A Wabush Christmas

I was fortunate enough to have lived in a northern mining town (Wabush, Labrador) for thirty years, and for anyone who has also been as fortunate as I,  you will know the closeness and absolute coziness of the holiday seasons in the northern communities. Especially at Christmas, the atmosphere is magical,  absolute and so real, it is felt by everyone.

I can’t help but remember how everyone traveled from house to house visiting and dipping into the Christmas cheer. We would be singing and laughing. Often dressed up as Jannies or Mummers as it was also called. At each house they would try to guess who we were, always a blast.

We would often look out over the town and every now and then there would be a puff of steam shot into the air, we knew that someone had opened a door at somebody’s house. At -35 degrees, each time a door opened, the rush of warm air escaping would cause the little cloud of steam, it was what Christmas in Wabush was all about.

I created this portrait of the ice cravings I created in front of my house to demonstrate some of what it was like having Christmas in Wabush.