All good things

Finally, another blog post! Yay! It's amazing how quickly a year went by. Now that the packers have been and gone, and all the personal touches in the house have been tucked into boxes (the soft lighting, the area rugs, artwork, fuzzy throw cushions, etc.) it has hit me again that our stay in the far north is truly over.

The "backyard" in July.

Still a little bit of snow!

This experience has had many ups and downs. I'll try to sum up:

Good stuff

I have learned to drive in snowy conditions a LOT better.  Unlike roads in northern Ontario, there is no salt put down here.  They put down dirt, which is great until it blows away.  (It's actually calcium, not dirt, says my kamik maker).  I can drive through drifts.  I can drive on icy roads up-hill.  I am in complete control when my car starts to slide back down the hill.  I am snow-driver extraordinaire.

I have learned to appreciate free, unlimited, high speed internet.  Loads.

There is a certain freedom that comes with the "anything goes" attitude up here. However, this is a mixed bag. Yes, anything goes, because everyone understands that stuff is hard to get up here.  The restaurant serves hamburger buns with butter in place of dinner rolls? Whatevs. Your Chinese noodle bowl has macaroni noodles instead of actual Chinese noodles? Big deal.

My kids have learned so much from this past year, though they don't realize it yet. They have a deeper understanding of Inuit culture than most of the population in Canada (many of whom cannot even say the word "Nunavut" properly). On the flip side, I have learned so much about my kids from this experience! Coraline is more resilient than she will ever give herself credit for. And Captain Jack? He belongs on the tundra.  He needs to be a hunter, or an explorer, or something else outdoorsy. This is something JJ and I really need to be nurturing as much as possible.

Things I will miss:

-The wind howling around and under the house.

-Burning wood pallets in the living room fireplace. (Not pellets. PALLETS!)

-Fur and sealskin clothing being normal. (Don't look at me funny when I walk around in my sealskin boots next winter. Where I have lived this is normal.)

-How warm and welcoming people are.

-Facebook being used for EVERYTHING. (Even finding a new family to raise your baby. Seriously!)

- Nunatsiaq News

-The long sunsets. When the sun finally does set (and by "set" I mean just barely disappear over the horizon before popping back up again), it takes a long time. The sky turns a beautiful shade of orangey-pink.

This photo was taken by someone else (Julia Macdonald), but hasn't been
filtered or altered.

This photo of Gramma enjoying the last slow sunset was taken by JJ.

-Hotchy (my hair stylist) and her bright red Pebbles' hair.

-The little Inuit kids coming to the door, or just walking into the house. (Although, I won't miss it happening late at night or early in the morning).

-Going into a grocery store at 9am and hearing this song play over the speakers very loudly. Then dancing with the checkout girl. I mean, really?

-The Astro Theatre. Coolest movie theatre north of 60. Or anywhere, really.


Things I will NOT miss:

-Having to order in EVERYTHING. My digital meat thermometer died. This means a 2-3 week wait for another one from Amazon. I will be grateful to be able to drive to Walmart and just buy stuff.

-Random days when you just don't have water.

Captain Jack collecting snow from the deck.

It takes a lot of snow to make a tiny amount of water.

-The stuff in this house that needs repairing:  The dishwasher is on the fritz.  We need to set the oven timer to remind ourselves to turn it off, or it will just keep going and going (until it leaks all over the floor). The windows are drafty and need to be replaced (many have plastic covering them). One window (in the bedroom) will just fly open, and as the house is on stilts, it's not like you can just walk around or go up a ladder and push it closed. The pipes froze constantly all winter (although I learned a great way to cope with this--windshield washer fluid down the drain!). (None of these things are unique to this particular house, this is what comes of having to ship things like dishwashers and new windows during "sealift season", which is only a few months every year.)

-The dryer not drying because the outside vent was sealed shut with ice. (This happened all winter.)

-I will not miss the frustration of many, many, MANY missed school days.  School closes because the power suddenly cuts out.  School closes when the wind gusts are too high. School closes because the roads are icy (and have been icy for days). January 2nd school didn't open because there was no water pressure (this was due to a fire, so understandable.)  However, January 3rd school was closed for the afternoon because after a brief power outage this morning, there was no water (the pumping stations had to be manually re-set).  This year the kids missed 11 unscheduled days of school.  The school does it as "half-days", so the kids have missed 22 half days. Add to that the two weeks off at Christmas, two weeks off for spring break, one week off for ......reasons.....? Then of course there were the various long weekends and other holidays....It's very frustrating, and makes me question the quality of the education they are receiving.

