Beth McKenty (a.k.a. Betty White) Spent Thirteen Years Living in Iqaluit

And, oh my, did dear Beth make a difference.  She blazed a colourful trail others may find difficult to follow.  

I've been here, living in Baha'i House in Iqaluit, since May 20/15.  By the time we leave our temporary position as custodians to this historical-to-Baha'is house we (husband Michael) and I will be six days short of a four month experience we will surely never forget.  While here a lot has happened—an understatement if there ever was one.  

Some of you have been wondering why I have not posted since early July.  It would take a book to explain.  If I thought by coming north I’d be escaping our overly-busy life in the south … well, I thought wrong.  It’s been crazily busy in Iqaluit and never seems to stop.  

We had visitors for a total of just over a month.  One of the sets of visitors was a lovely mother and daughter just trying to figure out if they could live in Iqaluit and become the new custodians of the house with the revolving doors.  Maybe they don’t exactly revolve, it just feels like it.  The good news is that their temporary stay proved successful and they will return in a few days to live in and care for Baha’i House and all that entails.  

Much of our time has been spent in readying the space for those brave hearted souls.  While here, checking out the environs, we worked together to make space for the mother-daughter duo and their belongings.  While performing this task I’ve learned a lot about how the Arctic Youth Art Initiative (AYAI) came into being.  It was through Beth McKenty this inspiring project was launched.  

I came upon a document written by Beth herself that tells how one day a couple of young lads were throwing ‘stones’ in the direction of Baha’i House.  Beth ‘kindly’ explains that the lads where trying to get their ‘stones’ to go over the house but were coming dangerously close to the window.  I say ‘kindly’ because since I’ve been here rocks, not stones, have come hurtling through a window and scared the heck of this writer who was home alone at the time.  You may remember me saying in my last blog that I would Zentangle one of those dangerous projectiles?   

The coloured rock was thrown at Baha’i House in 2014.

In July of this year three rocks came through a back bedroom window 

and, as you can see, I’ve lived up to my Zentangled-rock promise.

Perhaps the new custodians will put colour to the remaining rocks?  

Meanwhile back in 1999 after Beth first took up residence she invited the two sharp-shooters in for hot chocolate with marshmallows.  While the lads sipped their tasty treat Beth put out paint palettes dotted with the primary colours.  They were shy at first but soon started making colourful passes with the brush on high-quality paper.  Beth believed in using only good-quality paper.  

It must have been a happy experience because word spread and Beth soon became known as Iqaluit’s ‘Paint Lady’.  And the doors of Baha’i House started to revolve.  Much, but not all, of the artwork produced has been kept in Baha’i House.  I’ve managed to take seven overstuffed cartons down to three-four by placing any artwork with a signed name into one carton, important archival papers re AYAI in two more cartons.  The work continues and I’m still finding amazing pieces.  

With the signed artwork and a few more careful sorts, the not-as-young-as-they-once-were artists can perhaps be found and their precious pieces returned to them.  A daunting task that I may not have time to complete.  A dresser drawer is tightly packed with unnamed art pieces most with Arctic themes many of which are a depiction of an inukshuk (in the likeness of a human), a proud symbol of this area of the world.  I plan on returning home with these unsigned pieces and will make them into greeting cards, gift tags and bookmarks.   These items will be sold with the money earned returning for what's needed in Baha’i House.   

Unsigned art pieces from AYAI will be turned into items

for sale to generate funds for use by Baha’i House.

My admiration for Beth, a person I have never met, or so I thought, has but grown since living here and trying to lead one of her well-known art classes.  Somehow there’s a difference in the subject matter of the kids’ work these days that is obvious when looking at the art from classes Beth led.  How did she encourage the young artists into replicating themes of the north in their touching pieces? 

