Definitely NOT in Ottawa anymore

I have probably mentioned before that Yukon (which I am getting used to saying. Yukon. Not The Yukon, and definitely not Yukon Territory!! Yukon. Period.) has things about it that are different from, well, Outside (aka, not here). One of the things that has really struck me is the presence elected officials and others have within the community and how little arrogance - or more particularly reverence - there seems to be.  

I had mentioned to Mike I knew I was out of Ontario when in my first 2 weeks I had met the Mayor and my Minister (Deputy Premier Taylor, Minister of Environment and Tourism and Culture). I sat next to the former Premier at lunch yesterday, but I don't think ANYTHING could have prepared me for today!  

Tonight, I went to my first Business After Hours event held by the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce. Every second Thursday, a business in town hosts the event from 5-7, providing food and bar, and taking the opportunity to tell the community something. Tonight was at Yukon College where they provided highlights of some incredible stuff they are doing and, since today was budget day, the Minister of Education took the chance to announce some new money. As an aside, Yukon has a budget this year of $1,000,003,000 (thank you Canada!).  I think that is right, more than a billion for the first time or, as someone told me, about $30,000/person. Back to the Chamber. So, drinking and learning....In two weeks, one of the hotels (Westmark) will be showing off their renovated ballroom and meeting rooms and two weeks after that Northwestel will unveil this year's phone book art work (its a big tradition here).  

Anyway, as I was walking into the function, I met Minister Taylor who shook my had warmly, commented on our meeting at the College again, and updated me on their decisions today will reflect my budget this year!!  I think we had spoken for 5 minutes when I met her the first time and she not only knew me, but reported on the Preserve budget requests. She is, as her reputation preceeds, an incredible women (whatever your political stripe).   Following that, Mayor Buckway, another incredible woman, introduced me to the Premier, the MP, a couple other Ministers, the President of the College and some other important Yukoners. Everyone was warm, welcoming and interesting, and it did not matter one iota that I was new, from Outside or any of the other things that make us walk on egg shells back East. In fact,  I was in jeans, my Ulu boots, a shirt and a sweater and no one cared. The College President was super-excited to meet ME, asked for my card and assured me we'd be working a lot together.  I wonder what partnership opportunities I haven't been briefed on yet.....

Ode to my neighbourhood coffee roaster

My experience to day has been difficult to explain. I am working hard, I am very busy, days can get quite hectic - but stress is definitely at a minimum. I have had 1 headache, almost no shoulder aches, and certainly no sleepless nights or early mornings.  I may be working the hours I worked before and managing even more files, but life here is fabulously different. 

Having said that. I am working every day and then out virtually every evening at a meeting, a dinner or something. Part of it is definitely my transition, as I am trying to meet one-on-one with all board members and volunteers, well, immediately. Part of it is also the genuinely, welcoming nature of Yukoners who are inviting me into their homes and introducing me to their friends.  I love it!

It is, however, making me a bit sleepy. It is not so much the pace, as the lack of opportunity to ever sleep in (someone could be at the Preserve by 8 or 8:30) and definitely is has MUCH to do with everything being so new.  My brain is working in overdrive and then some all the time. I am just so excited about everything that it is impossible to slow down - so many interesting things to do!!

And so, amidst this exciting time, I have come to rely extensively on my most favourite neighbour - Bean North. Bean North is the coffee roaster whom Mike and I were seeking this past summer when we stumbled upon the Preserve. They are owned by my neighbours, roast organic, free trade coffee on site, and sell a small assortment of other friendly products.  Their coffee is delicious, their staff are very nice and their location is fabulous.  I visit them once a week for a pound of coffee and dream until summer when they are open more than Thursday to Sunday.....

Most unbelievable experience ever.

I had a near religious experience today. It was a glorious day - sun beaming into the office, cool air, it made me and the animals extremely happy!  When I got back to the office from a couple of great meetings, I admittedly nearly drove into a snowbank as I watched my good neighbour muskox undertaking something I had not yet seen. Now, to be fair, I have seen and photographed a variation of this, but nothing quite so high-wire-ish. 

