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”.
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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?
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