Yukon bush life

The film crew for Homer’s Christmas Extravaganza arrived by helicopter in a cloud of whirling blown snow just before the holiday. Our dog wasn’t sure about this flying snowmachine at first and was most perturbed.  Until he saw the cameras. “Great. I knew they’d be back!” he thought. Homer very much enjoyed his starring role in a Channel 4 documentary (see  Escape to the Wild  and Escape to the Wild Woolwich Style ) and has been waiting for his second season. Neil, before they arrived. Not quite sure he's looking "bush" enough As soon as the cameras were rolling, he surprised the crew with an ingenious storyline he’d invented. “So how about we pretend we have a threatening intruder and I have to bark real fierce at him? Yeah!” Bounding photogenically across the ice At least that what was going on in Homer’s mind, we think. For us humans, what happened was a small crew who might be filming in the area wanted some test shots of loc...

(Lou, Yukon) One day is the same as another here. A man-made event like Christmas can easily pass us by if we aren’t paying attention. There’s no dithering on Oxford Street trying to find presents, no carols playing, no family rows about who’s going where and with whom. Nothing to differentiate the day unless we somehow make it special. A glimpse of Christmas sunshine from the river We have two criteria for celebrations and festivals- an easy day with no hard physical work and an unusual activity. A day of chainsawing was our easy day for Christmas Eve. We are burning logs from last year’s woodpile stacked behind the house. They need to be bucked (cut) into stove-size lengths then heaved round to the front of the house in a wheelbarrow. ( See our How To on firewood ) Not particularly relaxing or festive, I grant you, but compared to trail breaking or felling trees and hauling them back, it felt like a day of light housework. Our unusual event was BEER. We haven’t...