The Cutest Monkee

Davy Jones, a member of 1960s pop sensations the Monkees, has died at age 66 after suffering a heart attack.
RIP Davy Jones.

Leap Year

He slid down banisters, dated movie stars and wore a red rose in his lapel. Pierre Elliott Trudeau is arguably the most charismatic prime minister in Canada's history.
He chose February 29, 1984 for his announcement.



Yes, it's Leap Year and today is the day that makes it leap...February 29th. Happy Birthday to Wendy Shanks, the only person I know born on February 29th. I'm sure you've heard them all but here are some Leap Year Facts:

• Anthony, Texas, is the self-proclaimed Leap Year Capital of the World. In 1988, the chamber of commerce in the little town on the border between New Mexico and Texas voted to sponsor the Worldwide Leap Year Festival and Worldwide Leap Year Birthday Club. Partiers celebrate with a parade, hot-air-balloon rides, a carnival and a gathering of people born on Feb. 29. To learn more about the festival go to www.leapyearcapital.com.
• Greek superstition claims that bad luck will come to couples that marry during a leap year. Allegedly one in five engaged couples in Greece will avoid planning their wedding during a leap year.
• The chances of a leap birthday are one in 1,461 -- long odds for getting the short end of the stick. Imagine waiting four years for your real birthday and hearing endless jokes about being three when you're really 12.
• According to global statistics, there are about 4.1 million people worldwide born on Feb. 29.
• In 1988, Time magazine proclaimed Superman to be born on Feb. 29, making the superhero a leap day baby!
• Born February 29, 1904 -- Mr. Wolfe Plus 585 Sr., person with the longest official name. With a name for every letter of the alphabet, his full name is Adolph Blaine Charles David Earl Frederick Gerald Hubert Irvin John Kenneth Lloyd Martin Nero Oliver Paul Quincy Randolph Sherman Thomas Uncas Victor William Xerxes Yancy Zeus Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenberdorft Sr.

Our Morning Walk

It is our last few days together.

Our morning walks are always in the bush - that way Lily can run free and smell as much as she wants. I always thought she should be trained as a sniffer dog. I'm sure she would be exemplary at that job. The evening walks are the around the block type walk ( my block is 2 kilometers) as I don't really like walking in the bush in the dark.

The weather has been cooperating (except for the weekend where the windchill brought temperatures down to -30; I thought my cheeks were going to fall off as I wasn't prepared for a wind chill). But most days it is pleasant enough.


Will I miss a shedding dog that requires two walks a day?? I think so.

Iqaluit Fire

This is what happens when firemen try to put out a fire at -50 degree temperatures.

"Dozens of people in Iqaluit were homeless Monday morning after a fire tore through a townhouse complex during the night.

With winds making the temperature feel like –50 C, firefighters tried to bring the blaze under control, but some of the water they sprayed froze on contact with the air."

There were at least two reported dead. Sad.

Jennifer, remember when we watched the Saan Store in Whitehorse burn that cold -42 winter day in January of 1991? The water the firemen sprayed onto the building froze on the top of the building while the fire burned below it.

Sunny February

Went for a few good walks with my friends Sue and Renegade. Here we were at the animal culvert passing under the Hamilton Boulevard extension. The weather was beautiful, clear with sunny skies and now you can finally feel the glorious warmth of the sun. Was also fortunate enough to be invited to a wonderful roast lamb dinner to top off the weekend.

Lily Again!

Oh, did I say I wasn't going to print too many pics of Lily??? Well, couldn't help this one. She jumped the fence this morning to play with Blue (black dog) and Roscoe (huge dog). So now I have to go outside and shovel the snow away from the fence so perhaps she will stay in my yard. (But she did have a lot of fun!)

Arctic Winter Games 2012

For some reason, this photo did not publish with my last blog. Some AWG's logos and the 2012 pin.

Arctic Winter Games

In 1967 Cal Miller from the Yukon saw how the southern teams outplayed the northern teams in the Canada Winter Games. Thus began the idea of circumpolar north games, better known as Arctic Winter Games. The first games were held in Yellowknife, NWT in 1970 with participants from Yukon, NWT and Alaska. This year we will see athletic teams from Alaska, Greenland, Yukon, NWT, Nunavut, Nunavik (northern Quebec), Sapmi (the name of the cultural region located in Northern Europe stretching over four countries: Norway Sweden, Finland and Russia.), Yamal (northwest Siberia, Russia), and although not north of 60 we have northern Alberta. Whitehorse is hosting the games this year and I am volunteering. The games treat their volunteers very well by supplying them with a distinct long-sleeved t-shirt, an anorak style coat and gloves. The Games begin March 4 and go until March 10th.
Interesting tidbit I learned last night: Canadians say Arctic, pronouncing the "c" and Americans say Artic, leaving out the "c". Did you know that?

