Summer
north of the treeline
Written/produced by Gail Whiteside
CBC Radio Iqaluit for national syndication
 Summertime,
and the living is, well, here in the northern regions of Canada, pretty
darn cold. So much so that when I called up a friend in Ontario this
week I felt like I had just tapped into another world....one of heat and
humidity. Those words don't really exist up here.
Summer takes on a whole new meaning when you live above the treeline
and just south of the Arctic circle. It means having the luxury of
tucking away the parka for a few months. You know, the one that will
keep you warm in temperatures as low as minus seventy. It gives me great
pleasure putting on a much lighter ski jacket, albeit still winterwear,
but heh, at least it's light enough so that you don't feel the weight of
the world around your waist like you do when the parka is on.
The air is always nippy in the arctic summer, but one day last week
it got so warm and inviting that wearing a windbreaker wouldn't have
been out of the question. Comments around town on that day were likely
to echo the words "man is it hot out today!" more than
anything else. But this was too much like the summer weathers I grew up
with. It couldn't last. And it didn't. The next day, you could hear the
wind howl over the land, and see what the tide brought in to Frobisher
Bay....big chunks of ice that fit snuggly into the bay, like giant
pieces of an icey white jigsaw puzzle. So, yesterday was summer. Sure
was fun while it lasted.
Still, the coolness of summer doesn't deter us from building decks and
installing gas barbeques. We just cook things that don't take too long!
Come to think of it, I recall a friend who, in minus forty degree
weather, put on his parka, stepped into his fur lined boots and plunked
a roast on the barbie! Only the hardy get the luxury of BBQ'ed beef in
February!
But back to our summer. I've been told you either love or hate it up
here. I think I'm stuck in the middle. There are days when I dream about
wearing T-shirts, shorts and sandles, instead of the woolen socks, jeans
and a sweater that have become my year round uniform. But this desire
usually goes away when I recall how tired the relentless humid Ontario
heat can drag you down. At least up here stepping outside is sure to
keep you alert at all times.
I think the sun has something to do with this alertness. In summer,
it's light out most of the day and night. The sun does set below the
horizon, but just barely. And in the morning, when you pull up the
shades, you're subjected to a brightness so brilliant it's guaranteed to
shock you into awakeness. The downside is that once summer as we know it
is over up here, it just gets cold. So cold in fact that snow in August
is pretty well expected. This is when you brace yourself for the
oncoming winter season....and think about hauling out that heavy parka.
©
Copyright 1994 Gail Whiteside.
Not to be reproduced without permission. |
