GETTING ACQUAINTED

     The first time I had some free time I headed to the ocean shore. For this prairie boy it was the first time I lived on a coast and I was eager to get acquainted with the new territory.

      I watched until the tide went out and took my walk. The beach is very rocky and pebbly. It's also slippery. I boldy walked down to the edge of the water. Then I looked back. I became alarmed. I was looking up a hill. I almost panicked for an instant but I looked back at the beach and let it sink in. Tides there were a little over 40 ft. Currents in and out of the bay were 10 - 12 mph.

      The bay would freeze over with these huge tides. The ice would lie on the beach and when the water came back in the ice would rise. There were huge boulders and the ice would lean on the boulders. We could always walk out on the ice without worrying about going through a hole.

    So quickly back up to the high water mark. The settlement was on a steep slope. The government in its wisdom chose to put its buildings up at the top of the slope. The Administrator (me) could look out over his kingdom and have a good view. The Inuit were at the bottom of the slope close to the beach. The Inuit did not have to walk up the hill. Their business was at the water line where they would come and go and bring back seals and fish. Any time I had business I walked down the hill and then back up. I lost weight! I paid for my beautiful view.

   After 2  or 3 nights I heard and awful bang on the side of my house. It was a whoomf sound. It sounded as if a train hit the house. 3 or 4 days later another whoomf. The siding on the house was metal. I couldn't figure out what caused the noise. Gradually I discovered a strong wind would come up suddenly and hit the side of the house and the metal would bend in and make the noise. I had to get used to this for two years.

    It was very windy at times and the wind would blow for days on end. I looked at the weather yesterday and it was minus 24 C and the wind was 49 KMH.

   I consider myself to be lucky to live in a place with a beautiful sea and interesting terrain which was very colorful at times when there were different colored plants. Then there was a long time where things were white.

    The top of Quebec is fairly flat and drops sharply off into the sea. There are 1000 m (1600 ft) cliffs along the edge of the sea. There were some interesting places to walk. Almost every time I went out for a walk a few kids would show up and walk with me. I remember them telling me "Don't go there." if they thought it was dangerous for me.

     I'll finally get to work here but I wanted you to know what the place was like. I have many slides but haven't scanned them.