February 15

OK, OK, I promise I won't be showing you daily photos of my furry friend, but just had to put one on the site. Our walks are short these days as the poor little thing has a cold.

Valentine's Day

I had many Valentine's Day treats to enjoy.

1. My furry friend is once again staying with me AND brought me a flowering plant and a lovely card.
2. I sent a card and gift to Kate for Valentine's Day AND she received it TODAY! Thank you Canada Post.
3. Not only does my furry friend get me outside for walks, but tonight's walk was especially nice as it was hovering around the 0 mark temperature wise and the northern lights made an appearance...not quite dancing but was fading and strengthening. Sue did tell me that her evening walks are when she sees the lights. Now I will enjoy my walks even more if the skies put on a light display for me.

Happy Birthday

February birthdays galore. Going out tonight to celebrate 2 more February birthdays. Wondering why so many are born in February. Perhaps it is those June weddings??

The above picture (and quote) is thanks to my friend MJT. Loved it and fits my February birthday theme so well.

Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman asked: “And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?” She simply replied, “No peer pressure.”

And, still on age:
Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old, You grow old because you stop laughing.

From my Walk

In case you didn't understand my snow story yesterday, I took this photo as I began my walk today. You can see, in the photo above, the "snow row" down the middle of the street.

An since I am the one that always has that camera hanging around my neck, thought I'd take a picture of ME for a change.

Yoga

Thank you CBC Radio. I learn so much from you. Yesterday I discovered that Yoga can be BAD for you (or me for that matter). William J Broad, author of “The Science of Yoga: The Risks and Rewards,”was being interviewed. He was saying that certain poses, especially when performed over a period of time, can cause such things as strokes, brain damage and paralysis. Now this doesn't happen to everyone, but, he said, after writing an article for the New Yorker magazine, he was surprised at how many people wrote in to him to give their horror stories. There are certain poses he said he will now NOT do.

If you do yoga, perhaps you should read this article: CLICK HERE

Even Ryan Giggs, ManU footballer, credits yoga for his fittness - he is 38, one of the oldest on the pitch, and still going strong. So, like William J Broad says, it is not ALL bad.

And just when you thought you were doing something good for your body ...

Snow

For all you southerners, this is what snow looks like. They finally plowed our road and this is what they do ... plow all the snow to the middle of the road. Above is one lane with the plowed snow on the right hand side. Soon (I hope) they will come with a loader and dump truck and remove the middle snow-row away.
This was a day that felt like spring. Oh joy! I could even feel the heat of the sun (unless I was imagining it).

Yukon Quest

Every year I write just a wee bit about the Yukon Quest. This year, the start line was in Fairbanks. Currently the lead teams are around Eagle, Alaska and heading toward Dawson City. If you wish to follow the race CLICK HERE .

This morning I awoke to the sad news that Buddy Tabor, who wrote a song about Mushing which plays every year around Quest time, succumbed to a three month fight with cancer. I didn't know him but sure did hear his song every year.
Here is his song,



You can download this song at http://top-mp3-download.com/buddy-tabor-get-up-dogs.html

Lily came to visit tonight with her friend Katie, the bullmastiff. Katie is only 7 months old, very well tempered and very strong (I found out as she banged into me as she ran past, nearly knocking me over). Next week Lily will be sleeping over while her mom and dad go south to some sun and hot weather. She is a very busy dog.

My Boys!

Browsing through one of my APPs this morning I came across this photo published by the Guardian in the UK.

Here is its story:

The macaque and the dove

On an island off the coast of China, a little macaque nestles its head on a dove. Three months before, after the macaque had strayed from its mother, it was found and taken in by the staff of an animal protection centre. It soon became friends with the white dove, which had also been adopted by centre staff. For two months they ate together and slept together, before both were released back into the wild

Wolf's Den

I know 2 people who have birthdays on Ground Hog Day. We celebrated one of them, Sue's birthday, dining at the Wolf's Den Restaurant just south of Whitehorse. It has been opened for 10 years now and I cannot believe the number of people I just recently discovered have NOT eaten there. If you like wiener shnitzel and spaetzle you will love this restaurant. (They do have other delicious, home cooking on the menu too). I have always had a great Swiss meal there.
Happy Birthday Sue and thanks for suggestions this eating establishment.

