The time is ticking away before Anjhela becomes a mom and I become a dad. These are exciting times for us, and I’m not sure you’re ever ready for the change that comes from becoming a parent.

Anj’s belly is quite big, but she doesn’t look any different from the back, other than the fact that the bump is visible at the sides. Otherwise, it’s sometimes easy to forget she’s pregnant.

Anjhela keeps saying she wants to go into labour now, but I’m going to miss the bump. That said, we’re both looking forward to seeing the person behind it.

People keep asking if we will be having our baby here, which of course we will. Qikiqtani General Hospital is just around the corner, and the doctors take a midwife-style approach to childbirth, saying it’s a natural life event, so they embrace that.

We plan to head to Ontario for vacation at the end of August for four weeks, so hopefully by then our baby will be ready to take her first trip with us, and ready to meet her grandparents and aunts, uncles and cousins, as well as our friends.

Becoming a dad is not something I ever thought about, so I hope I am up for the challenge! If you have any advice, please tell me in the comments section below.

P.S. I now have a newsletter notice below, as I plan to update this site quite regularly once the baby comes. If you’d like to stay up to date on what we’re doing, please sign up. I won’t be a pest!

Iqaluit, NU - Anjhela Michielsen at 37 weeks pregnant.

Iqaluit, NU - Anjhela Michielsen at 37 weeks pregnant.

When only one of the professional carvers showed up for the Toonik Tyme 2012 ice carving competition, I volunteered to make a block of ice into a narwhal. When the tusk broke off, I improvised.

If you’re wondering what Toonik Tyme is, check out more from Ron Wassink’s recent blog post about it.

I abide by a few rules with respect to my portraiture: shoot RAW, shoot a LOT, and shoot WIDE OPEN. And more than before, look for good natural light.

Here you can see the results of work I did over the past year. Most of these photos were taken with a $500 Canon EF 50mm f1.4 lens I have had for more than a decade. Talk about earning its keep!

What will the next year hold, and what will be my priorities to continue my photographic journey?

Caught in the crossfire of an early hours firefight Nov. 23, Arthur Wilson could not bear to look at the young man handcuffed and bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest as the two shared an ambulance to Qikiqtani General Hospital.

Wilson was relieved to hear from emergency personnel that the bullet that woke him at 3:30 a.m. was not embedded in his head, but had only grazed his scalp.

“I was not very happy with this young fellow,” the 24-year-old said of the person he assumed had almost taken his life. “I heard the paramedic say, ‘Stop yelling,’ because he said the bullet had punctured his lung. ‘You have a bullet hole in your lung, save your energy.’ He was yelling a lot about his hands hurting from the handcuffs.”

Wilson and the suspect ended up in the ambulance together after the RCMP was called to the city’s 100 block for a report of shots being fired. The police arrived to find a male pointing a gun at them. Shots were fired and he fled the scene, a police press release said.

“I woke up with a very sharp pain in my head, like someone hit me over the skull with a baseball bat,” Wilson recalled. “Right after the pain, I heard two gunshots. So I immediately jumped on the ground, ducked for cover, crawled to the back bedroom where my sister and her family is, swung open the door and yelled, ‘Bullets are coming through the house! Get down! Get down!’”

He doesn’t know how many shots were fired or how many came through his house, but said one went through his pillows to graze his head, and another went through the wall two or three feet from his bed.

“As soon as it was over, I saw the blood on my hands and I bled quite a bit,” he said. “The shock started setting in, like, I’m going to die here. I have a bullet in my head. I was pretty scared for my life.”

Iqaluit, NU - Arthur Wilson, 24, had only been in Iqaluit two weeks before he was caught in the crossfire of a firefight

Welcoming Language Commissioner Alexina Kublu’s 2010-11 annual report, Pangnirtung’s MLA lamented the reluctance of new Nunavummiut to learn Inuktitut, recalling a time when “teachers, RCMP and clergy tried really hard to learn the language.”

Hezakiah Oshutapik made the comments as members of the Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts heard from Kublu.

“Now that we have Acts, we have target dates for when Inuktitut will be used in government,” Oshutapik said. “But, the private sector and federal government don’t even try to learn our language.”

“This is not new,” Kublu replied.

However, private sector and federal agencies will be forced to provide services in Inuktitut eventually as part of the Inuit Language Protection Act. Some businesses have been progressive in complying, including Frobisher Inn, NorthwesTel, Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association, and Isuma TV, her report noted.

