THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

     In my last post I just landed at the Inuvik airport.

     Now remember, this was 1963. Things were very different back then.

    Remember the stairs are pushed out to the airplane and people come down to the tarmac and walk into the waiting room.

    Inuvik was new and the airport facilities were new and shiny. So at 12:30 AM I walked into the terminal to find it busy and a smiling principal there to greet me.  This was a surprise. More than that the superintendent was also there.

    Now the superintendent walked over and handed me a key to my apartment! What? I told him that I was supposed to stay in the hostel. Well, he said an apartment came available. Well, how do you argue with the boss at 1:00 AM?

    We finally go our luggage and got into the big suburban and off we went to town. The airport was nine miles out of town. They dropped me off at my apartment and saw that I got in. They said goodnight and I was on my own. Another teacher was on the plane with me and he was going on in the morning. He had asked if he could stay overnight with me.

    The apartments were known as single staff. They were really a bed sitting room. The couch rolled out into a bed. the kitchen had a half sink , 2 burner stove and small fridge under the counter. They really meant things to be for single staff.

   So there I was looking around in an apartment with all my stuff. So at 2:00 AM all I wanted to do was go to bed. We found bedding and made a bed and tucked in .  I was so wired from the past 24 hours I slept very little.

    Next morning came early. What will I have for breakfast? There was no food in the apartment. I think we went to the hotel for breakfast.

   Now I was very fortunate that they placed me in the settlement they did. There was a restaurant, laundry, Hudson Bay store and more. So for somebody who didn't wash clothes the laundry was a goldmine.

    Now in the next post will I eat or go hungry.

    This was the hostel  I was to stay in along with 350 kids and staff.

CONTINUING ADVENTURE

    In my last post I got to Ft Smith NWT which is less than halfway to where I was going.

    But first I have to go back to where I started to set up the next step.

     As you could see from my last post I did not really have any solid goals and not a realistic view of what I was getting myself into. I'm  a born optimist so thought that everything would work out.

     I had been teaching in a 12 teacher school for three years. The kids were had workers and well behaved . The parents were very supportive. It was a very comfortable situation. However, things were just going to continue and after three years it was boring. There was a problem. there were no girls! High school girls were off limits. Half the girls left when they finished high school and half were already connect to a local guy.

    In those days young men "boarded" In other words you stayed in a house where the landlady did everything: cook ,clean, wash your clothes. The landlady I had the last two years was a sweety. She spoiled me rotten. She had arthritis so it was difficult for her to get around. She would phone her grocery order to the store and I would pick it up. I had her post box key and got her mail everyday. I took her check to the town office to pay her taxes. It was a very comfortable arrangement.

    However, in practical terms I was not ready to look after myself. I couldn't cook. I couldn't wash clothes. I had no idea of keeping a place clean.

    So there I was with a great new job and an apartment to live in. The apartment was completely furnished with dishes bedding and linen. I was set up with everything but didn't know what to do with it. However, later they told me they were short of apartments but that I would be given a room in the student hostel. Well this would be super. I'd get meals and laundry again.

   Okay, The purpose of stopping at Ft. Smith for a week was for orientation. About 30 new teachers were oriented to teaching in Canada's north. At the end of the week teachers were flown to their  communities.

    Well you know what's coming next. There wasn't room for me on the airplane! They would fly me in the next day. Now by this time I was okay with delays. Girls , couples and families needed to get to Inuvik before I did.

   Well, the next evening there was a ride for me. It was on a freight aircraft. The airplane was loaded with freight and there were 4 canvas seats. Cruising speed was a little over 200 mph. There were four passengers. One of the passengers was a woman who had been in Inuvik for two years. She answered questions and gave me tips on how to live. She was helpful. Most of it went over my head but it cut down some of the stress for me.

    Off we went for the four hour flight in the lumbering beast. For most of the flight I got to be in the cockpit. We left about 8:00 PM on Aug. 30 and flew northwest. Days were still quite long in August. What I looked at for the four hour flight was a constant twilight. It's a sight that I would love to see over and over again.

    We touched down in Inuvik about midnight and as soon as you were on the ground it was dark.

   The learning curve was steep for the previous ten days.

   What could happen next?




 

SHAKY START TO AN ADVENTURE

    In 1963 I as 23 years old and had been teaching for 4 years. I was at a crossroads. I had to either go back to school or leave the territory. I couldn't make up my mind. I didn't want to leave teaching but I didn't have any other option that jumped out at me.

