Tracy Kovalench
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jul 10/98) - In the fall, Trevor Turnbull takes to the ice, but this spring, the young hockey player has chosen to surround himself with greenery.

Originally from Saskatchewan, the 22-year-old has followed his hockey dreams down to North Dakota, where he plays defence for the Minot State University hockey team.

With plans to return to school this fall, Turnbull came to Yellowknife seeking two shades of green -‚ a steady cash flow and a job in the sun.

As the summer groundskeeper at the Department of Defence building, Turnbull is content to call the city home for the season.

"The money's good up here and rent's cheap," says Turnbull, who's staying with his mother, a resident of Yellowknife for 13 years.

Five days a week, Turnbull greets the building's vegetation at 7 a.m.

He mows the lawn, trims the shrubbery, waters the plants, pulls the weeds and keeps it all green with fertilizer and a little sweet talk.

"I don't talk to the plants," Turnbull pleads in defence.

In fact, Turnbull spends the majority of his employment in silence.

"You sure have a lot of time to think," he says, missing the social aspects of working indoors, but not quite enough to throw in his gardening gloves.

During the day, Turnbull encounters the odd lost tourist, ravens, robins and an abundance of insects.

"There's nothing weird around here -- just mosquitoes and lots of 'em," says Turnbull. He prefers to avoid the pesky bloodsuckers by working in the sun and without chemicals, but says sometimes bug spray is his only resort.

Rainy days offer Turnbull a break from monotony, allowing him to work inside the department's shop.

Turnbull enjoys spending Yellowknife's long summer days outside camping and boating. He balances his daily intake of fresh air by retreating home for lunch and playing floor hockey in the evenings.

Turnbull looks forward to spending next summer with his girlfriend in North Dakota and hopes to some day travel overseas to play hockey.