Wednesday was not my finest. The kids were total hooligans, I had one vacuum blow up on me, and one break on me; Sophia emptied the water from the tray of one of our humidifiers all over the floor, and on one of those days where a glass of wine would've been great - we had no corkscrew to open the wine we had shipped up. All in all, I was very happy to have Wednesday behind me.
The rest of the week was great though. I had some really good visits with friends, I got to check out the health centre I'll be managing and got to do some solo exploring around my town.
One of the things I'm finding the most interesting about this place, is that everyone I've talked to that has been here for quite some time, have left Cambridge Bay at some point, attempted life back in the city and within 6 months retreated back to life in a smaller community. A few have come back here, and a few were somewhere smaller before, went back to the city and ended up heading out this way. It says a lot about our primitive desires and what we truly want when all the conveniences are taken away from us. I'm reading this great book right now called "Your Brain On Nature". It's part of the David Suzuki reading club and I have not been disappointed in this title. It talks a lot about how before our medical system became corrupt through pharmaceutical companies and funding to offer doctors more money that medical professionals actually used to prescribe outdoor retreats to people as a way of healing all kinds of illnesses. Nowadays, places like this cost an arm and a leg, and are common places of retreat to the rich and famous. Before, these places were funded for medical treatment, but because they couldn't get any solid scientific numbers on the effects it was having on people, they were quickly pulled from the medical world and that was when we were introduced to our first anti-anxiety and antidepressant pills. It irritates me so much to think we were headed on the right track and then pulled away from it because they couldn't get solid numbers on the research -and of course, it wasn't a money maker. It's also unfortunate because doctors could still prescribe a walk outside, and it wouldn't cost them or their patient anything except for some good mental health to be outside (and I don't mean on the sidewalk) and would help solve a plethora of health problems. I have found in my week here that the solitude and fresh air have been better than any outdoor spa I've gone to. I was able to take a walk in my backyard yesterday and enjoy the mossy ground beneath me and a lake that has appeared almost out of nowhere in a matter of days. For those of you on Facebook, if you saw my snow-filled backyard pictures, I can tell you it doesn't look like that anymore. There is still a lot of snow, but there is also a lake and this beautiful land to walk on. It instantly reminded me of my summer in the Rockies when I'd go hiking and just be submerged in nature - minus the trees of course. (Yes, there are no trees here) But it says so much about why people find their way back here.
I also got a chance to go quadding yesterday and scope out the land that way. For those of you that don't know what it is, think of a motorbike with 4 wheels that can go off-road. It was so cool to cruise around town and head down by the water and the airport with the wind in my face and really see things. Phil also took the quad out yesterday and headed toward Mount Pelly, which is our little mountain in town, and as you head out that way you pass the graveyard (now, stop reading if you get queazy), but he said there was a bucket of fish just a ways out from the graveyard to motivate the wild animals to take that instead of digging up the bodies to eat. We also took a drive in the police truck with Phil this morning to get the kids out and head out that way so I could see where we would be doing our fishing this summer and on our way back there was a caribou head just hanging out on the side of the road. No body attached, just the head. Clearly someone didn't need it, or hasn't met my dad who enjoys the tongue of the caribou. I have to say though, if I saw something like that in Ottawa, I would've been grossed out because I would've instantly thought that someone had killed and wasted the animal, but I know here everything gets used, except maybe the head in this instance, but people hunt to eat and dress themselves so seeing "road-kill" didn't have the same effect on me.
The kids and I got a chance to visit the daycare and see where they will be spending 10 days a month of their lives. All the kids and staff were really friendly, however, my kids just aren't as quick to warm up to people. They're always friendly, but they know when we're checking something out that involves Phil or I leaving them for hours at a time - and they didn't seem too happy. Soph did much better than Seb, but he just seems so much more overwhelmed by everything here. I'm finding that to be my biggest challenge out here is dealing with his adjustment. I'm really hoping our stuff gets here soon, so that he has his blanket and toys and just all of our stuff so he realizes that this really is home. All in good time though.
Anyways, that's the news for now. Keep your eyes open for more pictures on Facebook.
Until next time...
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