The Way She Goes

Sun Dogs

2012-01-07T14:46:00.002-09:00

Tuesday I was riding with my parents after storing my pickup at my great aunt Peggy's farm in Wisconsin, getting ready to head back here to Bethel for the spring semester. I commented on a faint sun dog I could see and my mom asked what that was.

Returning to Bethel in the midst of a heckuva cold snap, the sun dogs are common. Yesterday I came home early from work-evacuated home, to be precise. You see, some of the water pipes had frozen at the LKSD buildings, and an effort was underway to remedy it before the kids come back to school next week. Then all of a sudden came into the building a smell of wood and other unknown smokes. Some of the stuff by those frozen pipes got a little too "unthawed" so to speak. It was time to get out of there and call it a day.

When I got home I snapped this photo for Mom off our porch. It's not the best, but I couldn't move the neighbor's house out of the way, and it was a tad chilly to go on a true photo safari.

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday season.

Doo Doo Doo Lookin Out My Back Door

2011-11-21T08:27:00.004-09:00

HI EVERYBODY

2011-10-06T19:36:00.005-08:00

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.

It's Tununak Time

2011-04-30T10:25:00.003-08:00

HI folks. Yes I still have a blog. I actually let a whole site visit pass without a post, how negligent of me. I was out in Kasigluk-Akula, (home of the Tundra Foxes) in late March through mid April. Since then, I took an awesome little trip to Anchorage, spent a little time in Bethel, and then this past Monday flew on out here to Tununak.

About that flight out here....The pilot came to get me to leave for Tununak and then called the village agent to check on conditions before we headed out to the plane. He came and told me that the Tununak runway was closed but they were working on it. Although we had very little remaining snow in Bethel, evidently they had lots of it out in Tununak. After a little more checking by the pilot we decided to fly out here, circle the runway and decide if it was ok, and if it wasn't, land at nearby Toksook Bay instead. It was a warm day so I would have been ok with a village to village snowmachine ride, but I was hoping against it.

So, we were off. I took my customary 1/2 hour Cessna airplane nap, and woke up when we were getting near the mountains of Nelson Island. I perked up then, knowing there's always a chance of spotting a musk ox out here, which I did spot two way off in the distance. Still have yet to see one up close enough to look like much more than a distant black blob. Anyways, soon we were approaching Tununak Int'l and came down for a closer look. Sure enough, there were tall drifts along the runway. We decided to go for it, and it was a pretty interesting landing. Slush flew all over the place, and we were keeping a close eye on the wings to make sure they'd clear all the drifts. The pilot had to make a couple tricky little moves to avoid clipping them. But, we made it.

So here I am at TNK, Tununak, Paul T. Albert Memorial School, home of the Coasters. I have a LOT of students here and for the most part they are great. It's beautiful out here and I want to get out on some hikes and maybe bag some birdies to eat. Here is the view from in front of the little tiny house I'm staying in.

Directly in front of the village is the bering sea, and people have been dragging boats out to the edge of the ice and are on the ready to shoot/catch seals. I don't know how long the ice will last out in front, or how deep the water below it is, but maybe I'll find out before I leave in two weeks. Hopefully I'll get some more photos and stories to share from here.

I Not Human, I Robot

2011-03-09T20:43:00.005-09:00

What the heck is that title about?

Well this past weekend I traveled to Fairbanks to be a chaperone, photographer, chauffeur and referee at the FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) state competition. It was quite a fun and exhausting time, and our teams represented LKSD well, both in their demeanor and in their performance. We were all quite proud.

The students got to tour campus, which was especially cool since a couple students are planning on attending UAF. They have a great campus, with great opportunities, a really cool museum, and campus dining that I must say is quite good, way better than anything I remember from my days in school. I think it would be a pretty neat school to attend.

Some shots of the museum...

We got in Thursday night and basically rented vans, checked into the hotel. The students were much more full of energy than I.

Friday was campus tour, robot inspection, and pit day.

Pit time...

Saturday was the big day. The competition was impressive, and it was great to see our kids hold their own with "the big boys" from the Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau schools.

After competition, we all went out to eat as a big group, and then went to see the World Championship Ice Carving display. The pictures won't do it justice, but let me just say, this was super cool. And pretty cold, too...
There were things they could touch, sit on, and slide down, like this cool slide

And this big multi slide we raced down, fun!

And this big halibut chair thing

And artwork like this...

Amazing stuff. I would have taken more pics, but I thought my fingers might freeze.

