Frozen

These are a few of the surrounding areas of Jackman. This sunset was taken about 1/4 mile from where I am staying. Jackman sits on the edge of Big Wood Lake. The two little signs stuck in the frozen lake are snowmobile trail markers, the lake is a popular snowmobile arena. I have to admit, just like any attempt to photograph a sunset, this picture just doesn't do it justice.

I think this is the neatest thing. These are little islands in a lake a little bit outside of town along the drive home. When I was looking at it, it looks like you could just go walk along the ice and start sliding these islands around, pushing them over the ice. There was something stirring about these vast open spaces and flat, glimmering frozen lakes.

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Luckily, I think the White Witch has started to loose her power and there are signs of spring. Here in Jackman there is a season that I had never heard of before. It is called "mud season". It comes between winter and spring. It falls in late march into April where a lot of the snow and ice have started to melt and where everything turns to mud. It is a celebrated season among the locals here because it signals the only time of year that there are not any visitors in town. The snowmobilers go home when the snow goes, and the campers and boaters don't come until it is warmer. There is a sign up sheet here in the medical office where all of the staff have signed up for the annual mud season party where they go to the muddiest location they can find and well.....go get muddy. Food is also a key part of this festivity where "mud (meat) balls" are served, and "Gritty taters" can be sampled.

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On the medical side of things, if there one thing that I could do to best help the overall health of the people of Jackman it would be to get rid of their confounded snowmobiles!!! I have lost track of the back pain, knee pain, you-name-it pain that I have seen because of these confounded contraptions. I guess looking at the big picture, snowmobiling is a huge part of their existence. It plays a large part of their trasportation, entertainment, and livelyhood up here. I don't think this place would exist if the snowmobile had never been invented.