Tuesday, May 11, 2021

REMINDERS

    Since I've been scanning slides I've been getting all kinds of reminders about the past. Some things go together when you look back. 

     As you know I was a teacher in Canada's Northlands. The whole situation was a little different. We were required to take an oath. We were classified as civil servants of the Canadian government. So no two months off in the summer. We got 3 weeks holiday and had to work at something for most of July and August. Some of those old boys really knew how to fix those teachers.

    In the summer of 1964 I worked in "Stores" This was a very large operation as they ordered , received and distributed all goods brought into the north. For the first two weeks I did filing My job was to go to small settlements , meet the incoming barges and check off the freight.

   So about the time they thought the barges might be arriving they sent me out. I went with an electrician so they could save money on our transportation. 

   So the plan went off the rails when the barges didn't arrive. I went back out with the electrician.

   However, all was not lost. In fact, with a wink or two the plan went well. 

   I was going to Ft. Franklin on Great Bear lake. Did I tell you there was great fishing there. You bet! We fished every night. Notice the 34 lb lake trout I caught.

   The RCMP were there and leaving by going down the Bear river . I was invited to go along. There were 14 miles of rapids . Fun!

   The barge did not come into Ft Norman either  and by this time it was time to go back home. 

    So I had a great holiday and got to travel and fish. 

    The practice of keeping teachers for the summer was soon ended. 

                                    
                   Leaving. Do you notice the fishing rods?

                  Priest's potato patch in Ft Norman

                             The 34 lb trout

                                         Rapids  


                                          Ft Franklin

41 comments:

  1. You've really had some great experiences! That is quite a fish there - 34 pounds - Wow!

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    1. They've caught larger trout there since that time.

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  2. It's those mountains that captivate me.

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    1. The territories have many mountain ranges. I could look out my apt window and see the Richardson mountains about 60 miles away.

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  3. Hello,
    The summers sound like fun, that is a huge fish!
    Take care, have a happy day!

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  4. All boards and governments try to some degree to keep teachers in line, such as you must present yourself at school on a snow day, even if their are no kids there.

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    1. One of the biggest rhubarbs I ever got in was when we asked for one less day for a certain year so the Christmas holiday worked better.

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  5. What a wonderful life experience you must have had in so many ways.

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    1. This experience changed my life forever.

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  6. My slide scanner broke and I have no energy to scan the new slides. WE have so many, wondering what our children will do. Those images are important to you, but will they be to others? Life looks so simple then.

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    1. Yes, I wonder how meaningful these photos will be. One mistake we're making is that we don't discard enough.

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  7. Wow, a 34 pound trout is huge! Lucky you — you just happened to have a fishing pole handy. That must have been an interesting job description offered when you applied for that teaching job. Quite a variety of skills needed to be the man for the job!

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    1. It didn't seem to matter as there were so many other benefits. It was also quite easy to get out of this obligation. You could go out and take a course.

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  8. Sounds like a great unplanned fun adventure.

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    1. Many of my adventures were unplanned.

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  9. Nice views! Unplanned adventures are the best.

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    1. I could see the Richardson mountains from my apt window.

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  10. How did you ever get that trout into the boat? Huge! I am curious - I always thought your name was Red because you have red hair but in your slides your hair looks very dark. So why were you called Red?

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    1. I was on shore when I caught the trout. It was a fight. I accidentally gave myself the name Red. When I applied for an email address it wouldn't accept my name. So I said use Red which comes from the name of my town ...Red Deer.

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    2. Oh, interesting! My youngest brother is called Red because he had red hair! Even tho now his hair is gray, he still goes by Red! Good job landing that big trout!

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  11. That's some fish. And your "work" turned out to be a lot of fun.

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    1. The administrators were very good to me.

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  12. That’s the biggest trout I’ve ever seen. Trout envy here.

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    1. It's a lake trout and larger ones have been caught since.

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  13. What fun! I guess they learned their lesson about sending people out for what turned out to be more like a vacation! :-)

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    1. For Govt. administrators life is very difficult. they have too many hoops to jump through

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  14. Looks to have been an excellent deployment.

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    1. I had no idea that the summer would turn out this way.

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  15. Second photo ... did those gardens serve the whole community? Did they can things for the winters? Was there ice fishing in the winter? Last question: You said, "We fished every night." Who is the "we" ... you and the other teachers? Third photo ... Wow! :-)

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    1. This garden just supplied the priest. The locals were not used to gardens. There was ice fishing. They would use nets under the ice and catch a good supply of fish. I went with an electrician. He had been to this place many times so he knew the ropes.

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  16. Oh it must be pleasant to be looking back at all those wonderful memories those slides are dredging up!

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    1. It's funny how I forgot so much of it.

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  17. Goodness, great memories Red! That trout was enormous!

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    1. I had neve caught a fish near that size . I didn't know there were fish that big in the lake.

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  18. I see the 34lb trout but who is the guy on the right?

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  19. You've had such wonderful adventures! What incredible memories.

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  20. Parece que te va bien en la pesca te mando un beso
    Enamorada de las letras

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  21. Nice photos1 Oh my that fish is huge!

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  22. Holy Moly! 34 pounds? Did you eat the whole thing? I guess you could freeze a bunch. That is so cool!

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  23. wow this sound like an amazing experience !

    i too think about future of all photos that i took and will keep taking and i know they their importance will vanish away with my departure i am okay with it as i know everyone has his ,her own perspective for things

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