Carrie’s Ramblings

Dog Days3
Carrie posted in Uncategorized on June 25th, 2007

*WARNING: THE CONTENTS OF THIS ENTRY ARE DISTURBING AND NOT FOR THE FAINT OF STOMACH*

I have a dog. Her name is Maya. She’s a Lab/Weimaraner mix. I think. I’ve never had a dog before. The good thing about having this dog is that if I realise that taking care of a dog is not for me, at the end of the month, I give her back. You see, I’m only dogsitting. Actually, I’m housesitting and the dog was part of the deal.

Maya is a very good dog. She’s been well-trained. Actually, I’ve found that most of the dogs in the Yukon are well-trained. When I’m jogging I often see people actually taking the time to give their dogs instructions and teach them what to do instead of just dragging them around by their leashes and letting them jump up on everyone and everything that happens to come within a 10 metre radius. For example, I walk with Maya 3 times a day up behind the house in a greenbelt full of various nature trails. (These would be the same trails on which I spent many hours not exactly sure where I am or where I want to go. Read: lost.) I see all kinds of people using the trails to walk their dogs and I’ve seen exactly 1 dog on a leash, ever. In fact, I’ve only ever seen one other person CARRYING a leash. I don’t. I don’t even know where one is in the house. But I’ve never had a problem with my dog or other people’s dogs. Usually you just call out and say, “Mine’s good, is yours?” and they’ll say, “Yep!” and the dogs do the little meeting thing. Then I continue on my way and the other person on theirs and the dogs part. Works fine.

Maya is good at fetching and the giving back and loves Frisbees but she doesn’t really do it out of the yard because there are too many distractions. We went to the park once to play because the yard isn’t really big and I kept throwing the Frisbee and then having to go get it myself because she was just not interested. I even told her that everyone was watching from their windows and laughing at me but even her concern for my social standing would not convince her to get that Frisbee.

But Maya will Come, Sit, Heel, Stay, Wait and Halt really well. I can even call out for to halt in the middle of chasing a squirrel or something and she’ll skid to a stop and sit down. It’s impressive! The Wait command is handy for crossing roads so she doesn’t run out into traffic and waits until I catch up and we cross together. She doesn’t bark at other dogs or howl but she does do this whiney thing which is somewhat irritating only because it pulls on my heart strings and makes me stop and pet her.

She’s also made me go jogging everyday which is just about the only thing that can make me go jogging everyday. It’s been good. We’ve got a good relationship. She’s the type of dog that can make you love dogs. She also follows me around EVERYWHERE. Up the stairs, downstairs, into the front yard, to the couch, the kitchen, the bedroom, the car, the bike shed, back upstairs, to the bathroom (yes, bathroom). I drew the line when she poked her head in the shower. She was a pound dog so I guess she’s got some kind of abandonment complex. It makes me feel loved most of the time and then super guilty when I leave her behind. Especially with that whiney thing.

Then last night, she had EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA ALL OVER MY FRONT HALL. It was pretty much the single most digusting thing I have ever come across in my entire existence. I will never complain about cat barf again. Nothing compares. I won’t be able to eat for 2 days.

So while having a dog has been fun and I enjoy it, one month just might cure me of ever wanting anything more than a plant as a pet.

Summer Solstice0
Carrie posted in Uncategorized on June 22nd, 2007

Last night to celebrate a summer solstice we were going to have a potluck and small party but I waited until the night before to start planning it so it crumbled. June 21st just sorta snuck up on me! Before I knew it, BAM! there it was. So instead, Christian, Greg and I went to LePage Park downtown to watch the presentation of Shakespeare in the park. Now I thought it was going to be snippets of some plays and maybe some sonnets but was stunned to find out it was as complete 2.5 hour production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream! And it was FANTASTIC! It was so well done I was blown away. At intermission the passed around rubber boots and you could give a donation but other than that you just pulled up a lawn chair, a thermos of tea, and your sleeping bag to enjoy the show. People walking by could stop and watch for a while and the people who got rained out in storm last night came back to watch the second half. But I still couldn’t get over how good the actors were and how I have a new appreciation for Shakespeare. Well delivered, I actually understood what was going on. Except for something stealing the fairy queen’s something or other, but I got the jist.

