The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 18, 1995 - B1

‘TERRACE STANDARD

INSIDE. 3 SECTION B
COMMUNITY : JEFF NAGEL
EVENTS B2 638-7283

FAE COLLINS MOONEY

The North casts
its powerful spell

T’S SOMETHING _ that
seems to appear at about the
54th parallel and grows stronger
the farther North you go.

A Yukon Sourdough may consider us
northern British Columbians as southerners,
But regardless of the insult, we do share
with them that remarkable phenomenon, the
Spell of the North.

It’s here, too. Not as strong. It doesn’t
pull quile as hard. But it’s here,

And the spell it casts is real. If yau leave
the North, as I did, it haunts you, calls, and
beckons to you to return.

I couldn’t resist that call,

I lived in the Yukon once, only briefly,
many years ago. Only long enough to expe-
rience a Yukon winter. Tliat’s all it took.

Born in Vancouver, and having lived in
and around the Lower Mainland and on
Vancouver and on Vancouver Island most
of my life, I was a true Canadian
southemer. A cheechako if ever there was
one.

In spite of this flaw the North claimed me.
A golden nugget was planted in my heart
. and remains.

Tt was deep in a Yukon winter that it hap-
pened.

Days of chilling cold, the sun hanging
~ low, pale and weak in a frost-blue sky:

Pillars of. smoke.. rising from chimneys,
straight up, as if frozen in the air. Nothing
moves; still life portrait, everything frozen
in its place.

Nights of icy silence, long and dark...

Brilliant sparks flicker and flash in a vel-
vet black sky. Shimmering curtains of
celestial light wave, flutter, fan, unfurl in a
ribbon across the black expanse. High
above, stretching off to the cast and to the
" west, ‘then directly overhead a rayed arc
transforms into a brilliant bow — the north-
em sky gift-wrapped for uptumed cyes to
behold.

A dark and glittering world: crystals of
_ice sparkle in a wan light, stars’ twinkle,
ghostly lights dance to unheard music.

Inside, with only the dim light of a small
nursery lamp, a room glows with warmth,
happiness, contentment, as a new mother

A rayed arc transforms into a
brilliant bow — the northern sky
gift-wrapped for upturned eyes to
behold.

nurses her babe — deep in a Yukon winter,

A glass of orange juice, set on the floor by
the bed at bedtime, forms a skin of ice dur-
ing the night. Where else can you have ice
cold crange juice in bed, bundled in warm
blankets, first thing in the moming before
getting up? ;

Deep in a Yukon winter the North cast its
spell on me. This alien world was unlike
anything I had ever experienced, Harsh,
cold, unforgiving. Yct, in that special place,
with special moments, at a special time in
my life, it captured me.

1 left before spring break-up; I never
qualified for sourdough stalus,

But the spell was cast, and in that long
ago time I fell under its influence.

When I left the Yukon it was back to
balmy southern B.C. Yet the North, through
the years, continued to beckon.

[had to return.

We did, for a visit, years later. And before
the beginning of winter that year, we were
back —

And here we have stayed,

The North has claimed me. It holds me
captive even now, all these many years
later. It holds fast, never lets go,

' Here I am, having lived both in the Cana-
dian south and the true North.

Here I am, living on the fringe of its in-
fluence, and still under the Spell,

And here I remain, forever its captive. I.
know I will never be [ree -

How lucky can a Cheechako gett

oa ee ae

A CAMEL parts the sand hills of inner ar Mongolia for a traveller
near the city of Hohot. Terrace’s Jean Thomson Is planning a

Answering China’s call

Local woman plans return to the wild outback of Asia_

EAN THOMSON’S
first trip to China in
1991
through the country’s
Western Desert and along the
famous Silk Road trading route,
retracing the steps of European
Marco Polo centuries before.
Two years ago,. Thomson
visited Tibet.

And this spring, Thomson has -

her cyes set on the port city of
Shanghai, the capital city of Beij-
ing and Mongolia, the home of
Ghengis Khan,

It'll also be her first experience
as a tour leader for the Cana-
daChina Friendship Association
which is organizing the trip.

Last time eight people from this
area went and Thomson’s hoping
for an equal tumout this trip,

“I sce it as an adventure, rather
than an experience,”’ said Thom-
son of her travels to China,

She went to Europe last fall and
while she enjoyed that tour, says
China is more exciting.

“For one part of the trip, we'll
be going by train along the Great
Wall and that should be some-
thing,” she said,

The tour is 22 days long, begin-

ning in Shanghai and ending in
Beijing.

Those on the tour will travel by
plane to faster connect to various
parts of ihe large country, by boat
and by train.

