I am waiting for some computer wiz kid to recover all the photos that the other computer wiped out from the memory card of the camera, so thought I would get a few thoughts down in the meantime.





Life has changed enormously since that day in July 2005 at Icycle Sports in Whitehorse. I was waiting in line to pick up my road bike which I had screwed up royally while trying to adjust the shifters. I asked the mechanic how bad the damage was and he said "not near as bad as the woman standing behind you". I turned around to see the smiling face of an attractive blond woman who seemed very friendly. She related a tale of being rear ended in Ft Saint John BC and having her bikes and car crushed pretty badly. Well of course, being a relative neophite in the cycling world, I felt it only appropriate that I should commiserate with her and come and look at the bikes, hoping only that I could bring some comfort to this poor souls day. So out we went and sure enough her bikes were pretty smashed up as was her car. Being the friendly and later I learned, the charming sort, she quickly had me engaged in a discussion about bikes, bike races and of course dogs!!!! Her Springer Spaniel was out of the car on a leash, sporting a jaunty scarf around his neck and appeared as friendly as she was, which helped keep me somewhat...spellbound. The conversation ended after a while with me handing my contact information to her trusted travelling companion Joanne with (apparently) firm instructions to make sure that Heather got the address and an invitation for her to come out for a dog sled ride after the snow flew. Well, low and behold the phone rang a week or so later and I quickly recognized the voice of this pretty woman I had met a week earlier. I took a look out the window and reassured myself that it had indeed not started snowing in July and wondered what she could possibly want at that time of year.... When I hung up (a couple of hours later), I was struck by the ease and comfort that we had been able to chat and converse. Of course she had reassured me that she was just looking for a friend and companion, since she was lonely because Joanne had left that day. Well, she did find a friend, a lifelong one, as did I and the world has simply not been the same place since then!!!





So here is a bit of an Ode to Heather Ann FitzGerald. It isn't often that you meet someone who has the sense of adventure that Heather has. I mean really, how many women do you know that pack up their car at almost 40 and move to the Yukon pursuing a lifelong dream. She is someone who shares many of the same simple fascinations that I do, the first snow of the year and looking at the temperature each morning and marvelling at how far below zero it went last night. Or, how about this..... in the midst of labour pains (which she did not believe were labour pains) wanting me to promise to tell her when I went out to the bathroom if the northern lights were out,. so she could come out and see. To go from city person to living in a small cabin in the northern woods is no small adjustment and then top it off by not running away after the first winter, but rather, making it quite plain that there was not much choice in the matter, marriage and fatherhood would look good on me, is no small feat!!!! I don't think I need to say more, other than, in her usual style of "do it big or go home", Heather managed to conceive twins, carry them to 34 weeks, get married in the midst of all this, put up with the construction of a cabin extension and then give birth to two very beautifull baby girls. She seems to be carrying on with her determination, in the learning curve we are experiencing as new parents. If nothing else, the last two and one half years has taught me that there are surprises around every corner if I am open to experiencing them.





Here are a few more pictures to share of our newborn babies, Adelaide and Sarah. Thanks to everyone who is assisting us with everything we need at this time from the McKellars looking after the kennel and cabin to Brenda for getting our temporary home in the village all set up for us when we arrive to the Parks Canada management team for allowing us the rent of this temporary accomodation. The Haines Junction Nursing staff and the medical community in Whitehorse also deserves huge thanks for helping us get these babies into the world healthy and vibrant. I could go on forever with thanks to everyone who has supported us, but I would rather share some pictures with you and leave you with this thought. You are all very close in our hearts right now and we look forward to being back home with our new arrivals.