Afterwards Christian and I went out for a couple of drinks. Too many drinks later we escape conversation with 2 Newfies and a strange Irishman looking for a wife so he can stay in Canada and staggered home. Somehow or another I managed to walk the dog at 1 am or so and headed to be with the sun still shinning in the sky. Summer’s here!

Messengers from God6
Carrie posted in Rants, Fan favourites on June 21st, 2007

Today I was pulling weeds from the front garden and setting sprinklers on the parched lawn when two guys in suits called out to me. I had seen them earlier going up to a house down the street and thought it must another prom night. Though, I also considered Wednesday to be a strange night for a prom.
“Are you enjoying your gardening, ma’am?” they asked.
Weird.
I considered the question: I’m pulling up mutant Dandelions from rock hard soil in someone else’s garden with a slot screw-driver because it was all I could find and wasting water while watering a lawn in a semi-arid climate (a no-win situation you understand) because the lawns on either side look like putting greens and I’m embarrassed.
“Yes I am! Quite a bit, actually!” I answered. However, I grimaced as soon as they asked me the Million Dollar question:
“Have you heard of the prophet who walks the Earth among us today?”
Oh god. Literally. Evangelists of some flavour. There is a Church of Jesus of Latter Day Saints in town but the accent was a dead give away. American evangelists.
“You mean recently?” I asked, glancing up from my gardening which is suddenly very important.
“Yes, as the Lord said, he speaks to us through his messengers, his angels and his prophets and he has blessed us with his words in a modern day prophet who teaches us his ways and in whom we can find comfort.” Now you have to understand the context of this rehearsed speech. It’s a beautiful sunny afternoon (though god’s bowling alley does seem to be moving up from down valley) and they are in 3-piece suits, polished shoes and spending their afternoon wandering around spreading The Word to 99% of the people who don’t want to hear it. And these boys are young! I thought they were going to a prom or maybe even junior semi-formal!
I pause from ripping up god’s weeds in my garden and look at the boys. One then the other. These guys are for real!
“Uh-huh,” I articulate and then go back to the patch of soil and weeds barely classified as a garden. “And what does this prophet have to say?”
“He brings the word of God to the people teaching us to know God through the Lord Jesus Christ which is the only way any of us will meet our Lord once again,” proclaimed the preacher. “This prophet has come to Earth to do the Lord’s work.”
“Aren’t we all supposed to be doing the Lord’s work? I only mean, it’s not the sole responsibility of the prophets and we shouldn’t have to wait for instructions.”
“Well prophets help us to know God by providing a direct connection and proof of God’s love for us,” the boy replied.
“Proof?” I asked. “Why do we need proof? Isn’t that why they call it faith? Because you have to believe in something without any proof? Why do there always need to be answers to everything?”
“I don’t pretend to have the answers to everything–”
“And I’m not saying you do! But I’m not sure that people need the words of a ‘prophet’ to tell them how to be closer to god.” At this point gardening has taken on new meaning for me. I pulled up more weeds during our 37 second conversation then I did for the whole 10 minutes before. I humour them, “And what makes this prophet so important?”
It’s rather amazing what you’ll put up with when you’re pulling up someone else’s weeds with no music and the deepest conversation you’ve had in 2 days has been a monologue with the dog on the intricacies of baking a quiche with no recipe. Very one-sided. Normally I don’t have the patience to listen to other people tell me how I’m going to know god. I’m not really captivated by gardening though. The dog and I waited for the answer.
“Well this prophet helps us to understand and combat the problems facing the world today. Things like polygamy,” (isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black I thought), “abortion, homosexuality, climate change, war…” and he went about a bunch of stuff that I’m not sure the lord had anything to do with and I’m fairly certain are a direct result of humans being stupid. “…in the end, prophets help us to do good work in the Lord’s name–”

That’s it. That was the line.

