sounds

I just asked D what he thought of that sound: the sound of the float plane as it banks over our house and gains elevation after takeoff. He smiles and nods as me. I agree. It is very cool. (we must get that from Papa Beard) It is the only man-made noise around here and the link to the bigger happenings of the world out there, if I choose to go for a ride. I had no idea 'the economy is in crisis' or there was a 'bomb threat on the Pitt River Bridge' unless I decide to watch the news... I think I'll just listen to the sound of the plane.

Weather warning?

B and I are not really '6 o'clock news' watchers or overly interested in the weather forecast. However I wonder if we should be or need to be... apparently there was/is an extreme weather warning and I had no idea about it.

For my local weather forecast; if I see blue sky then it is time to walk the dogs because now is my chance, if there are clouds then rain could come soon so walk the dogs sooner rather than later, if I see the trees swaying I know it is windy and if I hear the wind howling and Wrestler is sitting on my feet then it is really windy and going outside could be challenging, if there is strong wind and rain then do not go outside at all.

Yesterday afterschool it was just 'really windy' so D and I walked to the library. It is close by but much harder to get there then get back home. I told the librarian we were new around here and asked on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the strongest, what kind of wind was this? She said it was pretty close to 10. Not much you can do outside when you can hardly stand up straight without falling over!

n

Drive on the beach

We had a chance to go for a drive on North Beach to Rose Spit and so of course we went! It is an outing where 2 vehicles (hopefully 2 4x4 trucks but we did see a Subaru out there) are needed, there should be several hours of daylight, and the tide needs to be going out

The waves were pretty good, even saw some surfers out there. Below is a photo by J on a bumpy beach drive. The truck lurches forward on the hard sand and drags in the loose/rocky sand.

Can't seem to get these pics in order, so here is our view heading back south to Tow Hill.

This is a pic looking northeast to the end of the island. This really is the end of the road. Out at the end of the land there is a long break of rocks where the waves crash. To drive around the point is sketchy and the trip back around the other side of the spit requires a longer day with more supplies in case of getting stuck for an extended period of time. We were not going that far.


Again, this is out of order. This is the landscape the last few kms before the 'end of the road'. Wide, flat area with thick blades of long 'grass'. This is the Rose Spit Ecological Reserve.





At a few points we stopped along the way and did some beachcombing. Haida Gwaii is the place to find agates and so we had to collect a few. The rocks we thought were agates were actually the more common 'sugar agate' and not to be called 'agates'. I will do an agate blog sometime and maybe I can show the difference.

Ben's co-worker, M, is quite the rock collector. We went to her house today and got a lesson on all her finds. She has agates, argilite, and a sphere shape ball of lava. All treasures she has found on the island. J had quite the chat with her. She has an agate slice with rings of different colours and crystals in the centre. very cool. Maybe J will be a geologist someday??

Bike ride

This is my bike ride route with the dogs in the am. We head away from town to the Delkakla Bird Sactuary. This 'road' is the emergency land bridge to get out of town if the main road bridge is not drivable. Along this trail are raised lookout platforms to do bird watching. I did more bird listening. Lots of sounds I haven't heard before and I can not find the birds making the noise!

Above is my bike ride route to see Ben at the office in Old Masset, shown in the distance. Old Masset aka: the village, is about 2 km out of New Masset aka: town. Below is the office. Casual work environment only!

SKYPE is very cool!

FYI: SKYPE is a free download to talk computer to computer over the www and you can use your webcam to see the other person while chatting.

Yesterday, SKYPE and I had lunch with my sis-in-law E and nephew J, the boys were online with their buddy McW and my guys even started wrestling around in the living room while talking (the same activity they often do when they are chillin out together). Then we visited uncle B and we almost had a 'brotherly fight' break out on our side of the computer screen; like the boys needed uncle B to break it up! It was like we were really hanging out with you guys.

These video calls are pretty neat in that you almost feel like you are talking to someone in the same room with you. It is just missing the 'gimme-5' or a really big hug.

thinking of you all,
XO nicole

Field Trip #2: Dunes

This weekend we went driving on a secondary road; I will call it Beach Ave.

The road took us past the back side of the Masset Canadian Forces Base. It is a very secure facility with 'no trespassing' signs along the main highway and along the beach there are barbwire fences partially intact to keep us out. The base was built to contain a listening antenna; to keep an ear on international communications.

The boys had fun running down the dunes and wondered why I would not let them roll down them too. (I am patiently waiting for my washer/dryer and I am not doing more laundry than necessary. We already had the chat about wearing the same outside pants several times before they go into the wash. We have also chatted about boots in that they must be worn at all times when not in city limits of Masset).

Below is a panorama video: trying out a new feature on my camera!

I will call it Haida Gwaii

I just found this article in the QCI Observer Oct 13 (the Islands local paper):

Old Massett sign project encourages Haida speaking

submitted by Jusquan Amanda Bedard--Residents and visitors to Old Massett or New Town will notice a great addition to the community - Haida street and office signs, shaped like a traditional Haida canoe. This project, spearheaded by the Xaad Kihlgaa Hl Suu.u Language office and funded by Gwaii Trust, encourages everybody to learn and speak the Haida names for streets and offices, after all, we are on Haida Gwaii (rarely referred to as the 'Queen Charlotte Islands' anymore), so let's speak Haida as much as possible!

I wondered about the Queen Charlotte Island name vs Haida Gwaii. B tells me it depends on who you talk to as to what name you call the islands. I have decided to use Haida Gwaii: to show the Haida people respect for living on their land.