The muskox, you see, have a small, half fence surrounding them, followed by a full fence at least 3 ft. further - because that is as far as the muskox can push the fence. Logical. This guy, however, was using his hoof to push down on the fence as if he was trying to find his balance to walk. Push, push, push, but then one foot over, two feet, three. Fortunately, after three it was mission abandoned.  It actually sounds a WHOLE lot worse then it is, because in all honestly they are using the fence to scratch their undersides, but it was FASCINATING to watch the dynamic between it and the fence.  I hung out for several minutes and finally got this kind of behaviour taped - that and two muskox jostling a bit. Fun!

I thought that would be the highlight of my animal adventure. Not bad for a Monday. But, as I was talking to Mike a while later, a dark mass caught the corner of my eye in what should be the moose pen.  But it couldn't be, I thought, I have walked by the moose pasture so many times and barely seen more than a dark shape off in the distance. For the record, the moose are in a pasture that is approximately 100 acres in size - with swamp and trees and they are barely more than a shape in the distance. Our telescope (I know, I know, I couldn't find binoculars fast enough) confirmed it was a moose and he was at the front of his pasture. Exciting!!!! A while later, starving and tired, I let Mike go. But.... walking into the kitchen I could not fight it any longer. The moose was STILL by the feeders and I just HAD to see how close I could get. I began walking to the pasture, taking pictures every few hundred feet - surely, I can't get any closer than this before it bolts, I kept thinking....

As I got closer, the "baby" moose did move farther away, and its daddy kept a VERY close eye on me from afar.  The "baby," however, never really went that far and I was able to walk right up to the feed station with it still in plain site.  Moments later, daddy started meandering towards me in a very casual way. I totally expected it to walk over to its son, so I started taking a video of the process. Mesmerized, the adult moose was literally 3 feet from me before I sort of silently panicked and tried walking backwards very, very slowly.  Fence or no fence, it is a full size moose!!  My video gets a bit wonky at this point - I can't get through 3 ft of snow very gracefully and it is so close my camera is only capturing random body parts, but after a several seconds I have it sorted again, and just stared in awe while he calmly ate in front of me. 

Of all the animals on the Preserve, I think the moose are the least used to humans, and I never imagined an experience like this. Seeing them that close was awe-inspiring and I, quite literally, just stood there jaw dropped for a very long time.  Unfortunately, my rash decision to go out did not include proper attire to stand and stare, so after several minutes I ran, walked, skipped and sang back home. I had shivers from head to toe - and certainly not just from the cold! I immediately called to prevent Mike from sleeping - unbelievably moved by such a peaceful and unforgettable experience. 

ps, the video will have to follow - our wireless just isn't up to the challenge, but enjoy the photos. 

My weekend

I got a taste this evening about what a weekend might be like in Whitehorse.  It was really nice.

Admittedly, not having more days like today is very much my own fault!  On Friday, I was in town for meetings, which ended up going until maybe 6:30 or later, so I took advantage of being in town to go grocery shopping, to run some other errands and to go to Fireweed Macs which really is the BEST bookstore in the world!  Turns out, Reitmans makes pants that fit me (2 pairs) - which is good, because I had no clean laundry until today! It also turns out that Yukoners may not cook like I do (Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook - $12!! I also could have had Jamie Oliver, had I not already owned it!).

On Saturday, I talked to some really great friends who were helping Mike pack in Ottawa (I LOVE Skype) and then spent about 12 hours starting to get our files and filing cabinets to a logical enough state that I actually know what is there (and could find it again) and got rid of so much redundant or not useful paper it made my stomach hurt. Small comfort that most of it we'll re-use as scrap before it actually goes. A lame way to spend a Saturday, perhaps, but I feel a lot better!!

Today, was a true Sunday. I talked to family, I talked to friends, I did hours and hours of laundry (first time since arriving, I guess I can't complain too much).  This afternoon was incredibly sunny and

beautiful, so I toured around the Preserve. 