-How EXPENSIVE everything is.

-The gosh-darn 23 hour/day sun.

-Not being able to find things at the grocery store, like milk and bread.

-The post office wait--when the heat is on max and everyone is dying in their Canada Goose parkas. (But I will miss the Post Office warehouse. Where else in Canada can you find a postal outlet that uses a hanging tarp as a wall?)

*****

So, the past couple of weeks have been insanely busy. I listed a bunch of stuff on Facebook for sale that we do not need to take back with us to Thunder Bay, and also donated food and clothing to the local soup kitchen and women's shelter.

Shelter for abused women in Apex. Home to many women and children.

Also, JJ's work had a going away party for him! It was a surprise planned by one of his co-workers. It is common for many doctors and nurses at Qikiqtani General Hospital to drop in for short-term employment, be it a year, a month, a couple of weeks, etc. It is very rare for anyone to throw going-away parties (otherwise there would be parties happening all the time). It just goes to show how respected JJ is, and how much he was appreciated for his work here in the north.

JJ says he will be doing a blog post of sorts which will follow this one, I'll let you know when that happens!

JJ's "going away" cake. It disappeared quickly, as more staff came than was anticipated.

 JJ being surprised by co-workers in the QGH cafeteria.

So, with our extra "stuff" sold on Facebook or donated, and with JJ's party over, it was time for the packers to come in.  We did things a little differently this time, as we had learned a little from our previous move.  For instance, knowing that not everything the moving company moves will necessarily make it to our house (like the three boxes that got lost on the way up), I packed two suitcases of "Things we Cannot Replace" to come on the flight with us. "Things we Cannot Replace" included meaningful things we cannot buy in stores, like sealskin boots, CJS's hockey jacket, his hockey trophies, my new handmade parka, sculptures, artwork made by Coraline's friends, etc. 

JJ in the bedroom surrounded by boxes.

While the packers were doing their job, the kids joined
our neighbours on a hike through Sylvia Grinnell Park.

Captain Jack, Coraline, Darter, and Ed (and Nova the dog).

Breakfast at the hotel we stayed at in Iqaluit while our house was being cleaned.
This is what you eat when you have no food in the kitchen. Half a banana, a leftover
lunch-box fruit cup, a handful of Ritz Bitz, and a mini-donut. 

Finally, the big day. The final flight to Ottawa.

This is us. Fourteen checked-bags, two cats, a dog, and various carry-ons.
Waiting in Ottawa for our shuttle to the hotel (the shuttle had to make two trips).

After a relaxing night in Ottawa we picked up the two rental vans to transport everything (and everyone) on the two-day road trip to Thunder Bay. Next stop: Sault Ste. Marie!

One less-than-impressed cat.

I can has chicken burger?

"I love Thunder Bay" written in highway grime by Coraline on the side of the van.

We finally reached Sault Ste. Marie!

The kids enjoying the pool waterfall.

Chilling in the sauna.

Trees! Flowers! And McDonald's!  Days don't get much better than this.

Freya, our new rescue cat who is a native Nunavummiut, was completely unaccustomed to travel.
Can you spot her?

Yup! There she is!

And we're back!

Coraline in the backyard.

Flowers. Trees. Evenings that get dark........The kids keep pointing things out to us that they have missed.  Our second day back in town we picked them up two new bikes that cost about $200 each, not $400+ like they cost in Iqaluit. They picked berries from the tree in our yard, by reaching up into the branches, instead of searching on their hands and knees in the tundra rocks.  

What a long, strange trip it's been. Thank you to everyone who joined us on our journey. You guys gave me a reason to keep writing! We're ending the trip with over 8000 page views, with readers from all over the world (after Canada and the US, the largest readership came from Peru, Italy, Poland, and France). I'll keep the blog up for now, for at least awhile. So that when someone says "How was your trip?" we can refer them here. Ha!

"Life is a either a daring adventure, or nothing at all."

-Helen Keller