A POSTCARD FROM YELLOWKNIFE NORTH WEST TERRITORIES

My brother Rob and his wife Donalda have moved to various locations in Canada for jobs and adventure.
Several years ago, just before they moved to Yellowknife in the North West Territories in Canada, he sent me this postcard to give us his new address. 

Dated August 26, 2003- " Hi Ya'll! Just got back from a vacation in Yellowknife, NWT, I had to take this picture of an Inuit woman standing up to pee. Must be a new thing!?!?There are so many lakes, boats, airplanes and Huge fish I might never come south again...Except for maybe a trip to Maui. Winters are long and cold but there is a lot ot do. I guess they don't want people to become bored and depressed.Our computer is down for the count as it caught that nasty worm and won't turn on. I've had to resort to actually using the written word. We went to look for a place to live and a job for me ( Rosie already had a job to go to) We found both in about the first hour after we arrived. I think there are a lot of jobs in Yellowknife as everyone has left to work in the Diamond Mines. Things are quite busy. Busy in that small city. But most stuff is done at a snails pace. There are " gang takeovers". But they are so lazy it takes them about a week. We'll be up there for October 1st. Just in time for the 8th snowfall. The arts and crafts up here are just unbelievable. It can be very expensive but once you get to know some of these folks you can get things a lot cheaper.
New address.
Love to all!! Your little brother, Rob!! Small Printing...eh?"

During their time there, I was fortunate to receive some of the crafts. Beautiful colourful mugs, a clock and cards. Most people would probably prefer to visit in the summer to enjoy the atmosphere of one Canada's beautiful northern locations. Their stay was an unforgettable experience.

If you want a postcard featured here, email me at abdm@rogers.com and I will send you my address so you can send me a postcard.

A NEW NORMAL

Normal can be boring until something changes in our life when we crave for normal.
During a recent sleepover with my granddaughter at my house, we had fun counting the number of airplanes that go over the house on the route to Pearson Airport- the red eyes from the west from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., the afternoon flights from Europe mid-afternoon to the south and more airplanes from the west, south last afternoon and into the evening.Helped her counting and learning to pay attention to the world around us. I love the sound of the planes going over my house. Why? After that fateful day September 11, 2001 when the whole aviation system in North America shut down, it became very eery with no sound of planes for the days following it. I recall the day when I was putting out the garbage and the first plane flew over the house as the aviation system was booting up, saying to myself things are back to normal. It was a new normal. The sound of planes gearing down to land miles away are a certain music to my ears now. What might be your new normal? What normal things bring music to your ears? What would you miss if it changed?