Tonight, I was lucky enough to have been invited to dinner at Clare's house (my program manager) with some of their other friends. Her fiance got a new meat thermometer and, unlike Mike, wanted to USE the kitchen tool he had just purchased! Delicious, delicious dinner (turkey!) with really great wine and fantastic company. It was really nice to have a 'normal' evening again, and I hope to have many more as Mike and I get settled. 

It occurred to me as I was driving into town that none of my pictures to date have given any indication that there is, actually, a town.  I will try to remedy that in the future, but for today, enjoy a view of the North Klondike Highway approaching the Alaska Highway (aka, my view heading into town), as well as two shots to prove there really is a 'city' here! Or at least some stoplights.

Snow (Continued)

Since it snowed again yesterday, and is meant to snow again today and tomorrow, I thought I would write a short bit about it. Despite what it may sound like, I actually quite love the snow here - it makes everything incredibly beautiful.  The pure white against the near-black of the spruce trees or the craggy mountains is stunning.  The snow also makes the animals at the Preserve look particularly magnificent (see field of muskox to the left). 

Having had the opportunity to shovel several times now (don't tell Mike, this is definitely not something I did in Ottawa), I can talk first hand about how incredibly different the snow is here from back East. For most of the winter, the arid climate of the Yukon means that the snow here has no humidity in it at all. It is like grains of sand that floats down from the sky, making it incredibly easy to push aside with a shovel. 

Over the last couple of days, however, the snow has had somewhat more humidity.  It was explained to me this week by a member of the Champagne First Nation that, according to her aunties, this snow is the heavy snow. It comes around this time of year and pushes itself into and throughout the other snow to help it melt very fast when the weather warms up.  I have not done justice to what was a beautiful and very logical explanation. 

It will be interesting to see Spring come. I have heard from many people that the snow doesn't melt so much as disappears, with a lot of it being simply absorbed by the infamous Yukon winds. 

ps, everyone should be able to comment now. Sorry I had no idea that was the default, thanks Amanda for pointing that out.

For a place that gets no snow.....

Where has the week gone?? It seems like only yesterday since I mused about the north, and now it is already the end of Thursday!  

Life here has been treating me very well. Carolyn, the former ED flew back east today, so the transition is official and I am on my own. Eek!  It has been a crazy 12 days since I arrived, and I have already learned a lot.  Based on my conversation with Mike earlier today, I have clearly not learned enough biology, but I am working at it!! I am! 

To officially start the transition, I changed my voicemail and "moved in" - creating folders, starting files and plastering (and I do mean plastering) my desk with photos of Kael, Emma, Mike and Maui (ok, there are a few other people, but I actually don't have a lot of PRINTED pictures yet).  I also have some very spectacular art work  with a fish bowl (emma) and a cow (kael) framing my monitor.  

One thing is for sure, I am very, very, very excited about the work.  It is going to change constantly and it is going to be very challenging to do both the day-to-day stuff and the bigger picture/moving to the next phase stuff - but I am very much  excited by that. Today I attended a Wildlife Viewing workshop put on by the Department of the Environment and everyone was so incredibly nice and positive and collaborative. Having been to many a government-led workshop before, it was rather unbelievable and I certainly made some fascinating contacts that I cannot wait to get in touch with.  There is a genuine commitment here (at least from what I have seen today) to collaborate and I think it is going to be a lot of fun.  My biggest challenge, as my dad reminded me today, will be to handle "Yukon time" and to not get sucked back into the insanity I have lead for the last few years - or to expect anyone else to operate in that frantic mindset. To work hard, to accomplish amazing things, but to leave work every once and awhile too (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...).  I'm off to a great start! Granted it has only been two weeks, but I haven't had any blackberry withdrawals :-)  On days like today 

when I am out all day, I sometimes feel that I should be checking emails or something, but that's as close as I have come. Yay me!