“The lord’s name!?!?” I cut him off. “Don’t you think that the majority of the problems in this world are CAUSED by people ‘doing work in the Lord’s name?’ I mean, Jesus Christ, Allah, Yahweh, Buddha, Gaia, Shiva, Zeus, Ra, take your pick! But there are more problems on this Earth from people doing work in the Lord’s name then I think the lord really wants to take credit for!” Ohmigod I just ended a sentence with a preposition. I plow on regardless. “I think your prophet would have a lot less to talk about if people would just STOP doing things in the Lord’s name.” I’m not shouting, but I am emphasizing my point clearly. I hope the fetus you save is gay. Take that non-prochoice homophobes.
He hesitates, “Well I would have to agree with you there.”
I turn to his ‘companion’, Boy Number Two, and ask, “How about you? Why do you think this prophet is go great?”
“I find great comfort in his words and teachings as well,” he mumbles. Sigh. Poor guys, more than they bargained for here. No one spoon feeds me information without question. Except Gwynn Dyer. But even then I’m learning to doubt his commandments.
“Well thank you very much for sharing with me the news of this new prophet. Good luck in your travels.”
“Don’t you want to hear more about the prophet?” asks messenger Number One.
I pause for the second time only. Either the prophet or the dog. I’m not going anywhere, so why not? Let’s hear more about the prophet! “What’s the prophet’s name?”
“Gordon B. Hinckley.”
“Gordon B. Hinckley! I’m going to learn more about god through a prophet named Gordon B. Hinckley!” I already pity the Hinckleites of 2000 years from now, sitting in their churches laughing at us pagans for not recognising the prophet that walked among us. I feel bad because they’re called ‘Hinckleites’. At least ‘Christian’ doesn’t sound as dorky. “Alright, where is the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley now?”
I love weeds. How there are so many of them and how I don’t have to look these young lads in the eye as I mock their devotion.
“He’s in Utah.”
Handy. I’ll give you a minute to settle your bets.
“Ah, aha. Now I get it,” I smile. “Are you from Utah?”
Boy Number One answers first, “I’m actually from California.” Boy Number Two quietly says, “I’m from Utah.” I’m trying to think of what I know about Utah. I think there’s good rock climbing in Utah. And Mormons. Lots of Mormons. Apparently they’re running out of space in Utah. Also, I noticed a lot of Utah licence plates in Skagway. This seemed reasonable when I found out that Holland-America (the cruise ship/tour company that literally owns Skagway) has it’s head office in Utah. A cruise ship company has it’s head office in Utah…hm. Anyway, they hire Mormons to be their bus drivers on the overland tours because they know that they’ll be good honest workers, who don’t drink or party or cause trouble. So that’s why there are so many Utah licence plates in Skagway.
“You guys came all the way up here to tell people about a Gordon B. Hinckley in Utah? Did you volunteer for that?” Maybe spreading the word of the lord could be considered outdoor recreation. My next research subjects?
“Yes. Well, we paid to do it.” Boys, you’re getting hosed.
“How long will you be here?”
“About 6 weeks. You never know when you’ll get the call to move on to another place in need of God.” No, god’s very unpredictable that way.
“Well I thank you very much for letting me know about Gordon B. Hinckley but god and I are on pretty good terms right now. Thank you anyway for the information though. I guess that’s all you can do, eh? Just share the information and let other people make up their own minds about it all.”
“Yeah, see a lot of people think we’re trying to force our religion on others but that’s not it. We’re just spreading the word of God to people who may not have heard it before.” Uhuh. That’s what Jim Jones said. Boy Number One is not letting this go. Boy Number Two looks somewhere between mortified and bored. He throws a ball for the dog.
“Well your language choice is rather intimidating,” I say frankly. “The only reason it didn’t bother me is because I’m pretty confident with my own beliefs and don’t feel threatened by those of others. Do you guys want a glass of water before you continue your work? It’s warm out here today.” By warm I mean it finally broke 20 degrees for at least an hour.
“I’m okay but I think my companion would really appreciate it.” Is Boy Number One the designated spokesman? Maybe Boy Number Two is slow. Maybe Boy Number One drew the short straw. Do they take turns? Boy Number Two could be an apprentice. That’s how young they are.
I get him a glass of water. I can’t be mean to them. They must get doors slammed in their faces all the time. At least here they had someone with the courtesy to listen to what they have to say and THEN disagree.
“Isn’t there a big Mormon university in Utah?” I asked when I return with the water.
Boy Number Two perks up. “Yeah it’s called BYU.”
“Yeah I had a friend who went there. Don’t they have a good basketball team or something?” I continue.
Boy Number Two grimmaces, “Well, it comes and goes.”
“Don’t they all. I wouldn’t know though, it’s just what I heard. I don’t follow basketball. Hockey is my sport.”
“Oh yeah? Which team?” Boy Number Two is all chatty now.
“The Leafs. I’m from Toronto, it’s kind of a pre-requisite.”
“My brother-in-law cheers for the Leafs. He lives in Oshawa.” There are Mormons in Oshawa? Now that’s a funny mix. Maybe he said that he’s FROM Oshawa…maybe he was saved and now he lives in Utah and drives a bus for Holland-America.
I don’t really know how it ended but Boy Number Two finished his water and they thanked me for my time. I think they realised that I wasn’t about to be saved anytime soon. I’m pretty much doomed. I wished them good luck and hoped they enjoy their stay in the Yukon. I wave as they drive away but all I can think about is, ‘in the Lord’s name.’ As god is my witness I will never do anything in the lord’s name.

