent a great deal of time together during the program but then Time and Space, those cruel mistresses, dampened our contact. (Kudos to you Jay, for taking the initiative to get back in touch). It turns out my friend has his own blog, with an interesting and often funny slant, about bumper stickers in Jacksonville, Florida. If anyone is interested in his blog you can check it out here. It's definitely worth the visit.

P.S. - I was talking to my English class about conventional families and said ' you know 2 mothers, 2 kids..." It was a strange slip (maybe future me was talking) and I think it made all of my students wonder about my upbringing.

apple of my eye

It's been awhile since there's a been a summer camp memory posted here and the sight of boots in a forest and the word 'nitch' (thanks Sara) brought back a string of consonants and vowels: EC-DC-IC-A.

The months of May and June were reserved for a science camp at one end of Camp Chief Hector (the other end did a social studies camp). Sunship Earth, developed by Steve Van Matre, is an educational program designed to get students familiar with the following terms: energy, cycle, diversity, community, interdependency, change and adaptation. I don't know how many times I repeated that chain of words during the three years I did the program but I can imagine that even if I'm old and senile I'll still be able to pull that one out.

Every term had a corresponding outdoor activity that was supposed to help students learn the concept. I think my favourite one had to do with cycle. Students gathered a bunch of duff and stuffed it into canvas bags; after which I read a story about how duff turns into soil. The kids all had big wooden mallets and pounded the bags while I read. As my voice became louder they had to pound the bags harder. When all was said and done, and my voice was really hoarse, the kids were pleasantly surprised at the transformation of the dead leaves and twigs into something almost resembling dirt.

My least favourite activity had to do with community. I don't really remember the premise anymore; I just know that I found it boring. It had something to do with a guy name Echin (niche backwards). For some reason someone thought it was a good idea to have Echin's rubber boots in the forest. This led me to develop a complicated backstory for Echin. Here's a very abbreviated version:

Echin used to be a lawyer (or some other white collar profession, it changed weekly) and didn't care much for the environment. One day he was struck by lightening (or hit by a car, this too changed often) and had a complete personality change. He became an extreme environmentalist - PETA, ALF they weren't hardcore enough for him. Eventually Echin left the big city and chose to live in the area that the kids and I were now walking through. Some weeks Echin was crazy and others he was not.

My hope was the students would lose all interest in whatever we were supposed to be doing and instead focus on Echin. Unfortunately for me this never happened.

It's kind of funny, and mysterious, that there's a pair of winter boots on the trail near my apartment. Maybe Echin's coming for me.

Water water everywhere

Though the angle is different this should give a good indication of just how fast (and how much) the snow is melting. I used to think that stilts were used because of the permafrost but now I believe they're also used to stop houses and buildings from flooding during the spring. No joke - I'm swear the spin cycle of the washer is more noticeable now; in an unsettling kind of way.

One final thing. Someone on this floor is either smoking the foulest weed this side of the Mississippi or has a very sick skunk. It really could be either one.

The Katoni Kid

Here's something I found while digging around the net - some ad footage that was going to be used for the old Katoni system. I guess the company rep wasn't happy that the system didn't actually appear in this clip. The director of the commercial thought the voice actor lacked the appropriate enthusiasm to sell the product, or any product for that matter. I'm not sure how someone sliding down a hill is supposed to sell anything - much less a video game system.

Long live Katoni.

Friends forever

In the week since Capital M left there has been a dramatic change in the weather. I've hung up my winter jacket (will I ever wear it again?) and keep forgetting to bring my hat, mitts and scarf home from school.

When I arrived in September all the leaves had already turned colours and a short time after that the trees were bare. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised at the sudden burst of life considering that the growing season is so short. To be honest I had become used to the idea of a perpetual winter.

While not the nicest picture this is representative of what I can only refer to as 'Spring Fever.' Last night I could clearly hear the sounds of a bush party and this may be evidence of the event (there were other party sites that I discovered along my walk). The party sounded like a metaphor for the human condition - I could hear passion, joy, anger (then rage), despair, laughter, jealousy, fear and just about any other adjective one could use. It is unfortunate they burned part of the Trans Canada Trail and I'm at a loss to explain why there are a bunch of 'first place' ribbons scattered about.

The ice road will be closing early next week. I felt unsafe just walking out to get this picture. The significance of the closure means that two towns are about to become accessible only be air. A fellow employee of Aurora College, who lives in Aklavik, called me and asked if I'd like to use her truck for the next two months. She had to bring it to Inuvik before the ice road closed or else her vehicle would be stuck there until late Oct. This would be especially problematic if she moves away from Aklavik this summer

I'm pretty sure all the water won't lessen the structural integrity of my building's stilts. Though I think it may be best if people stop using the washer and dryer for the time being.

nothing's going to stop me now

It's Tuktoyaktuk or bust. I had some ice road trucking practice yesterday in what maybe the largest 4x4 truck available for the everyday working man. Despite my caution at taking the hairpin turns we did fishtail once. Today's experience should be a great one and I hope that I can at least touch the Arctic ocean.

all waiting to get out

When questioned by authorities this ski-doo claimed it couldn't read. Word on the street is that this means of conveyance is the 'Jim Stark' of town.

There's nothing special about this - I just like the picture

To date the only wildlife I've seen around here has been crows and ravens (and maybe a few semi-wild dogs). This nest is the first indication that there is at least one more type of bird.