February 2

What one degree celcius ... yes I said !!! 1 degree C !!! looks like in February. Although a bit overcast, it was a pleasure to take my walk in this weather. Tomorrow it is predicted to be a high of 7 C. I'll believe it when I see it. Then we are suppose to go below 0 degrees once again. Just a taste of spring (or what you southerners are experiencing).

My Favourite Photo

Macleans Magazine

Last year, one the the jobs SR was involved in was building the roads for a new subdivision about 20 minutes north of Whitehorse city limits. And one thing in the plans of this road was the installation of multi-plates, huge culverts (about 3 stories high) under the roads, so moose could use this culvert to pass to the other side of the road, rather than crossing a road where a vehicle could hit them. This, at the added expense of $1 million. And so it was built. Some questions: 1. How are the moose to know they should use this culvert rather than just cross the road?? There is no fencing along side of the road to restrict the use of the road. 2. How many moose travel along that corridor? So far, there have been no tracks through these culverts (and we have had snow on the ground since October of 2011).

Well, we're not the only ones wondering about this. Macleans magazine has the following article:

99 stupid things the government spent your money on

And at # 44

Animal tracks: The Yukon government spent $1 million to build two “wildlife culverts” for an expensive new subdivision in Whitehorse so moose would stay off the newly constructed road. That’s commendable, except the culverts helped push the price of lots in the government-owned development to as much as $218,000, and one-third of the 30 lots failed to sell.

Hmmmmm ....

Hayley McLean

Brooke's sister Hayley has a new song on the go. Not yet on iTunes but soon we will see more there.

Tragedy in Whitehorse

You have probably heard of the tragic event that happened in Whitehorse this weekend. A family of 5 - mother (37 years old), father (45 years old), daughter (11 years old) son (13 years old) - and a boarder (47 years old) all died in a house in Porter Creek, a subdivision of Whitehorse. Suspected cause - carbon monoxide poisoning. You can read the story here: Click here.

I don't mean to be downbeat but the following information is important and sometimes it takes a hugely tragic event to remind us that if we follow simple safety practices, we can prevent more tragedy.

Carbon monoxide is formed when organic compounds burn. The most common sources are motor vehicle exhaust, smoke from fires, engine fumes, and nonelectric heaters. Carbon monoxide poisoning is often associated with malfunctioning or obstructed exhaust systems and with suicide attempts.

Sources of carbon monoxide:

• Gas water heaters
• Kerosene space heaters
• Charcoal grills
• Propane heaters and stoves
• Gasoline and diesel powered generators
• Cigarette smoke
• Propane-fueled forklifts
• Gasoline powered concrete saws
• Indoor tractor pulls
• Any boat with an engine
• Spray paint, solvents, degreasers, and paint removers

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Symptoms

Exposure to carbon monoxide is most commonly accompanied by the following symptoms:

. Headaches

. Dizziness

· Nausea

· Flu-like symptoms, fatigue

· Shortness of breath on exertion

· Impaired judgment

· Chest pain

· Confusion

· Depression

· Hallucinations

· Agitation

· Vomiting

· Abdominal pain

· Drowsiness

· Visual changes

· Fainting

· Seizure

· Memory and walking problems

Prevention

Your best protection is to install a carbon monoxide alarm on each level of your home or boat as your first line of defense. According to the National Fire Protection Association some 93% of homes have smoke alarms, yet the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that only 15% have carbon monoxide alarms. A carbon monoxide monitor with an audible alarm works much like a home smoke alarm and beeps loudly when the sensors detect carbon monoxide.

If the alarm sounds, evacuate the building. People who have symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning should seek emergency medical care. Call the fire department or public service company to investigate.

• Inspect your home for hazards.
  
  
  • Your home heating system, chimney, and flue must be inspected and cleaned by a qualified technician every year. Keep chimneys clear of bird and squirrel nests, leaves, and residue to ensure proper ventilation.
    
    
  • Be sure your furnace and other appliances, such as gas ovens, ranges, and cook tops, are inspected for adequate ventilation.
    
    
  • Do not burn charcoal inside your house (even in the fireplace). Have gas fireplaces inspected each fall to ensure the pilot light burns safely.
    
    
  • Do not operate gasoline-powered engines in confined areas such as garages or basements. Do not leave your car, mower, or other vehicle running in an attached garage, even with the door open.
    
    
  • Do not block or seal shut exhaust flues or ducts for appliances such as water heaters, ranges, and clothes dryers.
    
    
  • Become familiar with the hazards of carbon monoxide poisoning and boating .

Keep Safe!