I CAN'T be at work ALL the time, because every day I learn about someplace new that Mike and I have to go or something new we have to try!  There appears to be no end to interesting opportunities and I am determined to experience as many as possible. Starting, I have declared, his first weekend here when we are going to take a road trip with my staff to see how things are done at the Faro Crane and Sheep Viewing Festival. Laugh now if you will, but just wait until you see the photos!!!

  

I also have a lot to learn. In addition to this workshop today, I have a lab tour tomorrow (to help us plan some infrastructure developments), lunch with the Premier next week (me and many, many others), human rights and probably a Tourism Industry conference in Dawson. At some point I also have to get re-certified for first aid, learn how to drive a bus and I'm pretty sure I am going to get my fire arms license. See, lots to do outside of work!! 

I realize that this posting is pretty much all over the place, with very little point. For that I apologize. It has been a crazy, crazy couple of weeks where I have learned a

mazing things (a lot of things too), been proud of my early accomplishments (I actually have a few) and have been welcomed so warmly by so many people.  It goes without saying that I miss all of you in Ottawa and the County, but the Yukoners have certainly opened their arms and their homes to make me feel very welcome (and have offered several well appreciated tips to help me be less of a Cheechako). 

I've added pictures today of the weather, mainly.  For a desert-like climate, Whitehorse sure is getting some serious snow these days. Ahhh, global warming. Speaking of, since a lot of people seem to want to know, I have also added a photo of the land cruiser that I mostly drive when I have to go into town (sometimes I also drive a pick up). 

Musings about the North

I apologize that it has been a few days since I have written. Hosting 20+ people yesterday for our annual strategic planning session made late last week go by very quickly indeed! It was a great day. The first opportunity I had to meet many board members and volunteers and they were all very welcoming. I am very much looking forward to working with everyone, and I am very pleased with the results of the session, but there was nothing from that for blogging. And so, I will embark today on some musings of the North. 

I have been here, now, for a full 8 days. While surely that does not make me an expert, I have learned a thing or two. For starters, the Yukon is divided into two groups. There are those who live here with great reverence to the land and, to borrow a line from Parks Canada, strive to protect it for the benefit of future generations. There are also those who, it was described to me, maintain a more conquering philosophy of life. I.e., our forefathers came before us and conquered the wild, we will do the same. Controversially, I would make the shot of Canada vs. Alberta, but I will leave that for now 'cause nothing is ever so black and white.  I think I definitely fall into that first category, as will become apparent with the kinds of things that have struck me this week.

Whitehorse has a spectacular garbage, recycling, composting program. By the very fact it has composting it kicks the ass of Ottawa. Both the city and the territory also have extensive funding programs aimed to help places establish better garbage reduction programs (which I will totally be trying to access). The challenge, in my early observations, lies with the vast number of people who have to bring their garbage to the dump themselves, which seems to provide little impetus to bother. I have shuddered all week putting my food scraps and cardboard in the garbage, but there are serious storage issues that need to be overcome (none of us want to draw anymore wildlife to the site).  Now I need to clarify. There is, definitely, a challenge to getting those who go to the dump to compost or recycle, but I would argue at another level, they are far ahead of us. There is, equally, the natural tendency to compost, and there is also a thriving 'recycle' program of the highest order. Like during the gold rush, the sheer cost of bringing stuff here, makes buying and selling, donating and rummaging through the dump all acceptable ways for find new home furnishings, clothes, outdoor equipment, etc. There is also, at least at the Preserve, a remarkable effort to not waste anything. There has been 4-5 outbuildings torn down over the past few years and 2 more underway. These buildings are being taken down with, probably as much care as they were put up and everything useable will be reused - starting with 'new' built in shelves for our offices that will come from what was once known as 'Smiley's House.'  Well, because Smiley was the last to live there. In retrospect, that may have been my first 'executive order.'

