Step 12- Engage with the indigenous population.

Winter wishes? Yeah, I wish my truck didn't look like this every morning when I want to get to work:

Just about all possible physical activity has moved indoors. The pick-up soccer league, once enjoyed in long-johns and fleece, has now moved inside the rec centre. Walks with friends have to be less than 45 minutes, or you need to wear a balaclava.

Now that the great outdoors is closed off for any great lengths, it's time to explore alternatives. There aren't really places to hang out here, or things to go and do. (As a caveat, there are a few nightclubs and strip bars, but that's not really my scene... ) You have to make your own fun. And that's the kind of fun I like. Locals will often go to great lengths to entertain themselves. The young men in particular are prone to playing with high velocity projectiles. Here are some of the guys, working on a potato cannon:

There is a really strong sense of community here. The mentality is that we are all in this together, so we should all make the best of it. One group of friends I have gotten connected with has dinner together at somebodies house every Sunday. There were about 20 of us there last week. Following soccer, and then the meal, we talk and play games. The locals' houses become hang outs. And we use whatever we can to have a laugh. Like board games, card games (can you name this one?), and multi player moving ping pong:

This last Sunday we had a young mum join us with her daughter. Here we are strategizing our moves against our unsuspecting opponents:

The snow and freezing conditions outside make evenings like this seem so much cozier. There are these little islands of warmth and light and merriment that dot the icy landscape. And, on more youthful days, the locals will still venture outside for a rousing round of Kick the Can or Cops and Robbers. Some are sorer losers than others...

It's really amazing that households will open their houses to all of these loud and strange people every week. It is a really neat kind of dependency. It is kind of like people up here need each other and look out for one another. People offer help in very tangible ways. People are very generous with their time (and houses) and are very welcoming of new faces. And that goes for everyone- oil barons and unemployed youth. People talk in grocery store line ups. One persons problem is every bodies problem. And those of us who LIVE here, not the fly in and fly out residents, know that this town is what you make of it. And the locals make it great.