Day 3 in Churchill
The second day was terrific, but two days is probably enough. Once again we were out for nearly 9 hours, from a little after 8am until a little before 5pm. Right after we “launched” we spent a long time looking at a mother bear and two yearling cubs. The cubs wrestled and played and chased each other around, which was great. Throughout the course of the day we saw about 15 bears. India must have taken more than 100 pictures of polar bears, so we should have plenty.
Once again, the best part of the experience was standing outside on the viewing deck (even though today was overcast and misty), smelling the wind off the bay and looking at polar bears. In the late afternoon we saw a big black-and-white Snowy Owl standing on the ground near the Tundra Buggy camp. After a few minutes the owl flew gracefully right past us. Beautiful animal, very special thing to see.
More important than the game viewing or the rest of the Churchill experience, two people here have made me reconsider my son.
Maybe because Zola and I have been spending too much time together, or maybe because of my own failings as a home-school teacher, or maybe I am just a grouch, but I have been very impatient with (and harsh on) my son lately. To be honest, it has been a frequent source of stress for the whole family, as I overreact to his behavior, and everyone gets upset.
Marc the Tundra Buggy driver pulled me aside this afternoon to tell me that Zola is special and smart and very sweet, and that he really enjoyed having Zola on the vehicle for the last two days. Hmmmmm. Makes me think.
For dinner this evening, we went back to Gypsy’s restaurant in Churchill for the second night in a row. As we were leaving. our waiter from last night also made a special point of telling me how much he enjoyed spending time with Zola, and what a good kid he seemed to be. Hmmmm again. Makes me think more.
I said to the waiter, “Well, that’s nice of you to say, but he does a lot of things that…” The waiter interrupted me to say “It’s easy to find faults in your own kids. Please, I ask you, take a step back and realize what a wonderful little boy this one is.”
Something for me to think about, for sure.
This evening the weather turned nasty here in Churchill. The wind is up to 20-30 miles per hour, and it alternates between snow and freezing rain. I can’t even imagine what real winter is like here, after the tourists and he bears have all left. All of the pine trees have needles and branches only on their southwestern sides, showing how strong the winds get. We have been told that there is a serious problem with alcohol and drug use, which is sad but not surprising. Tough place.