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| Polar
Bear Blog - Enraged and Flabbergasted all at once - September
23rd, 2006 (late)
So,
my neighbour took a shot at Milo today. Hmm, shooting our main
polar bear deterrent one week prior to 'bear season'. This is
not a neighbourly thing to do. Granted, Milo did steal some caribou
meat from the back of their truck but I mean, come on, there was
meat in the back of your truck! And its meat! Its not like there
is a shortage of caribou meat in Churchill. And I guess she never
noticed that the neighbour next door feeds Milo scraps and hangs
out with him.
Then,
not only does she take a shot at him but then she comes over ranting
and freaking out and ruining my lovely afternoon of home renovations
and a perfectly fine conversation with our local electrician.
Funny how I don't remember her rushing over to thank me when Milo
is chasing polar bears away from her cabin but, apparently, she
does not need any help with bears. She's a 'bear biologist'.
You
know how there is one person on every block that you wish was
on another block? Bingo! Everyone else is great. We all have our
quirks and may not approve of everything everyone else does but
you kind of have a feeling that you could count on them to help
if you need it. We all chip in to get the snow cleared in the
spring, work together to build a winter road and stuff like that.
I mean, we shared a greenhouse! I cut firewood with one neighbour
yesterday, one neighbour brought me a beer making kit to try out,
one just offered me use of his cabin out west. We have Sunday
brunch with another and then hang out at their place and watch
the lake, well, just be the lake.
It
is funny how most of the people I just described could be classified
as redneck northerners and the other one is described as an environmentalist
that is 'saving' polar bear cubs with the Born Free foundation.
I wonder if she would think twice about shooting an orphaned polar
bear cub if it stole some meat from her?
And
to top this all off, I find out that my girlfriend has the same
birthday as Hugo Chavez... it explains so much...
What
also explains a lot is David
Suzuki's shrinking genitals article |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Winter Wood - September 23rd, 2006
A
little sore today. We cut would from dawn til dusk yesterday,
down at Twin Lakes. What a great feeling to be out from the first
light of day until the last. It was a good haul, I think we have
enough for winter.
It
is about an hour drive to Twin Lakes, truly beautiful right now
with the yellow Tamaracks and the red leaves of Dwarf Birch and
blueberry bushes. Lots of wildlife out, there were about fifteen
spruce grouse, skittering along the road. Two foxes greeted me
in the morning. Still hanging out near their den, they teetered
between curious and nervous before eventually loping away.
And
a lot of signs of moose. Fresh tracks and scat are all over the
Twin Lakes area. With willows and shrubs overtaking this old 'burn'
area, it is very good habitat for moose. Now that we have had
a few nights of frost, they are a lot more active. Usually, the
first night of frost is kind of a signal for the beginning of
their 'rut'. |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Northern Lights - September 21st, 2006
Another
nice light show last night. I stepped outside around midnight
last night and there was a nice streak of green above, splashed
across the sky with a wornout horsehair paintbrush. I watched
it for a while until it bellydanced up into the stars leaving
only the milky way and a satellite or two.
Northern
lights and solar activity work in eleven year cycles within larger
cycles within even larger cycles. Every eleven or so years we
hit a peak in solar activity and therefore a peak in northern
lights activity. From 2000-2002, we were in a high point of this
cycle and resulting in some pretty amazing displays.
Theoretically,
we are near a low-point of this eleven year cycle yet I have seen
very good northern lights for most nights over the last months.
Even back in the first week of August, we had a great night of
aurora, swaying curtains that throbbed green and dripped purple
over the tundra.
Listening
to CBC Radio this morning, they will be interviewing Inuit Elders
about their observations of aurora and how they think it relates
to a changing climate. It sounds pretty interesting. |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Paper Boy - September 20th, 2006
Pounding
away at the keyboard trying to get the next edition of the Hudson
Bay Post (Churchill's monthly newspaper published occasionally).
It is a 16-page newspaper that I started three years ago and then
shut down last year due to a series of disasters including a major
computer crash (of course, I did not have anything backed up)
and a job with Parks Canada.
So,
I was determined not to ever do another edition again and just
to write books and stuff. But, old habits die hard and hear I
am again, another deadline looming, drinking coffee and staring
at the rainbow outside my window instead of writing. |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Centrifugued - September 19th, 2006
Carmen
is getting centred and I am getting squirellied. Carmen's mom
and her friend, Joe, just left this week and while it was great
having them, it is a handful for a couple hermits such as us.
So Carmen is coping with yoga and I am coping with Kokanee.
Well,
actually, I am not coping, I am celebrating my new retail space
at the Churchill airport! Translation: no one will leave Churchill
without my book! Or at least no one will leave without feeling
guilty about not buying my book!
So,
as usual when I celebrate I make CDs on Windows Media Player with
grand intentions of sending them to my friends and then never
do. But I gotta say these are three really good CDs. It is a trilogy
entitled: Kels, Kelsey, Kelsest. Of course, last spring, I made
a CD trilogy named Enjoy, Enjoyer and Enjoyest and never ended
up sending it to anyone... and I still have my friends wedding
pictures from a year and a half ago...
