I’m inviting my readers in the Yukon to submit to this blog their stories, pictures, and video clips of their experiences of the Canadian Winter Games.

It will be interesting to see what pure Yukoners have to say about all the excitement as well as it will give my readers in other parts of the world a true picture of the Canadian North. You don’t have to be a writer. You don’t have to make your submission perfect. You just have to be a Yukoner–just make it a raw Yukoner perspective.

I’d love to hear from you. You can use this contact form to send me an email.

I hope I get a load of submissions. We’ll see.

This is the first time the Canadian Winter Games have been held in the true north (north of the 60th parallel). Whitehorse is buzzing (and not from the traditional Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous celebrations either). It’s going to be a busy few weeks for my parents. My Dad is working security at the Canada Games Center and my Mum is taking tickets and working the information kiosk for spectator sports at Mount McKintyre Rec Center. Brrrrr. It’s cold up there–but hey–it is the winter games. You couldn’t really have winter games without a bit of -30C weather. The forecast is even more foreboding.

My parents went to the dress rehearsals for the opening ceremonies last night. ” They are going to be broadcast today at 4:00 pm, and again on Saturday. It was impressive!”

I’m going to invite my readers in the Yukon to submit to this blog their stories and pictures and video clips of their experiences of the Canadian Winter Games. That would be fun: The Canadian Winter Games through the eyes of Yukoners! I’ll have to create a separate entry for that–stay tuned!

For CBC coverage of the Winter Games: CBC sports.
For the weather forecast for Whitehorse, Yukon: the weather network.
For coverage of the Winter Games through the eyes of Yukoners: www.yukonjen.com.

For those who don’t know what a tuque (pronounced tuke) is–a tuque is a warm, knitted, and usually pointed stocking cap that is a staple in most Canadian wardrobes. A tuque–believe it or not– is purely Canadian (or the word tuque is anyway). Originally worn by French Canadian Voyageurs in the 19th century, the true purpose of a tuque is more function than fashion. In colder, northern climates where you can loose up to half your body heat through your head, a tuque is indispensable. I interviewed a few people the other day about their tuque fashions.

Ljubi Tokic was sporting what appeared to be a hand-knit white tuque while having tea at Tim Hortons with her Mum and Grandma. Her Grandma, Pam Chapman from Ottawa, Ontario, knitted this particular tuque.

After doing some research on tuques, I can’t really classify Anne Louise’s hat as a tuque. It was however, a fairly handsome–yet functional–hat: leather and sheepskin. On a warmer day, you can wear the earflaps tied up on top of the hat. On a cooler day, you can tie the earflaps down over your ears. She bought her hat at www.eglifarm.com and mentioned pimping up her car with a sheepskin steering wheel cover.

When I asked Larry Leigh about his hat, he said his hat is fashioned what the Gwitchin First Nations of Old Crow wear in the winter. Larry’s hat seemed to be a traditional Mountie muskrat hat over top of a baseball cap. The visor of the baseball cap shades the glare of the sun (in the few hours a day there is sun) and the traditional Mountie muskrat keeps him warm. You can buy a traditional Mountie muskrat hat from www.mountieshop.com and you can use your favourite baseball cap for the visor.

Mike Craigen was wearing a Santa hat as he was volunteering for the Salvation Army. He said he own approximately 30 tuques–one for each year he’s lived in the Yukon. I wondered if he had a tuque to match his coat.

Alison Perrin is visiting her boyfriend’s family in Whitehorse for the holidays. Her tuque is one of six she owns and was a traditional woolen knit tuque with a pompom on top. She bought her hat from 180 Mountain Sports in Golden, BC where she works.

Felicia Chief was fairly festive in her red Roots jacket and her woolen knit tuque. Her friend helped her pick this tuque out at the Super Store. She liked the pompom and the fact that her woolen tuque had a fleece liner. She said traditional knit tuques let heat out–too many holes between the stitches. The fleece liner makes it more efficient and practical–and in her case–fashionable.

Robert Postma wasn’t wearing a tuque when I met him just outside the CIBC bank on the corner of Main and Second. He said though, that he owns approximately 10 tuques, one from each country he has visited. He promised he would email me a photograph of his favourite tuque, which happens to be one that a friend had knitted for him and that he had traded for some photography. You can see Robert’s gallery of photography at distanthorizons.ca.

My brother-in-law Jim Herd borrowed a tuque from his father to visit us in the Yukon. He and my sister live in Mansfield, Ontario and he spends most of his winters reffing hockey. Jim–how is it that you had to borrow a tuque?

Become a tuque scholar yourself by reading more about the history of tuques at: A Touch of Tuque.

I’ve been working on my Mum and Dad’s computer. I’ve found a few pictures of them that I’ve taken over the last few years. I just love them. I love my parents. They are as real as you can get.

PS: No live sightings of the Northern Lights so far. It is cloudy this evening.

Well, I’m home for the holidays. I’m here in Whitehorse for three weeks. I just wanted to start putting some pictures up so you could see what Whitehorse is like in December. When I got up this morning, the thermometer read -25C below 0. Brrrrr. But not enough to dissuade me from taking a walk. I bundled up: four layers on the bottom, five layers on the top, toque, neck warmer, and mitts. I walked the full circle of Fireweed Drive out here in Mary Lake (approx 5 kms or 3 miles). Not bad for a California girl–in the -25C too! I would like to mention that the sun didn’t come up until after 9h00 am. And, by 11h00 am when I was walking, the sun was only high enough to shine on the treetops and hillsides–not on the ground. Just something I noticed because people in California keep asking me how long the days are in winter. I didn’t notice when the sun set today. I was visiting a friend. I’ll have to pay more attention tomorrow.

My parents stocked the refrigerator and freezer for the holidays. Hopefully all of this food lasts the lot of us for more than two weeks. I’ll come back to California all fat and happy if it doesn’t. I’ll try to keep things in check though. I’m planning on walking or skiing everyday I’m here. Maybe, I’ll even get to snowboard at the local ski hill one day. That would be fun.

The newspaper says we should be able to see the Northern Lights. It’s clear enough outside tonight. I think I’ll go check before I go to bed.

My Aunt and Uncle from Nanaimo visited my parents in Whitehorse in May. Mum sent some pictures. I think it was the end of May too. Look at the snow!!! There is still snow on the mountains. Beautiful. Mum takes some great pictures of the scenery. She asked in her email if we remembered where they were taken. I definitely recognize the places with the people in them and Palmer Lake. I needed some help with the ones in the middle.

Having a BBQ.	Follow Wolf Creek to the Yukon River.	View from top of Miles Canyon.
Aunt Midge on left. Mum on right.	Typical bush plane North of 60.	Big Atlin Lake–not Alaska!
More Big Atlin Lake	Big Atlin Lake in background	No name lake in foreground
Palmer Lake	Palmer Lake.	Palmer Lake.

How’d I do Mum?