(Post 4 of 4) I met artist Matthew Nuqingaq by chance at the Baffin Deli, where he goes twice a day with the Grumpy Old Men’s Coffee Club. Maybe you will see him there.
Our Journey
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Parks and prayers, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
(Post 1 of 2) It’s been about six weeks since I returned to the Arctic for this project, #meetthenorth. I will spend the next two years meeting northerners from different countries, and this weekend, during #ParksDay, I introduced myself to this friendly face. As often happens with Meet the North, an introduction led me somewhere…
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(Post 2 of 2) Sunday morning at St. Simon’s Mission in Apex, Nunavut. Paul Idlout looks very different than he did yesterday where I met him at the park (see the last post). Paul was a pastor who worked in several communities. What he didn’t mention, but others did, is that in 1996 he became…
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Look down, Apex, Nunavut, Canada
(Post 1 of 5) Grounded in #iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut on Baffin Island, with lots of time to check out the neighbourhood. The long view from this part of town: the river, the fog and two locals checking their fish net. Arctic char come in under the same ice that is locking down boat…
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(Post 2 of 5) This one’s is lovely: Pedicularis hirsuta (hairy lousewort, but common names are not encouraged by my guides, Jeff and Roger). I’m walking with @museumofnature botanists here in Iqaluit. The tundra is lush compared to #svalbard where I spent much of the spring. Here it’s heather, sweetgrass, willow, poppy, saxifrage, and bearberry…
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(Post 3 of 5) Here’s a man who knows how to handle a bistort. Senior research assistant Roger Bull uses his impressive plant collecting knife to prepare some Bistorta vivipara root for me to try. Yummy.
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(Post 4 of 5) A man and his plants. Jeff Saarela shows off the Oxitropus maydelliana he collected in Cape Dorset. It’s also called locoweed: “Don’t eat it,” Jeff says. Jeff and Roger came north from the Canadian Museum of Nature on a mission to collect, sample, map, press and dry plants. They have 2000…
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(Post 5 of 5) Someday, somewhere, these plants I have arranged will be in a herbarium. Look at my Leymus mollis. I’m so proud! I’m a botanist in training now. As you can see, my supervisor (those are Jeff’s feet), is not too far away.
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Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
Time for a journey to the Canadian Arctic. This is my new and unexpected back yard in Apex. I am held over in Iqaluit due to weather, and the bay is still packed with #ice. No boats in or out. Lots of flight changes. When in doubt, look at plants. I’ve been taken in by…
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Dreaming north, Lakefield, Ontario, Canada
Eating chocolate cake and studying my circumpolar map with author and adventurer James Raffan (Circling the Midnight Sun). We’re in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada for a literary festival but can’t stop scheming about #thenorth. “I’ve had a version of this map on the ceiling of my work space since 1975,” James said. “But the real map…