Cars. I continue to be amazed at how many people drive small cars here. Frankly, nothing should be smaller than an SUV.  To be fair, there have been two exceptional snow falls here this year, and the 2 ft + on the ground is utterly awe-inspiring to anyone who has lived through your typical Whitehorse winters, but still, this is not small car territory. Having said that, while I find the transition to roads that are graded, covered in dirt or gravel and completely absent of salt a bit nerve-wracking to get used to, the roads are, by and large, very well kept.  The Yukon government helps by putting up flashing roadside signs that read "Summer is Nice; Winter Means Ice." Yukon drivers have the reputation of being terrible drivers, but I haven't seen it really. I understand there is still a problem with drinking and driving - I expect largely driven by the vastness of the roads, the lack of anyone else on them, and the 'conquering' attitude I mentioned. There is probably also something statistically with fewer people available to make incidents less obvious.  But by and large, I have found other drivers to be perfectly fine. No one is in a hurry to be anywhere (Yukon time), and there seems to be a general acknowledgement of whatever the road conditions are. 

The two things I have noticed to be different from the east (in addition to the general lack of aggression) are driving in the middle of the road and parking.  There is a lot of driving in the middle of the road, and why not I say. The roads are wide, yes, but there is less chance of meeting another car than virtually anything else, so the middle seems to be, well, the place to be outside of the city. In the city, there are lanes established in the winter that in no way reflect lanes from the summer. For someone new to the city, it takes a bit of getting used to to understand where, exactly, one should be driving. I am fairly certain that last night I drove with my two tires in the middle of two different lanes, but with only one other vehicle on the road, it equally could have been him in the wrong!

Parking. Anyone who has ever parked at a shopping centre in Gatineau or a ski hill in the Rockies can picture parking in Whitehorse.  Granted, it is not as bad as either of those, but I do feel some sense of obligation to park at an angle for sure. There aren't stalls this time of year anyway, so what's the difference? Hee hee! What I cannot get used to is leaving one's vehicle running while shopping - or as I understand it having dinner and drinks with friends! You know, so it is still warm when they want to leave.  Now I may change my mind when it becomes -50 and I am, in fact, driving one of the many pieces of crap autos that Mike has declared wanting, but new vehicles at -10. Really??  I ran several errands last evening (BIG night out in Whitehorse - Wal-Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart, McDonalds and Off Sales - the after hours over-priced liquor store) and, perhaps with the exception of Wal-Mart, I was the crazy at every store who a) turned off the land cruiser, b) took the keys with me inside and c) actually locked the doors. Definitely Cheechako behaviour.

My final musing for tonight will be the school system. I have been very much impressed by the extensive experiential learning that is undertaken by the Ministry of Education here.  The Preserve is the beneficiary of funding for several programs - grade 4 bird identification, learning about predators and prey, healthy aquatic ecosystems, traditional uses of herbs and plants, etc. The high school kids (which starts with grade 8) do scientific monitoring of weather, water quality, invertebrates, and aquatic plants. We also do a grade 7 bison program, which we have run relatively informally for several years. This program ran just before I arrived and encompasses scientific lessons about bison as well as historic lessons around their role in Aboriginal natural and cultural heritage and in the settling of Canada. This program runs to prepare the students for their bison hunt which, I asked naively for clarification on - they couldn't possible mean hunting for bison?

They did and they do. Annually as part of the bison hunting season students in grade 7 go out on snowmobiles with outfitters and staff from the Ministry of the Environment to, well, hunt. Only the outfitters use guns, but the students work to bring the bison back to camp (they all stay in wall tents) where they then, well, work to prepare dinner.  I think I was so flabbergasted at the time, I probably missed a few details, but that is the essence of it. This year's class brought home 3 bison. I doubt very much I could have handled that in grade 7, but then again, the world I lived in was very different. I have been thinking about it a lot, and I do have a lot of respect for the program, although I know there will be many of you who disagree. I think it would have made me pay a lot more attention in science class (so not formaldehyde frogs), I am very impressed by the depth of their pre-trip lessons re: respect for nature, and anything that teaches people that our food doesn't magically arrive at the grocery store is fine by me.