11:32 a.m. - 2004-01-22
Polar Bears and Ewan
Post #2, because I'm feeling mouthy today.
I'm obsessed with the PBS Nature Special: Polar Bears of Churchhill. I think about it every day. And its not because of Ewan McGregor. Not because it has a man in it I think should be my husband. Because I don't. But I want to own the video.
I watched it a couple months ago, and it brought back good memories of my trip to Alaska in 95. I never went so far north. I want to though.
It was just such a human story. How polar bears have infested this town each thaw and what they do about it. For instance, the whole town joins in the bear watch when the kiddies go out trick or treating. And the kids all go in a pack from house to house. I sort of felt like I was living the experience as Ewan ingratiated himself into the town culture, ran around with the locals, and even bunked down with a mountain man in a friend's house when they had stayed too late to move about outside.
Alaska was magical. The air was so still, and the wildness of it crept into my bones. I have never visited a place so foreign. Even Mexico was more civilized.
When we were in a small seaside town, the men had come down from the pipeline for a break. They stared through the shop windows at me. Scruffy, with beards down to their navels, looking hungary. I sort of skirted around them, down alleys and through back doors to get back to the ship. One of the Cruise Directors apologized, saying she should have warned me that the men were on break and hadn't seen a woman for over 9 months. Besides that, I was the only woman in town under 60 at the time. I felt like a hot commodity.
I've never felt so popular since. And I think I'm kinda grateful. I think that's what stars must feel like, except nobody was taking pictures.
So if you haven't seen Polars Bears of Churchill, give it a shot. Its cool to see life from another perspective. I mean, can you imaging living with polar bears 6 months out of the year?
