On my first day at the Yukon Arts Centre, a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers arrived from my mother (and Chester). Although I've pulled out the tulips and some of the little purple flowers have dried up and died, half of the bouquet is still fresh and remains quite attractive - twelve days later ! I, too, am feeling fresh (and attractive !) twelve days into my posting. I've already done a fun variety of things, including hanging a massive 70-piece salmon-related exhibition in the children's gallery. I particularly like the metre-and-a-half long papier mache salmon, which we ingeniously strung from the ceiling. The people are fun and although I'm having some difficulty figuring out exactly what my role here is, I am enjoying it.

I am starting to enjoy Whitehorse, the town, too. Small though it may be, it has many of the things I've come to expect in any locale that claims to be a city. It even has a decent comics/gaming shop on Main Street. It's not The Silver Snail, mind you, but it serves the purpose and they can order things for me. I even took the proactive step of giving them my contact information should anyone be seeking a player for a more 'mature' D&D or similar fantasy-style game. I figure, what the hell? It's a way to meet people outside of work. I have also eaten in one fantastic Mexican restaurant and one less fantastic, but still yummy, Indian place. Restaurants are expensive up here as everything is trucked in and anything 'exotic' is particularly tricky to come by. I also found a decent music store and there is a bookstore I'm itching to browse through. Additionally, I went to the Humane Society and put my name down to start volunteering there. I hope to go there on Thursday for the first time to actually get involved in it. I guess it's a good way to meet the animals and for the cats to figure out which one wants me as a 'mom'. :)

The weather is glorious, if a bit chilly. In twelve days, I think this is only the second cloudy day. I cannot get over how bright and sunny it is. The days have already visibly lengthened since my arrival and probably by the end of the month we'll have surpassed Southern Ontario in daylight hours. I look forward to having a car of my own to explore the surrounding countryside, but when the snow clears, there is also a bicycle at my disposal. I'm not sure I'm quite fit enough to effectively tackle Two-Mile Hill, but there's only one way to find out, right? I have already started to browse the car dealership websites and adverts, though, because this really is a car town. It sprawls up and down mountain sides for kilometres. I've already determined that Subaru is right out of my range, since they no longer make an entry level vehicle. Also, I've determined that it is not necessary to have four-wheel-drive here - most people don't. People seem to do just fine with good winter tires. It looks like entry level Kia or Toyota are my two best choices here. Anyway, we'll see. I do not look forward to paying for a car. Who knows, for summer weekends, it may make more sense just to rent one. I'm more concerned that I find a permanent place to live for May.