A New Soul in Old Crow

On Wednesday, October 13th, after a day and a half to do laundry and regroup in Dawson, I repacked my bag and headed out. Destination: Old Crow, the Yukon’s only fly-in community. Old Crow is not a hub of tourism. The group of us staying at Patti and Kenny’s Ch’oo Deenjik Accommodations was pretty indicativeContinue reading “A New Soul in Old Crow”

Travels in the Borderlands

I left Whitehorse for Watson Lake on Sunday, October 3rd – a perfect fall day by any standard. Driving down the Alaska Highway with the sun on my face, rocking out to my mixed CDs (not many radio stations along this stretch of road), life was good. I was headed to WL for a fewContinue reading “Travels in the Borderlands”

Aviation, Writing and the Best Bud Light Ever: Conference Season 2010

While many were working on their yards and tans the past few weeks, I’ve been making the rounds of conferences. Which, in weather-changeable Alberta, is probably a safer bet. The Creative Nonfiction Collective conference back in April started off the 2010 season. Held at the gorgeous Banff Centre, I let myself be inspired by theContinue reading “Aviation, Writing and the Best Bud Light Ever: Conference Season 2010”

Six Degrees of Dawson City

Dawson may be a small town (1,200 permanent residents) and the Yukon Territory may be one of the most sparsely populated places in the world (30,000 people in 2006), but it seems everywhere I go I find connections to the place I will call home from October to December of this year. The first ‘coincidence’Continue reading “Six Degrees of Dawson City”

A blond on the Yellowhead Trail

I’m taking a break from reno work in Edmonton for the next week and focusing on my ‘real’ work: writing, researching, and promoting myself shamelessly. So yesterday morning I packed up the Mini Cooper -still sporting Wyoming plates – and jumped on Highway 16 out of Edmonton headed for British Columbia. A few months agoContinue reading “A blond on the Yellowhead Trail”

My film debut

I am sitting in the Ottawa International Airport (YOW – my favourite airport code!) after a whirlwind trip to my hometown, and am now awaiting a flight to my newly adopted hometown of Edmonton. Not much would have lured me away from the chaos of my first house and all the accompanying DIY projects, butContinue reading “My film debut”

The Trees in My Mind

It’s a funny feeling, being split between two worlds, but it also seems to be at the core of this writing thing. The other day I was musing about how living here, in southwestern Wyoming, my physical world is high plains desert: sage brush, antelope, and very few lakes, rivers, and trees. Researching the settingContinue reading “The Trees in My Mind”

No More Blinkin’ Excuses

Last week while talking to some friends of mine at the Book and Bean, I busted through a creative wall. Since completing For the Love of Flying back in the spring I’ve felt the full range of emotion you’d expect with completing a book: euphoria, exhaustion, satisfaction, anxiety… but mostly, I’ve felt a bittersweet senseContinue reading “No More Blinkin’ Excuses”

Warm Reception in Cowboy Country

Even when you lose someone special, the show, as they say, must go on. A few days after our return from Ottawa, Doug and I were scheduled to fly out to Houston where Doug was to receive a week’s training to become the Rock Springs Schlumberger office’s radiation specialist officer, and where I would giveContinue reading “Warm Reception in Cowboy Country”

A Week of Waiting Rooms

This past Sunday, September 6, 2009, my wonderful mother-in-law, Dawn Kenny, passed away. Last November this upbeat, energetic woman was diagnosed with an exceedingly rare form of cancer, cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) at the age of 48. There has been no shortage of exclamations from friends and family: “It’s so unfair!” “How can it be?!”Continue reading “A Week of Waiting Rooms”