Songs
for the day: Plastic Jesus by Paul Newman. I Love Your Brain by
Frank Black and Gold Fever by Clint Eastwood (for Gerry Mobey) |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Dog's Life - September 18th, 2006
 My
dogs are driving me a little insane these days. Our Australian
Shepherd cross, Zula, acts more like a hairy rooster than a dog,
going off on a high-pitched barking tangent at 4:55am everyday
at some kind of something or maybe possibly nothing. The only
reassuring factor is that it is definitely not a bear because
she doesn't like bears and tries to hide in or under the truck
when one is around. Of course, this makes things a little complicated
when not only are you looking for a bear but you also have to
look under the truck for a dog and then fight your way into the
truck with that same dog, both squeezing into the drivers seat.
Did I mention that when she gets really nervous she just goes
limp?
 Milo
had an episode last night. I don't know if he found some old food
or ate a mushroom or what but he was off on some other planet,
pupils dilated, pacing and stumbling around the room. If he was
my teenage son, we would have had to have a serious talk. But
he's not, so instead I was worried that he was about to die and
since there is no vet for 150 miles, the best thing I could do
was let him sleep in bed with us. Of course, Milo takes up 3/4
of the bed and stinks and farts a lot. Not to mention, it is a
lot harder to sleep when your 'bear security' is alternately snoring
and twitching and panting and farting beside you.
 MoonUnit
stayed outside as our polar bear guard dog. Of course, MoonUnit
means well but does not have a very large mental capacity. She
walks into things and bumps her head a lot. Mostly, she chases
bears because Milo does although she is getting better at it.
And
just to top things off, Milo rushed out the door this morning
(obviously feeling better), hair up and growling low, just like
he does when there is a bear around. Carmen had the truck at work
so I had to grab the gun and walk out after him. I hate looking
for bears without the truck. There are a lot of cabins and willow
bushes around and you never know where one is going to pop up.
So, I was about halfway down the road when I started wondering
why I was walking around looking for a polar bear? And then I
remembered that my dogs had kept me up all night and I hadn't
had my morning coffee and this was a really stupid thing to do. |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Found Polar Bear - September 16th, 2006
 I
told you there were bears living around here. There is another
polar bear across the lake, a bigger one this time, munching on
sedges and grasses or a dead goose or something gross like that,
just hanging out.
Here's
a quick photo - not exactly awardwinning but I only have a 300
lens and they say never approach a polar bear. Although they don't
say, never approach a polar bear by canoe. Hmmm... |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Missing Swan - September 16th, 2006
 There
has been a family of tundra swans living right beside the road
to town. Also called whistling swans, these are huge, beautiful
and deliberate birds that summer and nest in the Churchill area.
Usually,
there are three of them in this little pond, two adults and their
cygnet (immature swan). Today, only two remain with one of the
adults missing. This is pretty rare considering tundra swans have
few predators other than mother nature.
Swans
are slow in almost everything they do. The slowly glide along
our shallow ponds, dipping their heads down and gradually tipping
their whole body upright to reach the muddy bottom. Their wings
beat slow and heavy as they fly. With a 7' wingspan and wings
powerful enough to break bones (they attack potential predators,
including people, by beating them with their wings), it is something
else to watch these birds take to the air for the start of their
6000km migration south.
 But,
of course, they even begin this migration slowly. They move from
shallow ponds and stage at deeper lakes to push the limits of
freeze-up and give their young time to prepare for the marathon
flight. The cygnets, however, take their time emerging from the
egg, take their time emerging from the nest and take their time
developing flight feathers. An early winter can spell doom for
the cygnet and possibly the whole family.
Without
two adults to help get their young one get ready for the onset
of winter, this family might have a bit of a tough time. Hopefully,
one of the adults was just out scouting a new lake... |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Good to be back - September 15th, 2006
So,
I am getting ready to do the dishes, not so much focusing mentally
and emotionally, but simply boiling water. Anyways, I looked out
our kitchen window right at the perfect moment to see the sunlight
catch a polar bear walking along the coast.
We
are about two kilometres from the tidal flats of Hudson Bay and
there has been one bear in particular that hangs out in this area.
My last day here (Monday), we drove out to Bird Cove after lunch
and watched this polar bear meander along and finally disappear
into the willows. Nice to see him again. |
| Polar
Bear Blog - Alive and Well - September 15th, 2006
Now,
that would have been cool if I was eaten by a polar bear right
after that last blog entry; never to be heard from again. Of course,
truth be told, I just went to Winnipeg to for a few days and forgot
my external hard drive in Churchill. Although, a few days without
email and an LCD screen radiating my brain was probably for the
best.
Back
in Churchill now and fall is definitely upon us, the greenhouse
is slowly being dismantled and our house repopulated with plants
(the tomatoes are still going strong and the cucumbers are on
their way). Daily highs are around 8C and lows to near freezing.
Clouds drift along the north wind, making from dreary days but
nice sunsets.
It
is that time of year where I start thinking that I should be a
hunter and go get a caribou or moose. It would be the northern
thing to do. I tried last winter and we got a moose but then I
had to sit down on the komatik (sled) when my friends started
cutting it up. Sigh.
I
should also get firewood for the winter (need about two or three
cords of wood to get through a Churchill winter) and finish my
shed and the second level of the veranda. I should also write
a gazillion stories for the next issue of the Hudson Bay Post
and expand this website and get my Polar Bears of Churchill display
booth ready for 'bear season'.
Right
now, I think I will just finish my coffee. |
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