Then god went bowling and the heaven’s poured down on my freshly watered lawn. Good thing I took the time to set the sprinklers out. Maybe it was a sign in the lord’s name…

Contact info0
Carrie posted in Uncategorized on June 17th, 2007

Whoever tried to call me at the new number and was told they have the wrong number, actually had the right number! The woman for whom I’m housesitting was just really busy and wasn’t thinking properly when you asked for me and so told you you had the wrong number. I’ll be over there tonight (Sunday June 17th) so you can try again or leave a message. Sorry to whoever it was!

Birds and the bears1
Carrie posted in Uncategorized on June 17th, 2007

This week I pulled a bunch of hours doing work for the Yukon Volunteer Bureau. We started this huge membership campaign and sent out over 200 letters to various organisations telling them about the YVB and all it has to offer. The hope is that with more members, the government will increase the funding that they cut off this year. Right now the Federal government (who used to provide over $120,000 to the YVB) has completely cut them off and the YTG only give $60,000. That’s no where near enough to support the organisation! Plus Thursday was Jen’s last day and so it was just me and Jonathan to hold down the fort. I feel bad for him when I go…there’s no way one person can run that place.

It’s been raining most of the week (awfully strange for a semi-arid climate) but I made it out to the last 2 birding trips of the season. It was really neat to go birding with an expert on bird calls and also to have the chance to see some birds through the spotting scope. You can see so much detail! Plus I made some contacts on the trips with individuals who volunteer so I’ll be busy with interviews next week.

This week I did a lot of research into different organisations and contacting people. A lot of emailing and playing phone tag. I also figured out the issue with the website and managed to get my abstract submitted to the ACUNS conference (Association of Canadian Universities in Northern Studies….or something like that). But mostly I spent my time working at the YVB.

