Cathy Jewison's blog

Summer fun in the Old Town

2011-08-02T21:18:00.003-06:00

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that it is impossible to get anything done in Yellowknife in July.

The last few weekends have been a case in point. A couple of Saturdays ago, I went down to Weaver and Devore, the local bush store, to check out its 75th anniversary celebrations. Before I knew it, I'd made arrangements to attend the Ice Pilots Jamboree that evening down at the Max Ward dock, part of the biannual Float Plane Fly-In. I had a great time at the jamboree. One thing led to another, and I booked a seat on a Buffalo Airways sight-seeing tour of Yellowknife the following day. Who could pass up a chance for a flight on a vintage DC-3? Before that, though, I was up early to attend the Bush Pilot Memorial fly past, up on Bush Pilots Monument. Had to skip the lunch barbecue, because there just wasn't enough time.

The big event this past weekend was the Old Town Ramble and Ride, an annual event celebrating arts and the Old Town. Saturday morning I gleefully added to my bank of "Yellowknife scenics" during a photo tour of Willow Flats and the Woodyard, led by photog extraordinaire Fran Hurcomb. I got most of the way through Wayne Guy's afternoon architecture walk before the rain put an end to the day's excursions. The rain kept me in the house for the next couple of days . . . I really didn't know what to do with myself. Mercifully, the clouds cleared late yesterday, so I got my kayak in the water for a paddle around Latham Island.

No wonder I'm not getting any writing done. Ah well, August is here and things will slow down . . . until September.

Photos clockwise, starting top left: "Buffalo Joe" McBryan receiving a model of his vintage Norseman float plane at the Ice Pilots Jamboree; the crowds checking out Max Ward's Single Otter; scenic truck and shack in the Woodyard; yet another scenic shack in the Woodyard; Buffalo Airways hangar; float planes gathering on Back Bay for the Bush Pilots Memorial fly past; the Weaver and Devore bush store; NWT Pipe Band playing at the Bush Pilots Memorial; Rick and the Relics' farewell gig at the Ice Pilots Jamboree; "Reserved for Max Ward" sign at the dock.

Words of writerly wisdom

2011-07-18T20:41:00.005-06:00

A few months ago, a writer for WestWord, the magazine of the Writers Guild of Alberta, contacted me for words of wisdom. Not for herself - she wanted to know what I would you tell myself if I could write a letter to the writer I was when I first put pen to paper.

My thoughts are featured in the current issue of the magazine, along with those of other guild members.

The bottom line? Focus more on doing a good job, and less on whether a particular story is going to published. Work hard and keep the faith.

Still good advice . . . if only I'd take it!

Remembering Robert Kroetsch

2011-07-03T16:10:00.014-06:00

Like everyone else who follows the world of Canadian literature, I was saddened by the passing of Robert Kroetsch a few days ago.

I first came across his celebrated novel The Studhorse Man in the 1990s, while taking a university course in western Canadian literature. The book was right up my alley – great story, told in an absurd and comical tone. I was clearly not alone in my opinion, because the novel had won the Governor-General’s literary award in 1969. The Studhorse Man is only one of countless literary accomplishments; Robert Kroetsch is a Canadian literary icon.

So I was fairly intimidated when I came face to face with the great man in the lobby of St. Michael’s Retreat during the Sage Hill Writing Experience in 2004. Robert Kroetsch had an imposing air – tall, serious-looking, lots of white hair – and on top of that, he’d just been awarded the Order of Canada. I couldn’t muster up the courage to choke out congratulations – I just slithered off to the side and let him pass in silence.

Not that it mattered. Our paths didn’t cross much at Sage Hill – he was there to teach the upper echelon, the novelists; I was taking an introductory fiction class. And then came the evening of the softball game.

I played ball throughout my childhood. Why I stuck with it is one of the great mysteries of our time, because I was really, really bad at it. One year they made me pitch – the ball flew out of my hand too high, too wide, bounced off the ground. I walked almost every batter I faced. They tried to make me short stop, but my ability to stop anything short was practically non-existent, so I was relegated to left field. There I still managed to do my bit to ensure we lost every game. But the most horrifying, humiliation-inducing part of the whole experience was batting – facing down some smug, hot-shot pitcher, swinging at the bad pitches, letting the good ones go by, the gleeful tone in the ump’s voice as he shouted “yer out!”, the ignominy of trudging back to the bench, dragging my bat behind me.

So imagine my surprise and delight when, my first time up to bat at Sage Hill, I actually hit the ball. I didn’t hit it far, so – desperate to make up for a lifetime of softball inadequacy – I flung aside my bat and raced toward first base. Then something happened. I’m not sure if I leaned too far forward, or if my foot slipped, but the next thing I knew I was lying on the ground staring into the eyes of Sage Hill’s Executive Director who was asking if I was all right.

I won’t talk about the bruises and the road rash up my entire left side, or the fact that my head had bounced so hard when it hit the ground that my glasses were almost destroyed and one of my heavy duty earrings (the ones they use to actually pierce your ears) snapped apart and was left lying in the dirt. You know those birds that twitter around the heads of cartoon characters after they take a knock to the noggin? That was me.

After an initial assessment of my injuries, the rest of the gang headed back out onto the field. Robert Kroetsch, who had come out to watch the game, was put in charge of me. Oh, boy. There we sat, me blubbering and shaking, Robert looking taciturn as ever. He was undoubtedly cursing the fates that inflicted the crying woman on him, disturbing his peaceful enjoyment of the game. As I sneaked a peek sideway, Robert fidgeted. Despite my rattled brains, it occurred to me that the man might be shy. Even the most ardent conversationalist would have trouble engaging with me in my current state. If the next two hours weren’t going to be absolute misery for us both, I'd have to give the guy something to work with.

“I really liked The Studman Man,” I snivelled.

“Thank you very much,” he said.

Silence. I took a breath and tried again.

“I read it for a course at Athabasca University.” My voice was still shaking.

“Did you?” He turned to me. “Who taught the course?”

It turned out my professor was a fellow member of the board of NeWest Press. I mentioned that I had travelled to Oxford to take a summer course from the same professor, and had enjoyed it very much. I realized I had managed to squeak out that information in close-to-normal tone of voice.

Robert asked me where I was from. It turned out that he had also lived in the North many years before, working on the barges on the Mackenzie River.

“Have you written about it?” I asked.

It turned out he had not.

“Well, I think you should. That part of our history is fading away, and it would take someone like you to really do it justice.”

He said he would consider it. We talked more about the Northwest Territories, and he asked me what I was working on – a collection of short stories set in Yellowknife, I said. Just as my team was coming off the field, Robert was suggesting that, when I was finished with my manuscript, I send it to NeWest for their consideration. One of my fellow writing students stopped in her tracks, and someone else rolled his eyes. If they thought I was exaggerating my injuries to have a private audience with Robert Kroetsch, I couldn’t blame them.

We had a lovely chat. Before I knew it, the game had ended and we went our separate ways. I bought a re-issued version of The Studhorse Man at Sage Hill, and asked Robert to sign it. The inscription reads: “To Cathy – For the pleasure of our Sage Hill conversation about the North. Robert Kroetsch, Aug. 2004.”

The pleasure was all mine, Robert.

The best birthday present ever

2011-06-11T19:10:00.016-06:00

For years I’ve been telling my husband that I want to retire from my government job as soon as possible, so I can fulfill my life-long ambition to work as a freelance Bobcat driver. Scooping, twirling, dumping . . . a veritable ballet of steel and rubber . . . does it get any better than that?

Pierre understands the affinity I feel with Bobcat drivers. A sunny Saturday morning a few years back, we were standing in the doorway of our garage during a lull in one of our once-a-decade garage sales. A Bobcat trundled down the street, its engine emitting a jaunty rumble. As the machine drew even with us, I waved at the driver. He waved back. Pierre nodded. “One of your people,” he said.

So when Pierre arrived home this afternoon when I was elbow-deep in compost (it’s planting time in Yellowknife) and instructed me to be ready to go somewhere in 20 minutes, I was perplexed. I filled a couple more buckets with compost, washed the grime from my arms and legs, and changed my clothes. We drove to a vacant lot, where Pierre unveiled my surprise 50th birthday present – a borrowed Bobcat (a little the worse for wear) and a big pile of dirt, just begging to be moved. As I approached, another sight gave me pause – our friend, award-winning cinematographer Alan Booth, lurking in the bushes with one of his high-end cameras. Good lord.

Yet the Bobcat beckoned. I climbed in, and Pierre gave me instructions on how to fire it up and operate it. I spent the next half hour gleefully scooping, twirling, dumping – all of it captured on video. Boy, was I ever glad I changed out of the shapeless T-shirt and lumpy shorts Pierre told me were just fine.

The video will be expertly edited in time for my birthday party, which had to be bumped a couple of weeks because of the NorthWords Writers Festival. The video will show that I am a Bobcat natural - that I am to-the-Bobcat-born, as it were. Except that I kept mixing up the controls for going backward and forward. And raising and lowering the scoop. And the whole thing was pretty jerky. But other than that, I did really, really well.

First thing Monday, I’ll be looking into the possibility of early retirement.

Join me at NorthWords!

2011-05-30T20:18:00.005-06:00

I'm be making two on-stage appearances at NorthWords.

On Thursday, June 2, I'll be reading a brand-new piece of flash fiction at the Flash: Your 3 Minutes of Fame open mike, 8 to 10 p.m. in the atrium of the Greenstone Building.

On Saturday, June 4, I'll be participating in the Renewal through Laughter: Writing Humour panel discussion, along with Kathy Reichs, Susan Juby, Ted Staunton, Annelies Pool and Richard Van Camp.

On June 4, I'll also be on hand for the Signings with Sizzle book signing and barbecue at the Book Cellar, noon to 1:30 p.m.