The GSI Mariner. If you google the name you'll find the ship is meant for seismic research and that its area of service is 'northern waters.' This actually gives me an idea for a new take on an old tv classic - 'Snow Boat.' The show could be about a group of scientists who get a grant to do a seismic study up North. Only when they get to their research vessel they find it beached and derelict. However, because they're good at science the crew turns the boat into swinging snow glider. They travel from town to town delivering fruit, seismic reports and help single people find love along the way.

back to the sea

A day at the jamboree. The above dog musher won the race. Unlike the competition (top picture), these dogs did not feel the need to sniff the spectators.

The plank walk is a lot tougher than it sounds. These kids taught me a valuable lesson - no one should take part in this contest if they have osteogenisis imperfecta (that's you Mr. glass) or hemophilia.

The Old Lady table. This is a tough clique to break into.

Log sawing contest. The guy in the red and black jacket was supposed to be keeping time. I can only guess that he must have a supernatural sense of time, not unlike DC comic's Temple Fugate, because I never saw him consult his watch. This didn't stop him from coming up with some very specific numbers.

Saber Rider

It's Jamboree time in Inuvik. A chance for people to show their skills at skinning muskrats, tea boiling (includes starting a fire in the snow), harpoon throwing and dog sledding to name a few events. Most of the contests are open the public. Do I have the innate ability to skin and debone a muskrat? Magic 8 ball says - it's unlikely.

Here it is - Muktuk. If you missed the previous post where I mentioned this Northern delicacy I'll bring you up to speed - muktuk is raw beluga blubber. Whenever I mention this stuff to people the first question I get is "did you try it?" Up until tonight the answer was no. What does it taste like you ask? Let's start with what it smells and feels like. Muktuk does not smell like fish; it smells worse (if such a thing is possible). Sadly, beyond making a rather coarse comparison I can think of no way to describe the smell. The texture is equally unpleasant. No matter how hard I tried I could not puncture my little piece of muktuk with my plastic fork. This was a bad sign. Daunted, but determined, I pushed the blubber on my fork and, after a moment's hesitation, put it in my mouth. It tasted exactly like it smelled. My entire body felt like it was rebelling against what I had just done but I tried to keep my cool. The taste was so unpleasant that I thought it prudent to hold off on chewing until I had a chance to adapt (or at least not throw up). Chewing however, proved to be my undoing. Muktuk's texture is rather like an erasure - squishy yet surprisingly resilient. This tactile sensation sent my gag response into full gear and the muktuk found its way back on my plate, looking just as it had before I chewed it. My supervisor laughed at my reaction for 5 minutes.

I took this photo on my way home from the community feast at around 9:20pm. We'll have twenty-four hours of sunlight by Victoria Day weekend.

looking in

Another Thursday done. Not too much has been happening at the Learning Centre. Fortunately I still have a few photos from the trip to Jasper. But before those here's a recent inexcusable excuse for missing school:

• Staying home to do laundry

I really like the simplicity of that one.

This is Maligne Canyon, taken from the 2nd bridge.

There's nothing special about this photo - I just like the way it looks.

I planted this tree when I was in grade 8 (that's 19 years ago). People say it has my chin.

This is the Jasper Visitor Information Centre. People from town call the surrounding green space the 'cabbage patch.' Many people like to stand around there and play hacky sack; I'm not one of them.

This is the 6th bridge of Maligne Canyon. If you start at the top of the Canyon (the first picture) you can follow the Maligne River down and end up here. The nice thing about this area is that falling off the bridge or the nearby rocks won't result in certain death.

Danced in morning

I'm now back in Inuvik after spending a week in Jasper, AB. Though the occasion was a sombre one it was nice to see both my family and the mountains again.

Icanhascheezburger?

I took this from the kitchen window one morning; it's a fairly common sight. Many years ago my grandfather somehow conditioned a deer to come every day at 5:00pm for something to eat. There's a large fine for feeding wildlife but that didn't stop my grandfather from raiding the fridge for scraps for the deer. My grandmother soon found that bread, fruit and vegetables were disappearing at an alarming rate. Fortunately for my grandfather the deer stopped coming after a week or two.

Whistlers Mountain. You can see the top of skytram just above the clouds. This is probably the easiest way to get to the top of a mountain without actually climbing one.

Old Man Mountain. If you look at it right you can see the nose, chin and headdress of a man laying down.

During the summer the Athabasca River is a raging torrent and it would be impossible to get a reflection of Pyramid Mountain. Even a few hours later the river was flowing faster and the image wasn't as clear.

A real break down

This is perhaps one of the world's best cookies and it's only available in Jasper, AB. I brought a few back with me - maybe I can reverse engineer the recipe. The only change I'd make would be the addition of cinnamon.

I do this for a living

It’s been some time since my last post and quite a lot has happened. At the beginning of March I took a trip down to the capital city for an English curriculum conference. What’s a good anagram for ‘boring’? There isn’t one. Fortunately the latter part of the trip was saved by a visit from Capital M. If I was forced to choose one highlight of the brief time we spent together it would be the Snow King’s castle. We were walking to old town Yellowknife and happened upon a mysterious castle made of snow. A woman squirreled into a small snowy room demanded $5.00 to enter the Snow King’s domain. I couldn’t determine if the money was a tribute or a tithe; either way it was worth it.

The castle from afar.

Capital M was conscripted almost immediately after we arrived. Fortunately there were no threats from rival snow castle builders.

Ahh the barracks. There's nothing better than sitting around an icy table on an old stump.

Though not part of the Ice King's admission package, maple syrup on a stick was available for those who wanted to buy some.

Hail to the the king, baby.