Northern Life

  • Full contact party games

    Yesterday was Hilary’s second birthday, and I’ll post more on that later. However we did have games at the House as is the tradition here.  I just have to post this video of the dying seconds of one of the games. This particular games is played with a partner, dice are being rolled and if

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  • Fire again

    Once again there has been a house fire in Arctic Bay, and once again we’ve been lucky as no one has been hurt.  Leah, got off the phone to say that there was fire and we went to the office window (which overlooks town) to see.  At that time we could see the smoke, but

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  • Home

    I can see by yours eyesthat you come from far awayBeen travelling all nightand you’d like a place to stay    – Shannon McNally Home means different things to me. It doesn’t strike me as unusual to have more than one place I consider home. Arctic Bay is my home, it is here that I’m

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  • Merry Christmas (Again) and my New Year

    It’s Christmas today.  For those of us who, also, observe Christmas in the Julian calendar Christmas falls on the 7th of January. It’s commonly known as Ukrainian Christmas. For the most part, in my family, it has involved a large family supper on Christmas eve, the 6th of January, and a visit by carolers. The

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  • One of those nights.

    The Christmas season is always an exciting time up here, thanks in no small measure to the Christmas games which are held every night (well not Sundays – don’t play on the Sabbeth!).  But I’ve hardly been to the games this year, so far I’ve only been on Christmas day.  One or the other of

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  • Talk of the Town

    There are many Inuit who believe in what we would think of as Supernatural beings. It is not uncommon to find people here who believe in people who shift effortlessly into animals and back again.  Their name escapes me at the moment.  I’ve talked to several people who have recounted seeing someone out on the

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  • Silent Night

    As we (rather rapidly) head down the final couple of days before Christmas, I’d like to take the time to wish everyone who stops by the House the best of the season.  However you observe the holidays I hope it is filled with love and warmed by the memories of the people you love who

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  • Solstice

    For those of us that live above the Arctic Circle the winter soltice does not bring about "the longest night of the year". Our sun set some six weeks ago and really we’ve had "night" since then.  But the solstice is not without significance for us, for it marks our return towards light, towards sunrise.

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  • Shopping? Actually, something more.

    Christmas Shopping here in Arctic Bay is not so much shopping as it is a social event. Oh, ultimately the idea is to get you to leave your money in the stores, and take home some cheap Spiderman knock-off from China ("For luxurious children entertainment. Many times of fun"), but over the years it has

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  • Cigarette?

    One of my most enduring (not endearing like my caffeine addled brain first wrote) first memories of Arctic Bay came on my second or third day here (maybe the fourth). My stuff hadn’t arrived yet and I had sent my partner out for the weekend on a prisoner escort, so I was staying at his

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