And, because I'm on the NorthWords Board of Directors, in between events I will be putting up display banners, wrangling baking, and whatever else need to be done.

See you there!

Honouring military spouses

2011-05-29T20:28:00.003-06:00

This past Friday evening I had the pleasure of being the guest speaker at a formal dinner to honour military spouses in Yellowknife.

Given the audience, I decided to read “Grey Day, Grey Trout,” a personal essay about the first time I went fishing with Pierre in the East Arm of Great Slave Lake. I don’t want to give away the storyline, but let’s just say that the whole fishing experience was frustrating in the extreme, what with the way the lake trout kept pestering me and interrupting my reading. Pépé and our friend Louis were very generous with their advice throughout the day. They had plenty of opportunity to “coach” me, since there were no fish distracting them by biting their lures. But I digress.

I’d never been to a formal military dinner, much less been the “honoured guest,” which seems to have a specific meaning in the military world. (I thought they were just being polite when they called me that.) I sat at the head table with the Commanding Officer, Brigadier-General Guy Hamel, and his wife Nicola. While the first course was being served, I sat politely waiting for someone important to start eating so I could break into my beef consommé en croûte. Turns out I was the “important” person everyone was waiting for. Go figure.

It was a wonderful experience for me and Pierre. The folks at Joint Task Force North were a fabulous audience, laughing at all the right spots while I was reading. During the breaks they were friendly and welcoming. I was happy to participate in the event, which acknowledged the important contributions of spouses to military life. Many thanks to Major Steve Wright, President of the Mess Committee, for inviting me to speak, and to General Hamel and Nicola Hamel for a great evening.

NorthWords immanent

2011-05-24T20:32:00.007-06:00

We're in the home stretch, heading towards the 6th annual NorthWords Writers Festival, June 2 to 5, here in Yellowknife.

This year's theme is "From Ripples to Waves: Renewing our Spirits through Stories." Twenty-eight authors and special guests will include Kathy Reichs, Susan Juby, Gregory Scofield, Charlotte Gray, Ted Staunton, AmberLee Kolson and Roger Brunt. Northern authors include Jamie Bastedo, Myranda Bolstad, Bill Braden, Marianne Bromley, Albert Canadien, Dawn Curtis, Randy Freeman, Rene Fumoleau, David Malcolm, David Miller, Annelies Pool, Richard Van Camp . . . and me.

For more information, please see the festival website.

I worry about the ptarmigan

2011-02-13T15:30:00.009-07:00

Why did the ptarmigan cross the road?

To get away from Cathy, of course.

About this time of year we see a lot of ptarmigan in Yellowknife. They're cute little gaffers. Well, large gaffers as far as birds go, seeing as how they're part of the grouse family and chubby, to boot. In winter their feathers are white, so they look like good-sized snowballs as they wander around.

And it's the wandering around part that's the problem.

You see, ptarmigan can fly, if they choose to. They just don't seem inclined to most of the time. Couple that with a tendency towards mental laziness, and you have disaster in the making. I walk to work every day, and there's a stretch of willow along Franklin Avenue portion of the route. For the past week, there have been a bunch of ptarmies in these bushes, munching on buds. Alarmed at my approach, they leap out of the willows (where they're fairly safe) and plop down onto the path in front of me. They then scurry along in a panic, trying to out-run me. Given that I have long legs and am in pretty good shape, I'll let you guess how well that works.

Some of the smarter ones eventually head back into the bushes. But there's always one or two who run into the road, unaware that a vehicle making its way along Franklin in the semi-dark poses a far greater danger than I ever would. So far, the terrified birds take to the wing before they're run over. But I really don't need this stress first thing in the morning -- witnessing ptarmigan carnage is not a good start to the day.

A couple of times, as I wander home in the evening, I've seen evidence that not all ptarmigan make it across the road safely. Poor little bird-brains. I worry about them.

Calling all writers! Contest open for entries

2011-01-09T14:54:00.003-07:00

The fifth annual Great Northern Canada Writing Contest opened January 1, 2011. To enter you need to write a 1,000 word story (fiction or non-fiction) about life in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut, Nunavik or Labrador. Winners receive cash prizes and publication in above&beyond, Canada’s Arctic Journal. Please see the contest page on the NorthWords Writers Festival website for details.

Old Yellowknife Christmas tradition

2010-12-31T16:17:00.007-07:00

I was going through some old photos and came across this one. I took it in 1986, the first year I lived in Yellowknife.

To get everyone into the holiday spirit, the City used to set up a Christmas tree smack dab in the middle of 50th Avenue and 50th Street - the main intersection in downtown Yellowknife. They hadn't covered this contingency when I took driver training in Saskatchewan, so I was never sure if one makes a left turn by cutting in front of the tree, or swinging wide around it. If you look closely at the photo, you'll see that there are no traffic lights, so whatever we did, we had to use the honour system that goes with an unmarked (and usually treeless) intersection.

I forget when they stopped putting up the tree. That tradition probably ended by the close of the '80s, about the same time they put up traffic lights in the downtown. I sometimes pine for the old tree, but given that Yellowknife is almost twice as big as it was in 1986, and drivers aren't nearly as patient as they used to be, it's unlikely to be resurrected.

Watching the solstice eclipse from the Dettah ice road

2010-12-26T13:41:00.005-07:00

Even though it was minus 20, plus wind chill, there was an impressive turnout on the Dettah ice road on December 20 for the super special solstice eclipse. Cars, trucks, snowmobiles, parasailors – even a lone cyclist pedalling past in the dark. The ice road between Yellowknife and Dettah – a First Nations community across Yellowknife Bay – is the ideal observation spot because it is close to town, but there’s little light pollution.

We watched from the relative comfort of our little SUV – sun roof (moon roof?) cranked open so we could see the Earth’s shadow slowly move across the face of the moon. The visibility was excellent, and the moon seemed to pop right out of the sky when we looked through the binoculars. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a red moon before, so was pretty impressed when the eclipse reached totality.

We had Christmas choirs playing on the satellite radio, which added to the sense of grandeur. When we felt chilled, we turned on the vehicle for a bit. Between fumbling with cameras and binoculars in the cold, and our heated car seats, we had a unique northern experience of getting frostbite on our fingers at the same time we got first degree burns on our butts!

Great workshop!

2010-12-07T19:32:00.002-07:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in my Creating Northern Characters workshop this past Sunday. A bit of brainstorming and some small group work, and there they were: an army wife looking for some fun; a crack addict who sold his friend's booster cables for some quick cash; a man who likes boats and snowmobiles more than the company of women; a Somali cab driver making a go of it on the streets of Yellowknife. Good work, everyone!

I'm leading a workshop this Sunday

2010-12-02T19:43:00.008-07:00

Northern writing often focuses on landscape and weather, but what of the people who roam those wild locales? How does a story’s setting affect the development of its characters? How do we create characters that truly reflect the northern experience? Join me for an interactive workshop of writing exercises, discussion and ideas.

Sunday, December 5, 2010
1:30 to 4 p.m.
Aurora College, Room 127, Yellowknife, NWT
Fee: $30, Register in advance at the Yellowknife Book Cellar

Many thanks to the NorthWords Writers Festival for sponsoring the workshop!

Great time at the book signing

2010-12-02T19:07:00.003-07:00

Last weekend's book signing, organized by the NorthWords Writers Festival and the Yellowknife Book Cellar was a great opportunity to sell some books, do some Christmas shopping, and connect with my Yellowknife writer friends. I shared a table with Bren Kolson, author of Myth of the Barrens.

Book signing at the Yellowknife Book Cellar this Sunday

2010-11-22T20:31:00.002-07:00

I will be joining a bunch of Yellowknife authors at a holiday book signing this Sunday, November 28, at the Yellowknife Book Cellar, 2 to 4 p.m. Tessa Macintosh and Mindy Willett will be launching the latest installment of the "Storybook from the Land" series. There will be cookies, good times and lots of opportunity to get your holiday books signed by local writers!

On the board of the NorthWords Writers Festival

2010-11-14T10:22:00.005-07:00

I'm pleased to say that I am back on the board of directors of the NorthWords Writers Festival. I was one of the original organizers when the festival started in 2006, but have been on hiatus for the past three or four years. We have a full board this year, with 12 members plus an executive director.

In addition to an annual summer festival for readers and writers in Yellowknife, the group is now organizing events throughout the year. Upcoming events include a holiday book signing with local authors at the Yellowknife Book Cellar on Nov. 28, and a workshop on creating northern characters by yours truly on Dec. 5. For updates and details on Northwords events, please keep an eye on the festival website.

I've gone pro

2010-06-22T18:30:00.006-06:00

I'm pleased to advise that the Canadian Authors Association (CAA) has accepted me as a professional member. My main qualification for pro status is my book, The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest and Other Tales of Northern Life. The CAA's professional members include not only writers, but also teachers, cartoonists and photographers, among others.

Speaking of the CAA, I'm off to Victoria tomorrow for the annual CanWrite! conference. I attended CanWrite! in Edmonton two years ago, and was impressed by the quality of the workshops and the panels, and the non-stop access to incredible food. This year, I'm particularly looking forward to the CAA Literary Awards, which are presented during the conference. Annabel Lyon, one of my former writing instructors, has been nominated for MOSAID Technologies, Inc. Award for Fiction. The nomination is for her much-celebrated novel, The Golden Mean. Yay, Annabel!

The beer barge cometh

2010-06-20T16:15:00.009-06:00

Who cares about the summer solstice? In Yellowknife, beginning of summer is marked by the arrival of the beer barge!

What is the beer barge, you ask? Well, back in the olden days (before the highway reached all the way to Yellowknife), most goods were barged across Great Slave Lake. The lake, of course, freezes during the winter. Prospecting and mining being thirsty work, liquor supplies usually ran out by late winter or early spring. So Yellowknifers waited for spring break up . . . and that first barge across the lake carried a much-anticipated shipment of beer.

