"whiskey for breakfast"...

there have been many first days on a job in my life... many intros as the new staff member while i'm puttered around the environment for a once over... "here are the bathrooms, here's where the coffee flows..." your new supervisor gives that "what am i supposed to do with you?" look, as though they never truly expected you to arrive... they don't know where to begin and you don't know what you need to write down...

all was on par, but there was one small difference this time around: never have i flown over 5,000 kms for a first day... i pulled down my fur-trimmed hood and waltzed into the office a few minutes too early... they all immediately knew who i was -- i guess i was that obvious, or the rumour of a city girl had been circulating at a healthy rate... i finally met my boss face-to-face and started scribbling down the first few points of interest... i was shown my desk (which is rather large and ready for framed photos)... i was shown where the bathrooms are and there is a room where the coffee is always ready to be poured... the newsroom is littered with press releases and copies of the yukon news and whitehorse star, and speakers echo the station as it comes alive...

without much to really do -- in lieu of my office computer not yet hooked up and network ready -- i plopped down on the black leather couch outside the on air booth... as the "mid morning beat" program got rolling, the host offered for me to come in and witness CHON FM at work...

next thing i knew a man in his mid 50s brought a fiddle into the studio, accompanied by another with a guitar... i sat in awe of their raw, honest talent and took in each note they played... their faces were steadied with concentration... their voices were soft and polite... they played songs like "whiskey for breakfast" and "amarillo by morning"... when thrown to commercial or music, we sat, laughed and chatted with the mics off... the comfort level was astounding -- and suddenly i was chatting live on air, introducing myself to my new audience...

with barely a moment to breathe it all in, i'll be broadcasting live tomorrow morning... and as i sit and write this, i feel as though the nerves inside of me should be building, but i'm stable... perhaps the excitement of everything that is new has clouded my fears -- i am numbed with emotions that are as hard to articulate as they are to feel...

as i walked back to the bed and breakfast this afternoon, i clutched my notes tightly in the cold arctic air... and for the first time, for just a short moment, things began to feel just a little bit more real...