Warm welcome in Whitehorse

Hats off to Whitehorse!

A good-sized group came out to my reading at the public library this evening. They listened politely, laughed at the right times, and answered my questions about the Yukon writing scene. They stayed afterwards and talked about life in Whitehorse and Yellowknife. It was a great time.

Many thanks to Mairi Macrae of the Whitehorse Public Library for organizing the event - everything from securing the room to finding a projector for my Yellowknife slide show to doing the publicity to providing snacks.

And thanks to Roslyn for taking photos!

Last day of summer, 2009

Last Monday Pierre called me at the office at five to five with the request that I get myself home as soon as possible.

"We're having a picnic supper in the boat," says he. "It'll be our last chance this year."

Last Monday was a stunner in Yellowknife. Sunny skies, 24 degrees. The weather's been marginal this summer, and a lot of people were griping about the fact that our entire summer seems to have occurred on a Monday in September, when everyone was back at work.

So shortly after five I hopped on my pink mountain bike and coasted down the Franklin Avenue hill to the Old Town. Turns out Pierre was serious about getting into the boat. I'm usually in charge of the cooler, but while I was wandering around, checking my e-mail and putting my hair in a ponytail, he got everything packed and was sitting in the car in the driveway ready to go while I was still looking for my ball cap.

It was, indeed, a lovely evening on the water. We went about 15 minutes out on Yellowknife Bay, then puttered around some little islands while we dined on snack food. The lake was absolutely calm; it was so warm I was wearing a tank top. We waited until the sun was almost down, and then headed back to town.


Fall hit the following day; it's been cold and rainy ever since.

Reading at the Whitehorse Public Library

I'll be in the Yukon next week, and will be giving a public reading of selections from my book.

Monday, September 21, 2009
7:30 p.m.
Whitehorse Public Library
2071 2nd Avenue
Whitehorse, Yukon

If you're in Whitehorse, come on down!

Ugly Truck and Dog Contest in the classroom

Got some great news this week - Yellowknife Catholic Schools has decided to use The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest as part of its high school program, and ordered a class set of books. Excellent!

What I did on my summer holidays

Labour Day is here, and it’s time to touch base. Here’s how I spent July and August.

1.) Went fishing in the East Arm of Great Slave Lake for eight days in July. Scenery wonderful. Company great. Fishing slow. Bugs bad. As in: I had to wear a bug net over my baseball hat the entire time I was out there. A couple of nights we ate late, and there was a haze of mosquitoes around my face as I tried to have supper. Had to pick squirming little bodies out of my food. Ugh.

2.) Spent five days in Regina visiting my parents, aunt and uncle, family friends, and buddies from my journalism days. Exploded a large bottle of tonic water all over my parents' kitchen; spent the rest of the visit cleaning the floor, walls, ceiling, cabinets, stairwell, hutch, etc. Learned that tonic water has real staying power. Weather great. Nice birthday party for my dad. No bugs. Yay!

3.) Back to work right after the August long weekend. Very busy.

4.) Managed to get my new kayak in the water a few times, but incessant wind means I haven’t been out as much as I would like. Common complaint among Yellowknife boaters this summer.

So that's us, all caught up!