Last year, the NWT Mining Heritage Society resurrected the tradition by re-enacting the arrival of the barge and holding a fab barbecue with live music . . . and beer! Members of the society - and others - wear costumes, and a good time is had by all.

Yesterday marked the 2010 arrival of the beer barge (photo above). Below is a shot of some "authentic Yellowknifers" stepping off the boat, with the contestants for best costume in the bottom photo.

NorthWords highlights

2010-06-13T16:47:00.006-06:00

Quite the whirlwind last weekend, with all that was happening with the Northwords Writers Festival.

Highlights?

Writing a new work and reading it at the ghost story open mic . . . Nice compliment from a member of the audience . . . Sharing a mic with Saskatchewan writer Sharon Butala, storyteller James Pokiak of Tuktoyaktuk, local writer Jamie Bastedo . . . Meeting Deborah Webster, children's author, anthropologist and sister of my old friend, Linda . . . Annabel Lyons's fabulous shoes . . . Launch of Annelies Pool's book, iceberg tea . . . Launch of Mindy Willet/James Pokiak/Tessa Macintosh's new book, Proud to be Inuvialuit . . . Ivan Coyote's funny and compassionate stories . . . Bob Barton's children's tales, always told with flair . . . Hearing why Steve Sanderson decided to tackle the topic of suicide in his graphic novels . . . Novelist Cathleen With's gentle handling of characters on the edge . . . The ever-present Richard Van Camp, untiring booster of the northern writing community . . . Judith Drinnan, owner of the Yellowknife Book Cellar, making sure everyone had a chance to buy our books . . . busy . . . fun . . . looking forward to next year.

NorthWords this week

2010-05-31T21:37:00.003-06:00

The fine folks who organize the NorthWords Writers Festival have a full line-up, starting this Thursday. Visiting authors include Giller Finalist Annabel Lyon, Novelist and Memoirist Sharon Butala, Storyteller Ivan E. Coyote, Children’s Author and Storyteller Bob Barton, Comic Book Writer/Artist Steve Sanderson and Novelist Cathleen With. Local authors include Richard Van Camp, Jamie Bastedo, Bren Kolson, Annelies Pool, Deborah Webster, Mindy Willett and James Pokiak . . . and me!

On Thursday evening I'll be reading a shiny, brand-new ghost story called "Haunted Hill Mine" at the "Woooooo, scary!" open mike at Javaroma, starting at 8 p.m. Free dessert and coffee, so come on down. If you have a ghost story you'd like to read, bring it along - we'd like to hear it.

Saturday morning I'm moderating a panel during which we will answer that perpetual and perplexing question: why short stories? ("Why the heck not?" is the short answer.) Panelists include Annabel Lyon, Ivan E. Coyote and Cathleen With.

Sunday morning I am on another panel that looks at what's new hot in the world of northern books.

Be sure to check out the full schedule on the NorthWords website. There are workshops with the visiting authors, lunch with the literary ladies, family barbecue and more, more, more!

Suddenly . . . it's summer

2010-05-09T16:30:00.002-06:00

Or almost. I was out of town for a couple of weeks in mid-April, and returned home to find the snow melted, the winter gravel swept from the streets, and people riding their bicycles. My bike's all ready to go, so I'll be cycling to work as of tomorrow.

One thing though. Kayaks and canoes are sprouting from the roofs of cars and trucks all over town. I live next to the water, and I can tell you that no one's going boating any time soon. Even my little yellow kayak won't be able to make it through the narrow stretch of water along the thick winter ice. Our boating season is so short that hope springs eternal, I guess.

Just another spring weekend in Yellowknife

2010-03-28T17:13:00.004-06:00

Gotta love Yellowknife - there's always so much to do. Yesterday morning I attended a workshop by award-winning poet Randall Maggs. This afternoon Pierre and I climbed to the top of Bush Pilots' Monument . . . watched a dog team return to town . . . saw a bush plane land . . . visited the Snow King's Castle, last day before closing . . . went for a walk around the Old Town. Why live any place else?

Reading at the public library on Thursday

2010-03-23T19:21:00.005-06:00

I will be reading at the Yellowknife Public Library this Thursday with visiting poet Randall Maggs, and local writers Jamie Bastedo and Bren Kolson.

Thursday, March 25, 2010
Yellowknife Public Library Meeting Room
7:00 p.m.

In anticipation of spring (spring is on its way, isn't it?) I will be reading an excerpt from my short story "Fireweed."

The event is organized by the NorthWords Writers Festival.

See you there!

Caribou Carnival = cold, cold, cold!

2010-03-22T20:37:00.007-06:00

Caribou Carnival weekend is now over, and Yellowknife is back in the deep-freeze.

There's a bizarre phenomenon in this town - it doesn't matter how nice the weather may be in early March (and it was great this year), the temperature always drops for Caribou Carnival. I went out to Frame Lake on Saturday and Sunday to take photos of the start of the Diavik 150 Canadian Championship Dog Derby, and the cold temperatures combined with a sharp little wind meant frosty fingers and toes. Many years ago, I was working a fund-raising bingo in a tent at Caribou Carnival and the dabbers froze - had to warm them up in front of the Herman Nelson heater before play could continue. Had the chills for days after that episode. I swear, if they held Caribou Carnival in June, the temperature would still drop to minus 30.

The carnival seemed a bit subdued this year. The two main attractions were the dog race and the French association's much-loved cabane à sucre (nothing like gooey maple toffee to keep you warm). No Ugly Truck and Dog Contest this year, which was a disappointment for me. Maybe next year.

Here's a photo I took during yesterday's race - one of the dog teams took a detour off the course, right in front of us. Oddly, another dog team did same thing in pretty much the same place a couple of minutes later. Wonder what they were after.

Now a member of The Writers Union of Canada

2010-03-14T16:40:00.005-06:00

I am pleased to advise that I have recently been accepted as a member of The Writers Union of Canada. The union is a national organization that represents people who write books. And that's the key to membership - you have to have had a book published by a trade or university press to join. The publication of my short story collection The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest and Other Tales of Northern Life by Borealis Press means that I am now eligible. The union offers a variety of support services and information to its members. Needless to say, I'm happy to be accepted into an organization that will help me develop as a writer.

You can access my TWUC member page here.

Weird weather

2010-02-17T20:14:00.007-07:00

We've had strange weather here in Yellowknife over the past few days. The mercury's been spending a lot of time around the -10C mark. While walking to the gym last week, I noticed the sign outside the YK Centre was showing -4C. Normal temperatures at this time of year range from -18C to -28C.

We've also had a lot of humidity - yes, the damp winter cold dreaded in so many parts of Canada. One of the consolations of living in Yellowknife is that we supposedly have a dry climate - our payback for putting up with -40.

All that humidity, however, means that the trees are coated in frost and look fabulous. Here are a couple of shots I took today.

Weekend workshop with Steven Galloway

2010-02-14T17:24:00.003-07:00

We're really lucky here in Yellowknife, with all the high-quality writers who travel through town, sharing what they know.

This weekend we had a workshop with Steven Galloway, whose most recent novel is The Cellist of Sarajevo. Steven teaches writing at the University of British Columbia, so gave us a well-though-out presentation on writing techniques. With any luck his concept of action in story will free me of my fear of plotting. I'm currently revising a story, so we'll see how that goes. He also walked us through the technique of narrative positioning, which takes things well past the basic decisions authors have to make about point of vew. Interesting ideas.

Many thanks to the NorthWords Writers Festival for organizing the event.

Ugly Truck and Dog Contest at the Olympics

2010-01-17T17:09:00.010-07:00

Just to clarify - that's The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest (the book) that will be at the Vancouver Olympics, not the Ugly Truck and Dog Contest (the real thing).

I'm pleased to advise that my book will be available through the store at Canada's Northern House until the end of April 2010. Canada's Northern House, located at 100-602 West Hastings, is a visitors' centre that showcases Canada's three northern territories. It officially opened on January 14.

If you're in Vancouver for the Olympic or Paralympic Games, please stop by. Films will be shown at the centre, and there will be investment and tourism events. The northern territories will also be offering special entertainment during the weekend of February 19 to 21.

The only thing left to consider is whether the Ugly Truck and Dog Contest (the real thing) should become an Olympic event. I've certainly seen some world-class creations in the 20-plus years that I've been following the contest. In any case, spring is coming and we can all look forward to this year's ugly trucks and dogs at Caribou Carnival.

CanWrite! here I come

2010-01-05T20:41:00.003-07:00

Just received confirmation that my registration for the Canadian Authors Association CanWrite! 2010 Conference has been processed, and all is in order. The conference will take place in Victoria, B.C., June 24 to 27. I can't believe I actually committed something so far ahead of time. I went to the CanWrite 2008 conference in Edmonton, though, and was extremely impressed. Well-organized, great sessions, wonderful networking opportunities, and the food was fabulous. Spent many hours at the gym afterwards to work off the excess calories. Looking forward to another great one.

Frosty Friday

2009-12-11T18:47:00.003-07:00

We've hit the deep freeze, a couple of weeks early. This was the temperature when I walked to work this morning.

When I headed back down the Franklin Avenue hill after work, it was -49 with the wind chill. Kind of a drag right now, but the cold weather means the ice will be forming on the lakes - good news for smowmobilers, skiers, snowshoers (like me).

Morning mist

2009-10-13T19:58:00.003-06:00

This morning's mist enshrouds the houseboats on Yellowknife Bay.

Ready for winter . . . I guess

2009-10-12T19:44:00.002-06:00

All over Yellowknife, there are signs that winter is imminent: the sky is that dull slate blue we get every fall, the leaves are off the trees, woodpiles are sprouting in front of houses.

The last two weekends have been a round of pre-winter preparation chez nous. I’ve ripped up the garden and the bedding plants, washed and oiled my bike, tucked away my kayak in the garage.

