CHAPTER 9 Angling Guide

I leaped from my rig, yelling and scared the grizzly into a gallop. The bear turned and dashed straight towards the fishermen who were portaging a red canoe over their heads and didn’t have a clue of the situation. Running and leaping over bushes, I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“Bear, bear! Get out your bear spray!”

CHAPTER 8 Ookpik Wilderness Lodge

I’d procrastinate with a decadent second cup, and number the list in red, its order dictated by daylight, work area, difficulty and desire to execute. Little did I know, in the next several years, I would make hundreds of such lists and consume hundreds of cups of coffee. After checking each chore off with red ink, I would use those pieces of paper, those lists of blood, sweat and tears, for fire-starter. Nothing in the north goes to waste.

CHAPTER 7 The Canadian Consulate General

No words would come. Dropping to my knees on the grey warn carpet I rummaged through briefcase number one. I scrambled to find ‘The Grey Envelope made with recycled paper’. Without a word I handed the envelope to her. Business-like she pulled out the document I had never looked at, David’s death certificate.

CHAPTER 6 The Duck

Through the falling snow I could see the female Kingfisher standing on this same platform, now covered with three inches of snow. Motionless, she looked north. The last of the migratory birds to leave the area, this Kingfisher stood with her feathers fluffed against the cold as she waited for her partner, the one who had died in David’s arms weeks earlier. She and I waited in vain.

CHAPTER 5 Visitor In The Moonlight

My strongest memory is a flood of sensations that started at my head, his cheek near mine, and flowing through my body; through every vein, muscle and bone to my finger tips, to the bottom of my feet.

Chapter 4 Season of Change

One morning, while preserving high bush cranberries, I heard an explosion coming from our dining room. I ran to investigate and was just in time to see feathers drifting away in the breeze. Two distinct spots of blood and a few tiny feathers smeared the window where two birds had hit the glass at full force. I looked outside and saw David on his knees, two kingfishers cradled on his lap.....

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CHAPTER 3 Quiet Waters Run Deep

The next thing I remembered was puffing up a steam cloud five miles from home and it was getting dark. Even through my earmuffs, I could hear wolves howling nearby, probably making plans to pick off this helpless idiot.