Unfortunately, all this fun and lack of sleep left me exhausted and vulnerable, and I came down with some flu after coming back to Bethel. But, like Buddy Ryan used to say on Night Court...I'm feeling MUCH better now. And good thing, with spring break just around the corner. Stay healthy, friends.

First Catch

2011-02-13T14:48:00.003-09:00

Well I made it out of Toksook Bay and back to Bethel.

Myself and coworker Marc had schemed up a little Saturday trip to go up past Three Step, a mountain up river past Kwethluk, on a mission to put meat in the freezers.

I rose early that morning to get ready and have a good breakfast, and at 7:45 set out. It was a bit on the chilly side at -18F, so we were all dressed for the weather when we met at Crowley to gas up the tanks and jugs for the journey.

By the time we hit Kwethluk we were getting first light and it wasn't warming up at all. Towards Three Step we started to see tracks and sign so we knew we were getting somewhat close to the herd. The trail got fresher and eventually we spotted the herd about 4-5 miles in the distance, they were on the move.

We came up with a plan to get up ahead of them so as not to scatter them out on the run. I wish I had some pics or video of this huge group of caribou, it was pretty cool seeing and hearing them move through the draw. The sound of all the hooves in the ice crusted snow reminded me of the sound of a class II rapids in a small river, only a little crunchier. As it was, it was a bit cold to be digging out the camera, and plus I was kind of busy at the time.

Despite it never warming up, it was a gorgeous day in some pretty country. It was a bright day, with ice haze and the sun, as one friend once put it in their blog, had its mittens on. (sun dogs to either side)

Fortunately we found a good ambush point and Marc and I were each able to bag an animal.

I opted for this cow because she presented a decent shot where I wouldn't have an accidental hit on a 2nd animal, and the word was that a cow would have a bit nicer meat this time of year than a tired out bull. That wisdom proved true from what we saw cutting her up.

We set to work on the animals and then had a couple of hangups getting back to Bethel. First, Marc's snowmachine wouldn't start. Luckily there was another man with us, Glen, who could tow Marc back, and I hooked up the sled to mine. But then we got to the meeting place where we were to meet another friend who had gone up that way with us to go check his trap line. He didn't show and didn't show, and we were running out of daylight. At temps like we had yesterday, we were getting worried about him and decided he must have bagged it and headed home, so we did the same. We got him on the phone once we got near Kwethluk and had cell service, so all was well.

It all made for a long day out in some cool temps though. It was good to come back with a catch for the freezer.

Next up, I start teaching in Napaskiak this week, so I'll have the daily ice road commute, and my own bed to sleep in at night.

And some tasty caribou to eat up...

Payback From Wayback

2011-01-28T10:13:00.007-09:00

Wow have I neglected this thing or what? Last time I posted I was on the verge of getting a really nasty cold, the Chefornak strain. Since that post, my travels have gone like this:
Chefornak>Bethel>Anchorage>Chicago>Madison>Los Angeles>Madison>Chicago>Anchorage>Bethel>Toksook Bay.

There's alot I could have said about each leg of that journey, but I've let it slide. Sometimes once a memory isn't so recent, it's hard to elaborate upon it. Especially in a blog.

From Chefornak all the way to Chicago went smoothly aside from being sick. For those not in the know, going up and down in an airplane when you have a bad sinus problem makes it feel like your ears will explode out the side of your head.

Once I got to Madison I began feeling better. Maybe it was a big bowl of homemade chili that did the trick. As always, Christmas break was terrific. I spent time with not all, but many of my friends and family that I love and miss. Ate many tasty meals. I got to bowl a few nights in my old bowling league. I got to see the Badgers play basketball, hockey, and football. That's right, football.

The Rendall family took a little trip out to Pasadena to watch Bucky lose to the horned frogs. We had a heck of a nice time being together as a family on a trip for the first time in about 20 years, and yes, saying that does indeed make me feel old. Some things we did out in LALA land were: took a tour of the city, where we saw many star studded sites including this one at the Chinese Theatre.

And down the streed a spell was this gigantic macaroni noodle...

Of course, it wasn't all noodles and concrete out there. We visited Universal Studios, which was much cooler than I had hoped. We went to the Rose Parade, where we saw many things, including this thing:

I'd post a pic from the game, but, well, you probably saw it on TV, and we lost, and it's still...it's just too early. But here we all are before the loss:

And we did get to see this guy:

So all in all, a good time. Last two pics, to give credit where it's due, were stolen from sister Janine's facebook.

