I'm here. It's hard to know where to start....

We had a good trip, the girls and I. Stayed overnight in Edmonton, although none of us could sleep. It was rainy and cold, and we were impatient to get to Cambridge Bay. The plane that took us up went through cloud and wind, but emerged into a beautiful day. Blue sky stretching for miles, we flew in over the water and landed abruptly at the Cambridge Bay airport. (It's a gravel runway, and we were on a jet) I thought we had a lot of luggage, but everyone seemed to have similar amounts as we stood in the little building and it came in on a conveyor belt. All the boxes I had packed and sent by cargo a week earlier also arrived that day, so we had all our stuff. The house we have been allotted is on the edge of town, with a view of the Distant Early Warning station and a lot of tundra. Very cosy, and quite new. 1500 people or so live in town, so it's similar size to Vulcan, but different. Very few cars, everyone walks or drives ATVs, there are no lawns or gardens, just rocks and dirt. Apparently the snow only melted in May, and it's expected again soon. No trees, we're above the treeline. Everyone has been very friendly, so far, lots of waving.

Thursday night we went down to Freshwater Creek to fish, Rachel made a friend, and one of the locals was standing in the water next to Ian, helping him with his casting. On Friday after I stowed all the stuff, Ian took me down to the store, and as we passed through town we were followed by a chorus of kids yelling "Hi Ian!" He is in his element here, full days of fishing, riding a bike he was given by one of Miguel's new co-workers, playing tag endlessly with the neighbourhood kids in the long evenings. Rachel also has an entourage of little girls already, but she's a little alarmed that some of them are younger than her and smoke. Every time I go out, I come home to find the deck out back occupied by Rachel and her new friends.

Yesterday we went 'out on the land' to Mount Pelly, and climbed it. The view from up top was magnificent, out to the Arctic Ocean, and it was completely quiet. Just as if a giant hand had come down and stilled everything, even the things going around in my head. I find I'm not too worried about the future, I'm going to take it as it comes. I caught a fish, out at Grenier Lake, something I've never done, and it's now in the freezer. I apologized to it, when I got it up on land, which Miguel thought was funny.

Today Rachel and I went for a long walk, just ambling along, out to the river and then down the other side of the estuary, where everyone keeps their sled dogs. Ian and Miguel went back to Grenier Lake and caught a trout, which we ate for supper. This evening Miguel and I headed out past the DEW station so I could try driving the ATV. The road follows the coast, and as I was driving along with Miguel on the back, it occurred to me that if you'd told me a few months ago that before the end of the summer I'd be tearing along gravel roads above the Arctic Ocean on an ATV I'd not have believed it. It's good to be alive.