Today Greg, Christian (friends from the hostel) and I escaped the rain and dreary weather to go on a road trip to Skagway. This time the border guy was a real prick. He kept lecturing us about how Skagway isn’t like going to Disneyland, it’s actually in another country and we need to be prepared for that! We were thinking, Disneyland is in another country as well…Of course we had a borrowed car with Manitoba licence plates, a German with his passport and visa, a BC licence and an Ontario licence, but we were clearly on a simple day trip with absolutely nothing with us but our wallets and cameras! Then he addresses me directly and says, “Where were you born?” and I say, “Calgary, Alberta but I have an Ontario driver’s licence because that’s where I live.” And he says, “Well it’s just a driver’s licence! It doesn’t prove you’re a citizen it’s just ID! When the government says ‘Proof of citizenship’ you have to be prepared to show more than just your drivers licence!” I didn’t say anything and sat there thinking ‘the government doesn’t say ‘proof of citizenship’ it just says, ‘government issued ID’. Anyway, he didn’t actually ask us any other questions but just kept lecturing us about travelling across the border and then Christian had to go pay $6 to get his visa. There were about 2 cars ahead of us and we were probably there for a good 15 minutes before we even got to the agent. Oh! and the clincher was that Christian had borrowed the car off his girlfriend but we didn’t have any proof that she lent it to us willingly (our bad, we should have thought of that). So customs officer says “Well you need to think about these things!!! Because what’s the first think a person does when they steal something!?!?!?” And this is not a rhetorical question, he wants an answer! We sat there staring at him expectantly until he looks directly at me for an answer so I stammer, “I don’t actually know…I’ve never stolen anything.” So he lectures us some more (we cut the engine a while ago) and then he lets us through, no further questions. Ridiculous. But I was inside making conversation with the other officers while Christian was doing the visa thing and they were super nice. The one guy was there the last time we came through and he was nice. On the drive to and from Skagway we saw a black bear on the side of the road. We pulled over and just watched it for about 10 minutes not 5 meters from the car. He was just chillin’, eating some Dandelions. But the second one was really young and we kept looking around waiting for Mom to show up but she never did. I don’t know if the cub was abandoned or what but I still had images of the velociraptor-styles sneak attack from the side. Nothing happened.

Tomorrow I move to my new and permanent housesit. Heather was kind enough to let me stay an extra week with her as her roommate instead of having to move back down to the hostel and then back up again. The new place is in the same neighbourhood so I’ll get to use the same trails to walk the dog with which I’ve already become so familiar. (That familiarity comes from hours of wandering around hopelessly turned around and trying to get out).

More to come!

There are strange things done in the midnight sun…0
Carrie posted in Uncategorized on June 8th, 2007

New Housesit0
Carrie posted in Uncategorized on June 5th, 2007

At the last minute on Sunday I had a woman call me up at the hostel and ask me to housesit for the week.  Other plans had fallen through at the last minute and she was having trouble finding someone to look after her cat and dog.  For much of the weekend I had been kind of sad because everyone was leaving on Monday and I would be left behind.  It’s not that I don’t enjoy living at the hostel because it’s a really nice place, but there were 5 or 6 of us who had been there for the past 3 weeks and were really close.  It would have been okay if we were all going our separate ways (happens with hostel life) but the fact that they were all leaving and I was staying behind was rather depressing.  So I was pretty excited that this woman had found my contact information and called me up to ask to housesit.

For the next week I live in Takhini North with is an old army subdivsion at the top of Two Mile Hill.  It’s close to the college which is a bonus because I’m spending more time up there now but still close to town as well so I can get down easily.  I live in a chic-duplex (is that an oxymoron?) that is superbly decorated and cozy.  The woman is a total hippie and there are meditation stones and all-natural foods all over the place.  The long-haired tabby cat is named Oliver and is really friendly and loves to cuddle, and Maggie the dog is a well-behaved mutt who’s a little shy.  Just figures that the first morning of my life that I need to get up and walk a dog it’s pouring down rain.  Hasn’t rained here in 4 weeks and the first morning it actually matters the heavens decide to open up.  I think it’s a sign.

 My first interview today!

 PS Mailing address is still at the Hide on Jeckell (I’ll be back down there for another week before moving into my long-term housesit) but the phone number to reach me until June 11th is 867-393-3744.