Not long after the return from LA it was time to fly back up here to AK. That meant getting up really early, along with Dad (thanks Dad!) and putting the truck away, catching a bus to Chicago, and having another long plane ride to Anchorage.

There in Ted Stevens Int'l, watching the Packers trounce the Eagles, I ran into John, a former TO resident who has since retired and moved on to greener pastures. So neat to catch up with an old friend unexpectedly like that.

My plan was to head right on out here to Toksook Bay (Nelson Island School, home of the Islanders) a day or two after getting back to Bethel, but the weather just wasn't having it. The plans got all bumped back a week. Fortunately I had built into my schedule some flexibility for such weather related events, as they are a simple fact of life out here as an itinerant. Here's a little example:

After I got out here, I decided to head in for the next weekend, as a coworker and I were scheming a caribou hunt, probably the last opportunity for the year on that endeavor. But the weather had to go and change, thwarting those plans. I watched the Packers that Sunday dispatch the Bears, knowing I wouldn't be heading to Toksook Bay that afternoon as I had planned. Wanna know why? Because the weather in Toksook had a SMALL CHILD WARNING!! No, not as in the context of raining cats and dogs. Oh no, the warning was against having small children outside because it was so windy, they could be blown away. I can't make this stuff up, folks.

Things are going ok here at NIS, although schedules are full of bumps and unforseens. A good night's sleep is hard to come by, too. This week I will head to Bethel to judge for FIRST robotics competition, then head back here to conclude classes. Oh, and don't worry, I will be watching the big game in Bethel. And I will be putting on a Wisconsin spread for the occasion. You know....cheese, Johnsonville brats. Go Packers.

Following that, I'll do a little ice road truckin', and then be a daily commuter to Napaskiak. I'm looking forward to that stint, as it will afford opportunities to put some miles on the Ski Doo, and put some ptarmigan meat on the table. Mmmmmmm, ptarmigan.

Waq-aa From Chaputnguak School

2010-12-10T13:31:00.002-09:00

So here I am in Chefornak, CYF, Home of the Shamans with what could be the last post of the semester. It's flown right by just as they all do.

I'm enjoying being back in Chefornak, and have really enjoyed catching up with the people I met and taught here two years ago. I have a couple of small but hard-working and dedicated classes of students to work with in my short time remaining.

I haven't made it out to get any photos lately due to a littany of excuses, ranging from it being pitch dark out, it's a blizzard, it's cold, or my latest and greatest excuse, I don't feel good. That's right, I finally caught the crud and hopefully I get it shook before heading home.

Hopefully too I can get out to take in some of the sunrises/sunsets here, because Chefornak has some of the best around. Likewise, I'm looking forward to the meteor shower Monday night. AND most of all, looking forward to seeing friends and family in Wisconsin!!

Turkey and Ketchup

2010-11-26T19:57:00.002-09:00

So hopefully you all enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast as good as what we had yesterday. You wouldn't suppose that a bachelor pad like ours would put on a such a good Thanksgiving spread. Some folks assume a house full of bachelors doesn't even have Thanksgiving dinner but of course we do, and we do it up well. The trick is to have many pitch in and make what they are good at, and have guests that can make dessert. This year I decided to call up Mom and get a couple recipes from her to help our feast seem more like what I remember from back home. The corn hot dish was great, and my first crack at making real homemade gravy was a big hit. Add to that a carefully made 20 lb turkey with bratwurst stuffing, persimmon pudding, pumpkin desserts, green beans, garlic bread, locally grown mashed potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce, and it all adds up, we ate like kings. No ketchup on the turkey of course. That's for the after dinner conversation, catching up....

I came in from Newtok with a sore back, empty camera and heavy heart. Sore back just from sleeping on an air mattress for weeks. Empty camera, much to my dismay, because I thought I'd forgotten it at home. Here it turns out I put it in the pocket of a pair of blue jeans I never got around to wearing. So there were lots of pics I would have liked to take but it didn't work out. Too bad because I could have shown the difference 2 years worth of erosion makes from last time I was out there. Walking out to The Point is a lot shorter of a hike these days. And there would have been what I think is a hilarious photo session in the school kitchen, but once again, you can't take pictures with a camera you don't know you have.

The heavy heart came from a total disaster there where a man and his two sons lost their lives when their machine went through the ice near the village. Although I didn't know the man, and the little boys I'd only met in the halls, nobody with an ounce of humanity in their heart wouldn't have felt anguish at the thought of what had occurred. I don't know how else to put it other than it was a sad, sad deal.

