Setting out from his home in Hoarfrost River, located off of McLeod Bay on the East Arm of the Great Slave Lake, David Olesen reflects in his book Kinds of Winter on how his isolated living becomes even more singularly secluded over the course of four extended mushing trips.

This is going to be my last column for a while. My first column was sparked by former minister and MLA Michael Miltenberger writing about the next NWT election. I was hoping others would jump in. That didnSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t happen. Now some people think NNSL is backing me as a candidate.

Since Earth Week just passed, I thought I would talk a little about some of my pet peeves. To be green and ecologically friendly to the planet, we must change the way we do things, and this involves changing the way we see or visualize them. For some reason very few garbage dumps are open to the public so most people donSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t really get to see what a mess they are. In Yellowknife we are very lucky in that we can go to the dump and have a look around.

When I moved to Yellowknife in 2005, I knew absolutely no one. I didnSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t even know Eileen Dent, my first boss in town. All I knew was her voice when I spoke to her on the phone wishing me a safe flight on my way up to become an anchor/reporter with CJCD.

Each year, on April 28, workers and their families come together at National Day of Mourning ceremonies across Canada, to mourn workers lost to workplace illness and injury.

Sugar tastes good, right? We put it in coffee, tea, all kinds of things to make them taste good. But actually, too much sugar is really, really bad for us.

Last week I talked about dog poop. This week I thought I should go feline and talk about the mysterious and fascinating world of cats and kitty litter.

It happens all the time in relationships and is a tough cycle to break. The fear of communication. The fear of being ridiculed for your opinions, needs, and feelings. Fear of rejection or losing your partner, friend or family member. DonSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t be afraid. YouSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™ll only dishonour your SELF by backing down from a situation you feel strongly about. ISA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™ve been in this exact place. Communicating my needs, being ridiculed and shamed for even having needs which caused me to clam up and resentment to build.

Notes from the Trail with Nancy Vail

I was asked to make musk ox medicine recently. And when I do medicine work, I will invite dreams to share with me what the medicine is meant for.