HI EVERYBODY

Wow have I neglected this blog...For so long that I'd have to imagine that all but the most stubborn, hopeful, or bored of my friends and family probably don't bother checking it anymore, probably haven't for months now. It's ok...I'd have quit looking too. I don't know what it is. I know I'm not alone on this though. Every so often I'll check in on MY OWN blog and not bother to write anything. I'm checking to see if any of my friends have anything interesting to add to the web. But the little monitor of friends' blog at the side remains silent. Has blogging died? Have all generally available internet announcements been reduced to inane tweets and facebook status changes? As compelling as all that is, I decided on the commute to work today that when I got home I was gonna sit down and have myself a blogging. So if you're still reading, here's a little something for you, a little update.

So I guess I should be telling everything that's happened since I left Tununak...

But I've worked all day and I left Tununak in May, so I'll abridge things a bit. A lot, actually. I know friends and family like to know about fish I've caught and hunting I've done. I never did get out on the water this fall, not one bit. I did however fly out to Platinum and do some bird hunting over Labor Day weekend. It's become kind of a tradition to find myself hunkered on the tundra or on the edge of a slough with my friend Paul and his dog Stella so it seemed fitting to fly on out there for a solid weekend of waterfowling. We had a pretty good amount of action. We got to see probably 10-20% of the world's population of emperor geese, and at pretty close range, which was a treat in itself, even though they are protected. There was the BIG DAY on Labor Day, where the planets aligned and Paul and I teamed up to each fill our daily limit on geese. And let me tell you they have been delicious :-) Flying home I saw a giant bull moose somewhere in between Platinum and Quinhagak too.

We're getting settled into the new digs here in town. The TO is no more, sad to say. Last year was the end of an era on that one. This year myself, Lee from the TO, and Eileen are living in a 3 bedroom home on the outskirts of town. Slowly we've been coming up with furnishings. The neighborhood is nice, and I appreciate the relative quietude. And we added this little girl to the household...

The dog, Bailey’s her name, really likes the futon. She’s a rescue dog, and I don’t think she’s really sat on much furniture in her life. I don’t know her background story at all, where she’s from, what she’s seen, or how she was cared for. She’s got a scar by her eye where fur won’t grow, she’s timid, sweet and a little dopey at times.

I’ve been doing a bit of traveling lately, but not to villages like in the past, but instead to training and conferences over to Anchorage. I’m taking on a bit of a different role this year, and I’m preparing to provide instruction via two way video teleconference, broadcast out of our district office. I have no idea until it starts whether or not I will like it more or less than the classroom, but I’ll give it my all and see what it’s like.

Today we’re having our 2nd blizzard of the year. In fact, the 2nd this week to be exact. No need to cringe though. With the snow comes winter, and with winter comes tundra mobility, opportunity to cover some miles and put tracks behind me. And when the weather outside is frightful, I can stay in and brood over the Milwaukee Brewers off season.