Inuvik community life 2008

So, I've enjoyed a very full year in Inuvik. I met lots of new people and have done lots of new things. I've worked with Parks Canada and visited Ivvavik National Park, one of the more remote parks in the system. I've paddled around the pingos in Tuktoyaktut and had my own Dempster Highway adventure en route to Dawson City. I'll be completing my term as instructor with the Natural Resources program at Aurora College in June and have had a challenging - and rewarding - time so far. I've participated in the fall field camp on Kendall Island in the Beaufort Sea and the winter camp east of Lutsel'ke, much farther south than the Mackenzie Delta. I've also recertified my lifeguard qualifications and am having a blast as an Aquafit instructor at the local pool several times a week.

Most of all, though, I've made some good friends, here. I've paddled local channels of the Mackenzie River with Moe and friends and have skiied the local trails with Dianne. I've just leaped into community life as a board member of the Inuvik Community Greenhouse and the Inuvik Ski Club societies.

There's quite a cultural life here, aside from activity at the Trapper, the local - very colourful- watering hole. In addition to the many pot luck dinners that are the mainstay of community life, there's the Muskrat Jamboree in early April and the Great Northern Arts festival in July. There was also the first annual Storytelling Festival in November. Last fall, we had a trio of world class classical musicians come to Inuvik and offer workshops to local talent - and the community band (Oops! Sorry guys.). They also held an impromptu concert in the Igloo Church. The busiest cultural organization is the Francophone Association. They hold the most creative events and the best dinners. This evening I'll be joining a French class for parents of children in the bilingual program at the local elementary school. It doesn't matter that my children have grown and gone, or that they're not even here. I'm welcome anyway.

I'm learning to play guitar and am relearning the alto sax as a member of the Inuvik Community Band. I haven't played saxophone since high school - oh about 30 years ago! The community band has even performed publicly. Thank goodness the local audience is uncritical, appreciative and enthusiastic.

Early in the new year, I joined friends on a wood cutting expedition in the delta. The highlight of the day was sitting round an open fire in the snow roasting smokies. What can top that?

I'm renting a room at my friend, Pat's, with her menagerie of 2 cats and 2 dogs. There's one dark and 1 light coloured animal of each. So, now all my clothes are indiscriminately speckled with dark and light cat and dog hair. After several months now, they've all seemed to accept me as part of the pack. I probably smell as least as good as they.