Goodbye Baffin Island

Well our trip has sadly come to an end. Clyde River has become a second home for me in the last ten days. I'm very sad to leave this amazing place behind. Its not just the great mountains of ice and snow or the icebergs full of great tasting water that I'll miss. I'll also miss its people. The town of Clyde has been great to us. We are outsiders that they let into their family. The town is full of separate families that all act as one. There isn't a family left out of gatherings and feasts and everything is shared. One thing that will stick with me is that in Clyde if someone has a tank of gas outside their house and its gone or empty the next day its not stealing. They assume that whoever took it really needed it, they didn't take it just to take it. This act of trust really made me think how different our cultures really are, and how important both are to this world. The way of life for this town is based in large part on the food and resources they can get from the land they live on. The impact of this really hit home on Friday when we were on our ski-doo trip in front of the of a glacier. We had a guide by the name of Sam who spoke of this glacier, that in his 29 years of life has retreated over 100 feet. We as humans need to step up to the plate and not swing for the fences but make enough contact to get the ball moving in the right direction. We must start to think outside the box to find the ways to solve the global warming problem. It has already been having an effect on the people of the northern climates and is only a matter of time until it strikes in our neck of the woods. Nick Illuaq of Clyde River told me that we have to listen to the land. Mother Nature is telling us that we have made her sick and now she is trying to make herself better. We have hurt our planet and now we must find the medicne to make her better. I was taught many things by the people of Clyde River and for this I am most grateful. With this trip now over I leave the north with a new knowledge that im eager to share with all who will listen.

Final post,
Jeff