And thus, with barely a hint of fall leaves, winter has arrived in Haida Gwaii. My roommate L and I harvested our (mostly still green) tomatoes, bell peppers, plums and potatoes today, stuck all the herbs in the greenhouse, stacked a cord of wood in our garage and split a ton of kindling. Our house is freezing but the fire is starting to roar and hopefully we'll be warming up (and shedding some layers) soon. We're all officially obeying the speed limits again as there's ice and frost on all the roads and the sanding trucks have started making the rounds. There's snow on the mountains and a serious chill in the air.
Oh, and I may have whooping cough.
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Summer 2012 in Pictures
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| Bike trip from Charlotte to Port Clements! |
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| Bought a wetsuit. |
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| Canoe trip in Jaskatla Inlet |
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| Urchin. I ate this one :) |
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| All these rocks are from the same teeeeny island. |
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| Our canoe, complete with all the waterproof clothing a girl could ask for. |
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| $39.99/lb?? We pick these by the greedy, greedy handfull. |
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| This is Johnny. Short for John. Short for John Snow. She's rad. |
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| To be clear, the green ear is from her ID tattoo. |
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| Solo car camping in Grey Bay. I love my truck :) |
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| Roommate L and I went down to SKung Gwaii and Rose Harbour. |
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| Rose Harbour. Such a cool spot. |
Friday, 14 September 2012
The Two Most Important Days of Your Life...
... are the day you're born and the day you find out why.
It's been so long since my last update that I don't even think I can apologize for not updating for so long. It's quarter after three on a Friday and I'm in that exhausted, end-of-my-rope, super honest place that usually means the very last thing you should do is write a public blog post. But here I am.
I've reached an interesting conundrum. Since we talked last I've landed what I might describe as a dream job for me (not 'the' dream job, no such thing, but 'a' dream job for sure), working in community health and wellness, on the ground, in the trenches (kind of ), doing things and making change and transforming whatever I can transform up here. I've been doing this job for a month and half now and every day I see more and more of how much work there is to do here and how much I want to do that work. Ironically, and here's where the conundrum comes in, I've also been working on a medical school application that I've been focusing on, for the past year or so, as the path to 'what I want to do with my life.' But now I'm faced with the idea of leaving Haida Gwaii for six years to do the work I want to do, despite the fact that the work I want to do is here, now. It leaves me unsure how to proceed.
In other news, I spent the summer crabbing, fishing, learning to shoot guns, driving standard, going surfing, picking wild berries and making way too much jam, camping, paddling, falling in love, growing food, building my home and my life, and just generally continuing in this breath-taking and unexpected transformation of myself. I think it's pretty much safe to say that every assumption I've ever made, every paradigm I've ever believed in, every belief I've ever held and every truth I've ever known has been changed in some way over the past nine months.
It's been so long since my last update that I don't even think I can apologize for not updating for so long. It's quarter after three on a Friday and I'm in that exhausted, end-of-my-rope, super honest place that usually means the very last thing you should do is write a public blog post. But here I am.
I've reached an interesting conundrum. Since we talked last I've landed what I might describe as a dream job for me (not 'the' dream job, no such thing, but 'a' dream job for sure), working in community health and wellness, on the ground, in the trenches (kind of ), doing things and making change and transforming whatever I can transform up here. I've been doing this job for a month and half now and every day I see more and more of how much work there is to do here and how much I want to do that work. Ironically, and here's where the conundrum comes in, I've also been working on a medical school application that I've been focusing on, for the past year or so, as the path to 'what I want to do with my life.' But now I'm faced with the idea of leaving Haida Gwaii for six years to do the work I want to do, despite the fact that the work I want to do is here, now. It leaves me unsure how to proceed.
In other news, I spent the summer crabbing, fishing, learning to shoot guns, driving standard, going surfing, picking wild berries and making way too much jam, camping, paddling, falling in love, growing food, building my home and my life, and just generally continuing in this breath-taking and unexpected transformation of myself. I think it's pretty much safe to say that every assumption I've ever made, every paradigm I've ever believed in, every belief I've ever held and every truth I've ever known has been changed in some way over the past nine months.
Monday, 11 June 2012
Successes of Today
Today I joined the ambulance service.
Tomorrow: volunteer fire department.
I'm learning to spin fire poi. And getting certified as a Wilderness First Responder.
I've been camping up a storm, covered in bites from Haida Gwaii's charming collection of black flies, mosquitoes and no-see-ems.
And soon I will have a phone that treats all Canadian numbers as local. Meaning I can actually call you, whomever you are, and we can catch up!
Love,
Cait
Tomorrow: volunteer fire department.
I'm learning to spin fire poi. And getting certified as a Wilderness First Responder.
I've been camping up a storm, covered in bites from Haida Gwaii's charming collection of black flies, mosquitoes and no-see-ems.
And soon I will have a phone that treats all Canadian numbers as local. Meaning I can actually call you, whomever you are, and we can catch up!
Love,
Cait
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Sniffle sniffle
Accomplishments of this week:
1. Split an piping hot Americano all over my forearms. Was laughed at by the President of the Council of the Haida Nation. But in a nice way.
2. Got a stupid cold, called in sick to work and then went to a going away party for a friend. That was at my work. Thankfully coughed like a plague victim all through lunch, thus proving actually had cold.
3. Made 8 loaves of bread. I'm a bread-making machine. All were cooked for 30 minutes at 400 degrees; risk of transferring cold to loved ones via bread: nill.
