Canadian Geographic has posted my story on its website, with no paywall. I’m so grateful. Here’s the link. As I write this on Sunday my house is blanketed in wildfire smoke drifting north from Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Things are heating up in Northern Alberta and BC as well. My heart goes out to everyone being evacuated. Always take safety first, things last. To my friends and neighbours, if the smoke is triggering you, I hope my article is of service.

Tomorrow (Saturday, May 31), from 10:30-12 at the Explorer Hotel, I’ll be part of a free panel discussion with other journalists during the 20th NorthWords NWT Writers Festival to talk about the intersection of Fact and Art in writing. This is something I think about a lot. Journalism is a rigorous pursuit of facts, with fairly prescripted writing forms, whether for broadcast or print. Many consumers of daily news have little idea of the constraints on a reporter. When I lifted those constraints and began to write creative literary non-fiction, it felt like a straightjacket had been untied and my heart was free to beat loudly for everyone to hear. Please join me and Niigaan Sinclair, Lisa Bowes, Marie Wilson, Lee Selleck, and Nancy Vail. Looking forward to this.

Do you know someone who is an absolute tour de force, someone with a deep, deep well of seemingly boundless energy from which they draw upon to help others? I’m married to one. Sometimes the activity level, especially around construction projects, can be dizzying. But what astounds me the most is that he’s kept his high-level capacity to keep moving in giving ways through chemo-radiation, post-op complications and ongoing chronic physical limitations that stem from his successful assault on cancer.