Back and readjusting

It's my third day back in Inuvik after my summer holidays. (Yes, I'm technically still on holiday before the school year starts up again.) My parents came up with me – they figured that it was high time they saw where their baby had lived for the past three years. To their surprise, they found Inuvik quite delightful. We've taken a walk around Boot Lake, and have peeked into all the shops in “downtown” Inuvik, a two-block stretch. Yesterday, they flew to Tuk and dipped their feet into the Arctic Ocean. Since then, my mother has been chattering excitedly about all the tidbits that the tour guide had told her about Tuk: “She said that she was the only student to graduate from the high school there during her year! And her dad takes people out polar bear hunting! They showed me where they lived, and even offered me muktuk (beluga whale), but I didn't eat it....”

Mom and Dad are now out exploring the town on their own, leaving me with the peace that I had become accustomed to in Inuvik. I was gone from the North for only three and a half weeks, but the first night back, when the sun set at around midnight, I was overcome with disappointment. I had half-expected that endless sun of a month ago, even though I knew it couldn't have been.

I've ordered myself a digital piano, and it should arrive in a week or two. I picked up my violin this afternoon, to find that my fingers no longer seemed to know the tunes any more, even though it's just been three weeks. My fingers need to re-accustom themselves to what my heart has not forgotten.

The new restaurant at the Mackenzie Hotel is now open, and the Roost is closed (and I was just thinking about ordering some Chinese food from there!). I'm still constantly amazed by the small changes that this town has seen since I first set foot here three years ago. Somehow, it just doesn't feel the same any more. Like my fingers along the neck of the violin, I need to re-accustom myself to this town, to feel that sense of belonging once again.