the week my fortune cookie came true

Last Friday I did what I do most evenings before bed - I checked my email.  In my inbox was a message from my friend Amy.  

Amy lives in the North...the Great White North, for real.  She is married to Marcus and they have two little girls, Lily Helen and Maeve.  I met the whole crew last summer when the Miss Royers and I ventured up to Canada together to Amhurst Island. Every summer they go down to the Island where Amy grew up and stay for a few months, enjoying the weather and their family.  It was on this trip that I was first intrigued by their home in the Arctic.  I had never met anyone from such a place and listened to their descriptions realizing it was a whole other world.

When I read Amy's email, my wheels began to spin.  She was inviting me up for the month of April.  Immediately I began to scheme ways of making it happen.  The next morning after painting sets I stopped in the shop to see my boss.  He agreed that it is not everyday in one's life that the opportunity for far off adventure is offered and that I should go.  He put a few stipulations on my trip: one, making it a working assignment - I will be writing stories and submitting photographs to publish each week, and two: I have to come back (the sooner the better).

It turns out the month of April is the most ideal month for me to leave my life here.  The play will be over, graduations aren't until May, Stella will stay here with my family, and my garden can be planted when I return.

With that good news I rushed home to call Amy.  Over the next few days we talked and worked out details until Monday afternoon when the final kink was wrought and I realized that it was so going to happen.  

I am going to the Arctic.


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She as been sending me some photos to get the visual of what it is like there.  

 Above is a photo of the community of Iqaluit, where they live.  Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut.

 This is their neighborhood.  You can see Frobisher Bay in the background.

This isn't the Road to Nowhere, but they do have one of those.

 Amy and Marcus with Lily Helen before Maeve was born.  Marcus' work held an igloo (or iglu) building party.

This is a stretched polar bear skin.  The photo was taken in another community a few hours (by air) away.  

So now I'm sure you are excited too. Monday night I was so excited I didn't sleep until almost three am.  This is quite unusual because sleeping happens to be one of the activities I excel at greatly.  

The sets are coming along and I attend the play rehearsals three evenings a week.  The kids don't realize this but the show is going to be soooooooo good.  They are still iffy on lines and learning choreography but even just watching their shaky songs performed is amazing.  When they get it down the show is going to be fantastic.  

There is just so much to be excited about right now.