And now we wait. Ice is forming along the shore of Back Bay and there’s a skiff of snow on the ground, but it will be a couple of months before there’s enough of either ice or snow for winter activities to start.

In the meantime, it’s the season for spicy chili, hot beverages and a good book.

UTDC reviewed by the Ultimate Bookhound

2009-10-06T11:47:00.002-06:00

The Ultimate Bookhound has posted a review of The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest. Bit of an acid test, since the Bookhound grew up in Yellowknife. It passed muster, however, receiving a 4 out of 5 (= Good. I really enjoyed this, and I recommend it.)

Check it out!

Warm welcome in Whitehorse

2009-09-21T23:55:00.003-06:00

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

2009-09-20T21:00:00.010-06:00

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

2009-09-13T20:02:00.003-06:00

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

2009-09-12T17:36:00.005-06:00

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

2009-09-07T18:12:00.009-06:00

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!

NorthWords Writers Festival: The Fabulous Fourth

2009-07-05T20:48:00.009-06:00

Let’s get in the Wayback Machine so I can blog about the NorthWords Writers Festival like it just ended yesterday. (When, in fact, it ended three weeks ago.)

This is the fourth year the festival has run, and it just keeps getting better – the board of directors (Doris McCann, Annelies Pool, Jill Vaydik, Larry Adamson, Richard Van Camp, David Malcolm, and John Mutford) deserve a big round of applause. Many thanks also go to Judith Drinnan of the Yellowknife Book Cellar, who hauled stacks of books to each of the public events so eager readers had easy access to the authors' wares.

In addition to the established public events, there were more writing workshops and panels than ever before. Guest authors included Giller Prize winner Joseph Boyden; science writer and broadcaster Jay Ingram; poet/writer/publisher Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm; and YA author Anita Daher (who used to live in Yellowknife and continues to be a good friend to many northern writers – like me!).

The public events were packed – I was late getting to the family barbecue and had to search for a parking spot. I was (again) a few minutes late to a lunch-time talk with Jay Ingram and local science author Jamie Bastedo, and only got a seat because the organizers were setting out extra chairs. I was definitely NOT late for the two open mikes at Javaroma (with dessert provided by DeBeers Canada) because I know from years gone by that those events very popular. The organizers had originally capped the attendance for Joseph Boyden’s workshop, but responded to popular demand and opened the floodgates. The other panels and workshops also garnered good crowds.

My book was hot off the presses and my publisher, Borealis Press, very kindly arranged to have a couple of boxes airlifted to Yellowknife. Richard Van Camp took every opportunity to make sure the assembled masses knew about it (thanks, Richard!), so my book sales got a kick-start. I attended as many events as possible and was exhausted by Saturday afternoon. A quick nap, and I was ready for the Fourth Annual De Beers Canada Gala Readings. Glad I made time to practice the passages I read – I think it went well!

If you live in Yellowknife, please consider volunteering for next year’s NorthWords. It’s great fun. For more info on the festival, just visit the website.

(Photo above: Cathy reading at the DeBeers Canada Gala. Photo below: signing a book for fellow northern author Mindy Willett.)

Book launched!

2009-06-26T12:45:00.006-06:00

We had a great turnout here in Yellowknife last night for the launch of my book, The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest, and Other Tales of Northern Life. About 60 to 70 people attended, including Mike Kalnay, inventor and long-time organizer of Yellowknife's actual Ugly Truck and Dog Contest. I read from the book; Moira Cameron and Steve Goff played some lovely music; we had a projector set up showing some of my photos from Yellowknife's Old Town. There was coffee, tea and desserts themed to the stories in the book (Prospector's Trail Brownies, Northern Lights Cheesecake, Ménage a Trois Cake, Cranberry Crumble Cake). Much fun!

(Love the photo above. The event was held at the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre, and the title "Three Billion Years in the Making" refers to a geological event. But I must say, it sometimes felt like my book was also three billion years in the making!)

Book launch!

2009-06-17T20:23:00.005-06:00

The book launch for The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest and Other Tales of Northern Life will take place:

- Thursday, June 25, 2009
- 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
- Northern Frontier Visitors Centre
- 4807-49th Street, Yellowknife, NWT

Readings from the book
Music by Moira Cameron and Steve Goff
Photos of the Old Town, coffee, dessert . . . see you there!

Listed on Chapters.Indigo.ca!

2009-05-31T10:37:00.003-06:00

Was just cruising the internet, and discovered that The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest and Other Tales of Northern Life is now listed on the Chapters.Indigo.ca website here.

I spoke with my publisher on Friday, and we are going to try to have copies in Yellowknife in time for my reading at the NorthWords gala on June 13.

In the meantime, I am working on promo materials, website updates and so on. Stay tuned for info on the official launch!

Ugly Truck and Dog Contest on the presses!

2009-05-24T14:42:00.004-06:00

Great news! My publisher got in touch with me last week to let me know that my short story collection, The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest and Other Tales of Northern Life, is on the presses.

Here's a sneak peek of the cover, designed by David Tierney of Borealis Press.

Not sure of the release date right now, but we are going to try to get some early copies up to Yellowknife in time for the NorthWords Writers Festival. I am reading at the closing gala, so would be great to have some copies on hand!

He's back . . .

2009-05-24T14:37:00.004-06:00

The little fox made a re-appearance today. Snoozed for an hour or more in the backyard.

Life imitates art . . . or one of my stories, at least

2009-05-18T15:06:00.004-06:00

Just had one of those quintessential Yellowknife experiences.

In early April, Pierre and I were vacationing in Calgary and Pierre bought a new vehicle. His plan was to fly back to Yellowknife as planned, get insurance and plates, fly back to Calgary and drive the vehicle home. He had to work out of town for a couple of days before heading back south, but no problemo, we’d had a long cold winter. And then we got several days of surprisingly warm weather.

Oops.

Here’s the thing. Yellowknife is not on an all-weather road. The highway that connects us to the outside world crosses the Mackenzie River close to the town of Fort Providence. There is no bridge (although one is being built). In the spring/summer, a ferry takes vehicles across; in the winter there is an ice bridge. During the spring melt and the fall freeze, when there is neither an ice road nor an operating ferry, there’s no way to get across.

“Leaving Yellowknife,” the last story in my soon-to-be-published collection of short stories The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest and Other Tales of Northern Life, deals with this very phenomenon. My protagonist, the not-so-angelic Angela, has been offered a prime job in southern Canada. She races south in her beloved car before the ice bridge closes and she is stranded in the NWT for another month before the ferry starts running.

I’m not going to tell you what happens to Angela, but Pierre didn’t make it. It became clear he could not get to Calgary and then make it back up to the NWT in time to get across the quickly disintegrating ice road. So he re-booked his ticket. I think he gave himself about three weeks, which should have been enough time. But then the weather turned cold, and the dates for the ferry kept getting pushed back.

I was predicting that he’d end up in Alberta for days longer than he wanted to, but it all worked out. The ferry started running a couple of days before he got to the crossing, and he’s home safe and sound with a carload of bedding plants. (Yahoo!) Now I just have to keep them alive until it’s warm enough to plant them.

Backyard visitor

2009-05-11T19:51:00.012-06:00

Pierre was on his way out to the barbecue this evening, but decided to postpone supper. Someone was snoozing in the backyard, and he didn't want to disturb our guest.

Chances are good this is the same little fox who's been having the occasional nap in our backyard over the past few weeks. We can also hear him jumping off the rocks onto our deck in the middle of the night. Our cats watch from the window, and are fascinated by everything he does. Moments like this I'm glad they don't go outside. They'd probably end up as fox food, and then I wouldn't feel so kindly towards the little guy.

He soon woke up and skedaddled, so I didn't have to wait too long for Pierre to get on with supper.

Signs of spring

2009-05-10T13:24:00.002-06:00

I am fortunate to live across the street from Great Slave Lake. The comings and goings on Yellowknife Bay keep me entertained: float planes taking off and landing winter and summer; snow machines, dog teams, skiers in winter; kayaks, canoes and motor boats in summer.

Last night something odd caught my eye. Looked like a dog team was coming across from the far shore, except the order was wrong – the sled appeared to be in the lead, with the dogs following behind. I whipped out my binocs, and it turned out to be a snow machine pulling a komatik (wooden sled topped with a frame and white canvas liner) and two smaller toboggans. The little caravan zigzagged across the lake in front of me, then took a sharp left and headed down the shore. The ice along the shoreline is melting, so the driver would need to find a spot to cross onto land.

Moments later, another little entourage appeared across the bay. This time it was an all-terrain vehicle pulling another komatik and a toboggan, with a dog running beside. Someone was standing on the back of the komatik. The komatik rider and the driver of the ATV kept turning to check on the dog, a shaggy, medium-sized ginger-coloured mutt. They stopped; the komatik person grabbed the dog and placed it in the second toboggan. As they were starting off, the dog (who clearly considered the intervention unnecessary) jumped out. They continued for a couple minutes, then stopped again. Dog was placed in the toboggan once again. This time the second person rode on the back of the toboggan to make sure the dog stayed put. Dogs are so happy to be out in the spring air they often don’t feel their own limitations. With any luck, the poor beast hasn’t strained any muscles or cut its pads on the ice.

My guess is that these people were hauling in their stuff from their winter camp. It’s not unusual for northerners to set up a wall tent out in the wilds during the winter and use it as a base for winter activities. These are not your usual camping tents – they sit on wooden platforms and have wooden frames covered with canvas. A little wood stove will keep a wall tent surprisingly warm.

We’re now firmly in the in-between season. Although I still see para-sailors out on the ice, they don’t have much time left. The countdown to boating season has begun.

Inspiration at a writing workshop

2009-04-19T14:07:00.013-06:00

Spent yesterday afternoon getting some much-needed inspiration at a writing workshop presented by Hayden Trenholm and sponsored by the NorthWords Writers Festival. Hayden (who is a playwright, fiction writer and former Yellowknifer) discussed how to balance plot and character in genre fiction.