    I had noticed an ad in the paper to teach in canada's northland. I thought maybe I should try this and if it's exciting I can continue and go back to school or just leave. A package of information came with an application form. I thought I might as well apply and see what happens. Since it was a government position the application was detailed.

    A few weeks later I got a letter asking me to come for an interview. I'd never been interviewed before. However, I thought what have a got to lose, I'll go to the interview. A few weeks after the interview I was offered a position. Now what do I do? Well, I thought it sounded exciting and what have I got to lose. The pay was very good! I accepted the position to teach gr. 8 in Inuvik NWT. This was a large school with 50 teachers. I was excited but nervous.

    More information was sent about what I needed for living in that location. They also sent instructions as to travel. I was to got to Edmonton Alberta on Aug 23, check in with the airline and fly north the next day. They assured me that my ticket would be there.I phoned the airline. They had never heard of me and claimed the government had made no plans for my transportation. However, they said come down tomorrow and we'll see what we can do.

   I went to the airport and checked in. They definitely told me there was no seat for me. I was told to come back tomorrow so back to the hotel I went.

   I went out the next day and they said they didn't have a seat. I was very discouraged by this time. Before I picked up my bag to go back to the hotel I asked what happens next. They said wait a minute. Well ten minutes later they said there's one seat, give us your baggage and go out to the plane. Wow!

    Now I had never flown before. After all this I was a little stressed out. I had seen pictures of people in passenger airplanes and they were dressed up. I had my best jacket on. But when I looked around not many people were dressed like I was. Most of them looked like construction workers. What was going on?

    The airplane was a very elderly DC4 which is an aircraft from the 1940's. they were used in WW II. The airline I flew on was Pacific Western and they maybe had 2 or 3  DC  4's so I could well have flown on this one.



     Off we went. About half way we ran into some violent thunder storms. The plane was tossed around. So this wasn't quite the thrill I had bargained for. After about 20 minutes a leak started right over me. Well, I was sure I was a goner. This old bird was falling apart and my adventure would be over. They moved me to a seat where there wasn't a leak. We got out of the thunderstorm and soon landed.

    I really hadn't thought that there would be this much adventure to get to my northern teaching position. I was only halfway there so I lots more flying was ahead of me.

POETIC JUSTICE

    I was bragging the last two posts about having clear skies so that I could see the supermoon.

    Well this evening I have this!

    A front went through this afternoon and evening and dropped 3-4 cm(1 1/2 -2 in) of heavy wet snow!

    I can also give a heads up to Far Side of Fifty that snow is coming her way and that she got her snow stick set up just in time.

I'M GLOATING!

      Last night I took some moon  shots because it was very clear here. I was worried if I waited until tonight we might have some cloud. Well, it's a very clear evening so I took a shot just to show you how lucky I am.  Now it's not a good photo as my camera and the operator are limited. 

      I hope all of you get some shots tonight or tomorrow.

     This makes up for the last three weeks when I wanted to see northern lights and we had nothing but cloud.

SKIES

     The sun is just rising when I get up these days. I noticed on a couple of days that there was a pretty colorful sky. I tried. I took photos out of the window. Excuse? I would have to go a long way before I'd find a better shot.

     Now we are at a special time for the moon. It's closer to the earth since about 70 years ago. the next time it's this close will be 2034. I took these tonight because it might be cloudy if I wait until tomorrow.

LEONARD COHEN 1934-2016

    I've always been a fan of Leonard Cohen. It was always hard to believe that Leonard was growing old as he kept on writing and making music. It was a shock to learn of his death this week.

    It was also a shock for me to realize that he was well known in many parts of the world. I had always thought Leonard was mainly known in Canada.

    Leonard wrote about religion, politics, isolation ,sexuality, personal relations and much more. His words kept on smoothly flowing until he had said what he wanted to say.

    Leonard was a master when it came to music. First of all, he had the voice that everyone recognized. The voice could change from time to time. There was the usual low haunting whisper that he is well known for. Then he jazzed it up for closing time and other tunes. I wish he'd sung harmony more as in Mary Anne. He used back up singers extremely well as in closing time. He played a number of instruments. He used different instruments to great effect. He touched jazz, rock and roll, folk and more.

      So thanks to Leonard for all his poetry, songs and music. I will listen to the music until my closing time.