Six more sleeps!!

Six more sleeps and I'm on that big Air Creebec turboprop heading south.


I have finished my required hours ofr placement and planned on getting a few extra shifts in this week - might as weel get the experience since I'm here until Sunday.  I'm not sure if was due to the great relief in having met my obligation or the nasty bug that was going around, but I started out feeling a bit off today and only a few minutes after gettting to the hospital I had to turn around and head back home.  Fortunately it didn't last long and I am A-OK now. 
Tomorrow I head to the post office to ship home the flock (or gaggle) of geese that I purchased.  This region is know for its goose decoys made from tamarac twigs.  Years ago they were actually used for decoys since the Canada goose was and still is one of the staples of the regional diet. The Spring goose hunt which occurs just after ice-out, is a major event.  The school is closed for two weeks and helicopters come to fly hunters and their gear out to their favourite spot.  They hunt and feast and eat goose in a number of ways including smoked with alder wood which I must try if I can get my Davey Crockett to go goose hunting this Fall.  I asked one of the maintance guys if it was alder that they smoked with and he said "Oh no, anyone can do it."  It got a real chuckle from everyone since it was obvious he thought I asked if the Elders did it.  You had to be there...
Anyway, back to my geese.  There is only one guy locally that still makes the geese and he makes all sizes from about 6" tall to the life-sized model that one of the other students purchased because her mother wanted the biggest on available, and then she had to figure out how to get it home.  We all pictured her holding it on her lap for the entire flight but one of the nurses was going home for vacation and was taking a practically empty suitcase so she lucked out. I ended up with a gaggle of eight; three in flight, and the rest standing. They are all neatly nested in a box and ready for their trip south - hopefully they arrive intact.
Although we had a couple of weeks of nice weather, the cold came back with a vengeance.  I guess it was cold in southern Ontario too but we were minus 27 and 6" of fresh snow.  It is supposed to warm up over the next few days though.  I saw a little flock of snow buntings this past weekend.  They are the first birds I have seen here other than the owl, a hawk of some sort and the ever-present brother raven.  I think the raven followed me from B.C. Of course the west coast Native lore cites the raven as the creator and the legends are all about his mischievious adventures. I am not sure of the raven's role in the stories here but I did read the legend of why there are tweleve months. The animals were discussing it and after many suggestions like the number of rings on the coon's tail and squares on the turtle's shell, it was decided to go with the number of toes on the frog. Of course the Cree legend is moch more colourful and interesting than my redition but you get the idea. There a re a number of websites with the legends of many Native cultures including http://www.tccmcc.mb.ca/legends.htm , http://www.angelfire.com/ca/Indian/stories.html and http://www.nativeonline.com/legends.html

All of the other students have left and I am getting anxious to get home and see my family - especially my newest grandchild who has changed so much in 3 months.  I hope he doesn't make strange - we have been in touch by webmail. My daughter says she is trying to prepare him for the over-due snuggling I'm going to give him.  Like I said, 6 more sleeps!!!!