Whitehorse Triathlon0
Carrie posted in Recreation on June 5th, 2007

On Sunday some friends from the hostel and I volunteered at the Whitehorse Triathlon.  Early in the morning we were given duties and instructions for the day. I sat and counted laps for the swimming part (because the lakes are still frozen so they had to do it in the pool) and also directed traffic around cyclists and runners when the swimming was finished.  You could do an Olympic distance race or a Sprint distance if you were just warming up to the idea of triathlons and still wanted to get involved.  Plus you could also sign up as a team and have different people do different legs of the journey.  One team had the grandaughter do the swimming (she was around 7 years-old or something and was so nervous at the beginning of the swim that she was crying) and then her grandfather did the cycling part and parent of some sort the jogging.  It was really cool to see the family participating like that…and they did the Olympic distances!! The little totally lapped her lane partner she was so quick!

After the triathlon everyone was feeling really lazy so we decided to go to Rotary park and play some frisbee.  Six of us from hostel started out and then we met 4 students from Seattle who had stopped for lunch in the park and asked them to join.  It was a fun game that had to be explained several times in 3 different languages but everyone got the point and we had fun.  At half time (some might call it “Ohmigod can we stop because I’m too out of shape to play much longer”) an older gentlemen joined our toss group. (Just standing around in a large circle tossing the frisbees and practicing different throws).  We practiced flicking the disc and skipping and cool catches and everything for the rest of the afternoon.  It was actually really, really hot and humid so we were too keen on playing much more.  But my shoulder is so sore now from all the practice!  On Tuesday night Greg and I were invited to join a pick-up Ultimate league at the Takhini fields and if this rain clears out it should be fun!

Holy Mackerel!!!…I mean, Salmon!2
Carrie posted in Uncategorized on June 1st, 2007

Yesterday and today I pulled some last minute shifts at the the Whitehorse Rapids Fish Hatchery. A worker didn’t show on Thursday so someone from the hostel called home and asked me if I could come out. We were clipping about 176,000 Chinook Salmon fry to be released into the Yukon above the power dam. I don’t really understand how it works and couldn’t seem to get a logical answer out of anyone regarding the purpose of the tags. I mean, the tags are so small and the recovery rate so slim I didn’t really know that they accomplished by doing it. Usually when you tag something you’re trying to track it’s movements, habbits, lifestyle, death, things like that. But they don’t have a solid recovery programme and the tags are so small I have no idea how they are supposed to be found again. It seems like a bit of a waste. But the programme is funded by the power dam to restock the amount of fish that are lost due to the turbines blocking the spawning routes. So it’s like a logging company funding the tree planting programme to re-plant the clear cuts. Either way I clipped the adipose fin off of a lot of salmon and got paid sweetly to do it.

Last night I visited a friend from school that I ran into in town when I first arrived. She’s working at Uncommon Journeys, a dog sledding company outside of town. It’s really a high-end place that caters to rich Americans and Germans who want to be pampered but say they’ve been dog sledding. They mush out to some yurts where eveything is set up and a cook comes out to prepare their roasts and serve wine etc. When at base the guests stay in these beautiful log cabins and everything is really…perfect. Too perfect…Well, to each their own I suppose and if they’re willing to pay $3750.00/week to do it then guess there’s a market. I asked my friend who’s been working there for the last 2 seasons about any problems with animals, being so far from town. She told me that while bears are a non-issue in the winter they’ve lost a number of dogs to wolves recently. The most recent being this past winter when a pack of wolves took out a dog on the line while the guests were out at the yurt. That must have been so traumatic for the guests to come out at night on their luxury trip and find the guts of their favourite dog all over the place!!! Gruesome but comes with the territory.

I have begun to make some contacts and set up interviews with people in town to do some more RESEARCH-like things. I’m anxious to get going so my adventures will go on hold for a bit while I get going in the right direction.