Plotting is not my favourite thing. I like inventing the characters, I like putting them in odd situations . . . and then my story drafts start to founder. Sometimes, after staring at a draft long enough, I can see the natural evolution of the story, and then all is well. But my pile of half-finished tales is a testament to the fact that my fictional universes don't reveal themselves as often as I would like.

So what to do? When you're stuck with your plot, how do you get it unstuck in a way that remains true to the characters? Hayden gave us a number of exercises to help us get back to the basics of our stories: you understand where your characters are coming from, you understand where they're headed.

So, time to get out the worksheets provided by Hayden, close my eyes, and pick a draft from that pile . . .

Wear your snowshoes to work today?

2009-03-12T19:54:00.004-06:00

Ecology North, along with the NWT Recreation and Parks Association and the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, have declared today "Snowshoe to Work Day." This morning CBC ran a clip of some hardy souls tramping across Back Bay, so someone took up the challenge.

I did walk to work today, albeit sans snowshoes. There are times when they'd be useful going up the Franklin Avenue hill, but (mercifully) the sidewalks have been ploughed for the past few weeks.

My brand new high-tech snowshoes are down in the garage, waiting for me to give them a try. I, however, am waiting for the temperature to go above -30 and for the wind to die down before I venture out. We'll see what the weekend brings.

Book deal signed!

2009-03-10T12:19:00.002-06:00

Good news on the writing front – Borealis Press of Ottawa will be publishing my short story collection, The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest and Other Tales of Northern Life, later on this spring.

Not only has the deal been signed, the editor and I have been busy doing our thing with the manuscript. Editing and revisions are done, and the manuscript has been laid out – page proofs should be winging their way to me even as we speak.

You can take a peek at the cover image and read a blurb about the book on my website.

Is it 2009 already?

2009-01-10T15:35:00.010-07:00

The Yellowknife holiday season passed in a blur, as usual. Many social events, much food, much visiting, much fun.

The weather was colder than usual this December, so the Christmas landscape had a Narnia-esque feel: brittle, white, still. Hoar frost on the trees, so lace everywhere. Too cold to do much outside, but pretty to look at through the window.

I took some time off work over the holidays, but was back at it last week. I walk to the office, which is a half-hour trek up to the New Town, and then back home again at the end of the day. People seem to admire the fact I do this all year round, even in the middle of winter. In fact, I would much rather pile on the snow pants and parka and trudge up the Franklin Avenue hill than try to manage a car at 30 below.

For several months I make this commute in the dark - in mid-winter we only get about four hours of daylight, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., or so. But yesterday morning, there was a sign that spring is on its way: when I left the house, instead of the usual blackness, there was a line of light along the horizon, topped with a band of turquoise that deepening upward into sapphire blue. So, less than a month since the solstice, it's apparent the days are getting longer.

(Photo: Ice fog rising toward Yellowknife's New Town, taken from the ice of Yellowknife Bay, January 3, 2009.)

A good haul at the library book sale

2008-11-10T14:42:00.024-07:00

Twice a year, The Friends of the Yellowknife Public Library hold a book sale. The books (and videos) on offer come from the library, as it culls its collections, and from donations of Yellowknifers who are, likewise, culling their collections.

I generally avoid the book sale. Someday I'll post a photo of the chaos that is our library loft, and you'll see why. For now, just trust me when I say that I own too many books. The problem, of course, is that I love them all and don't want to give them away. But even I feel the occasional need to tidy up, and in the weeks leading up to the sale, I carefully select videos and books to donate and then make Pierre take them away before I change my mind. If I go to the sale, I may end up buying them back.

This fall, however, we spent a weekend at Blachford Lake Lodge, where I passed a good deal of time looking through the lodge's eclectic little northern library.

"Hey," I said to myself. "I need one of those."

I started collecting northern books shortly after I moved to Yellowknife in 1986, but quickly fell off. I realized, flipping through the books at Blachford, that a lot of the publications that had been fairly accessible to me away back then now had heritage value - annual reports of the Government of the NWT from the 1970s show a different North than the one we live in today.

But, hey, the hunt is part of the fun.

I know from the days of the Boy Scouts Book Sale (a sadly missed Yellowknife institution), that it can be difficult to get your hands on northern books - there are a number of collectors roaming the streets, all looking for the same titles.

So a couple of weeks ago, I found myself at the public library meeting rooms ten minutes after the special by-admission-only advance sale began. I heard the nice lady at the door tell another customer: "We have a small table of northern books at the back of the room."

Rats. Someone was already onto the northern books. By the time I paid my $5 and turned toward the northern table, someone else was hauling away a large box of books. Double rats! I politely elbowed my way through the crowds (yes - crowds), trying to peek into my competitor's box as I went past. No luck. Probably just as well - book envy is an ugly thing.

There was a group of people lingering in front of the northern table. A copy of Fred Bruemmer's "Seasons of the Eskimo: A Vanishing Way of Life" was perched atop a row of books.

"Let me get that out of your way," I said in my most helpful tone of voice, as I reached over someone.

The others at the table were either not as committed to snagging as many books as I was, or they simply couldn't take the get-out-of-my-way vibes coming off me. The gang quickly dissipated, leaving me to plunder.

Here are the highlights.

Best score? "Seasons of the Eskimo," published 1971.

Oldest book? "David Goes to Greenland," by David Binney Putman, published 1926.

The books that will be blasts-from-the-past in 20 years' time? "Diavik: Our Foundation, Our Future" and "Diavik: Constructing the Legacy," both about the establishment of the Diavik Diamond Mine.

Book with a personal connection? "The Northern Circumpolar World," by Bob MacQuarrie. The territorial Department of Education, Culture and Employment supported the development and publication of the book while I was working there, and I had some involvement in the project.

Most unusual? A cookbook of sour dough recipes from Alaska by Ruth Allman, 1976. (Note to self: try the flaming sourdough waffles.)

Lessons learned? Next time there's a sale - get there early!

A few words for Storyteller

2008-10-26T13:12:00.009-06:00

I recently received some sad news: Storyteller, Canada’s Short Story Magazine, has ceased publication.

I discovered Storyteller back in 1999, through the summer program at The Humber School for Writers. My class had workshopped a story I’d written based on Yellowknife’s Ugly Truck and Dog Contest. Consensus was that it was entertaining. The problem was that my writing leans more towards the popular than the literary, which limits my publication options in Canada.

“Try Storyteller,” said classmate Joan Boswell.

So I did. Not only did they accept “The Ugly Truck and Dog Contest,” publisher Terry Tyo phoned to see why they hadn’t heard of me until that point. I explained that I was just starting to send out stories, but that they would continue to hear from me.

And they did. Over the years they published six of my stories. “The Prospector’s Trail” was re-published in a textbook for high school students, after the editors found it in Storyteller. The cover art for the Winter 2001 edition of the magazine featured Herb, a character in my story “Bug Bites.”

I know it’s important for organizations to be able to articulate the impact they have on others. Sometimes it helps with funding, sometimes it helps build partnerships, sometimes it just helps to carry on. So a few years ago I sent a thank-you e-mail to Terry and editor Melanie Fogel. This is some of what I said:

"Whenever I have a story published in Storyteller, I have no qualms about showing the magazine to my friends and colleagues. It is a nicely designed publication that consistently contains well-chosen, professionally edited stories. Many people take me more seriously as a writer once they see the quality of the magazine.

"I believe that my writing has improved over the past three or four years because of my association with Storyteller. Melanie’s coaching was essential in turning 'The NWT Yeti' into a publishable story. The lessons I learned on that re-write have stuck with me. Likewise, the edits she’s requested on subsequent stories show me where things tend to go off the rails."

I've remained a subscriber to Storyteller over the years, and have enjoyed the work of all the contributors. Their stories were entertaining and accessible.

So thanks again to Terry and Melanie, and all the other folks who have kept Storyteller running since 1994. It was a great magazine, and I will miss it.

What’s with the cranberries this year?

2008-09-19T18:34:00.010-06:00

I was walking through the grocery store the other day, when I noticed a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. She was standing in the check-out line; I went over and said "hello."

She wasted no time on irrelevant chit-chat (like "hi, how are you?").

"Have you been cranberry picking this year?"

"Yep," says I. "Last weekend."

"And . . . ?"

"And I don’t think we were the first people to hit the berry patch. We only got half a zip-loc."

She pursed her lips, shook her head. "No, no, it’s just like that this year. The berries aren’t where you expect them."

"Well, I thought I saw some evidence others had already been there: broken mushrooms and footprints in the lichen where someone had been walking."

She shook her head again. "No. It’s the berries. They probably weren’t there in the first place."

The conveyor belt whisked her groceries toward the till, and I moved on.

Later in the day, I had an appointment with my massage therapist. After the customary "where does it hurt?" conversation, she got straight to the point.

"Have you been berry picking this year?"

"Yes."

"And . . . ?"

"And when we found berries they were great: clusters of beautiful burgundy fruit, just like little grapes," says I. "But I think I chose a spot too close to town – someone beat us to it."

More of the lip-pursing and head-shaking. "No, no. It’s just like that this year. The berries aren’t where they usually are. We went to our favourite spot and . . . nada."

"Then where are they?"

She waved a hand. "Somewhere else."

So there you have it. Something strange is going on with the cranberries around Yellowknife this year. We all had high hopes. This summer’s weather was perfect for a bumper crop: long hot days, lots of rain at nights. And as noted above, when you find the berries, they’re great. It’s just that they are surprisingly elusive. Is this a permanent shift? Will we all have to find new preferred picking spots? Are the berries going to settle in their new locations for the long-term, or will they be migrating to different locations every year? We await the answers . . .

(Photo above was taken in 2002, a much better year for cranberries.)

