The rate of sexually transmitted diseases in the NWT is six times the national average.

That is a terrifying indicator and it's time for us to get sex smart here.

We are no longer talking about a penicillin cure or a prescribed lather of 'special' shampoo.

This is about death.

If our rates for curable STDs are this high now, it's only a matter of time until AIDS sweeps through our communities the way TB, influenza and smallpox did just decades ago.

The new plague is 100 per cent preventable, just as is any other STD, but we need to educate each other.

Talk to your children, tell your brothers, sisters, neighbours and lovers. Tell them AIDS is here and it's not going away. Tell them it is slow death -- and tell them it's preventable.

What was your first hint? Turning on the piped water in Old Town? The ice finally retreating? The roar of the first float plane taking off from the bay? The whine of the first mosquito in your bedroom?

Maybe it's the fact that the Wildcat's open. Whatever signalled it for you, there's no doubt now, summer's here.

The calendar is getting full, what with Mining Week, Raven Mad Daze, Folk on the Rocks and Festival of the Midnight Sun coming up in the next 6 weeks.

If that wasn't enough, there is a year's worth of golfing, fishing, boating and slo-pitch to fit in, not to mention hiking, camping, barbecuing and sitting on the beach.

So, be careful, enjoy your summer, and we'll catch up with you some time after Labour Day.

It's always exciting when the weather warms up and the snow melts. You know that it means it won't be long until the grass (what there is of it) starts shooting up, flowers start blooming and trees get their leaves.

Myself, I can hardly wait to see what Inuvik looks like in colour, with the green and the blue of the water.

Unfortunately, there is something else that is uncovered when the snow melts too and, while it can be colourful, it sure isn't pretty.

It's garbage and, based on what I've seen so far, there's a lot of it.

That's why I was glad to hear about the town's spring clean-up initiative. I thought it was a great idea to pay non-profit organizations a bit of cash and they clean up an area of the town. They get some much-needed funds and the town gets a much-needed cleaning. The person who came up with it should be congratulated. Many of the towns I have lived in encourage spring clean-up, but I've never heard of any offering money to do so. (Please keep in mind that doesn't mean there are none. It simply means I've never heard of any other similar programs.)

There are beautification contests, of course, but those don't usually include cleaning up garbage. They are usually restricted to the planting of trees and flowers and the like.

The clean-up, however, is restricted to those roads and ditches that aren't part of a residential or commercial property. This means that innate and business owners are on their own when it comes to cleaning up the garbage in their own yards. I hope they take the initiative from the town and clean up the garbage as well.

I don't know whether the garbage is from littering or if it's from ravens and animals rooting through dumpsters. I suspect it's a little of both. Regardless of where it came from, the main thing is getting it cleaned up in time for the tourist season. Now that the ferry's opened up, tourists will begin arriving in town any day now. It would be terrible for them to leave with the impression that Inuvik is littered with garbage.

Incidentally, I see that I have to practise what I preach. I have quite a lot of garbage of my own to pick up out there. I'd best get to work.

The name game

I feel there is something I should explain, because people have been giving me strange looks at various assignments. It's when I ask them to spell their name.

One of the first things that my journalism instructor taught me is to always check and doublecheck the spelling of names. Even for the most simple name, there are several different ways of spelling them. My own last name, for example, could be White or Whyte. I've seen it both ways. Smith/Smyth/Smythe is another. That's why I ask and, in many cases, I show my notebook to the person in question so they can actually see if I have it written right.

But despite being as careful as you can, from time to time you are still going to get a name wrong (sorry Brian/Rian Turner). I have a legendary mistake that I will never live down. I made it when I was a journalism student. I talked to this guy named Cecil Johnston about bird watching, but when I asked him to confirm the spelling of his last name, he just spelled the last four letters -- emphasizing that it was JohnSTON and not JohnSON. Unfortunately, I took him literally and the next day in the paper he appeared as Cecil Ston.

That's why, if your name is Bob or Jo/Joe/Gjoa, I'm still going to ask you to spell it. Mixing names up under pictures is a whole other subject that I'll have to save for another time.

Virginia Falls is a place I have heard about often and seen in many a photograph.

The picturesque setting in Nahanni National Park is something not to be missed, I've been told.

Well, after pretty close to a year in Fort Simpson, I can now say that I've seen it and it is spectacular indeed. The raging water cascading down the falls and a lesser falls nearby are a sight to behold. You don't have to venture very close to feel the mist from this natural phenomenon.

But, as my partner Val pointed out, half the fun is getting there.

