An Impromptu Music Extravaganza

This past Saturday (June 9th, 2012) Jacquie and I had the extraordinary opportunity to hear 5 amazing singers and musicians.  While we were out on the land at a small cabin aproximately 4 KM from the Iqaluit airport (See the previous blog) an inpromptu jaming session began that turned out to be amazing. 

Two of the musicians work with me at the Nunavut Housing Corporation.  Tim played guitar and sang a number of songs.  It amazed both Jacquie and I that he knew all of so many songs, from a wide range of genre's, like country, pop, rock and blues.  He has a great voice and is an acomplished guitar player.  Rob plays stand up base which he transported all the way out to the cabin. Jacquie and I have seen Rob play live with a few bands and he is an fantastic base player, one of the best that we have seen.

  Leanne and Tommy were out at the cabin.  Leanne is an ocupational therapist and Tommy is a geologist with the Government of Nunavut.  Leanne played a "drum box".  It was an interesting box that has strings inside of it that sounds very much like set of drums and has a different sound depending on where on the box it's struck.  She uses a set of fan drum sticks, which gives the drum box a softer sound.  She also has a beautiful voice and entertained us with a number of selections.  Tommy is a very accomplised guitar player and picked his way through many of the songs musical interludes with guitar solos.

Tom is in the forground on the right side of the photo

And finally we had a guitar player/singer that was also a good guitar player and had a great voice.  Jason is from the east coast and played a number of traditional down east, thigh slapping and toe tapping celtic songs.



The gang even allowed me to play and sing a few songs.  All in all it was a wonderful time where Jacquie and I were entertained by some excellent musicians and singers.
Here is a link to a sample of the music.    http://youtu.be/aN2hTujO1v0

Thanks to all for the beautiful music and the great time!!  :-)

The Cabin by the River

Jacquie and I had an amazing experience this weekend. We had the opportunity to travel out on the land to a little cabin that is situated on the shoreline of the Sylvia Grinell River.






The Trip out was an experience in itself. The trip was 4 KM and 40 minutes from the end of the Iqaluit airport runway. Our trip took us over the tundra on a path that was the most challenging to drive that we have ever seen. It is difficult to describe the drive out to the cabin. We went though streams, over bolders, up rock cuts, over bog, through mud and along the river at times on angles that we thought for sure would tip the truck.





Tim, one of the two owners who built the cabin, was our driver. Tim has been in the Arctic for 10 years and  he is an amazing character in his own right. He was a champion motorcycle driver in North America in the 1980's and still drives dirt bikes places where you cannot imagine. He is a certified motorcycle mechanic. He is an excellent guitar player and singer as you will see in the next blog, He owns a newer ford F-150 with a 6 inch lifter kit that was definitely a benefit for this trek. He is a very experienced driver who can manouever his truck in ways that go beyond your imagination. J and I had the thrill of a lifetime just making our way out to the cabin.





Once there, the views were spectacular. Adding to the fairy tale type surroundings was the fact that it was snowing hard on June 10th  and the river was raging because of the spring run off. There is a rugged natural beauty that is indescribable. The break-up of the ice has left some beautiful naturally formed ice sculptures along the river and this cabin is situated on the shoreline in the middle of it all.












The cabin is a three room (two bunk rooms and a main area) structure that is fully insulated,heated with a small oil stove and has a propane stove. Tim tells us that in mid winter at -40C, you crank on the stove and within an hour you need to open the windows because it's too hot. There is a small gas powered generator for lighting and any other electrical needs. At this time of year, it doesn't get dark at any time. The sun goes down about 11:00 PM and is up about 2:00 AM  and although the sun sets, it does so just below the horizon leaving us with a twilight rather than complete darkness.





Jacquie and I had an amazing experience and look forward to another summertime visit to the cabin. Thanks Tim for the wonderful experience!

To watch some of our trip click on this link to our trek video  http://youtu.be/0QEB2BjVm8o

Our Wedding

As most people know, that follow this blog, Larry and I exchanged vows and became husband and wife on May 12, 2012. The entire wedding weekend was amazing. We were blessed to be surrounded by our family and friends.

It is easily safe to say that all of our family played a role and contributed to our day. Thank you everyone!!! To our friends and family that travelled long distances to be with us, we can't thank you enough for being part of our special day.





We don't have our pictures yet, however this is a little taste of what's to come. We promitse to post a collage of pictures in the near future.

Polar Bear in Iqaluit

For the first time since 2008 we had a polar bear wander into Iqaluit. According to a friend of ours, that is the manager of CBC north, the Polar Bear came up onto the causway on May 26th. As a side note, the causeway is a finger of land that goes out into Frobisher Bay so boats can tie up during low tide.The Polar Bear came along the causeway onto shore. The polar bear was described as a healthy young male. It probably wandered into town from the pack ice where it spent the majority of the winter hunting seals. It was in the downtown part of Iqaluit on the shoreline when the wildlife conservation officers scared it off with flare guns.

Apparently the bear went back out onto the ice on the bay, crossed the bay and went onto land just south of the oil storage tanks. Although the conservation officers were fairly sure it wouldn't come back, a host of residents went down to the causeway over the next few days to see if the bear would venture back into town, Jacquie and I among them.

Although Polar Bears are seen quite frequently within 5 KM's or so of Iqaluit, it is unusual for them to venture into town. According to the CBC manager, the last one to come into was spotted up behind the hospital.

One of our goals of being in Iqaluit is to see a polar bear in the wild. Although this was an opportunity that presented itself, by the time Jacquie and I found out about it, the bear was long gone. Perhaps next time!



Note: This is not a picture of the polar bear in Iqaluit.