Back in Bethel it seemed winter had officially arrived, and I got the Ski Doo ready to ride. I got to take it to work 3 times before the weather got warm and it started to rain, wrecking all the snow and turning the close-to-being-safe Kuskokwim into more of a pre-breakup state. The hoped-for Thanksgiving caribou hunt wasn't to be, and as such, I see no opportunities on the near horizon. I don't mind winter weather, but I'd like for it to make up its mind and simply be winter, freeze up solid and let the fun begin.

From here, the next step is to make it to Chefornak this Sunday. It proved a challenge this past mini-week which is why I'm still here. With luck I'll get out Sunday, work classes in high-gear, and make it back to Bethel in time to catch my jet home. It won't be long at all now before I get to share big hugs with dear family and friends. If you're among those I'll be seeing soon, then I'm looking forward to it more than you know. I'll try to have another ketchup from Chefornak before heading back to Wisconsin. Hopefully with pics next time.

Take care, be safe, and as always....Go Badgers.

Return of the Itinerant

2010-10-17T10:18:00.006-08:00

Yes, people, I am back in Bethel. Back from Goodnews Bay, GNU, Home of the Bears. With my job, time really does fly. It feels like I just got out there, and that was 3 1/2 weeks ago. Already I'm back, with much work to do, and looking forward to my next journey, a return to Newtok.

Classes went decently, despite the fact that it's "Dividend Season" right now. Local readers will know what I mean, while people from Outside may not. October 7 was the magical date when the PFD dividends came out. When that happens, any number of things start to happen. For a teacher, it means that you're bound to have people missing from class sporadically because they go travel with the new money. You also may have students who are tired and sleepless because the dividend money was being drank in their house the night before. Despite these distractions we made some positive headway in class. Here are some of my Bear students working on a class project last Saturday. We welded a railing back into place in the school which had been cut out previously to allow room to move a large object up the steps.

Of course I found time to get out and do things outside at Goodnews too. Myself and Paul made several trips out on waterfowl hunts. We never had a big day, but never came back skunked either. Here's his dog Stella, having dutifully fetched for me my first mallard, a drake.

He's thawing out downstairs along with a few other ducks. I'm going to try out a tasty recipe involving duck breasts and jalapenos tomorrow, and am looking forward to it.

Last weekend my friend Dirk came and joined us out in Goodnews as well. He's a fly fishing aficionado and had contacted Paul and came out to experience the Goodnews River. Saturday I had to sit out, since I had classes going on. Sunday however, we had a great (albeit a bit chilly) trip up river quite a ways. It was a crisp morning boat ride, with shell ice on some of the banks, ice gleaming on low hanging branches from dipping/spray in the river. We saw lots of birds zipping around, deciding if it's time to stay or go, several eagles, and a brute of a brown bear. Once we arrived at the fishing hole, we were all stoked about the great boat ride, and agreed that the trip was worthwhile even if we got skunked fishing. (Which of course we did not!) We brought back a pile of dolly varden, and a few random rainbows and arctic grayling were also caught. I caught this beauty of a "dolly" on that day as well as 11 smaller ones. Looking forward to seeing them on my plate soon too.

My departure was Friday, and I wasn't so sure I'd get to Bethel at all. Bethel was fogged in most of the day. Saturday was forecast to be super windy, which held up it's end on that deal. I was a little worried, not that I didn't want to be out there anymore, but I really wanted to make it back so I could watch the Badgers beat up on Ohio State. Luckily I made it and didn't miss a play. And in my PO box was waiting for me my very own dividend check from Governor Sean Parnell. Quyana, Sean!!

What am I going to do with it? Buy plane tickets, of course.

The Right Place At The Right Time

2010-09-25T14:14:00.003-08:00

So this past Tuesday I flew back out to Goodnews Bay, this time on LKSD's dime, since I'm out here to get work done. I started classes on Wednesday, so we're basically just getting the ball rolling. I'm already excited about a couple of projects that lie ahead for my welding class. Some of my students are more excited about it than others. A couple are so excited they follow me around the school asking all kinds of questions, anxious about when they'll get to do this or that sort of welding activity. I hope that enthusiasm holds up when I put them to work on some metal fabrication.

I'm making an effort to eat better "itinerant food" this year. Packing up 3 weeks worth of chow in a box can mean taking in tons of salt, preservatives and lots of other not so good things. There's no getting around some of that, but I'm thinking that with a little smarter shopping and prep-ahead, I'll be doing the body some small favors.