Weekend at Blachford Lake Lodge

2008-09-08T20:28:00.026-06:00

I'm trying to chip away at a new story, but autumn in the North provides too many distractions.

The most recent was a two-day trip to Blachford Lake Lodge, a 20-minute float plane ride from Yellowknife. I've been to the lodge a number of times, and know better than to take my laptop, story drafts, or even my yoga mat, for that matter. You have to make the most of your Blachford time, and when you're not eating (waistline warning: chef on site), you need to take advantage of the walking/skiing trails that loop out past the lodge, or the fishing opportunities (by boat in summer, through a hole in the ice in winter), or skating, sliding, dog sledding . . . whatever the season has to offer.

This was the first time I've gone fishing at Blachford. I didn't catch anything, but Pierre caught three pickerel at a nearby lake. He turned them over to chef Marc-Andre, who served them almondine-style on Sunday. Both guys were considered heroes by the lunch crowd.

The never-ending cycle of meals is a blur, but I remember whitefish, smoked char pasta, tomato soup flavoured with local juniper, apricot and white chocolate scones, braised red cabbage, rosti potatoes, fruit crumble, and ever so much more.

Spending time in the outdoor hot tub is one of my favourite year-round activities. After sipping champagne under the stars, it was a relief to get out of the water without worrying that my wet feet were going to freeze to the deck before I found my flip flops, or that my robe - wet from my pre-tub shower - was going to be frozen stiff, and therefore unwearable. (A hazard when tubbing at -40.) On the other hand, the northern lights tend to be better in the winter. It is quite cool watching them as the steam from the hot tub freezes into frost on your hair.

I took a book to read, but spent a good deal of time going through the lodge's eclectic little "northern library," which includes a number of books from the 1940s, '50s, '60s and '70s. Interesting to see how the North has changed over the years . . . and how it hasn't.

We arrived home yesterday evening, and so it was back to reality. I really should spend some time on my story, though, because cranberry-picking season is upon us, so guess what will be distracting me next weekend?

(Top photo: the main lodge. Bottom photo: rear of the original cabin on the Blachford property, now called "Trappers' Cabin," after Henry Cadieux and his wife, whose families are long-time residents of the area.)

An evening cruise on the Norweta

2008-08-27T19:51:00.017-06:00

Pierre and I spent last night cruising Yellowknife Bay and Back Bay. Not an unusual circumstance in itself, but instead of bobbing along in our little boat, we plied the waters aboard the Norweta. A small cruise ship based in Hay River, NWT, the Norweta frequently makes its way across Great Slave Lake to Yellowknife, as well as up the Mackenzie River to Inuvik. The Mackenzie River cruises are particularly popular, attracting people from all over the world.

Last night’s event was a dinner cruise to raise funds for the NWT Mining Heritage Society. It was a great opportunity to visit with old friends, and to make some new ones. Cocktail hour was spent on the ship’s upper deck, while float planes took off and landed not far from us. There was a bit of a breeze, so we also got to watch sailboats gliding along, as well as the ever-present motor boat traffic.

After dinner below deck in the dining room, we were treated to quick history of mining in the Yellowknife area by Geddes Webster, a former mining engineer and public servant who lived in Yellowknife during its early days. Mr. Webster has carefully recorded his stories of Yellowknife, and the people who founded our community, in a book called The Prospectors' Pick. Needless to say, a copy now resides on our bookshelves.

Pierre and I live across the street from Yellowknife Bay, and have seen the Norweta slip past our front window many a time. Its movement is so silent and stately that we've taken to calling it "the ghost ship." I’ve been on day-cruises on the Norweta two or three times over the years, and appreciated the chance to go aboard again last night. The family that owns the boat is planning to retire, so have put it up for sale. No one’s sure what the future will bring for the little ship. It’s a part of our history, and like many other northerners, I hope it will stay in the NWT.

(The photo above was taken at the government dock in the Old Town; the one below was taken from our front deck this evening.)

Oxford on my mind

2008-08-15T18:01:00.024-06:00

Ten years ago today, I was preparing to say farewell to one of my favourite places: Oxford, England.

I am a university geek. I probably should have been a professor, but that's not an option when you live a thousand kilometres away from the closest university. My first encounter with Oxford University occurred towards the end of my English degree with Athabasca University; a history prof and an English prof decided it would be fun to hold three-week summer courses in Oxford, so I signed on for the English course.

It was, sadly, a credit course, so I spent much time in my room labouring over my assignments. It occurred to me later that I needed to return and see everything I'd missed, so in the summer of 1998, I attended the University of Oxford International Summer School for six glorious weeks.

Five mornings a week, we attended lectures. We had four tutorials per week. The rest of the time, we read, wrote, went on tours (I think I saw four Stratford productions that summer), and explored the heart of the oldest university in England.

The best part was that I belonged to the university. I had a library card, so got to see the inside of buildings that were closed to mere tourists. One memorable day I sauntered into the Radcliffe Camera, a beautiful round building that is one of University's libraries, and ordered a book written by Julia Briggs, a professor who had delivered one of our morning lectures. The lecture was probably about Virginia Woolf (as was every second lecture, for some reason), but the book I requested was called Night Visitors, a history of the English ghost story.

Oxford is a national repository for books, and most have to be stored underground, because there's (clearly) not enough shelf space. So I waited as my book chugged up from the depths on a conveyor belt, then took it upstairs to read. Excited as I was to have the book in front of me, I spent more time staring out the window at the spires of neighbouring All Souls College than perusing Night Visitors. I've spent the intervening years trying to find my own copy of that book; I finally tracked one down on eBay a couple of months ago.

So 10 years ago today, the lectures had wound up, the assignments marked and handed back, and my bags were half-packed. Right about now I would be sipping champagne at a farewell "drinks party" in the Rector's private garden at Exeter College, before sitting down to the closing banquet in the dining hall.

Do I think about going back? Oh, yes. And guess what? They now offer a summer course in creative writing. :-)

Canadian Authors Association conference

2008-08-04T18:16:00.011-06:00

Let's get in the Way-Back Machine while I reminisce about CAA's CanWrite! 2008 conference, held in Edmonton last month.

It was the first time I'd been to a CAA event, and I'll be back for more. There were great panels about the state of the writing/publishing/book-selling world and sessions on craft. Ralph Keyes, the author of the brilliant "The Writer's Book of Hope" was the keynote speaker. There were many opportunities to buy books by participating authors. (Too many, in fact. I had to buy a new duffle bag to get all my loot home.)

And then there were the "added extras." An open mic with readers backed up by the Raving Poets Band, a jazz-type ensemble. The music meshed well with the readings; darned impressive considering it was improvised. During the closing breakfast, "Nellie McClung" showed up to describe her shaky start as a author, the type of tale that goes down well with struggling writers. And then there was the young photographer who came in to do publicity photos.

Did I mention the food? University of Alberta Conference Services outdid itself, and I am still working off the poundage gained at the incredible buffet meals.

Everyone was very friendly, so it was a good opportunity for me to meet some new folks - especially those in our neighbouring province of Alberta - and introduce myself to others I have "met" via e-mail.

The organizers did a great job, and I had a great time.

They like me! They really like me!

2008-07-31T20:41:00.003-06:00

I've just discovered that English Language Arts teachers in British Columbia have named me as one of their favourite authors. The teachers were surveyed by ArtStarts in Schools during the fall of 2007 on a number of issues related to teaching CanLit. The survey results include a page listing favourite authors. Far be it from me to drop names, but others on the list include Margaret Atwood, Mordecai Richler, Timothy Findley, and fellow northern writer Richard Van Camp.

I’m guessing the favourable opinion is based on my short story “The Prospector’s Trail,” which is included in Imprints 11, a textbook from Nelson Education Ltd. I knew I liked British Columbia - beautiful scenery AND impeccable literary taste!

Quick! Someone pass the AfterBite!

2008-07-16T20:50:00.009-06:00

AfterBite being an anti-itch lotion . . . and if you're not dependent on this fine product, as many northerners are, count yourself lucky.

On Monday I returned from a week in the bush, fishing with Pépé and friends in the East Arm of Great Slave Lake. I am a reluctant camper, having given it up at age 14, much to the consternation of my fellow Girl Guides. (Is a Guide who doesn't camp really a Guide?) For the past couple of years the air charters to and from Quiet Cove have worked in such a way that I've only spent a manageable two or three days communing with the blackflies and mosquitoes. This year, however, it was a week or nothing.

We've had some rain recently, which creates the optimum environment for mosquitoes. There are many of them in the East Arm, they are the size of pterodactyls, and they are ravenous: I'm having nightmares about one little walk I took into the bush . . . a swarm of Hitchcockian portions formed . . . I was sure I'd be exsanguinated before I made it back to shore. The entire party had to scoot into the boat and push off, just to get clear.

I'm thinking of playing connect-the-dot with my bites, just to see what would come up, but that would take a long, long time.

Things were relatively quiet on the fishing front. Seems my glory days of catching twenty-something pounders have passed. So I read a book and a half in the boat, took some photos of the fabulous scenery, and swatted at mosquitoes with one of those nifty electrified-tennis-racquet-bug-killer-thingies that doesn't off nearly enough of the little blighters, but gives great satisfaction when you manage to connect.

NorthWords a whirlwind

2008-06-22T16:55:00.007-06:00

It's been a week since the NorthWords Festival wrapped up, and it's taken that long to mentally process everything that went on.

Random impressions. Extreme good luck to find myself sitting between Newfoundland authors Bernice Morgan and Michael Crummey during supper one night. Both are good company, as well as top-notch writers. Jennifer Storm, a young Winnipeg author who writes with an assurance well beyond her years. Nova Scotia writer Lesley Choyce giving a highly entertaining reading during the closing gala, even though his home was threatened by forest fire. Local writer Annelies Pool bringing down the house with a hilarious short story. Richard Van Camp, NorthWords president and resident big brother, who seemed to be everywhere at once, organizing, chatting, providing encouragement and advice. And Anita Daher, whom I thought I knew so well, absolutely stunning me with her self-assurance and charm as the MC of the closing gala.

