From Light ... Shadow

  Did you ever notice how things can reach you in small increments on so many different levels? Before coming to the north I knew that the light or lack of light would have a powerful effect on me. I knew  that on some level before I left home ....perhaps just on a head level. What that would do to my system I could not really wrap my brain around. 

You see, I'm one of those people who gets giddy-dizzy and blown away at the sight of a full moon when it is like a big yellow globe hanging in the sky above the Milford Haven River. The noon day sun in Guysborough on a bright winter's day when you can't buy a cloud for love nor money sends my energy level through the roof. The evening sun at suppertime in August makes me melancholy and happy at the same time (especially if it is setting on the waters of Chedabucto Bay) Watching the the first star of the evening appear over the crest of the hills of Sunnyville can leave  me frozen in time.

Nothing prepared me for what it feels like to watch the days  gradually lengthen to a point where there is no night...It was more than 6 weeks since I saw the moon and a sky dark enough to see stars. When it is brighter at 3:00 AM than it is at noon time at home, or when you look out the window and see children casually riding bicycles or playing with paddle boats in puddles at 10:30 PM, it messes with your mind a little. Seeing a snowmobile race up a steep mountainside at 3:00 AM is another experience I'd never had before. 

The sky of the Arctic is magical. It effects one's emotions, lifestyle, behavior and health. The charm and magic of the Aurora  Borealis gives way to the strength and power of the midnight sun which so quickly alters the northern landscape. It causes a change in the sound of the earth too. We begin to hear the sound of birds once again. The Duval River goes from a whispering trickle to a powerful roar in a matter of 3 weeks. The ice on Cumberland sound starts to show dangerous leaks as the snow machines continue to maneuver their way around the ice chunks and out to the fishing holes and hunting haunts.

These images will stay with me forever as will the shock of returning to NS at night....you see, the light of the Arctic came gently over the past five weeks; it was like falling in love with a gentle soul so gradually you hardly noticed that there was a time when it was not so. But last night we got off the plane in Halifax and the sky quickly got dark ....for the first time in my life the night looked so dark and spooky that it took some getting used to. The landscape here in NS seems very claustrophobic too ... .all those green trees and shrubs that I missed seeing gradually 'leaf out' .... and, today, GREEN. The earth here is so green ....I am able to greet the dusk with a little more grace and tomorrow night it will be better, I know.

I will be able to hang clothes outside to dry in the sun....but that is another blog.

If you are reading this in a place where you have darkness and light in the same 24 hours .... take time to notice .... notice how it makes you feel ... notice what you hear when there is light and when there is darkness.

What color stays with you from outside and what does that do to your emotions? Does it ever get quiet enough for you to hear your own breath? Enjoy that space.

  If you are reading this post from the North .... Look at the pink hue on the horizon and hear the sound of the ice and the earth coming back to life. Just BE... and know that Chris is back here in the south thanking you and thinking about you and all you taught me about your world and myself as well.

Love and light

Chris

Permafrost and Faultlines

When we think of climate change, nowhere is it more evident than in the north. This is a place where the many folks spend a lot of  time outdoors and are affected more by change of the climate and the seasons.

The photo above is a geological permafrost marker (just behind Tara's house) which is monitoring the changes occurring here; and you can see from the following photo why.

                                      

Due to climate warming globally we are seeing a shift in ground that had been, until this time, steady below us. Last June the rift in the earth you see behind me, along with a powerful flow of the river (caused by quick melting ... climate related,also) caused an upheaval for people here because it wiped out the bridge connecting each half of the hamlet. 

Life is like that though ...just when you think that you have it all figured out, the universe throws you another curve; but then I guess that is what makes the journey more important than the destiny. Keeping an eye on your fault lines is what Yoga is all about too. Maintaining a steady practice when the ground is moving under you at times. And how do we adapt?

                                                                              

If you build a house on permafrost it has to float above the ground like this one across the street from us ....all the permanent structures here are raised on steel posts like this one.

This is what the building process looks like in the beginning stages. This is happening just next door to Tara's.

The machinery here is pressing these posts into the permafrost. A sturdy steel structure is then put in place over that, and so it goes. These homes are amazingly quiet inside (and, I might add, very cosy). Time will tell how this will last through the ravages of the change in the climate. 

I was surprised to hear last week that the tides here in the Cumberland Sound are second only to the Fundy tides in strength, height, and movement on the shoreline.Like home on the Fundy Shore ...there have been more than a few unwitting tourists stranded when the tides suddenly rush to the high tide mark. 

  

Here is another sign of spring in the north, which I know is 'head-scratcher' for any Qallunaat (southerner): This photo was taken at 10:30 PM. It is a very large spring puddle where children in the neighbourhood play for hours some with little homemade boats ....sometimes into the wee hours of the morning. Watching children play outside here is a fascination for me since we don't see so much of this anymore at home. My thoughts often drift back to the hours we spent playing 'hide and seek' in the dewy summer dusk; playing in the stream behind our house in Afton; the days spent at Bonvie's wharf learning how to swim; and the sun, like warm honey, on our backs as we picked blueberries on our way home for supper in August (whoops ...catching hell for being late for supper with blue-stained lips and tongues from our berry picking while Mom frantically worried whether King Neptune and the sea had claimed us during our afternoon swim).

I can't help but wonder if the innocent play of the children here in the North is giving way to the electronic scourge of, shall we say, progress? The iPod, the iPod touch, and game machines are replacing the older games and toys. Next year there may be cellphone service here and, as Northrup Frye once said, " ...we ask what this can do for us before looking at what it can undo in our culture." By the time we think to look at it, it has already changed us. I don't know whether that is good or bad.