Recently, I made a wonderful discovery that meant a lot to me.  I came upon some of Beth’s papers that indicated she had attended a Ruhi (you can ask, if you need to) Conference in Montreal back in May of 2000 … I paused … wasn’t I at that conference?  Next came three pieces of paper that attendees had signed thanking Beth for their pieces of art from AYAI.  I spotted my thank you and am now anxious to check out my files when we return to our home.  

So, I have indeed had the honour of meeting Beth and more than by phone, which I’ve done twice since living in Baha’i House.  Next blog I shall share my discovery about little Betty White, a.k.a. Beth McKenty.  

My Learning Curve is No Longer Curved Since Coming to Iqaluit

We (my husband Michael and I) arrived in Iqaluit on May 20th knowing next to nothing about this capital city of Nunavut.  A little over six weeks later, I still don’t know much but, what I have been able to absorb I’m willing to share.

Taxi Service

You’d better put your boots and your coat on before you make the call to order a cab.  They’re at your door as quick as quick can be.  They all seem to know where Baha’i House is located so we never have to tell them our house number.  The reason for that could be because, I’ve been told, when the cab drivers take the test for their cab license they have to find three houses. 

This is not easy.  Houses in Iqaluit are given a number at the time they are built so, the numbers are not in any kind of order.  Baha’i House is numbered 112.  It was built in the late 60’s and the numbering now is up in the thousands.  However, another house close in number to 112 may be at the other end of town.  Yes, it’s confusing to someone like me.  If you guessed that one of the three houses the poor cab drivers must find to get their license is Baha’i House, then you guessed correctly. 

You can go anywhere in Iqaluit for a flat fee.  $7, or for us elderly types it’s a bargain $5.  Now, if you want to stop somewhere to pick something up and then continue you pay another fare.  When we’re out walking and I get tired it’s always easy to find a cab.  They are literally everywhere.  I enjoy getting into a conversation with the drivers, they seem to come from far and wide and, as I’ve heard so often, many came for a short period of time but are still here years later.    

Shopping

We heard there was only one grocery store in town, NorthMart, and that prices were sky high.  Well, it appears there are three grocery stores and for us coming from small-town Ontario the prices, for the most part, aren’t as high as we had anticipated.  We have trouble in our own home town finding value in the mart we frequent and believing, as we do, in shopping locally our grocery bill can sometimes sting.  

Everything seems to be available here including fresh fruit and veggies but ‘fresh’ is certainly the key word.  Our housemate when she left was expressing a desire to have a fresh salad.  Yes, we do have salads but they lack something.  Is it freshness?  I’ve noticed that even my home cooking isn’t as tasty as it once was.  I think if the ingredients are not really fresh something in the taste is lost.  

The most delicious food I’ve eaten in Iqaluit is just two doors west at the Grind & Brew … PIZZA!  They were reported to have the best pizza in town and I’d have to add anywhere.  I’ve never had pizza this good.  We especially like the Grind & Brew Special without the green peppers.  I’m drooling on my keyboard just writing about this.  Friday is normally pizza day but last night, Thursday, we jumped ahead.  YUM! 

Adoption

This subject fascinates me, having raised two adopted kids and given a child up for adoption myself but, I fear, I’ve got a lot to learn about how it works here to write about it.  What I have been told is this.  It’s so normal in the north to be adopted that adoption does not come with the same abandonment issues as southern kids.  More about this when I’m better informed. 

Here I am with the son I gave up for adoption at birth in 1972.  

We were reunited in April of 2002.  One of the happiest days 

of my life.  It was like a piece of me had gone missing for 30 years.

This is a fairly recent photo.  

Summer 

They say it’s summer here now.  Really?  We were out walking last night about eight o’clock.  The sun was shining and providing a good amount of warmth.  Many windows were open in the houses we passed.  Not so in Baha'i House.  Northerners were passing us as we walked wearing flip-flops and thin jackets.  We must look so obviously southern still in our winter coats.  Our noses were cold and we could not imagine our feet being bare to the crisp air.  It was 5C.  

