TUGs

TD Canada Trust Literacy Centre

The Yukon Literacy Coalition has been working hard to open a Family Literacy Centre at our local Canada Winter Games Centre.  The CGC has donated YLC a room and much work has gone towards making what was a storage space into a literacy home. 

I was up there for a partnership meeting and snapped some shots of the beautiful artwork that is adorning the concrete walls.  This is a work in progress and I'll give an update with new pictures in the coming month. There are several different languages in script on this mural that give life and borders within the scene. The medicine wheel here depicts the importance of considering the whole child:
And this one simply gives imagination some size...
 

 

Yikes - it's December!

I had to change the title, even though my first instinct was to reference the passage of time directly since my last entry.  Things have been so insanely busy, but in a better way than the previous times.  Let me show you... I'll catch up the last few months over the coming days with some snapshots.

I think it was August, or maybe September, four of us got together to help our friend Peter.  He has written some text, although I am not sure how to describe it not having read it.  Peter has created some sort of narrative that relates to wordsmithing, I believe.  The content is a secret until the end of his project, which has already been at least two years + in the making. 

 
Anyways, every word has since been cut into lino, most every one by a different person.  Each stamp has become the physical word. ...am I making sense? Either way, here are the words we made that day.

Trip to Dawson City, Yukon

I absolutely cannot believe that my last post was in July!?!  It did seem like a while and I knew things were over due but holy smokes.

SO, a couple of weeks ago I took a trip to Dawson...

And then of course, what goes up must come down.  The next day I returned back to Whitehorse...

CPY - Canadian Pacific DC-3 - Weather Vane

This past Monday, July 6th, CPY was taken down from her stand in front of the Whitehorse Airport, which is now officially called Eric Nielsen International Airport.  The parking lot for passengers is being expanded and so CPY is on the move. 

Our CPY was the last DC-3 to be flying through Yukon skies.  It is now a gigantic weather vane that adjusts her position with the slightest breath of air.

A comrade on the board of our Yukon Transportation Museum told me that it was originally posted to this home on the same time that a wanna-be assassin tried to take the life of then U.S. President Ronald Regan in 1981.  "Hm" I thought to myself after being given this little bit of trivia. Remembering that attempt on Ronald Regan's life wasn't so interesting to me but the year was.  I have a hard time believing that the plane has been gracing us with her assistance on this pedestal since 1981?!

Two cranes, a welder, and a hot torch amongst a few folk all worked to bring her and the two swallow's nests with babes, gently down to earth.  It was very exciting to watch.  Even in her after-life she is as graceful as ever.

Members of the YTM Board are taking this opportunity to give CPY a wash and small structural tune-up.  During her weather vane exististence she has somehow managed to acquire a few little holes in the rear wing flaps.  Although these apparatus look to be made of silver metal, they actually are constructed of very light but durable fabric.  It is our thought that perhaps a raven or two were doing a wing inspection of their own at some point.

Our CPY is scheduled to be back up in her new location in front of the Yukon Transportation Museum within the coming week. 

A Few More Pics...

I admit that it is difficult to capture the essence of a place in simple photographs. Somehow these pictures aren't worth a 1000 words... she seems flat. I guess that life of an inanimate object is a hard thing to put into two dimensions.  Either way, here are a few more pictures of Trails:

A Local Institution Closes for Now: Trails North Car and Truck Stop

Trails North Car & Truck Stop has been an institution on the Alaska Highway for more than 40 years. The place is as real as you can find it these days. 

Meals in the restaurant made from scratch, the best breakfasts all day long in town, the burgers can't be beat... full service gas station, small and spotless motel rooms... oh and a thriving cold beer, ciders and wine store with confectionary... Did I mention the community that transcends any boundary?  Professional truck drivers, lawyers, travelers, construction workers, 86 year old semi-retired mechanics, 20 year olds out on a date, bureaucrats, canoers, hikers, people who come together for a coffee and a game of lottery... this place housed it all.

On June 30th this special place closed the doors, at least temporarily.  After trying to sell, the owners of this thriving, small, family business had to look after what they have come to realize beats out the financial bottom line: their health. 

Being in business-for-self all their lives, having cellular 'work hard and endless' in their DNA, age and illness have found the front row at the show. Bravely Mom and Dad stuck to the family decision made several weeks ago. The line in the sand stood as the boundary:  June 30th was to be the day of transition - either the business sold or the doors closed.  It was hard to follow through with knowing how many people this decisions affects: people who work at Trails, people who supply it with groceries and fue, and the people who bring it to life each day: the long-time loyal patrons.

Unfortunately for now, regulars will have to find another place to visit daily to fuel their social, petroleum, culinary, or sleeping needs. 

The highlight though is that it is for sale. Several staff stayed on to look after some details. Since closing the inventory (food, alcohol, alcohol) has been returned or sold.  The physical space has undergone a thorough cleaning from top to bottom.  It is always very clean, but it is REALLY spic and span and is ready to go again once the new owners are located. 

Here are some brief pics taken in the hour after closing.  Things that might not be captured again that are pretty simple, but for example the big yellow creamer bowl that holds cream overnight is part of old routine that will be missed. 

I will take some more pictures in the coming days that provide a better description of the 'friend' and post them.

Yukon River Quest - 2009

This is River Quest Week - 2009.  It is a very intense week for volunteers and organizers and racers alike.  Here are some pictures taken at Registration on Tuesday, race start on Wednesday and Thursday at the Check Point in Carmacks.

I have recently started uploading some of my images onto Picasa on-line.  If you click on the image below it will open up a series of photos that summarize the race from registration to Carmacks.

Unfortunately this year I could not go to the finish line in Dawson City.  The full race results can be viewed at www.yukonriverquest.com .  I heard today that Texas won, finishing just a few minutes ahead of Dene.

River Quest 2009

Green

As I walked tonight out in the woods I composed my visions into words back into my mind

Oh green t'is the world out back

The one I walk into and lose myself

In the wilds so close to town

Where the lupins take up their June crusade

Replacing the crocus carpet that fill in space amongst

The creeping spruce, willow, and pines

And dandilions mark gravel sized rock tables

That give room for bright sunshine and buckets of rain

Water runs steady in the creek making it's way

Through the mosses, fallen trees, and straight dark stands

Passing gently under the paths through culverts

And meanders eagerly around corners as it makes way

Down the silent grade towards the highway and river beyond

Yukon Quest

The night of February 14th I had the pleasure of volunteering for the Yukon Quest.  I drove out to Braeburn, an hour or so north of Whitehorse, at around 9:30 p.m.  After making a quick stop at my cabin along the way, I arrived at the check-point just before 11:00. 

The sky was crystal clear with the stars twinkling bright.  It was minus 31 celcius with not a breath of wind. 

When I arrived the first few teams had already arrived.  Actually the first team was in at around 9:00 p.m. when I had figured they would begin arriving about two hours later.  The trip from Whitehorse was fast since the trails was packed and cold. 

Although I volunteered for the Quest two years ago in Dawson City, this was a different experience. This time I was kept very active outside.  I helped check teams in as they crossed the check point finish line, helped guide the dogs to their resting spot, gathering the prearranged food into a sled and taking it promptly to the respective musher, and best of all, updating the standings board in the Lodge and calling the same results to Fairbanks for the web update.  I was kept busy and warm and involved.  It was a great experience.

The pictures here were all taken near the end of my shift at 10:30 a.m. just as the sun was coming up. Anything that my camera would have taken throughout the night would have been disruptive to the teams with a blinding flash, and I wouldn't have captured anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Montreal

A few weeks ago I spent time in Montreal.  The juxtapositions of old and new, English and French were striking to me.