Finally...more pics

This is a close up of one section of a wall hanging from the hotel in Kugaaruk. I think the materials used are from a musk ox and maybe human hair?.


The detail is fantastic in the work and can really only be appreciated in person.


The hanging was about 31/2 feet wide and about 5 feet tall.





This little cutie was taking a nap when I found him. This yard is pretty typical for the North. Garbage is a constant struggle. What do we do with it and where do we put it.


Another typical Northern view...polar bear (or other animal skin).


Room with a view. Quamitik...I know that is spelled wrong and I am too lazy to go and look up the proper spelling...Kamatik. I like the window in the front so the passengers can have a view and still keep warm.

Taken outside the Catholic church in Kugaaruk. I like the way the seal skins are incorporated into the shrine. It's a bit hard to see in the small version, but in the middle of the picture is a swing. Just like you would see in backyards all across the country. See...the North...the same, but different.

I'm in Kugluktuk this morning. I want to stay. Flew in yesterday afternoon and scheduled to fly out early this afternoon. Community presentation last night that went quite well.

The sun is shining high in the sky and looking out the window is almost painful as the sun is glaring off the white ice and snow..but I keep looking. The sun has been up and shining since we arrived and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. The temperature is a lovely -5 and all around town are signs of spring.

The hotel here is nice. I have my own room, satellite tv and a great view. The food has been excellent and I will be sad to fly out this afternoon. I could certainly handle another day of working in the sunshine. The hotel is called the Coppermine Inn and has been run by the same family since 1984. That must be a record. I'm hoping to get out and go for a walk shortly but am waiting for my boss to call...ugh. Somedays it would be nice to leave technology behind us completely and go back to the telegraph. He was scheduled to call at 10am. It is now 10:20...I'm envoking the no show rule and I'm heading out for a walk.

There were swans and geese along the runway yesterday when we arrived. I had put my camera away by then as the trip down the runway usually does not bring about any photo ops. I will have it at the ready today but will no doubt end up on the wrong side of the plane. But...I did see them. A large group of people were out on the ice fishing and there was a constant parade of families coming back in off the land last night. Families who had spent the weekend fishing or out at the cabins relaxing and enjoying the wonder

ful weather.

I slept very well last night. I left the curtain open so the sun could come in and around 1am there was a beautiful sunset. I was so asleep that while I saw it I couldn't do anything about it. Almost like a dream.

Taken from my trip a couple weeks ago...the flag of Kugaaruk.

This is the same church I photographed in Fall of 2007. Notice how the sky, snow and ice are all the same colour. That's why the picture taking hasn't been so great lately. It makes it hard to differentiate between the hills and sky. This cutie was on the flight out of Cambridge Bay in April headed to Yellowknife. She kept looking out the window longingly. I tried sneaking the photo and yet get her in the shot. I think I captured what I was looking for in this one.

It's Saturday afternoon and I have yet to venture from the apartment. I came home yesterday afternoon around 4pm. It was nice to leave work early. I stopped by the grocery store and picked up a few things then came home and watched a movie. I put the movie on and within a few minutes fell asleep. It was a wonderful almost 3 hour nap. Finally I have sound on a laptop. I actually traded with a spare one in the office and will bring the broken one to Edmonton for repair in June.

My neighbour is gone for a couple of days so the house is very quiet. She tends to play her music loud enough for me to hear on occasion and the water pump is very noisy so I know everytime they turn on a tap or flush the toilet. And they know when I do. I have the tv up as loud as I want it today where normally I keep it pretty quiet so as not to disturb next door. To combat the noise from the pump and furnace the TV is louder than I would prefer, but since I don't have a remote to change it I just deal with the extra loudness. At least I have cable tv.

I'm feeling a bit sick today. Maybe not enough sleep. Maybe too much.

I was up at 7:30am this morning which is sleeping in some...who knows. I'm probably just tired from work. I decided to take the whole day and do nothing. I would like to do more cleaning at the duplex for our new employee...but that will now need to wait until next week. I still have another 8 days...so no worry yet. I will be at work tomorrow morning before I leave for Kugluktuk and will get caught up on some of the things I didn't do yesterday or today...like the email I promised to send my boss when I left him at the airport on Friday. Oops.