At the moment of writing this it’s 3C and has been drizzling all day.  I just checked my weather app and hope it’s wrong.  It’s calling for nine solid days of drizzle reaching between 4-8C.  Oh my!  Summer here is more like early spring in Ontario.  The house and shed need staining and new roof covering needs to be applied to the leaky shed.  The window of opportunity has not yet opened.    

Sidewalks

Haven’t seen one yet however, paths have been worn into the ground everywhere.  For the most part residents do not own the land their house sits on and as no one owns land cutting through, around and in between houses is quite common.  Did you notice I said “for the most part”?  Baha’i House is an exception and the property around this historic house is larger than most and is indeed owned by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Canada.  There are multiple paths cutting across and around us. 

At some point large rocks were brought in and placed around the perimeter because cars were also cutting through the property.  The unfortunate side to the rutted paths is that what little growth there might have been has been worn away.  Michael, on his off-the-beaten-trail walks has taken pictures of beautiful flowers.  When I figure out how to get his shots from his phone and into my computer I’ll post them on my Facebook page.  I don’t think you have to join Facebook to see our photos.  They’ve been marked for ‘public’ display so just do a Google search for Marlene Turner Russell and you should get to photos we’ve taken with a little something I’ve said about almost every shot. 

Learning

Finally, the most important thing I’ve learned is that the Inuit way of learning has traditionally been from watching and listening to parents and elders.  One man explained, “Our parents did not teach us.  We watched them and listened to what they were saying. It is not the Inuit way to learn from paper”.  Interesting.  I must keep this in mind at Arts and Crafts classes and work quietly along with the kids saying as little by way of instruction as possible.  And you know that won’t be easy.     

   

Top Stories of the Day in Iqaluit

I suppose the top story on this, Clean-Up Day, the 19th of June 2015 is that it snowed making for a cold and wet experience for the wonderful volunteers who came out to brave the weather and hard work.  It already looks much better on the beach in front of Baha’i House.  We can see more tidy piles waiting for the dump trucks to swing by and carry off the mess to wherever it goes.

 You can see the growing pile made by the wet workers.  Michael offered them to come 

in to warm up and have a coffee.  They gratefully declined.  They were holding out 

for the bbq being held at the newly renovated museum just down the way.  

I’m learning many things about this capital city of Nunavut which includes how much Iqaluit has grown and is continually expanding.  Apparently this rare capital city, void of stop lights, has doubled its size since being capitalized April 1, 1999.  And, for the estimated population of 7,000 there are 4,000 vehicles with 400 more arriving when the ships come in this July.  

Part of the aforementioned clean-up needs to be derelict cars.  Dead cars can be seen about the place simply lying where the fell.  Once every three years the city brings in the car crusher to deal with the rusting and ruined wrecks.  This is the year.  Hopefully we get to see a little of the action.  Apparently cars will be towed away to meet the crusher.  I have no idea where they go after being squished, perhaps back on an outgoing ship to be melted and made into something new? 

It was mentioned in one of my story postings (either here in a blog or, on my Facebook photo stories … ‘friend’ me at Marlene Turner Russell to follow those) that most houses are built on stilts.  That’s because of rock, the permafrost and the fact that the ground shifts and moves about when it freezes and then again when melting occurs.  So, I guess it goes without saying there are no basements in Iqaluit.  There is a sewer system in the roads that carries waste away from the homes which leaves the premises through insulated piping which is above ground.

Here you can see an example of the stilts and the insulated pipes.  

It’s different seeing houses sitting on legs, especially those built on the edge of the many hills in Iqaluit.  It might be said that the higher up the hills one goes, the more expensive and fancier the houses become.  Have I mentioned Baha’i House is at the lowest bay level?  We look out on Koojesse Inlet which is a part of Frobisher Bay.  Currently the seascape changes with each tide.  The size of the enormous chunks of ice that are breaking up and being rearranged is quite amazing to this inland girl.  Well, we do live on a pond in our hometown of Erin, Ontario but never see this kind of action.  It’s truly fascinating.  