Of course, me being me and all, it's not all work and no play out here in Goodnews. Thursday evening my friend Paul and I took his boat a little ways up the Goodnews River and set out a spread of goose, duck, and swan decoys. Unfortunately, that night the birds were moving, but we only got one to come within range. That one flew off safely, although he might have soiled his feathers for fear of the racket and steel balls whizzing past him.

When we got back to the village and were trailering up the boat, Paul apologized for the evening's lousy hunting. But check out these pictures I snapped from where I was sitting waiting for birds, and you'll see why I laughed and said the hunt was fine with me. And these you can click for bigness.

To one side was the river's mouth and the small ridge of mountains lit up by the low-level light of the setting sun, hovered by flying-saucer clouds.

To the other side was a real eyeball exploding event...the setting sun chasing, catching, and hiding behind Beluga Mountain. (named so because from the side it is shaped like a...)

So yeah, we didn't catch any birds Thursday. I'm kind of glad, though, because if the hunting had been good I wouldn't had time to sit back, take in and ponder the beauty the evening had to offer.

Don't Die With A Quiver Full Of Arrows

2010-09-07T18:51:00.003-08:00

This blog has been a quiet place for months. I suppose most readers I had have given up on me and moved on. It's not that I haven't had stories to tell, just none I really felt compelled to broadcast to the world. So if you're still out there reading, here's a story for you and a simple thought to ponder.

For those not in the know, I flew back here to Bethel, AK on August 8th, landed in the cool rain and got to work the following day. It was awesome to see all my friends back home at the Tundra Oasis, and equally good to catch up with the friends I've made throughout the school district over the past two years at our district-wide inservice. I learned that all summer long, the weather was pretty much the same as I was seeing-rain, wind, and gray skies.

Soon enough, the two-day inservice drew to a close and I ran several sorties in an LKSD Suburban, transferring teachers out to the air carriers where they could embark on another (or their first) school year here. It was kind of bittersweet, knowing it would be some time before I got to see these fine folks again. It was time to get to the real work. The rain continued...

The "real work" is starting a bit differently this season. Normally I'd have shipped off to this or that village and started doing my itinerant routine after a week or so in town. This fall I've been positioned in Bethel, where I'm assisting with a building project at the local high school. Additionally, I've been teaching a welding class at the Bethel Youth Facility, the place where I ended out last school year putting on a Drivers Ed class. It's all well and good, but it's a change. I'm not used to spending this much time in Bethel, or in a town this size at all for that matter. City life just isn't really my thing.

I came to town this fall with aspirations of filling up a freezer with fish and birds, enjoying the harvests and our beautiful late summer days. But, not many people I knew were going out. Due to high waters and a reported "strange" run on the coho salmon, fishing reports were poor. Due to limited Bethel contacts, and some with malfunctioning equipment, fishing and bird hunting opportunities were scarce. Meanwhile I toil on in my work, feeling like I should be "out there" in the villages, doing what I do. Increasingly on my mind with each day are the friends and family I left behind back in Wisconsin. Could it be homesickness? I had a terrific summer and I miss it already. I become restless, tired from sleeping poorly at night and anxious with thoughts questioning the validity of this early autumn. And of course, it rains.

Closing in on Labor Day weekend with no plans besides rusting in the Bethel rain, I converse with my friend Paul out in Goodnews Bay, and we hatch a brilliant plan: I'll pack the gear, guns, and fishing rod, and fly on out there for a nice long weekend of hunting and fishing. The words "just what the doctor ordered" probably never fit so well.

I climbed aboard the Cessna 207, just the pilot and I, my gear, and a plane full of cargo being delivered to the village. The wind was really ripping on the coast, so the pilot opted for a different flight path bringing us up over the mountains that are to the east of Quinhagak and cutting over to Goodnews Bay that way, instead of taking a beating in the coastal winds on the usual bay cut-across route. He tells me this when he notices me peering over at the altimiter and watching it tick higher and higher. Eventually we reach a height of 4,600 feet, and are still not above the clouds where I know the mountains lurk. It was smooth sailing though, and soon enough we were over goodnews bay, where the pilot banked hard and corkscrewed us down towards the water to set us up for a landing. Approaching the airport, I could see my friends Chris and Amanda walking with their dogs and their baby boy, waving to me as I swooped in. I could see Paul on his four wheeler waiting to pick me up at the airport. I was already feeling good to be in a friendly place, and I wasn't even off the plane yet. Talking about the flight later on the river, Paul reminded me of the Far Side comic where they talk about the funny clouds with mountain goats in them. Fortunately, no rocky clouds today. As an aside, I have to say The Far Side has got to be bar none the funniest comic of all times.

