Weather: -21°C and clear
Sunrise: 11 days to go
Sunset: 11 days and 15 minutes

Already I can feel my life evolving to life in the north; this land of isolation. Because of the holidays there is a maddening five day shutdown of the Post Office. I’m not really expecting anything important mind you, but the thought of that one important link being cut is annoying. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like years ago, when the mail only came once a month, or worse, only a few times a year. Plus if you take into account the fact that there were likely less bills and more personal mail, then the anticipation must have been magnified.

I forced myself to get up early this morning, which seems really silly since it is so dark. There’s nothing to do anyway. I know I must get myself back on schedule. Why is it so easy to get out of a good habit and so hard to get back into it?

On the Dempster at the crossing of the Arctic Circle there is a signboard display which discusses the land and the people, the geography and the Northern Lights. There are also some discussions of the people and their culture. Here’s a picture of a Gwich’in woman identified as “Tabitha Bernard, a Gwich’in Elder from Ft. McPherson”. This signboard display was erected in about 1991, so I imagine the picture is from then. I wonder if she is still alive?



I have always been struck by pictures of Aboriginal people. There seems to be two stock expressions – one - a posed and toothy grin, and two - an expression of resigned defeat. This picture appears to not have been posed for, but I’m not so sure. The face in the picture may be a expression of “Hurry up, get this over with and leave me alone!”, or it may be a moment of melancholy or sadness in telling a story. Whichever is the case, there appears to be the remnants of a smile on her face. I tend to think it was the latter.

If it was a story, don’t you feel curious what it was about? Perhaps she was lamenting the erosion of her culture, perhaps the loss of an old friend; perhaps she was the longing to live the old life again? When someone takes your picture, do you ever wonder if someone will be looking at it and thinking about these sorts of things?

The news? The trip to Whitehorse may be on again! We’ll keep you updated.

Cheers!