When this house was built over 40 years ago it was not in the poorer area of town but in the years since, the lower-priced housing has been built up around us.  Living here has it’s own kind of news events.  Take last Saturday, for example. 

I should preface this story by saying that I found a lovely painted rock a few weeks back while organizing.  I picked it up to take a closer look and noticed this message, “Rock thrown at Baha’i House”.  My heart was touched by the wisdom and peaceful reaction to an act that could not be considered either peaceful or wise.  

On Saturday I was home alone and just drifting off for a nap when I heard crashing and thumping.  At first I thought it might be my husband returning early from a walk.  “He sure is making a heck of a noise getting in”, was my thought.  I called.  Michael?  No answer.  I yelled … MICHAEL?  MICHAEL!  Still no answer.  I got up to investigate while whispering a prayer for protection.  

I found rocks coming through a back bedroom window.  An immediate call was placed to the RCMP.  “Do you have any descriptors”, came the question over the line.  I responded that I wasn’t about to get close to any window in the house.  

It didn’t take long for two officers to arrive but, alas, the many kids I could glimpse, from a safe distance, had disbursed.  It was explained that kids are sometimes alone, hungry and angry after the cheques come in and get spent in a way that definitely does not benefit their well-being.  They sometimes, in their fear and anger, lash out and try to hurt something or someone else.  I’d like to believe they were trying to help … that window was already damaged and needed replacing.

Later, when our housemate returned home, she sympathized with my eventful afternoon and added, “We have more to add to our painted-rock collection”.  

Exactly right!  Thanks, I needed that.  I’m going to Zentangle mine.

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Thanks for following along.  Please feel free to leave a comment below.  What would you like to ask about this journey I've undertaken?  

Dizzy Gillespie Has a Strong Connection with Baha’i House in Iqaluit

There are so many delightful little facts I’m learning while living here.  For example, Beth McKenty (we need a book just about her time here and I sure hope she’s writing it) lived here more that a decade and was instrumental, if you’ll pardon the expression, in helping this famous trumpet player to become a Baha’i.  I would never have learned this and so many other little snippets of Baha’i history if I’d remained in my Erin home. 

Oddly, I’ve had two other encounters with Dizzy in my travels.  On one of my trips to Cuba when I visited the Baha’i Centre in Havana, the lovely Cuban Baha’is asked me to sign the Centre’s guest book.  Dizzy Gillespie had been there before me and so our names sit side-by-side in that record book.  I know, a very small claim to fame indeed.

I found the cutest photo of Dizzy on the internet.  Of course,

it would not allow me to copy it here.  It was from an episode

of The Cosby Show.  He was bulging out his famously puffy 

cheeks for the youngest Cosby child.  So cute and funny!   

I don’t know if Dizzy ever made it to Iqaluit to visit Beth but, I expect if he did I’ll find his name in one of the Guest Books here.  I’ll be going through those books and trying to make contact with any who have been fortunate enough to have passed through these welcoming doors.  I’ve agreed to help start compiling a time-line of visitors in order to obtain their Baha’i House memories and stories.  

Meanwhile back at my third encounter with Dizzy.  In January of 1993 I visited the Gardner family while they were living in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  Daddy, Dave was in Canada on business so Grandma Helen thought it a good idea for me to go to be with Sylvie to help herd the kids.  Daniel, my young friend who got me here, would have been five at the time and his sister Julie, our current housemate, was just two years old.  During my precious and all-too-short two weeks there, I picked up a newspaper.  I couldn’t read Slovene but I was able to understand enough to know that Dizzy Gillespie had died.  It was one of those ‘moments’ for me that I knew I’d remember for a very long time.  Dizzy was only seventy-five when he died.  I say only because I'll get there myself in just over three years.  Yikes, I'd better get cracking, I've got a lot I still want to write about and do.  

