Saying Goodbye to the Yukon

I'm sharing a handful of some favourite images from our time in the Yukon Territory. It hasn't really sunk in that we've moved away. When we left we had a whack of snow and a taste of -25 degree temperatures. And the darkness was closing in - fast.

I will miss this wild beauty - a place of spiritual inspiration and creativity, isolation and quiet.

I'll share an excerpt from Robert Service's poem THE SPELL OF THE YUKON which captures some of the call and response I've experienced as a Yukoner.

I expect I will be back - I've tasted the waters - the spell has been cast.

I’ve stood in some mighty-mouthed hollow

   That’s plumb-full of hush to the brim;

I’ve watched the big, husky sun wallow

   In crimson and gold, and grow dim,

Till the moon set the pearly peaks gleaming,

   And the stars tumbled out, neck and crop;

And I’ve thought that I surely was dreaming,

   With the peace o’ the world piled on top.

The winter! the brightness that blinds you,

   The white land locked tight as a drum,

The cold fear that follows and finds you,

   The silence that bludgeons you dumb.

The snows that are older than history,

   The woods where the weird shadows slant;

The stillness, the moonlight, the mystery,

   I’ve bade ’em good-by—but I can’t.

       excerpt from The Spell of the Yukon by Robert Service

Packing up the studio

My creative pursuits concentrate on packing, sorting, and readying for a move. It is surreal, exciting, overwhelming, and sad all at once. A chapter closes and a new one begins. Whitehorse has been incredibly inspiring. I will cherish friends, memories, and the wonderful vistas this Territory has blessed me with.