Celebrities passing away

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died today. Ed McMahon died yesterday. Seems like celebrities are dropping off the earth. Michael Jackson is probably the most famous pop star ever besides Elvis Presley(hope I spelled that right). I remember listening to his songs like 'Beat It' when I was quite young and a little later listening to the parody 'Eat It' by Weird Al Yankovic(hope I spelled that right too).

Night at North River, April 24/2009

We had a lovely night at our cabin at North River 9 miles north of Cartwright across the bay. Weather was great. We caught a few smelts in the evening then went to the cabin and cooked supper, home made spaghetti with garlic bread. The next morning we decided to go get some water at the spring a few miles up on the Strand(Porcupine Strand). Before you can get to the Strand you have to go out behind the cabins and cross a marsh. We got almost all the way across the marsh but got stuck in slush. I had to walk all the way back to North River to get help to get us out at least a mile, some of it in slush up to your knees. Saw my first geese of the year on the way back. Robin birds have been getting around for a few days now. Someone spotted an American Kestrel a few days ago. Temperatures have been very warm the past few days.

The pot holes are back

Spring is finally here. We had some great weather the past few days, very warm. So warm the ice on the roads is melting and there are lots of pot holes now. Smelts are getting plentiful at North River. We caught fifty or more a couple days ago. There was a big crowd over there again today. We went up to Eagle River yesterday. We dropped the baby off with his nan and pop for a few hours and went out to Dove Brook and White Bear River for a ride. For those of you who don't know Captain George Cartwright named Dove Brook when he seen a Morning Dove there. White Bear River was named because of the many polar bears that used to feed on the salmon in the summer. There used to be a lot of polar bears at Eagle River as well. In fact he writes in his journal of a hunting trip he made in on the Eagle River one time where he got one polar bear that was so large they couldn't get it in the boat.
However all good things must come to an end as is with our weather and this story. Forecast is good for tomorrow but after that we are supposed to have rain or snow, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Very warm today. The temperature got up to plus five or higher. I don't know if that is a record or not. Went up the bay for a ride. Den Burden of Port Hope Simpson passed through on his way to Rigolet and Makkovik for dog sled races with his team. Here a couple pics.

Good and Bad Weather

Great weather today and yesterday. Went and got the baby yesterday. He spent a week up to Eagle River with his Nan and Pop. Mom and Dad were sad to see him go. He had a great time up there. He was outdoors a lot walking all over the place and sliding.We had a storm not long ago, a lot of snow came down. This was followed by two really good days (today and yesterday)and tomorrow we will get rain and after that it will get quite cold. The temperature is supposed to get up to plus 2 or 3 and later on in the evening it will drop to minus 22. Very erratic weather. A sign of global warming I guess.

There was a polar bear in the community of Black Tickle/Domino Feb 17/09. He attacked someones dog shaking it in his mouth and followed someone up onto their bridge being promptly hit on the head with a shovel. The resident then grabbed his gun and shot the bear to drive it away. The bear was not killed. Wildlife and DFO officials flew up to see if the bear could be saved or be put down but as of today they have been unable to locate the animal. He was last seen on his way over to nearby Spotted Island.

The following is an excerpt from one of my journals

Aug 23/06

Went out to Cape North and Gready this afternoon to see if we could get any fish. Still never got any. I got 3 rock cods and a sculpin and ***** got a herring. Passed **** Martin and ****** Dyson on the way in just past the Sisters. A few thunder showers on the way out and in. We stopped at Cape North for a while.

beautiful weather today

Temperatures are finally warmed up. We took the baby sliding today in to Little Everest. For those of you who don't know, Little Everest is a gulsh about half mile outside town limits named because of its high steep sides. Temperatures are supposed to warm up up to plus 2 Wednesday, which is too warm. Rain is also forecast for Wednesday.

In Captain George Cartwright's time many or most of the southern Inuit died, at least in the Sandwich Bay area. When English settlers started coming over no European women came with them so the men married Inuit women. This is where the Labrador Metis came from. This trend continued well into the 1800's and probably early 1900's. Today we (Labrador Metis) can trace our Inuit ancestry back hundreds of years to the earliest setlers and our Inuit ancestors inhabited the south coast as late as the early to mid 1900's at least up around Spotted Island and Batteau area where my family is originally from. If you look at some of the people around here (Cartwright) you can easily see their Inuit features. It is intersting to note here that in the 1950's when there was an American radar base at Spotted Island the Americans called the villagers "Eskimo's" even though they weren't Inuit or settlers of purely european descent.

The Wonderstrands (also spelled Wunderstrands), Porcupine Strand, or simply The Strand, is a 40 km long beach just north of Cartwright. It was named by the Vikings who passed by there 1000 years ago. It was so striking the Vikings called it Wunderstrand. It is actually composed of four separate beaches broken by points of land. It is a unique area of Labrador. Inside the beaches you have either boreal forest, tundra, marsh land or sand dunes. It is home to the endangered Mealy Mountain Caribou Herd and is an important staging area for waterfowl. It is also part of an ongoing research project called the Porcupine Strand Archaeological Project. Several ancient peoples inhabited this area including Thule, Dorset and Paleo Eskimo if I am not mistaken. It was also home to our Inuit ancestors(who intermarried with English settlers to create the Metis we know today)

Two points of interest, it is rumored that the Vikings landed somewhere on the Strand to repair a broken keel most likely Cape Porcupine. Porcupine Strand was also the site of military activity in the 1940's as far as I know, particularly Cape Porcupine and Sandy Cove. I will elaborate on that more later.

Pretty cold again today. Julie had to go over to the clinic for a mask. Turns out she got pneumonia and got to go to Goose Bay for another chest x ray. Mom and Dad will be going back to Eagle River any day now. They had a couple weeks off work. They are the care takers for Goose Bay Outfitters lodge on the Eagle River. The bay is froze over good now including North River Run. North River Run was froze over a long time now but only recently was safe to travel on.

This is my first blog. I am from Cartwright, Labrador. I will be adding more info about me and where I am from later. I will also add local news, events and attractions, and some photos of Cartwright and the surrounding area including the Wonderstrands.