A lovely lady, also famous to Baha’is, is Dorothy Baker.  I have no idea how or if she has a connection with this house.  What I do know is she did make her presence or, perhaps I should say her absence here known.   

Knowing how she loved to travel why did it surprise me when Dorothy recently took the strangest little junket to Michigan?  I used an envelope I found in the over-stocked supply in the house to mail an Iqaluit Visitor’s Guide to my sister.  She and her husband are coming for a visit later in the summer.  When my sister thanked me for the brochure she asked, “Who’s the pretty lady in the picture?” 

“What pretty lady?” was my response.  I then received this photo via email.   

Dorothy’s photograph must have been in that envelope.  I did not know of my mistake and I can tell you it made my job of sorting through the huge supply of envelopes here very labour-intensive.  I held each one up to the light to make certain no other archival photos or since-departed Baha’is would accidentally be tripping off hither and yon. 

The photo of Dorothy will be making the return trip to Iqaluit along with my sister.  In the meantime if anyone knows how or why her photo came to this house, please let me know.  Would you look at that mischievous smile on Dorothy’s beautiful face?  Her eyes seem to twinkle.  

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Just so you know, Michael passed his RCMP check.  Another thing you should know.  A message is NOT sent to you each time I post to my blog when you've clicked on 'follow'.  However, please click 'follow' anyway.  It helps get my blog postings more 'out there'.  Thanks, see you next time.  

     

Michael Gets Fingerprinted by the RCMP in Iqaluit (and other updates)

Before you start raising bail relax, it’s not as bad as it sounds.  Sometimes we writers just like to grab your attention.  

We have many local Inuit children who come to Baha’i House in Iqaluit for Arts & Crafts classes and sometimes just to visit with us and have a snack.  Our housemate, Julie Gardner, is a Grade 8 teacher in the middle school here and thought it a good idea that the custodians of Baha’i House take up the practice of having a police check.  We agreed so, off to the RCMP shop we went. 

 Iqaluit's RCMP building with an Innukshuk made from metal.

It’s quite a hike for me but not for Michael, not to mention that the journey takes us into unpaved roads that raise a lot of dust so, off I go in a cab and end up in a conversation with the cab driver about what brought us to Iqaluit.  He was visibly excited to learn I was a Baha’i and wanted to know more about it.  Any Baha’i reading this just started to tingle.  We love being asked about our Faith.  I reached into my bag to give him one of my cards so I could write the number of Baha’i House on the back while voicing my concern about not having a pen.  I pulled out my card case and a little pen happened to come out with it.  “Oh”, my cabby said, “I think God works with you”.  The Baha’is are tingling again.  He was an interesting fellow with a fascinating story, I do hope he makes contact.  

On the way to the Cop Shop Michael had to get a certified cheque in the amount of $50 to pay to be fingerprinted.  As it turned out he was called to do this because of his birthdate and not because of his name.  When they ran the check on him his birth day comes up as suspect.  My application passed without the added expense but, he got to tour the inside of RCMP headquarters.  Lucky him.  Yes, an expensive tour but, he liked seeing the holding tank.  We now await the call that his fingerprints checked out okay.

The photo that was to go here would NOT upload.  Go to Marlene Turner Russell on Facebook.  

A big thank you goes out to the editor of Erin’s newspaper, The Advocate.  One of my Erin friends forwarded a piece Joan Murray wrote about my adventures in the north.  I was truly moved by how Joan complimented the writing in my columns that appeared in the paper for ten and a half years.  “… unfailingly thoughtful, humourous, touching and informative”.  I’m aiming for that kind of writing in my blog posts so, please, rattle my chain if I fall short.  

Joan also mentioned my Baha’i Faith which, again, got me tingling.  It turns out the best way I can teach about my Faith in Erin is to leave town … hmmm!  