On Sunday afternoon, we had the opportunity, as paying customers, to hop on South Nahanni Airways' twin otter for a charter flight to the falls. We were among 15 passengers to depart on Sunday, a sunny day as we took off from the float dock in Fort Simpson.

Pilots Jacques Harvey and Steve Klahm got us into the air without a hitch. We watched as the landscape below gradually transformed from one of forests punctuated by a multitude of lakes and rivers to something more mountainous and rugged. Unfortunately, or so it seemed, the low cloud cover enveloped us. At times, we briefly passed through rain troughs. The resulting turbulence jarred the plane slightly causing that fleeting butterfly feeling in my stomach -- not the "I'm going to be sick" kind, more like the rollercoaster type (I understand those are one in the same for some people).

Through the drizzle, we saw the mighty canyons on our way to the falls. There was no rain by the time we closed in on Virginia Falls and everybody strained to get a good look out the windows on our approach. Before touching down, Steve warned of a bumpy landing due to the wind. On the contrary, Jacques managed to bring the plane down right over the falls so smoothly it was difficult to tell when the floats made contact with the Nahanni River.

Being early in the season, the docks weren't yet in the water. In what must be the piloting equivalent to parallel parking, Jacques manoeuvred the Twin Otter as close to shore as possible and Steve tied it up. We walked a short way across a couple of planks and, voila, we were standing on the park's walkway. A group of us made our way down the trail to the bottom of the falls. We observed small blue butterflies, a wild bird (sorry, not sure of the species) and carefully stepped over several types of droppings along the way.

When we arrived at the bottom of the trail about 20 minutes later, we stopped for lunch while we admired the falls. Of course, we were mindful of putting our scraps back in our bag because it's not only a shame to litter in the park, it's a sure-fire way to attract bears (see Coffee Break). Incidentally, there wasn't a bit of litter to be seen anywhere during the trip -- no chip bags, no cans, no cigarette butts. It was really refreshing. After taking the requisite tourist photos, we started the ascent.

Unless you're in the kind of shape to compete in a triathlon, going up is pretty gruelling. There are some steep sections that make it a cardiovascular challenge. The hike back up the mountain was what made me realize that a hot, sunny day wouldn't have been ideal. The mostly cloudy, breezy day we had was perfect, actually. The bugs weren't a factor either.

Yes, Virginia Falls is something to see. As are Lady Evelyn Falls in Kakisa and the mountains near Fort Liard. The Deh Cho is full of retreats to paradise. With summer approaching, we can be sure many people will find this out for themselves.

There are many things that go into establishing a good community and the vast majority of them have nothing to do with the number of buildings in any given town.

Among a town's priorities are to establish rules and guidelines to ensure the safety of all who live in the community, to protect those people who cannot protect themselves and to ensure people can take part in life's simpler pleasures without fear of bodily harm to themselves, family members or, yes, pets. And therein lies the problem in Rankin Inlet.

Stray dogs, or, at least, dogs running free, have become a problem in the hamlet and no one seems quite sure what's being done to address the situation. Becoming more and more of a familiar sight in the community are people carrying some form of "walking stick" while out with their dogs.

Even the community's Interagency group is trying to line up community representatives to appear at a meeting and explain what, if any, enforceable bylaws are in place concerning stray dogs and to ascertain if there is any threat to the health and safety of residents, especially children.

As an extreme, yet all too possible, example, one need look no further back than to the terrible tragedy in the Keewatin three years ago when unsupervised dogs claimed the life of a small child.

Such is the magnitude of the threat that animals running free or left unattended can pose to a community. There is much not yet understood when it comes to what can stimulate aggressive behaviour in animals, even when it comes to man's best friend.

The unintentional intrusion upon its turf, innocent behaviour which prompts unpleasant memories in an animal and even cases of one's perfume or fragrance have been documented as causing aggressive actions.

There can be no denying different cultures view domesticated animals in different lights and, therefore, often treat animals differently. However, dogs themselves are blind to race, creed and culture, making any child prone to aggressive behaviour.

Time and time again it has been proven in many communities that even one dog continually running loose or unattended can be a recipe for disaster. The time has come for a review of the hamlet's animal bylaws and to strictly enforce those already in place.

One should be able to walk a dog in relative peace and benefit from the therapeutic value derived from the bond between a pet and its owner. It is but one necessary ingredient in a safe and well-rounded community.

When it comes to the safety and well-being of our children, there can never be enough precautions in place. Avoidable tragedy is always the worst tragedy to bear.