While China may seem a for-
bidding country to a lot of North
Americans, Thomson says it’s

rapidly developing tourism as an

industry,

Part of that is driven by the
country's desire for western cur-
rency and part of it comes from
its entry into the world economy.

Thomson notes that English is
now being taught as a second Jan-
guage in Chinese schools.

took her .

“return trip to the region this spring. It will be her first trip as
tour leader for the Canada-China Friendship Association.

HOUSEBOATS line the shore
visited in her last trip to Asia,

at Sichuan in China. It was one of the areas local Jean Thomson

Her previous two tips have
taught her that tourists don’t have
to take a Jot of items with them.

‘There are fantastic laundry
facilities and you can buy most of
what you need,”’ she said.

Thomson does advise taking
along a sufficient supply of
whatever medicines may be
needed.

And she says tourists should .

also bring what they need in the
way of personal comforts.

“Two pairs of shoes. That’s im-

portant because you do a fair bit ©

of walking and you want to give
your feet a rest,’’ said Thomson. |

Potable water isn’t a problem as
tourist-class hotels provide boil-
ing water and people can buy the
bottled variety.

Thomson says most tourists
carry water battles with them
when out and about. ;

She takes along a supply of
toilet paper, finding it particularly

handy if someone has a cold be-
cause it’s hard to find soft paper
in China.

One advantage of wavelling
with the Canada-China Friend-
ship Association is that visits to
schools and kindergartens are ar-
tanged.

As for how to get along with
Chinese people, Thomson says
being friendly and smiling helps
greatly.

‘Just treat people as you would
want to be treated. You may not
be able to speak the language, but
actions speak louder . than
words,’’ she said.

_ The tour begins May 29 by
departing Vancouver on an Air
China jet for Shanghai,

On June 1, the tour leaves by
train for Wuxi, a city that's 2,000
years old,

A trip by boat to Suzhou, a city

known for its Venice-like canals,

is next on the Vist.

Three days are set aside for
Xi'an, one of the ancient capitals
ofChina,

There’ll be visits to a hot
springs, entertainment and a trip
to a Neolithic village. - ;

On June 6, the tour goes to
Hohot by plane and train,

This city in Mongolia was a_
base from which attempts were
made to take over China. And it
caused Chinese people in the area
to build the Great Wall.

Datong, another city in the
Great Wall region, is next on the
tour schedule,

The tour ends up in Beijing
June 15 for the visit list includes
trips to an opera, Tiencnmen
Square, the Great Hall of the
People, the Forbidden City, the
summer palace, the Panda Zoo
and another scction of the Great
Wall,

Travellers return home June 19.

For information ‘can be had by
calling Thomson at 635-3159,

Local birders count 51 species

LOCAL BIRDERS are calling
it one ,of the most successful
counts ever.

Bird-watchers here counted
some 51 species of birds dur-
ing the annual Christmas bird
count on Boxing Day.

. That's the third highest total
for Terrace, said Diane Weis-
miller, who has been compil-
ing the count results for more

° than 20 years,

_ ‘We usually average around

.. 42 or 44 species,"’ she said.
-Weismiller said the tally
- Showed ‘high numbers of a

couple of species here.
Some 30 northern - flickers

oy were sighted as well as 86.
: Stellar’ s days. my a

ee ee es ee ee tt

Some birds that pass through
the region but are rarely seen
were also spotted this time.

Birders spotted the snow
bunting, as well as the rufous-
sided towhee,

The towhee arrived at a local
feeder without its tail feathers,
but has since then regrown
them, a birder reports.

“They’re quite common in
Vancouver, but it’s the first
one I've heard of here,” Weis-
miller noted,

Also spotted were yellow-
rumped warblers, which are
common. here in spring and

summer, but rarcly seen dur- -

‘ing the Christmas count.

There were. ‘also: lots. of

pygmy owls,” ‘said Weismil-
ler, Seven of them were

spotted.

What was also important,
however, is what birders
didn’t sce.

Red crossbills were not
spotted during the count and
those are among the species

. the birders normally expect to

see.
-Weismiller .. said — there
weren't as many waxwings or
varied thrushes sighted this
year as is usually the case,

She said 21 observers partic-

 ipated in this year’s count,
‘*Most of the people wha do.
- this have ‘done. it fora number :

Weismiller has participated
for 25 years and has compiled
the results since 1973.

The count is conducted un-
der the guidelines of the Na-
tional Audubon Sociely, and
stats collected are forwarded.
to the agency.

Counters give appfoxima-
tions of how much time they
spent counting and how much
territory they covered. That
helps: statisticians guess at
how representative a sample a”

count is ina given area, °

“It was a beautiful day with.

‘lovely weather,” she added:

There was no wind, no pre- :
cipitation. It was a. teally