One final little snippet.  We finally made it to the Grind & Brew which is only two doors east of Baha’i House.  They are reputed to have the best pizza in Iqaluit.  Oh, my, their reputation stands.  Delicious!  We had the Grind & Brew special.  Next time we’re going for the Char pizza.  Yes, it IS expensive to eat out however, it was doubly expensive last night.  Apparently the best way to buy local arts and crafts is to sit in a restaurant and the locals offer you a better price than you might pay for in a store.  I’m delighted with what we bought and am happy to know my hands will never be cold again whether here, or in Ontario.  

There were two photos that would NOT upload.  Go to Marlene Turner Russell on Facebook. 

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I regularly upload the bulk of my photos to my Facebook page.  Please ‘friend’ Marlene Turner Russell if you’d like to follow the pictorial version of our Iqaluit experience.  I’ve been unable to do much on the internet as our month of purchase began again today and we had indeed eaten up our monthly allowance. 

Finally, if you click on ‘Follow’, as seen to your right, you’ll receive an email message when a new piece is posted to my blog page.  I invite you to take that step.  Will some kind person let me know if it actually works?  I also invite you to 'comment' and/or ask questions.  Thanks again for joining me.               

Experiencing Iqaluit

We’ve been here now in Iqaluit more than a week and, to put it bluntly, I’m weak!

Weak with the wonder of it all … like, I wonder where I get so-and-so or, who sells this’n’that?  Because it stays light for 24 hours, well, almost light, we need to block the light in our bedroom so our body and brains think it’s time to sleep.  My brain hasn’t really cottoned on to ‘it’s time to sleep’ since my twenties but, I digress.

What one might expect but will they have paint?

Michael wanted paint and I wanted light-blocking fabric so where does one go in Iqaluit for these items?  Would you believe ‘Baffin Electronics’?  We made our first trip there yesterday.  I had a great time because, TA-DA, they also carry yarn.  I was in my element with all that fabric and yarn.  The delightful women behind the counter also had interesting ‘yarns’ to spin.  Hang on, I’m about to digress again, it’s what I’m best at.  We keep meeting people originally from the south, these two women being part of that group, who came here temporarily and then never left … hmmm?  Did I mention we bought only a one-way plane ticket?
  

Ah-hah, the bonus items for the wife and yes, he got his paint.

Baffin Electronics, being way at the other end of town, was too far to walk so, we took a taxi.  The taxi service here is splendid.  They charge $5/senior and $7/adults AND after you’ve made the call you barely have time to put your shoes on before your cheerful cabby it at the door.  Once out, if you get tired walking home, there’s always a cab passing by.  

We were able to get absolutely everything needed to make Roman blinds for the kitchen (just to spruce it up a little - those who know me, know how much I like to decorate) and our bedroom, once I’ve made the blind, will be totally dark at night.  Oh, and the yarn?  I bought what’s needed to make a tea cozy … I’ve lost count of how many tea cozy’s I’ve made.  If you guessed I bought yarn to coordinate with the kitchen curtain fabric, you’re getting to know me.  

I wanted to tell you about the light.  Baha’i House looks out onto Frobisher Bay which, as I understand it, will remain frozen until the first week of July.  So, if you stare out on all that bright white for long it takes awhile to see inside the house again.  The sun rose today (May 29th) at 2:41 a.m. and will set at 10:21 p.m.  After sunset it goes to dusk and never gets totally dark.  Being one who wakens often during the night and makes many trips to the bathroom, I don’t need a nightlight to find my way there and back.  Bonus!

We shared a taxi on the way home with two Inuit ladies who were also shopping for yarn.  They spoke to each other in Inuktitut so I’m not certain if they understood me when I spoke to them but the universal language of laughter was very much present when Michael got into the cab and shut the door on the wooden dowels we’d bought.  The driver was starting to take off when an obviously distressed Michael called out, “Wait, wait, wait!”  We all looked to see why the WAIT and then laughed together when we saw the struggle to get the dowelling out of the closed door.  So glad the inspector in him made sure he bought undamaged goods.