Iqaluit, NU - Languages Commissioner Alexina Kublu

I told my sports editor Richard McIntosh that badminton is one of the hardest things to photograph. It’s tough, but if you shoot a lot, you should be able to walk away with something decent. Quttiktuq MLA Ron Elliott called to thank us for the photos I took, and sent a PDF out in a newsletter to his constituents, which was nice. Don’t get a lot of feedback on our work here.

Iqaluit, NU - Miranda Qanatsiaq of Hall Beach competes at the territorial badminton championships at Inuksuk High School.

Iqaluit, NU - Jonah Oolayou of Iqaluit competes at the territorial badminton championships at Inuksuk High School.

Iqaluit, NU - Becky Aravluk of Hall Beach competes at the territorial badminton championships at Inuksuk High School.

Iqaluit, NU - Ippak Iqaluq of Sanikiluaq competes at the territorial badminton championships at Inuksuk High School.

Iqaluit, NU - Amaulla Alariaq of Cape Dorset competes at the territorial badminton championships at Inuksuk High School.

Iqaluit, NU - Qavavuq Nungaq of Arctic Bay competes at the territorial badminton championships at Inuksuk High School.

Any thoughts on the difference between the cover photo in the link above and the one below?

Iqaluit, NU - Andre Macheka at the volleyball clinic at Aqsarniit School in Iqaluit

Iqaluit, NU - Alookie Korgak at the volleyball clinic at Aqsarniit School in Iqaluit

Iqaluit, NU - Adamee Mathewsie at the volleyball clinic at Aqsarniit School in Iqaluit. "It was really cool," he said. "I really liked it."

Singers, guitarists and video artists showed their talents at Inuksuk High School’s Iqaluit’s Got Talent on Oct. 18.

The event raised $1,100 for the 2012 graduating class trip to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. Parents are paying for the bulk of the 17-day trip, but the school is fundraising $65,000 for incidentals for the 26 students. Half that amount has been raised already.

“This event provides opportunities for students to open up and not be shy,” said teacher Sheba Pikuyak, whose Grade 11 Aulajaaqtut class operated the event and cooked caribou stew and bannock.

“It’s incredible to see the depth of talent here,” said contest judge Pascale Baillargeon. “It’s just the tip of the iceberg of what we know about.”

Pianist Jari Aariak took the Top Talent award, while throatsingers Fayth and Grayce Zurheide shared the New Talent award with beat-boxer Jack Allakariallak. Brittany Masson, Alianai Niviatsiak and Jose Quezada shared the singing award.

Iqaluit, NU - Iqaluit's Got Talent at Inuksuk High School

Iqaluit, NU - Grade 11 student Christine Tootoo performs Quviasugitsi with the Inuksuk Drum Dancers choir.

Iqaluit, NU - Alianai Niviatsiak sings at Iqaluit's Got Talent at Inuksuk High School

Iqaluit, NU - Christine Tootoo sings at Iqaluit's Got Talent at Inuksuk High School

Iqaluit, NU - Throatsingers Fayth and Grayce Zurheide perform at Iqaluit's Got Talent.

Iqaluit, NU - Brittany Masson performs at Iqaluit's Got Talent.

Iqaluit, NU - Iqaluit's Got Talent at Inuksuk High School

Iqaluit may have seen its last biannual Rotary Club veterinarian clinic, Dr. Robert Aucoin said, as Iqalungmiut veterinarian Dr. Leia Cunningham starts her mobile clinic service in mid-November.

“This may be our last time,” he said. “At least people will have vet services, which they badly need here.”

Cunningham will be working out of a 21-foot van that has full clinic capabilities, including X-rays, her father Duncan said. They are hoping to convert their Apex home into a permanent clinic by November 2012.

Aucoin has operated the Rotary clinic for three years, taking over from Dr. Don Floyd, who visited Iqaluit for 25 years, Aucoin said. Canadian North flies veterinary staff to Iqaluit, and the federal government provides a space for the clinic.

Half the proceeds from services go to Rotary, and the other half to Aucoin and his staff. With almost 300 patients per session, the clinics raise about $60,000 annually for Rotary, said member Mike McPherson, who organizes the clinic with his wife Angela.

“He’s exhausted by the time he leaves,” McPherson said. “He doesn’t stop.”

Despite this, Aucoin says he will miss his clinic visits.

“I love the North, the change of scenery and pace,” the veterinarian from Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Que. said.

“We’ve made good friends and met a lot of nice people.”

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic

Iqaluit, NU - Rotary veterinary clinic