My own activities also a blur. My how-to-set-up-a-website-workshop: so much material, so little time. The panel on blogs - did I say anything intelligent? Reading at two open mics, despite creeping exhaustion.

The festival board of directors deserve a big ol' round of applause. A small group of people organizes this ambitious event every year, and things once again went off without a hitch. Events like NorthWords are part of the reason Yellowknife is such a fab place to live. Way to go!

NorthWords program posted

2008-05-25T17:15:00.009-06:00

The program for Yellowknife's 2008 NorthWords Writers Festival has been posted.

I'm leading a workshop called Breaking the Electronic Barrier on Saturday, June 14, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. While I would never claim to be the All-Knowing Being of the Website Universe, I've set up a couple of websites using a couple of different methods (the original NorthWords website in 2007, and my own website) and am happy to share what I've learned.

I've been cruising the web since the Jurassic period, when it didn't support graphics, and all you saw was green text on a black screen. (Had to type in your own commands to move from one page to another, and everything.) Given my background in journalism and public relations, I've watched with interest as the web has evolved. Along the way I've picked up a bit about Hypertext Markup Language, design principles, and how a website figures into author branding. We'll be talking about these things, and many more. The workshop will be held in the computer lab at Aurora College, so we'll be doing some hands-on work. And - the postal service willing - we'll have a draw for a copy of The Non-Designers Web Book by Robin Williams and John Tollett.

Right after the workshop I'll be participating on a panel called Writing and the Electronic Universe with Anita Daher and Richard Van Camp, moderated by Annelies Pool. We'll be looking at social networking media, including blogs, MySpace, Facebook, etc., and how they affect readers and writers. I'm looking forward to this event as well, because as much as I love the web, I'm not thrilled about the growing number of ways to spend even more of my so-called free time in cyberspace. Who knows? I could come out of it a convert . . . or not!

New article on my website

2008-05-19T17:42:00.007-06:00

I've just posted an article about the writing of "Diamond Girl," a short story published in North by North Wit: An Anthology of Canadian Humour a few years back. After the story was published, the editor of the Territorial Writers Association newsletter asked if I would put together a little piece on how I came to write the story. In true Cathy fashion, it turned out to be more than a "little" piece. (Don't forget - I'm pioneering a new literary form know as the "epic short story." For more on that, please see another of my articles.) I chopped the "Diamond Girl" item to newsletter size, but now, thanks to the wonders of the World Wide Web, you can enjoy the entire experience!

An evening with Elizabeth Hay

2008-05-14T17:50:00.003-06:00

The NorthWords Writers Festival and CBC Mackenzie hosted an interesting trip down memory lane last night, in honour of visiting author Elizabeth Hay. Just in case you’ve been living off the grid for the last few months, Ms. Hay won the 2007 Giller Prize for her novel Late Nights on Air, which follows a group of people working for CBC Radio in Yellowknife in the 1970s.

Late Nights includes reference to a couple of iconic northern stories: the Berger Inquiry of the 1970s, and the death of English explorer John Hornby on the Thelon in 1927. In keeping with these themes, the evening opened with Yellowknife author Patrick Scott reading from his recently released book, Stories Told: Stories and Images of the Berger Inquiry. Bruce Valpy, a local journalist and playwright, read from his celebrated play Hornby. I’ve heard a lot about Hornby, which was staged in Yellowknife before I arrived in 1986, so it was good to hear some of the script.

After Ms. Hay read from Late Nights, we heard clips from Focus North, the radio show she hosted while living in Yellowknife. CBC’s current morning show host Randy Henderson then led a panel discussion about what it was like to work at CBC Radio in Yellowknife back in the ’70s. Panelists included technician Bob Carr; Patrick Scott, who worked as a camera operator during the Berger inquiry; the ever-hilarious George Tucarro; and Elizabeth Hay. One of the important themes of the evening was the role of CBC in building a sense of community throughout the NWT. And that’s true – I know from my work as a government communications officer that if you want to get information out to the communities, you need to find a way to get it aired on CBC Radio because everyone listens to CBC.

My own history is wound up with CBC in Yellowknife. Pépé moved north to work for CBC as a camera operator. A lot of our friends are CBC folk. And I’ve spent many hours running around trying to find information for CBC reporters during my career. It’s not hard for me to imagine the world of Late Nights on Radio.

The evening’s discussion did, indeed, make me nostalgic for Yellowknife of the olden days, when the town was still very small and friendly. When I moved here in the mid-80s, there were only 11,000 people and one set of traffic lights downtown. Crossing the main drag was no problem for pedestrians, because motorists would screech to a halt if someone on the sidewalk vaguely looked like they were thinking about crossing at some point (maybe, possibly, perhaps) in the next ten minutes or so.

Having said that, the discussion reminded me that many things remain the same in Yellowknife. People are still friendly (even if the motorists are considerably ruder). People – Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal – still live close to the land. CBC Radio continues to build a sense of community. And the place retains its anything-is-possible vibe. Maybe you can no longer walk into CBC and get a radio job without any training. (As apparently you could in the ’70s. I couldn’t get a job there in the ’80s and I had training.) But Yellowknifers are busy pursuing their dreams without a lot of hang-ups. The place is crawling with artists – writers, musicians, visual artists, dancers – who routinely put themselves out there. And the community is unfailingly supportive. A holdover from the days before satellite TV when we had to invent our own amusement? Perhaps, but I think it’s just the nature of our little town.

NorthWords, ho!

2008-04-26T18:56:00.005-06:00

Good news - the organizers of the NorthWords Writers Festival have invited me to participate as a guest author this year. The festival will be held in Yellowknife, June 12 to 14. Visiting writers include Lesley Choyce, Bernice Morgan, Michael Crummey, Jennifer Storm, Richard Van Camp, and my good friend (former Yellowknifer) Anita Daher. I will be joining a number of other local authors: Annelies Pool, Jamie Bastedo, Mindy Willett, Patrick Scott, Pat Braden, Tessa Macintosh, Tyler Heal, Walt Humphries and Fran Hurcomb.

This is the third year for NorthWords. I was on the organizing committee for the previous two festivals - I'm glad to be involved again, albeit in a different way.

Details are still being worked out - more later!

Pépé’s Bistro

2008-04-05T16:55:00.008-06:00

My husband (sometimes known as “Pépé”) runs a collection of bird feeders in the backyard. I use the word “run” because it is much like running a restaurant, catering to the needs and desires of the crowd of LBBs (Little Brown Birds) who spend hours loading calories to make it through our -40 weather. The bird feeders are collectively known as “Pépé’s Bistro.”

Pépé’s has proven so popular this year that ptarmigan have flocked there to indulge in its delights. We've seen ptarmigan at the bird feeders before, but nothing like this. I am talking about a lot of ptarmigan - like a couple dozen at a time. And they've been around for weeks now. Some of them are starting to change colour - you can spot dark feathers on the throat or back of the head. Not that the snow is showing any sign of melting, so the poor little blighters could find their natural camouflage is out of sync with their surroundings.

Ptarmigan, for those of you who don’t know, are cute, chubby birds that look like medium-sized lumps of snow. They can fly, but often prefer to walk. The snow in our back yard is now patted down by the prints of their feather-covered feet. (Yes, it looks like they’re wearing little booties.) They moult in the spring, with brownish feathers growing in, which helps them blend in on the tundra. Heaven knows they need the protection - it's not like they survive because of their street smarts.

Ptarmies are cute, but they're dumb little bunnies. Many a time I’ve come across a flock wandering down the street, and have had to honk (loudly) to get them to move out of the way. (Duh.) Other drivers are not as patient, and those ptarmies that end up as roadkill contribute to the caloric intake of another classic northern bird - the raven.

Speaking of ravens and ptarmigan - as soon as my collection of short stories finds a publisher, you’ll be able to (re)read my short story “The Yellowknife Yeti” and my take on ptarmigan and ravens.

Dog Derby weekend

2008-03-30T09:47:00.011-06:00

It's Caribou Carnival in Yellowknife, but things are pretty subdued this year. No tents down on Frame Lake with food and activities, no Ugly Dog and Truck Contest. Caribou Carnival depends on volunteers, and it seems everyone is tapped out because of the Arctic Winter Games, which wrapped a couple of weeks ago. That event took 2,500 volunteers, most of whom were local.

The big event this weekend is the annual Canadian Championship Dog Derby. The race is held over three days and covers 150 miles.

For many, many years I've gone down to Frame Lake for the start of the race, trying to get the perfect dog sledding photo. This year I finally have a digital camera that shoots fast enough, and corrects for the brightness of the snow, so I'm having better luck.

Someday I'll have to take a tape recorder to capture the sound of the dogs before the race begins. When the handlers start taking them out of the trucks and putting them into their harnesses, there's a lot of yipping and squealing - the dogs love to run, and just want to get going. Then the starting gun goes off, and everything is silent, except for the hiss of the sled runners on snow and the occasional instruction from the mushers.

Here's a shot from the start of the race on Friday.

Sunday afternoon at the Snow King's castle

2008-03-23T18:13:00.013-06:00

The sun was shining this afternoon, and it was only -7C, so we headed out to see the Snow King's castle on Yellowknife Bay. The Snow King has been building castles just off the edge of the Old Town for the past 13 years. The architecture is never the same two years running (as far as I can tell), and it's always fun to see this year's design.

The castle is the centre of all sorts of arts and leisure activities. When we got there, we found our friend Dave supervising curling on a couple of make-shift sheets beside the castle. The NWT Mining Heritage Society was running it as a fund-raiser for its work.

