Markus playing with his camera and flash in November 2007. Photo by Markus.

21.01.2008: What do you mean, you don't have a TV?

Many people wonder what we do for entertainment up in the "North Pole," as my sister puts it. Yes, I work and Markus has a plethora of projects and contracts that keep him busy, but what about after the 9-5 grind? Believe me, we value our free time and work is not our lives.

The dark, cold months are a little different from the sunny, warmer months. I'm sure you've gathered that we spend an awful lot of time outdoors. We are avid outdoors-people, and are most truly in our element in the Elements. Every chance we have to be outside, we take. There is a period of about two months December - January when we are not out for longer trips fishing or otherwise. This is because there is no sun (at all), it is veeeery cold (-30 or below gets to be frigid with any amount of wind, and skidooing for any period of time can be quite cold) and we've been spending a couple weeks during this time visiting our families for the holidays. We'll still go out for short walks behind town, or jogging out to the water pump station, but our outdoor activities are certainly curbed during this time. The rest of the year, most weekends we are out on the land for at least day trips, if not overnights; fishing, hiking, exploring. During the week after work we regularly go out for walks or jogs at least once a week, if not a few times. We can often be found taking our neighbours' dog for a walk around the lake or in the hills behind town.

A typical winter walk behind town on Old Water Lake. Photo by Markus.

What else do we do? Clearly, Markus spends a lot of time developing his photography skills. We can all appreciate that through this site. I have taken up some local crafts, including beadwork which is very time consuming. I've also recently been working on making fur mittens for use while travelling, sewing fur trim for Markus' parka hood, and a couple other projects handy for the cold outdoors. Hand sewing means this all takes time.

Homemade bread, anyone? Photo by Markus.

Markus and I both enjoy cooking and baking, and make just about all of our food from scratch, including all our bread. The limited supplies from the Northern Store requires some creativity, advance planning, and even spontaneity when something suddenly appears on the shelves, but we have a lot of fun spending time cooking up a meal or baking some delights. Here is a photo of us making sushi for the first time! Our friends Sue and Christopher, knowing of our adoration of sushi, presented us with the wonderful gift of an entire starter sushi set. Knowing that we wouldn't be able to purchase anything up here, it came complete with everything including the special rice, vinegar and a bamboo roller. Many thanks, you can see we made good use of it! With all the wonderful fish we've caught in our freezer, and more to come, this is definitely the start of a good thing.

Mmmmm, sushi! Thank-you, Sue and Christopher! Photo by Markus.

From time to time we visit with our friends in town, dropping by to enjoy some coffee and conversation. We are also paid visits now and then, and the fact that we mostly all know each other here in town means that any time you go outside you're waving at passing people or stopping to say hi and exchange a few words. Sometimes children drop by to spend a little time saying hello. On Thursday nights, on and off, there has been a Women's Group meeting in town. It's a time to get together and share company while sewing. This is where I learned to bead. There are also community feasts and events every month or two. People come together and share in food and games. These are sponsored by some community organization and local foods are cooked and served by local people, always including fish, geese, caribou and eskimo doughnuts.

We've found many ways to keep ourselves busy. Photo by Markus.

Yes, it's true, we do not have a television service at all. We have a TV, a satellite dish, and they are all hooked up and ready to go, but we never bothered to get a service. We've just got too many other things to do! We read quite a bit and from time to time watch on our computer an episode to some popular series from the latest DVD we've managed to borrow. With the whole collection at hand, we've become fans of M*A*S*H. Soon we will delve into Northern Exposure, courtesy of a Christmas gift that is sure to entertain us for a looooong time. So you can see that, beyond all belief, in the absence of movie theatres, shopping malls, bars, restaurants, museums, and PEOPLE, we've managed to keep active and occupied while living in Paulatuk. We hardly have time to update this site! It's not a place for everyone, in fact probably not for most, but it suits us and that's the most important thing.

-Delia

Recently archived stories:
:: 10.11.2007: Do it yourself - the Water Tank Adventure
:: 02.09.2007: Slideshow - Delia's Winter '06-07 reunion with friends
:: 26.08.2007: Photos - Delia's Mom's Visit
:: 26.08.2007: Update - Park Patrol Trip
:: 17.06.2007: Photos - Fall to Winter '06 and Yukon '07
:: 31.05.2007: Springtime Update
:: 20.11.2006: Musings Of The Dark
:: 1-4.8.2006: One Island Lake Youth Camp 2006: Fun in the sun
:: 04.9.2006: Little Salmon Lake trip: hungry rocks eat lure, poles mysteriously missing
:: 13.9.2006: Park Familiarization Trip: Getting a little too familiar...
:: 08.9.2006: Starting off fresh

The sun will rise at the end of this week for the first time in almost two months. Photo by Delia.