My first Haida word is 'Haaw7aa'. The 7 shows a emphasis on the w sound. It means 'thank-you'.

The boys are also learning Haida at school so they will teach me new words too.

n

Field Trip #1

This is a Haida Canoe which is not on the tourist guide map. The tree was falled (?) and the canoe shape was carved. Work would have stopped on this because of the split down the middle. It was no longer suitable to be made into a canoe.
This tree was a few metres away from the canoe and the large test hole (this is a CMT, culturally modified tree) must have determined it was not a good canoe tree.
HHFG believe this stump was where the canoe tree was cut from, see the canoe shape in the background.



We drove about 15 mins out of Port Clements to see this Haida Canoe.

Maybe tomorrow we will do a drive to the north coast area...

n

the scary vacuum

That Wrestler is a piece of work. So we got this brand new space age looking vacuum (we have a house full of carpet now) and he is terrified of it. We got it going to do a test run and it was really loud and 'scary'. Wrestler disappears upstairs while we are vacuuming and then will not come down when we are done. We call him and he comes down the stairs only to turn and go back up. Then he starts whining and comes downstairs and then goes up again. Then I see the vacuum is sitting (turned off) at the bottom of the stairs and he will not walk past it. So I move it to the living room entrance and he comes down and very cautiously goes way around it to get to the kitchen. silly dog.

almost unpacked

our 1/2 duplex
the boys school
our street. we are the last house on the straight stretch on the left

Our place is to the left of the blue house. We walk down this path to get to school; the boys think it is less than 100m from door to door.

Inside Pics coming soon...

Just a few more boxes to unpack and we are officially moved in and organized. I have enjoyed some peace and quiet this week with the lazy dogs around to keep me company. Wrestler is still getting into trouble: eating food off the counter getting 2 breakfasts out of B and D. B says he is looking like a sausage again :)

J and D are getting settled into school and I went to a PAC meeting our first day, just to get a feel for what goes on there. There are some similar and some different issues than I experienced with the 'big city' school. Lots to figure out and learn.

B is at work usual hours. I brought him hot leftovers one day and I have stopped by to say hi every day on my dog walk around town. Never been able to do that before.

Masset has all the usual necessities available within a 5 min walk from the house. Main street has a bank, post office, 2 grocery stores, a few restaurants, a cute cafe (I got a tea 'to-go' the other day), the volunteer fire stn, RCMP building with 4 vehicles, the cable shop, a home hardware store where I believe you can order from 'the Source' flyer to get electronics, a library, an Autoplan agent, recycle depot.... any thing else you need?

The dr/hospital/pharmacy is in an old CDN military building and is quite dated and looks kind of like a M*A*S*H clinic. Masset is getting a new health centre about 2 mins out of town towards Old Masset. It is supposed to open the end of the month.

Next week one day I plan to take a drive south to Port Clements to see what is around there. I heard there was a good local produce store and I want to look for this Cedarview Community Church address. See what I can find! There is also a book club that meets next week at a cafe in old Masset, got to check that out.

Since the rec centre closed the end of Sept, QCI recreation programs are all over the place at different sites. Tues/Thurs pm is aerobics at the boys school and there is 4hr surfing clinic one weekend at north beach I want to check out!

We are adjusting well to the slow paced lifestyle around here. Everyone we have interacted with is friendly and helpful. Drivers give the 2 finger off the steering wheel wave and walkers say 'hello'. Still not sure if totally gives us away that we are newbees when we walk around with dog-poop bags :) I don't see anyone else with bags?

my observation of the week:

There are grassy rolling hills around the base houses, the old barracks, high school field and they look great: freshly cut, no ruts, can even see the lines of the mowers. So we decide to take a short cut across some grass and quickly find out why no one else walks on there... the ground is totally saturated and every step you sink into the mossy 'grass' and even when you walk up to the top of a hill to stay day, it is still WET. The lesson is "always walk on sidewalks"

I have also done a duck and cover maneuver at least 3 times. The ravens sometimes fly really close and their wings are VERY LOUD: it actually scared me the first time. Maybe because there are no other background noises or because they are so much bigger than birds in the south? idunno.

There are always puddles even if you did not see it rain. The rain may have dumped when you were inside for a few hours and with the storm windows you can not hear any rain through them. Then when you look outside the sun is shining again! We have had fantastic weather this week, just a bit colder than we are used to.

till later,
nicole

testing 123...

We just got the internet hooked up yesterday and are now online in Masset, QCI. We are again connected to the world at large!



The boys started school today and they are coming home for lunch so this is a short and sweet first entry. To summarize our adventure so far:

• my u-haul packing crew was awsome and THANKS SO MUCH for your help


• the drive up was slow and steady. the boys were split up the whole way, one with me in the truck and one in the u-haul with nana/papa Harris so there were no 'issues'. the dogs also travelled really well. The only trouble I had in Rupert was a flat on the trailer which Ben was there to fix for me


• the midnight ferry was smooth sailing. I stocked up on gravol and didn't need to open the box


• the deep freeze full of food was still frozen when I got here


• the rental house is nicer than I was expecting it to be. 3 levels with steep stairs, new paint, newish carpets, decent appliances.


• the school is also closer than I thought it would be. we can see it down the trail from the front door.


• the weather has been a mixed bag of rain, sun, rain, sun, rain, sun... there are always puddles on the ground


• we took a drive 2 mins out of town to the dunes on the beach. So peaceful and beauiful I can not describe (pics will some soon).

signing off for now... more interesting observations and family experiences coming soon.

nicole