I’m interested in learning an Inuit art and/or craft while I’m here.  That’s what I tried to question these ladies about, one of them was buying tiny beads.  I asked if she taught bead-work.  She shook her head.  To this end I’ve placed an ad on a local ‘Sell and Swap’ Facebook page.  I’m offering Zentangle lessons in exchange for taking home some Inuit craft knowledge.  I’ve got my fingers crossed but will quickly uncross them in order to learn a new craft.  I’ll keep you posted. 

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I have trouble uploading photos to my blog page but have been able to put some out on my Facebook page.  Please ‘friend’ Marlene Turner Russell if you’d like to follow the pictorial version of our Iqaluit experience.  I’ve got lots more to post but am a little worried about sucking all the gigs out of our monthly byte allowance.  Yet another thing for me to learn.

Finally, if you click on ‘Follow’, as seen to your right, you’ll receive an email message when a new piece is posted to my blog page.  I invite you to take that step.  Thanks again for joining me.          

      

Here We Are in Iqaluit and Everything's New to Nunavut

We arrived in Iqaluit on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 and were greeted at the airport by a welcoming committee of one.  That one being in the person of Cam McGregor.  He helped Michael heft our five matching pieces of luggage off the airport carousel and into his waiting vehicle.  Before you get too carried away imagining five leather-bound lovelies, think again.  We packed our clothes and supplies in U-Haul cartons.

More than a little awkward for two men to haul however, they did manage getting them safely stowed for the short tour and description of Iqaluit given by Cam during our ride to Baha’i House.  

If you go on Google Earth and ask for the street view of Iqaluit you will find our temporary home is on a corner just left of the spit (if you’re facing the shore) that goes out into Koojesse Inlet on Frobisher Bay.  The reddish house surrounded by large boulders is our home away from home until late August or early September. 

Reports seemed to indicate the house is small.  We, whose home in Erin, Ontario is small, do not find it so.  Our bedroom here is quite roomy and our thanks go out to whoever organized this warm and wonderful queen-sized bed.  It is indeed comfortable, not to mention high.  Being short, Michael had to organize a step to help me get in and out otherwise I’d have to take a flying leap which, I dare not attempt.      

We did move the furniture about in the room knowing the window, located just over our head, may cause some head drafts and we do like to sleep with the window open a crack. I’m grateful for the desk/office space in our room.  It’s a great place to escape to, hopefully, get some writing done but, first we must figure out where everything is and this we are accomplishing by organizing so it’s convenient for us.  I’m posting photos of our time here on my Facebook page.  I go by Marlene Turner Russell on Facebook.  You may find my shots will help to fill in any gaps missing in my words.    

Julie, our housemate, is a delight and is teaching a Grade Eight class at the Aqsarniit Middle School.  I’ve known Julie and her brother Daniel (yes, the same Daniel mentioned in my previous blog posting who put forward the proposal that we come to Iqaluit) since before they were born.  We lived in the Baha’i community of Scugog in the town of Port Perry for over ten years.  Julie and Daniel’s parents, Dave and Sylvie, were also members of the Scugog Baha’i community and we all served on that Assembly together until the Gardner family moved to Slovenia to pioneer for our Faith. 

Daniel was about four and Julie and her twin sister, Carolyne, were about two when they made that brave move.  I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks with them in Ljubljana during their stay overseas.  

As a Baha’i when you serve on an Assembly or, engage in any kind of service, you get to know the true character of those you serve with.  We have many wonderful memories of that time in Scugog and the many laughs we shared.  

Before we left Erin for this great adventure, Dave and Sylvie came to Erin along with another Baha’i resident of Baffin Island.  David Parks and his wife, Pat live even further north in Pond Inlet.  It had been about ten years or so since we’d seen the Gardners but as these things go, a decade quickly melted away and it was old-home week once again.  