Coming back to the original intent of this blog, ie Yogic reflections, I would leave you with a counter balance to change and progress in Marshall McLuhan's observation that "We are moving into the future looking at the present through a rear view mirror."  Here it is .....Simple .....Take a few moments at the beginning and end of the day to sit and just BE;  notice the breath and be in stillness. ....notice your thoughts ..but don't get 'on the train'.....breathe in the word JUST and exhale the word THIS .... just this .... just this .... just this ....

Love and light
Chris

Fishing for News

Hi folks,

Isolation is more than just where you live. I think I have friends out there who are reading this blog. BUT I do not know this for sure,unless you comment on the blog site. (even if it is just a "hi chris ...good to know that you are still blogging for us somewhere out there) I enjoy writing this blog but I would love to hear from you too!

Waltzing with Bears

In my lifetime I would only rarely get to experience something so foreign to my culture as what I did today.

Today we had the great privilege of being invited to prepare a polar bear hide at the home of Seepa, one of Tara's students. The following are some photos of the process.

 I did get to try my hand with an ulu mind you I'm a far cry from the skill of Seepa and her aunt pictured here. 

She gently explained that the men generally prepares the hide to a certain point then the women clean and scrape the inside of the hide then stretch it on a frame. This hide prepared today is not a really large one and will be used for clothing.

The hide you see here is the first hide that Seepa prepared. Traditionally larger hides like this one are used for bedding in an igloo. They are a very warm barrier to the cold.AND NO most Inuit do not live in igloos any more. AND YES many work very hard to maintain the survival skills of this culture. Seepa's husband and sons are good hunters. Seepa is a good teacher and works hard at passing on the traditions of her ancestors to her children and grand children.

 Bear hunting licences here are a lottery like Moose hunting license in NS or Nfld. The life of this creature is not taken for granted and its life continues to sustain life for those who hunt ...in many ways. It is not seen as a trophy. This bear was shot by Seepa's husband's niece. I can only begin to explain how patient both of these ladies are to take the time to explain so much about the traditional culture to us. The soft lilt of the Inuktitut language and the hearty laughter filled and warmed the room for us as we watched and traded stories of customs and traditions.

Be the change in the world you would like to see.

Love and light
Chris

Of Elders, Ulus and Amoutiqs

                                               

Here you see a collection of ulus which belong to Seepa -you will see more of them and her in my next post. FYI  the ulu is the most used tool of women in Arctic culture. There are ulus for eating, ulus for cleaning hides, and ulus for almost any kind of food preparation. They are very sharp and require a degree of skill for use. When you see this skill in action it looks deceptively easy (many women have the scars to prove it too!)


Well after a weekend of the famous Pang wind, there is a distinct difference in the feel and color of this hamlet ...there is more brown each day. The ice on the Cumberland Sound is beginning to show a lot more wet spots and we can see from here that even though there is still the splash and streak of the snow machines on the fjord the snow is slowly beginning to bid us adieu (never thought I would catch myself saying that but I sort of like the snow here...guess it is what I expected ) My song might be different if I was here to welcome the long dark hours of the winter.

We are still making regular visits to the Elders center and Jim is getting better at the Inuit card game each day see his blog here

Yesterday was fun for me at the center too as I got to speak with some of the ladies who go regularly we combed through photos and artifacts and they convinced me to try on an amoutiq. My goodness we all laughed so hard at the crazy Qallunaat (southerner,me) getting into the sealskin outfit. These women work so hard and are so talented at what they do ...the Lady in red you see in the picture below is the one who actually made this amoutiq.

Hannah, the lady in the blue top is what I consider my cultural guide ...she is slowly teaching me a lot of what life is like here today and in the past.

Remember yoginies and yogies........Breathe, Relax, Feel, Watch, Allow!

Love and light
Chris

Northern Delights

 

NHL Hockey play offs.... Funny, you know I'm watching the ice of the warm cities and living in the warmth of the  Northern spring. Yes the temp here is as far below zero as the temp at home is above zero. BUT the cold is more comfortable here than the icy wind off Chedabucto Bay at this time of year. The sun is bright warm despite the chill of the snow underfoot.

It occurred to me last night that I haven't seen a cell phone since I left home two weeks ago. In that time we got to experience a little of the life of a small northern hamlet where the earth greets the midnight sun. At this point in time it to gets bright at 2:30 AM and you can read your watch outside at 11:30 PM. The time of day which messes me up the most is supper time. We can be eating at 8:00 and it feel like 5:00 and the evening just starts so much later.

We have had the opportunity to meet Tara's students,experience throat singing,country food, loonie/toonies,the famous weave and print shop of Pang, a fishing derby (see Jim's blog) http://hanginpang.blogspot.com/, an abundance of Inuit artisans but today what took our breath away was a hike almost to the top of Mount Duval, more than 5000 feet above the hamlet. We tried to take pictures but none of them can capture the color or the grandeur. We plan to go out again before we leave and work our way to the top.

Another treat for me has been the gift of an Asthanga Yoga Class here in Pang, offered by a lovely young woman from Cape Breton ...It is a challenge for me and I love it. Michelle (our instructor) took her training from TAYS (Therapeutic Approach Yoga Studio) in Halifax! ...small world or what? Get this ....the class is 2 nights per week and is just across the street from me.

I was delighted to hear that there was a good turn out for the May yoga program at home. My thanks go out to Nancy who is filling in for me and I know she will fall in love with this wonderful group just the way I did.
Miss you guys and I look forward to continuing the classes when I get home.

To all my friends in Haida Gwaii I look forward to connecting with you again when we visit in August through September. I've been following the news through the Observer each week ....love to hear from you ladies! I think of you all the time.

Love and light
Chris