Upside Down Iceberg

right side up or left side down?
This guy was crew on the Alca i.
Gordon Slade presenting his church service to raise the soul of guests and residents alike.

I said, "The bergy bit, he turn upside down."
And Nelson said, "How you know it weren't upside down to begin with?"

Really he said "Howdoyouknowitweren'tupsidedowntobeginwith?" because Coastal fishermen speak in one word sentences. But I'm learning to understand.

Anyway, this is typical folk wisdom hitting you in the face. See, one evening there was a huge iceberg in the harbour with spires and all shiny. Next morning it was a hump. I said it had turned upside down." But what is upside down to an iceberg? then the next day it turned upside down again. My point is that this is a metaphor for our ethnocentric way of thinking. What is upside down? In some cases it is merely our dogmatic perspective and not reality. The iceberg has no right side.

Bunkhouse

I'm used to a smaller stove but this was my quarters for a few weeks. Lately I moved to the Inn where a small servant's room allows me to edit my video without leaving computers stuff where guests can see it. Battle Harbour is unique because guests can rent a room in one of the historic properties. These are restored 19th century merchant buildings so your $125 is well spent. No one is getting rich here as to restore one building takes 4 heritage carpenters and $5 million dollars.

Vacation from my Vacation

L

I'll never complain about the gig I found here in Labrador. Sea shanties at night, hospitality at the table, "Can I clear your plates?" and chopping wood and sorting bottles and cans in the day.

Troubled Guides

These were the two local guides who led me astray. But if it weren't for them I never would've sped so fast to Mary's Harbour where I met the person who gave me the opportunity to volunteer on Battle Harbour. So it all turns out good in the end.
I will post date some blog entries to give you a reason to check here. I have absolutely no way to update the blog on the island. I started out as Oggy from the future and now am living in 1890. Go figure! So I'll post date the entries as I'm in Mary's Harbour for a few hours having resolved my visa issue one day ahead of the end of my visa. I've got 6 more months to enjoy the hospitality of Canada's lovely people.

The Great Auk

Someone once said, "There will have to be another Earth and another Heaven before the Great

Auk is seen again."

I heard that anecdote from the lips of Gordon Slade as he read his Great Auk poem in the Anglican Church on Battle Harbour on the day a smithsonian research vessel returned from a urchin expedition near Nain. The name of the boat. Alca i. out of Portsmouth, NH.

I later learned that the boat rarely stays in Portsmouth but is stamped thusly for tax savings. Those smithsonian folks must be minding the budget.

I thought Alca i meant Alca I. Like number 1. And somewhere was an Alca II. But Alca is a lonely genus with only one member. The great auk is gone and I mourn his passing. My work will hopefully ensure the arctic wolf does not vanish as well.

On a lighter note an American tour group showed up (they all got an earful of my wolf quest) so an American Flag was raised. It rebelled against the wind for some political reason so when the southwesterly came in, the stars and bars pretended it was a nor'easter. Maybe it was pointing me toward my country.