BTW...how's your week going?

This week has been a whirlwind. A couple of months ago, my life took a little detour once again. A call and an email...that's all it takes these days and our lives change...some good things result and, at other times, there's news of tragedy. Fate decides...we don't.

The Inukshuk welcomes visitors and stands tall for residents
in Rankin Inlet, NUNAVUT.

The news was from the North...a calling perhaps, since I've been privileged...yes, privileged to have been to the Arctic a few times now. Not very many Canadians can say that...so yes I am privileged. The call was from the Health Center in Rankin Inlet. What about another "tour" ... later this time..in April?

Street signs in Rankin Inlet

There's a bit of history in this that may take a few moments to explain. It was ten years ago and I was in a grocery store in St. Catharines...looking for something at the Fairview Mall. I met a nurse who had retired from the St. Catharines General Hospital there, a few years earlier. We had worked together for my entire career. She in Emerg and, I, in Xray.

We chatted about all the “old timers”...names and staff we knew and what they were doing...and eventually we asked each other what were we doing these days. I was in year 2 of a “sales career” (who knew) as an associate of the Henrys location at the Grantham Plaza. She was still working as a nurse...having established a new career path working in the north at the Health Centre in Rankin Inlet, Kivalliq Region, Nunavut Territory...the Arctic. These were short tours lasting up to six weeks...several times a year.

Just awaiting pickup in the driveway, first time up
January 2008 

“...And you'll never guess” she said, “who's currently acting as the Nurse in Charge?” Another common name from our past...and then those words I spoke...“well if you guys ever need an xray tech” just call. Who knew? The phone rang that September...It was 2007, almost ten year ago, and my first trip to NUNAVUT was being planned.

Boots....you need good boots. Where to get them? What to take..what to wear in Arctic winters...what are my accommodations? There were literally more questions than I care to remember...and Christmas came and went at the store AND with family...New Years Day arrived and then it was here. Tears were shed, as I moved my luggage out onto the front porch. A couple of inches (several centimeters) of fresh light snow...were on the porch and steps...which I cleared.

Richardson International in Winnipeg last year

“BOB's ARCTIC ADVENTURE” started with an early morning transfer (and I mean early). Around three, I think, I could see headlights, piercing the darkness as the snow continued to fall. Coming down the street...moving slowly, the driver attempted to glimpse the correct four digit address on his manifest. Further down the street, he noticed our front lights on, sped up...did the circle and pulled to a stop. When we arrived at YYZ Toronto, I checked in...got my luggage tagged and checked and was off to the ARRIVALS level.

My brother and I had prearranged a “send off” breakfast reunion. He was living about 20 minutes from the airport at the time and so he picked me up at Arrivals (where there was no traffic) and we went to a “breakfast spot”. I remember having eggs, toast, bacon, sausages, ham and hash browns washed down with a couple of cups of coffee...probably was under 9 bucks at the time...two weeks later that same meal would cost me $30 with tip in Rankin Inlet on a saturday morning.

Luggage arrived in Winnpeg 2008

Arriving in Winnipeg, I went to the one luggage belt and waited. My suitcase bounced down, circled and was received. My blue Rubbermaid bin was not there...never showed. Panic started to set in as I weighed my options. Where were my food stuffs? Who to contact? Where in this building? Then, across in the distance, a cart was being pushed by a woman in uniform. The airline representative obviously on a mission and riding atop her cart my blue Rubbermaid, clearly marked with a huge label on its side.

I called across the hall...getting her attention, she stopped. After a few seconds of conversation her mission was accomplished...and my blue bin was now on MY luggage cart. As I transferred the cargo, I asked... “Do I have to go up or down to get to departures?” I can still hear her response...“This is Winnipeg...we're all on one level.” Boy, has that changed now with the new Richardson International few years back...BIG, very modern...a big change.

Following the crowd boarding
the Calm Air twin prop, Winnipeg 2008

So around three p.m., as we were loading to board the CALM AIR flight to Rankin Inlet my cell phone rang. I had failed to put it into Airplane Mode on the flight from Toronto. I answered and it was my sister law looking for Grace, my wife. After we chatted for a few seconds she asked aren't you leaving today...I answered already “in Winnipeg and in line to board Gotta go.” I exchanged the boarding slip and followed the herd to the plane.

To my astonishment, we climbed down stairs, then went out a side door. I was expecting a jetway and the cold -20C Winnipeg winds and weather caught me unprepared. Quickly donning my gloves I followed the others to the twin prop navy and beige plane sitting a hundred yards (90 meters) away. I could see the cargo hatch open at the back...and my blue bin with side label visible aboard. WE were heading to Rankin.

I learned a few valuable lessons that day...prepare for the unexpected AND a direct flight does not mean NON-STOP. So I had the delight in stopping in Churchill, exiting the plane while they refueled, and spending a few precious minutes in their airport (which I am told is currently under construction). The three p.m. Dusk departure from Winnipeg meant a night take off in Churchill...followed by a landing in the next leg of our trip in Arviat.

We didn't exit the plane this time...only those souls needing to depart climbed down the built in stairs as the heavy snow blew horizontally visible against the orange of the sodium vapour lamps. New passengers arrived and climbed on board. I was concerned with the heavy snowfall, we might be staying. But no, we flew on that day to Rankin Inlet...and my time there was so rewarding.

Water in the airport waiting room in '08

We won't talk about the sprinkler head that burst my first Tuesday at 3 p.m. in my xray room. Or the other sprinkler head that burst in the entrance way about tens days later. WE arrived to find about three inches of water from the back entrance to past the main entrance and into the nurses offices and exam rooms. They say that things come in threes. The third sprinkler head let go on the day of my departure in the airport waiting area on the day of my departure that January. We had just finished an eight day blizzard (at the time the longest recorded in Canadian History).

I never saw a ground crew work so hard to attend to the 4 or 5 737's that had landed within a two hour window to restock the town with much needed supplies. I was a symphony and dance. To service the planes, load and unload and get them back into the air all the time watching through the windows as people with mops attempted to dry the floors. The computers weren't working since no one wanted to short them out in all the water...so hand written boarding passes were issued.

A symphony as the ground crews worked to clear backlog.

I held my pass tightly. I wanted to get back. This jet was a DIRECT flight to Winnipeg. The year was 2008. Who knew I might get back to Arviat at a later date. It's taken almost ten years, but..fate knew. In fact, he's got me headed there tomorrow. The Calm Air ATR turbo prop will lift off just after noon, touch down in Whale Cove and then travel on to Arviat. This time, I'll see more than just the outside of an airport terminal.