Preparations To Consider

I've approached this move north of 60 knowing it won't be ordinary and that I need to prepare for more than the usual. It will be a bit more psychologically involved than a move near the 49th parallel.

One of the more obvious anomalies in moving to the sub-arctic is the daytime darkness in winter and midnight sun in summer. Light, or rather a lack of it, can have a potentially huge impact on your emotional and physical well-being, which in turn may affect your relationships and down you go (depression can sneak up on you)... have a chat with your Doctor before you go, taking vitamin D is essential; acquiring a S.A.D. lamp is recommended.

Another factor is the climate. Have a plan to get involved with the community, whether through work or volunteering. Enroll your kids in fun and active diversions. Take up a new hobby. The winter climate being as frigid as it is (-30 to -50 C), for as long as it is, means you'll likely spend a lot of time inside your igloo.

So, little winter light + cooped up = an interior decorating challenge. I am up to the task (interior decorating is a passion of mine). I researched what others who live in these climates have done and will share my findings in upcoming blog posts. If you never thought interior decorating was important, think again. It has the power to affect your emotions and thus your outlook on life. Beauty inspires and revives; ugliness is a usurper of life.

First Impressions

It is Tuesday morning, we flew in on Sunday in the early afternoon. My first view of the North was from the plane, of Great Slave Lake. Covered in fragments of ice, the lake was deep blue and white, as far as I could see. There was a low cloud bank, but we popped through in time to see the rocky islands and Yellowknife itself. Pretty. I saw colorful houseboats, some pushed onto the rock, waiting for the ice to melt away. When we stepped off the plane the ground was wet from a recent rain shower, and the air clean and fresh, it reminded me of living on Vancouver Island.

YK is definitely a city, petite, but with its various sections defined nonetheless; old town, business section, the street you don't walk down at night by yourself. A city, just mini. Surrounded by lakes, rock formations and resilient little "pipe-cleaner" evergreens. The deciduous trees are still only half way leafed out, but the dandelions are blooming and people have filled there window boxes with flowering annuals. This place is built on rock, gravel and sand, bringing in topsoil is expensive and it would be invisible 8 months of the year anyway. It is Canada's rugged north. I like it. I think it will be very pretty in the winter.

We dropped in to visit 440 Squadron yesterday and someone asked me if I'm looking forward to moving up here. I paused and then said, "Yeah..., I am." The man seemed surprised, "Really?". To which I replied, "How many people can say they've lived north of 60?". That seemed to satisfy him and even appeared to give him some encouragement... a spouse with a positive attitude about her husbands posting location. I guess some spouses arrive in tears, or so I've heard.

Yesterday we viewed our assigned housing. It will be a change from .6 acre and house, but there is beauty to be enjoyed almost everywhere, even in what some affectionately call "the ghetto". I like the space, the wood laminate, the white walls, the kitchen and the decks, and the views from the back. It "felt" right. Good. Peace. IKEA here I come... cha-ching! :0)

Oh yeah, and I got offered a job...

Yellowknife Community Garden

So I've been thinking about how cool (no pun intended) it would be to learn how to garden north of sixty and found this site for Yellowknife Community Garden.  You apply for a plot of ground, attend workshops, learn about organic and sustainable gardening, donate some of what you grow to the community food banks, and make friends in the process.  I noticed that there was a post on June 5th announcing that they now have the water turned on to the gardens... June 5th!  Ah, but 23 hours of sunlight a day does wonders... :0)  I applied for membership even though I will arrive too late for this year's growing season to have my own plot; I'm sure they won't turn down an extra pair of hands!  I hope to get a plot assigned for the 2010 growing season.

Check out their site using the address below the YKCG logo.

groups.google.com/group/ykgarden

The Decision

We are 2 months away from the big move.  In a week I will go north with my husband and 4 year old daughter to view our apparent accommodations for the next 3 years.  This will be my first time going up there, my husband has been there many times and loves it.  Everyone who has spent time up there seems to love it.  Our decision to accept a posting north was made based on a few things, which we interpreted as God's divine will for our lives.  I am able to find comfort in that, knowing that where He has led us in the past, no matter how difficult it was, the result was always worth it.