It’s a bonus for us to be connecting again with this family through the next generation.  In all we’ve covered three generations with this family.  It was at the first Baha'i unit election I attended back in ’78 when I met Helen, grandmother to Julie.  

The history of Baha’is living and moving through Baha’i House in Iqaluit is palpable.  Maybe I’ll get to learn some of it and share it with you.  If only the walls could talk they’d have one heck of a story to tell.

    

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Internet service is 'different' here and not allowing me to post pictures with my blog site.  If you would like a pictorial view of our experience befriend Marlene Turner Russell on Facebook.  If you have questions about any of this do ask and I'll try to cover the answers as part of my regular blog postings.  Thanks for reading.   

It WAS Minus Something in Iqaluit

Are you thinking by degrees?  Degrees as in cold weather?  Yes, that too, but, what I’m really talking about is … well … ME!  Iqaluit was missing me!  Bear with me, there’s a story behind this … when one likes to write there is A-L-W-A-Y-S a story. 

Back in February I read a middle-of-the-night Facebook message from my young friend Daniel.  I’d been following Daniel’s Facebook stories and photos with great interest, he was in Iqaluit.  Daniel basically said in his message that my name had come to mind as someone who might like to come to Iqaluit to live ‘temporarily’ in Baha’i House.  Amazingly I went back to bed and went right to sleep. 

It was about mid-afternoon the next day when I said to my husband, Michael … “Oh, by the way” ...  I went on to explain my wee small hours wake up call.  Then it sunk in … Iqaluit? … IQALUIT??? That’s in Nunavut, isn’t it?  It's south of the Arctic Circle for heaven's sake.  I/we replied to Daniel with great interest.  He gave us the who-to-contact info which we did right away and before long we had our one-way tickets to what we consider to be the opportunity of a life time.   

“Wait until you get there to book your return flight so you can watch for seat sales”, was Daniel’s advice.  Our departure tickets were dated April 12th which, I had discovered, were $300 each cheaper than departing one week later on the 19th.  Then the packing and planning became like a full time job.  Luckily we are both retired.  

Coincidentally we had booked a cruise around Cuba only a few days before learning of this wonderful opportunity.  It seemed prudent to have as much packed and planned as possible before going aboard.   We would have only two weeks after our return from the cruise to complete our Iqaluit preparations.  I actually started to regret booking that cruise.  Our plans for it went immediately onto the back burner as the desire to serve the Baha’i Faith in Iqaluit by acting as custodians of ‘Baha’i House’ burned ever so much brighter. 

There is a Baha’i Centre in Iqaluit that was built in the early 1970’s and it was in need of custodians.  We knew we could try to fill the custodial shoes until early September.  That would mean a four and a half month stint.  The Cuba cruise approached.  We had come to think of it as our one-week taste of summer for 2015.  And then it happened!  Maybe it was a slight slip in the shower that started it or, was it the bumpy ride on a Cuban excursion bus or, maybe being trapped in an airplane seat for over three hours was the spine-cracking culprit.  Most likely it was a combination.  Whatever it was I had to visit the ship’s doctor to be diagnosed with sciatica and believe me, it’s a real pain in the butt and down my right leg. 

I manoeuvred my way through the rest of the cruise on pain killers but on the third day after our return to home base AND another long airplane ride, I had my husband dial 911 to be peeled from our bed and carted off on a stretcher.  A four-day hospital stay managed to get me up and limping through life ever so slowly.  We delayed our departure until May 20th and, I’m delighted to say, I’ve had a surprisingly fast 'almost' recovery and  now?  Here we are!

Every day or two ... maybe three if I'm busy ... I'll post to my blog so those who wish to can have a taste of life in The Great White North. 

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Internet service is 'different' here and making it difficult for me to post pictures with my blog site.  If you would like a pictorial view of our experience befriend Marlene Turner Russell on Facebook.  If you have questions about any of this do ask and I'll try to cover the answers as part of my regular blog postings.  Thanks for joining me.  Enjoy the ride!