Inside, there was a rather fab snow sculpture of the Snow King himself, paintings by a local artist and archival photos of Yellowknife on the walls, and a folk singer performing on stage. A number of our friends told us about some of the evening events we'd missed, including a fashion show and the Snow King's Royal Ball. I need to keep better track of these things.

We sat and had a hot chocolate while buddy on stage belted out the folk tunes. (Must have been from the Maritimes. There was a definite lobster theme in the lyrics.) We went up to the ramparts to wave at the folks below before heading home via the Detah ice road/Ingraham Trail loop.

One of those quintessential Yellowknife afternoons.

Yep, that's me

2008-03-09T17:02:00.010-06:00

. . . in charge of a dog team. I'm looking pretty relaxed now that we're standing still, but the knuckles were white while we were moving. Maybe I'm paranoid (or just self-aware), but I was expecting to fall off the sled, and have the dogs bolt for parts unknown.

And those puppies can pull. They're part of Frank Turner's Yukon Quest dogteam. I was in Whitehorse last week for the Northern Communications Conference, and was lucky enough to tap into a session on dogmushing as a metaphor for leadership at the Turners' Muktuk Kennels. After the rigours of a thousand-mile race, a spin on the Yukon River with a bunch of conventioneers was probably a let-down for the dogs, who had a little too much energy for my liking. Fortunately, my sledding partner, Chris, got them settled down before it was my turn.

The conference itself was a lot of fun, and a good opportunity to connect with other communications types in the Yukon, Nunavut and the NWT. I'm supposed to be heading over to Iqaluit in May for another meeting. Looking forward to that one, too, since it's been years since I've been to Nunavut.

Sunrise, with ice fog

2008-02-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

This morning's sunrise over Great Slave Lake, photo taken about 9:15 a.m., -44C.

Not that I'm obssessed

2008-02-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

. . . about the weather, but take a look at the photo I shot at 11 a.m. this morning, as I was heading out to do my icky-Saturday-shopping-chores.

Yesterday the NWT Power Corporation asked people in Yellowknife and Behchoko to voluntarily conserve power, so that the whole grid doesn't go down. I work in the Government of Canada building, and the owners put the building on emergency backup during peak usage hours, to help reduce the strain on the system. So far things are holding. The only outage occurred a few nights ago, and the brown-out that preceded that one fried TVs across the city, including ours. :-(

Mercury still dropping

2008-01-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sad to report that January 16 was not the coldest night of the year. When I got up this morning it was -47C. And if that isn't freaky enough, the power went off last night for a good hour. We have a woodstove, and I quickly sized up the logs stacked next to it. Time to lay in a bigger supply, I'd say. There's a lot of ice fog right now - probably caused hoar frost on the power lines, and that caused the outage.

To celebrate the cold snap, I climbed to the top of Bush Pilots Monument this evening to take a photo of the ice fog over the city. Here's what I got (in addition to frostbitten fingers).

Coldest night of the year?

2008-01-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

Went down to -41C last night. Not surprising for January in Yellowknife.

Compensations? Saw the northern lights last night while walking home from work. When it's cold, it's clear, and it's the first time in ages that I've seen them. Spent today in a workshop in a local hotel conference room. From the windows we could see down the Franklin Avenue hill to the Old Town. Trees, rocks, the Franklin Avenue Trailer Park - everything white and misty with ice fog. At mid-morning a nice pastel sunrise - yellow, pink, a touch of blue sky before the clouds moved in.

It's -34C right now - things are heating up!

Christmas in Yellowknife

2008-01-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

Another holiday season draws to a close. The Christmas cookies are long gone. All that remains of the turkey is an inch of soup in the bottom of the pot. The eggnog I feel compelled to buy every year was used to make French toast this morning.

This Christmas has been relatively quiet - the festive season in Yellowknife is generally a month-long binge of eating and drinking as we all try to blow off some steam, bulk up our fat reserves to counter the -30 degree weather, and try to forget that we're getting a mere four hours of sunlight a day . . . and that's only if the sun actually shines. (Which it hasn't been, lately.)

A highlight of the season was a reveillon (French Canadian Christmas Eve celebration) out on one of the houseboats. In the summer the houseboats bob happily on the waters of Yellowknife Bay; in winter, of course, they are frozen into the ice. There was a bonfire outside, and a toasty woodstove inside, along with tourtiere, sugar pie, salad rolls (okay, not a French Canadian speciality, but memorable just the same), and many other treats. In years gone by, we'd go to parties on another of the houseboats. The road across the ice to that one was fairly straight, and when the house was quiet and a vehicle was approaching, it sounded like a bowling ball coming down the alley.

The downtime over the holiday was been a good thing - 2007 was a bit much, at times. I'm now getting my ducks in a row for 2008. I've made arrangements to go to some writing events, started a new piece, and bought a new memory card for my camera, so I can take more YK pics. Onward, ho.

Yellowknife loses the Fish Lady

2007-12-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

I returned home from holidays this week to sad news - Nancy Buckley, Yellowknife's Fish Lady, passed away on December 4. She died suddenly, of natural causes. She was 46.

Nancy and her husband, Archie, own a fish plant on the edge of Jolliffe Island, just across the channel from the government wharf. On a winter's afternoon, I'd whip over there on my snowmobile to pick up fillets. Sometimes trout, sometimes jackfish, but more often than not I'd get their fabulous white fish. I'd clump up the steps of the plant - a prefab industrial building - and down the hall to the shop. Although people came and went all the time, I usually had to ring the bell. Through the door across the hall I'd see Nancy filleting. A slip of the knife, and she'd finish the one she was working on, then come help me.

I've always thought of Nancy a bit of a Flower Child - she had long straight hair, wore comfortable clothes and was always happy, always smiling. The Buckleys charge for fish by the fillet, and if she thought one of the pieces was too small, she'd quietly slip an extra into the bag. "Give those a little shower before you cook them," was her usual advice.

In the summer, when the fish plant was not accessible, she'd sell fish off the back of her truck in front of the KFC.

She was a Yellowknife icon.

If you want some idea of the impact of her death on the community, check out the CBC North website. CBC has been reading some of these tributes on the morning show this week.

Her funeral was held this afternoon. Bet the place was packed.

My secret life

2007-11-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

I spent last weekend in beautiful Burnaby, B.C., at a workshop for belly dance instructors.

Yes, it's true - not only do I belly dance, I've been teaching others how-to for the past year and a half.

Some people in Yellowknife are aware of my secret identity as a belly dance instructor - the City of Yellowknife Recreation Guide is a well-read document, after all. But many friends and acquaintances are just too darn busy with their own lives to notice. And when they do, most think it's cool - belly dance has a bad rep in some quarters, but Yellowknife is an easy-going place.

I started belly dancing about four years ago, and recommend it for writers, students and others who spend long stretches of time sitting at a computer. Wrist circles are great for loosening up tight muscles in the hands and forearms, and my massage therapist has had much less work to do on my upper back since I started doing shoulder rolls. And anything that get the blood circulating and more oxygen into your system is a good thing. It's also a really good excuse for spending far too much money on fabulous costumes and jewellery.

The workshop gave me a lot of ideas about how to improve my class, and I was introduced to some new moves I need to master. Also had an opportunity to see some of the local dancers perform on Sunday night - they're a talented crew down in Vancouver.

Winter hits the north country

2007-10-28T17:26:00.000-06:00

The snow is here, and this time it looks like it's staying. On Wednesday afternoon I went out to run some errands, only to find I had entered the snow globe zone. I had to walk into the wind, and by the time I reached my destination - an entire two and a half blocks away - the front of my black leather jacket was solid white. Minutes later the snow in my hair started to melt. I was cutting through the drug store when one of the cosmetic ladies caught sight of me. She didn't actually gasp, but her eyes went really wide before she recovered herself and said something sympathetic about the weather. I didn't bother to look in the mirror until I got back to the office. Good thing the weather hit after my lunch-hour United Way meeting. Hard to make a good impression on community leaders with streaky make-up and Gorgon-like hair.

While I was struggling into the wind, a man passed and said "Typical September weather, eh?" He's right, of course. Despite our lousy fall, winter is on the late side. Too bad Old Man Winter couldn't have held out for a few more days, and let the trick-or-treaters do their thing without biting wind and icy streets.

Radio days

2007-10-19T18:28:00.000-06:00

Just spent three days in a how-to-write-radio-drama workshop with seven other Yellowknife writers. It was back to the future for me - I took part in a couple of radio drama workshops in the late '80s/early '90s and wrote some skits that aired on CBC Mackenzie. Surprising how much a person can forget in fifteen years . . .

We were all asked to come up with an idea for a skit (or a series), write a first draft, listen to a table read, write a second draft, and hear it read again. I was encouraged to find that I can still write under pressure - and what's better - revise under pressure.

The best part was hanging around with a group of funny, smart talented writers for three days. The workshop leader was Kelley Jo Burke, a spoken word/radio arts producer with English language performance programming in Regina, who is not only an engaging instructor, but a one-person sound effects factory.

Now if I was really ambitious, I'd finish that script and pitch it to my friendly neighbourhood CBC producer.

Adventures in cyberspace

2007-10-13T11:38:00.000-06:00

Hello and welcome to my blog, part of my new cyberspace presence, along with my website. I am a writer of short stories and a photographer of northern landscapes (both natural and man-made), living in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

A number of my stories have been published in Canadian magazines and anthologies. The people at Storyteller magazine have been particularly good to me and run a number of my pieces. One of these, "The Prospector’s Trail," was reprinted in a textbook called Imprints 11. Over the years, some of the students who’ve studied "The Prospector’s Trail" have hunted me down via a string of electronic bread crumbs on the internet to get information about me and about Yellowknife. Well, my little chickadees — I’ve decided to make it a whole lot easier for you. I live to serve, after all.

So stay tuned for updates on my writing, life in the ’Knife, and anything else rattling around my overworked brain.

- Cathy