Kugluktuk is a one night trip for another presentation. No biggie. Sounds like the person in Kug did an excellent job of planning it for us. I have been to Kug before and will miss visiting the nice folks who lived there then. Fellow bloggers who now live in Faro. The trip is about 24 hours exactly. We fly out of Cambridge Bay on Sunday on the flight that will continue on to Yellowknife and Monday fly to Cambridge on the flight that will arrive in Kug from Yellowknife. I hope to someday see Kug and Cambridge when it is summer and the snow is gone.

So we have a new employee moving up here to Cambridge Bay. I have been trying to give suggestions on what to pack and how things will be...but it is hard. Everyone takes to the North differently and it is hard to really tell someone what they personally will need. She was looking into bringing up some perishable food and putting dry ice in the container to keep it fresh. She asked where she could buy the proper container. I told her I had no idea as I have never thought about it. I have brought up perishables before but just in a cooler or just in my suitcase. I tried to tell her that she didn't need to worry about it...cause the planes cargo area isn't heated. It is hard to inform without sounding like a bossy know it all.

The weather was nice and windy on Friday which meant lots of slush and some mud around town. Today is is snowing...again. I gotta say I am really missing Spring this year. I guess cause I thought I would be experiencing it is why I am missing it. I hope the bush/tree outside my patio doors isn't finished blooming by the time I get to visit in June. I really need some flowers here.

Living in the North is very different from temporarily living in the North. I have none of my special homey things around me and feel like an outsider in town. I know a few people, but not enough and due to the amount of work I've been doing haven't had time to meet anyone new. It is different from my previous experiences up North. Not necessarily bad, just different.

What I was really thinking about tonight is the 24 hour light/dark issue. People always ask how I handle it. Quite well actually. I am a HUGE fan of 24 hour daylight. I don’t recall having issues with a night light and needing one when I was younger, but maybe that is selective blocking. Ask my mom.

Lately the sun hasn’t been shining and the overcast sky makes me pretty depressed. Right now it bugs me because the sky and the land are the same colour. White. Picture taking is terrible and the fact that you can’t even watch the sun move across the sky is…blah. In the winter it isn’t an issue for this amount of time because it is generally too cold for lots of cloud cover and when a storm rolls in, it quickly rolls out within a couple of days.

When the sun shines brightly all day and all night many people have trouble sleeping. I don’t. I think it is about trying to keep a routine. Get up at the same time and try to go to bed at the same time each day. When you are home in the evening and it is around 8pm or so close the curtains or blinds. When you get up in the morning open the curtains and let all the light in. I think it is all about the routine. If I leave the blinds open at night then it is harder to get into that routine. Of course when I was living in Iqaluit I did the opposite almost. I would open the curtains just before bedtime. I seemed to sleep better with the light. Maybe my body thinks it is getting an extra long cat nap when the sun is shining in. Whatever it is, it works. And as long as your curtains are not white sheers they will always darken a room some. If you then close your eyes when you go to sleep it gets dark.

That was written a few days ago. Man I am busy.

I downloaded a bunch of pics and realized I don't think I have shared any for a while. I am at the office so the internet connection is fairly good...I'll try and post some. Of course, if I do you will have seen them before reading this post. Oh well.

My apartment here in town gives me pleasure and pain. If I had internet and sound on my laptop I would be a very happy camper. As it is...I have neither. The sound comes and goes...mostly goes when I am at the house wanting to watch a movie and works when I am at the office. Grrr. The whole computer needs to be sent in for repairs. Unfortunately that won't happen for a VERY LONG TIME. Well...kinda. I may or may not be back in Edmonton within a couple weeks for a few days. I have been asked to attend the BOD meeting June 8. So I would fly down on the Friday and back later in the week...I guess. That is still up for debate.

I have more info on my trip to Iqaluit which makes me very excited. What I don't have is final confirmation that YES I can go. I am getting a tad worried, but I guess in the end it will all work out. Right now I am working on finding a couch or a floor to sleep on while I am there. Anyone in need of a house sitter? A few folks that I had thought were potentials are going to be out of town...which sucks cause A) it would have been nice to see them and B) I could crash at their homes. I'm sure I will find a place. The Habitat build in IQ won't be like the India one where I see a lot of tourist things. I've been there, done that...have a few tshirts, but even for the other people on the build it is mostly a build group not a sight seeing and build kind of group.

Ok...back to work. Sigh.

