Lots of Good News from the North

Happy Saturday everyone, and if you're in the Yukon, Happy Spring, cause we think it has finally arrived. Although we have seen shrinking piles of snow and beautiful little streams coming off the hills and mountains from the melt, it doesn't look like spring until you see fresh green growth - and since about Wednesday, we have seen fresh green growth! Last week we reported the prairie crocus started to pop up out of the cold ground on the sunny southern slopes and since then they have taken over. We
are finding new growth on the sage bushes, and new low shrubs that we have yet to positively identify. Some plants are even producing little pink and white flowers, and the grasses are starting to send out tiny little sprigs of green. The deciduous trees (willows and poplars) have swelling buds and we saw catkins on a ornamental birch today. It is so hard to really picture how delayed we are here compared to what we were witnessing in Vancouver over 6 weeks ago when all their cherry trees were in full bloom and the flower beds were nearly full. Tomorrow morning's plan is to go for a walk with the camera and get some shots of all the plants that are waking up from the winter. It should be great, especially if we take some good snacks and fill the thermoses with coffee.

More great news on the job front. I (Colin) have found a job that I'm really excited about. I have been asked to run the weekly outdoor community market in downtown Whitehorse. I'm two for two in jobs applied for and landed, but I am no longer working for the organic farm north of town. There were some fundamental differences in approaches to how work was to get done- I seem to have a 'city pace' of getting things done that is unideal for that particular farm and there was just not enough work to keep me busy enough for my liking. But that farm did give me a kind reference (I'm assuming) because that is the only organization that they called up to ask about me - not FRW who I have been working with for 6 years or the Feast of Fields people who have seen me help assemble huge community events. Ironically, I didn't even list the farm as job experience or as a reference, but I did mention it in the interview and small town mentality prevails here.

The market will start on Thursday May 19th, and should look something like the photo below. I have a meeting with the board next week, and they will fill me in on all I need to know, and I also have to get a funding proposal together soon for a workshop series at the market. I am really looking forward to this new challenge and meeting the vendors. The market is solely for local goods, no imports at all, so I'm also excited to see what creations people are going to bring. http://fireweedmarket.yukonfood.com/

More good news! The White Pass Railway offers a 75% discount to Yukoners for trips on the May long weekend, so we bought train tickets and will be heading to Skagway, Alaska for an incredible trip to the White Pass Summit, 2,865 feet up.


"Relax in vintage passenger coaches as you retrace the original route to the White Pass summit, passing Bridal Veil Falls, Inspiration Point and Dead Horse Gulch. Enjoy a breathtaking panorama of mountains, glaciers, gorges, waterfalls, tunnels, trestles and historic sites. See the original Klondike Trail of ‘98 worn into the rocks, a permanent tribute to the thousands of souls who passed this way in search of fortune."

 

After the long weekend, we have one more weekend in Whitehorse (possibly involving an RCMP bike auction and another trip to Alaska for a Craft Beer Festival), and then we're moving to Mt Lorne! We met with the landlord on Friday and signed papers and wrote cheques, and it's official (well we have to wait for the landlady to call our references and sign the agreement - then it's officially official)!

We're actually living in a house in Robinson Subdivision- on this map it would be at the base of Lorne Mountain (!) just north of the road to Annie Lake. The landlord told us yesterday that when the land was sold for development, the government was trying to establish a homesteading community, and so the lots are 20 acres each. Apparently there are a few people raising livestock in the neighbourhood now, but the government's plan didn't fully work out. Instead, there are lots of snowshoeing and hiking paths through the properties, plus habitat for some animal neighbours. We've heard that Kookatsoon Lake, just up the road, is one of the only places that Yukoners can swim in the summer, since it's really shallow and warms up above freezing temperatures :)

What else.....

I have been spending some volunteer time at the Yukon Conservation Society, offering a hand as a handyman. I am almost finished making their rundown bathroom in their beautiful old downtown house a little spiffier with some wallpaper and trim.

Bye for now,

Colin and Lauren