4. Hiked the Pesuta for the third time and found my first agate! So exciting. Only to me, but still. Also, subsequently found second, third and fourth agates on same trail.
Sorry about the lack of pictures lately friends but the good news is my lovely roommate L and temporary roommate C and I are going camping and exploring on Moresby Island this weekend so I ought to have something more visually stimulating soon!
1. Split an piping hot Americano all over my forearms. Was laughed at by the President of the Council of the Haida Nation. But in a nice way.
2. Got a stupid cold, called in sick to work and then went to a going away party for a friend. That was at my work. Thankfully coughed like a plague victim all through lunch, thus proving actually had cold.
3. Made 8 loaves of bread. I'm a bread-making machine. All were cooked for 30 minutes at 400 degrees; risk of transferring cold to loved ones via bread: nill.
4. Hiked the Pesuta for the third time and found my first agate! So exciting. Only to me, but still. Also, subsequently found second, third and fourth agates on same trail.
Sorry about the lack of pictures lately friends but the good news is my lovely roommate L and temporary roommate C and I are going camping and exploring on Moresby Island this weekend so I ought to have something more visually stimulating soon!
Friday, 18 May 2012
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Lying on the Deck, in the Sun, Drinking Tea
News item #1, I fixed the comments section on this baby so people can actually leave anonymous comments now, hurrah! Apologies to everyone that I gave the "you're an idiot, it's sooooooo easy" face when you told me you couldn't comment. Turns out it was entirely my fault...my bad.
News item #2, I'm home and almost completely unpacked! The drive here was long but beautiful and, best of all, uneventful. It was really hard to say see you later to the people I love in Vancouver but it was also such a relief to get back to my quiet, breath-taking town and the people I love here. I think the best part of going home for a visit was seeing that the things and people that really matter to me will always be there with me and that I can leave without feeling like I'm leaving things behind. It definitely wasn't the trip that I'd expected and I didn't get out of it what I thought I would but I got things I wasn't expecting and left with a feeling of...peace.
L, my roommate and one of my closest friends up here, and I have been unpacking, reorganizing, decorating and puttering up a storm in our lovely home. We've been having lots of family dinners, picnics and breakfasts with our nearest and dearest and just generally getting the house to feel less like a rental abode and more like our home. So far it's going very, very well.
News item #3, I had my first day of work today! For those of you who haven't heard, I've taken my masters degree and leveraged a sweet position at a coffee shop for the summer :) It's actually a really, really great place to be and work, and a fantastic break from the office/research/health environment. It was also nice to finally sever my almost ten year relationship with UBC at the end of March. I've got some more career-related things on the back burner but I'm really looking forward to a chance to sit back and think about what kind of work I really want to do. Urban-based, macro-level research at an academic institution is definitely, definitely not it. So today at work I spent six hours chatting with the lovely folks of Skidegate and Charlotte, learning how to make phenomenal coffee, puttering in the garden and greenhouse, making beautiful food, and occasionally running across the street to the ocean with everyone else in the shop to watch the killer whales playing in Skidegate Inlet. I couldn't stop smiling all day.
I am so happy here. It's incredible to me that I can feel this happy all the time. Things this spring haven't been easy and a lot of the changes in my life are really scary. But I am so, incredibly happy. I feel light and full of possibility and adventure. I've made a vibrant life for myself here that is fulfilling and exhausting in the best way possible. I live in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I have no idea how long I will live here or where I will go next or what I will do but every moment here is filled with joy.
News item #2, I'm home and almost completely unpacked! The drive here was long but beautiful and, best of all, uneventful. It was really hard to say see you later to the people I love in Vancouver but it was also such a relief to get back to my quiet, breath-taking town and the people I love here. I think the best part of going home for a visit was seeing that the things and people that really matter to me will always be there with me and that I can leave without feeling like I'm leaving things behind. It definitely wasn't the trip that I'd expected and I didn't get out of it what I thought I would but I got things I wasn't expecting and left with a feeling of...peace.
L, my roommate and one of my closest friends up here, and I have been unpacking, reorganizing, decorating and puttering up a storm in our lovely home. We've been having lots of family dinners, picnics and breakfasts with our nearest and dearest and just generally getting the house to feel less like a rental abode and more like our home. So far it's going very, very well.
News item #3, I had my first day of work today! For those of you who haven't heard, I've taken my masters degree and leveraged a sweet position at a coffee shop for the summer :) It's actually a really, really great place to be and work, and a fantastic break from the office/research/health environment. It was also nice to finally sever my almost ten year relationship with UBC at the end of March. I've got some more career-related things on the back burner but I'm really looking forward to a chance to sit back and think about what kind of work I really want to do. Urban-based, macro-level research at an academic institution is definitely, definitely not it. So today at work I spent six hours chatting with the lovely folks of Skidegate and Charlotte, learning how to make phenomenal coffee, puttering in the garden and greenhouse, making beautiful food, and occasionally running across the street to the ocean with everyone else in the shop to watch the killer whales playing in Skidegate Inlet. I couldn't stop smiling all day.
I am so happy here. It's incredible to me that I can feel this happy all the time. Things this spring haven't been easy and a lot of the changes in my life are really scary. But I am so, incredibly happy. I feel light and full of possibility and adventure. I've made a vibrant life for myself here that is fulfilling and exhausting in the best way possible. I live in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I have no idea how long I will live here or where I will go next or what I will do but every moment here is filled with joy.
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