No rest for the wicked...must have been written about me. I must be a wicked, wicked girl seeing as I don't seem to get time off anymore. I worked all week, today--I think, is Saturday and I've spent my day working at home and now at the office. Tomorrow is a mixed bag. I was going to work all day but found someone to cook supper for me...so I'm going to work in the morning and watch someone cook all afternoon for me. Nice. Monday is technically a holiday. But I haven't decided yet if I will work or not. There is simply soooo much to do that taking the day seems like a waste. Maybe I will let the weather decide. Sunny day=No work. How's that for planning?

I was grumbling all of last night and most of today. Certain people are scheduled to work until 6pm and for 2 nights in a row were not there. I got miffed last night when I called over for a ride and discovered that I was the last person still working. According to one source they have changed their hours. I'm not sure how I feel about that...or if I believe it. But I am leaving the issue for now. There are so many fish to fry it is hard to know where to start. Like the employees who decide on their own that they will be working OT on the weekend. Their Supervisor only works 2 days a week so she doesn't know how much (or little) they get done during the week and always just signs off on the time sheets. Hmmm. I question getting paid OT when one takes two afternoons off during the week and then claims for OT on the weekend. Seems a bit fishy if you ask me.

Yes, I found somone to cook for me. The crazy thing is that because he is an employee I need to be very careful about how this is done. I have asked another employee over for supper...kind of as a chaperone. I am not interested in getting involved with either employee...but people will talk regardless. So I figure that a third person will help make things seem above board. Which they are anyway...but small towns are terrible for gossip. My supervisor is scared to come over to my unit for supper (and an evening of work) for fear of people thinking we are involved. I get it and agree with him. Unfortunately we need to hash out a few hr things and a bit of privacy where we won't be overheard would be an excellent idea. Oh well. Small town rumors are even bigger in a small office.

The sun was shining for a few minutes today. And the melting is happening. The drip, drip, drip off the roof was a very pleasant sound and the sight of more roadway is always a bonus. After winter comes dust season which is quickly followed by bug season and then back to winter. As a bonus though one gets to experience dust and bug season under 24 hour day light....which in my opinion makes is all worth while. I will need a night light again when I hit the South.

Next weekend I am going to do some Spring cleaning on a house that isn't mine. We have a new employee moving up and the nicer of the two units smells like smoke. Ok, reeks might be a better word. It's the place I stayed in February. This unit has been vacant since November and yet the smell of the smoke still haunts as if one had just lit up a few moments ago. Yes, the unit was cleaned, but no one cleaned the curtains, pillows, etc. I'll go over and see if I can make it habitable. And a bit of house keeping never hurt anyone...so it will help clear my head. Speaking of which I should do some dusting and sweeping at my unit before I have people over tomorrow.

This morning I didn't really have much to do. Sit in the hotel, see if anyone stopped by with an application form and eat lunch. There wasn't much traffic and I was pretty tired so I tried to take a nap. I didn't have much luck cause thats when people kept showing up. Oh well I thought, I'll nap on the plane. Nope.

Around 1:30pm the taxi showed up and we headed to the airport. After checking in we sat to wait for the plane to arrive. 10 minutes later the phone rang. The plane had left Cambridge Bay, had some mechanical issue and headed back to Cambridge Bay. Please stand by for an update. We did. About 1/2 hour later we got a lift back to the hotel. We couldn't get into the hotel cause the door was locked and no one was there. LOL After a while one of the other guests left and we snuck back in.

I made several phone calls to travel agents, 1-800 lines, airports, etc. Everyone had a different story. We debated and talked about what to do...in the end the decision was to stay here for another night and cancel our presentation in Gjoa Haven...at least for now. Several more phone calls ensued and we were finally able to get keys to rooms in the hotel. Yeah. The three of us are now sitting around watching the Discovery channel.

It is a bit disappointing to not be able to stay on schedule, but with the way things go in the North, not entirely surprising. I'm planning on eating my supper and then heading to my room to hide/watch tv/fall asleep early. Ah, a single room tonight.

I have gotten lots of work done...so I'm not feeling guilty about not doing anything tonight. And who knows, with a fresh start in the morning I just might get some real work done before our flight tomorrow afternoon. There was a fantastic carving for sale here a few minutes ago. If I hadn't purchased my tea cozy and wall hanging I would have been tempted (VERY TEMPTED) but I held back and didn't spend the cash. I'm sure he will have no problems selling it.

Oh, the temptations to have more, more, more. It isn't a shopping habit so much as an exposure to wonderful art work...one of a kind originals...very hard to not be tempted.