After a little time to unload gear and settle in to my little shack, myself, Paul, and a student headed up river and got into some dandy salmon fishing. I don't want to make this a bragging board but I might as well show a picture of this brute coho I landed that day.

Later on as we gutted and cleaned the day's catch, we reminisced about the aggressive brown bear that harassed us last year. I pondered whether the borrowed .45 I had on my chest would be enough gun to dispatch such a bear if it became necessary. Paul's advice was "well, as they say, don't go die with a quiver full of arrows."

The next day we decided to focus on the waterfowl instead of the fish. We set out a spread of decoys and waited for the geese, Canadian cacklers and white-fronts. I'm happy to have finally bagged some, instead of having the birds fly off laughing at my efforts. It was a great hunt for me, despite the fact that we were sitting in the rain getting soaked, and didn't catch a ton of birds. It was a thrill to be out taking in the scenery, and watching Stella (Paul's Chesapeake Bay retriever) work on fetching us birds.

Sunday we decided to head back up river in some iffy weather and work on putting up some more salmon. Our perseverance was rewarded by calming winds, clearing and partially sunny skies, warmer weather and a nice catch of salmon. We even got a nice look at a good sized brown bear on the ride back to the village.

On Monday I caught the last flight into Bethel in gray rainy skies and dodgy flying weather. On that bumpy plane ride, for some reason I got to thinking back to our river discussion...that one about the quiver of arrows. I started thinking more and more about how it doesn't just apply to battlefield enemies, or throwing chunks of lead at an attacking bear. It's life. Everybody's got a full quiver of arrows. The real battles in life are in the day to day trenches, the challenges you face in your professional and your personal life. Your arrows are the good things that get you through it feeling whole and well on the inside. But they don't do you any good on your back...

For me, I was starting to feel kind of down and out, missing my loved ones, missing out on what I wanted to be doing, so I knocked an arrow and aimed for a weekend of hunting and fishing, "river therapy" in some pristine land.

And you know what? Despite the fact that it's a cold day here in Bethel, so windy that the rain is blowing sideways, and I spent the whole day in an inservice, and my truck is sitting at the office with a flat tire....I feel pretty darn good about things.

Thursday Night Sympony

2010-06-11T08:11:00.001-08:00

Last night at around 130 AM I took a trip out to the outhouse. The air was as still as gear oil and about 55 Fahrenheit. My ears picked up on the faint call of loons on a distant lake. Soon the song was joined by calls from another pair on another lake. The song built to an eerie echoing crescendo that would have to be heard to be believed. As the echoes repeated and died away, responses came from two other directions, two other lakes. Before long there was a long distance, 4 way instant messenger filling the still night air. The calls gained intensity until the woods was ringing, absolutely ringing with the loon song. After reaching an apex of sorts, the residual echoes hopped through the forest as though on pogo sticks, leaving behind complete silence. I’ve heard plenty of loons in the night but never anything like this.

Summer in the Northwoods, life is good.

Breaking Up, Breaking Out

2010-05-20T17:46:00.003-08:00

Here I am in Bethel on the eve of my last day of work for the 09-10 school year. Every year of life comes with it's ups and downs but overall I'd give this one high marks. AND HOW FAST!! We always say how fast a year has been but this truly was light speed most of the time. It seems like I just came to Bethel to start work a month ago. Now it's in the books.

Things wrapped up in Tuntutuliak peacefully and quietly. Attendance started to get a little touch and go towards the end as the waterfowl started showing up, but some dedicated students had a very positive experience in class with me.

After that I worked here in Bethel, teaching at the Bethel Youth Facility. This is a youth detention center for people who have made a bad decision and are paying the price for it and trying to get things going in the right direction. I taught a drivers ed class there to a group of young men and it was a good experience for all of us. My hope is that I have set a good example for them, and that they are able to utilize some of what I have taught them to open some doors later on. Class concluded today and the boys were appreciative of my efforts on their behalf, and as a teacher, that's about as good as it gets.

Monday the lower Kuskokwim broke up and we said bye bye to the ice. I was starting to wonder if it was going to happen before I left. Here are a few photos of what a May 17th river breakup might look like.

We've been getting some dandy weather here in Bethel this week. Warm temps, sunshine, nice bike rides to work. Yet part of me misses the nice cool bite of the crisp morning air.

Saturday afternoon I'll begin the long journey home. I'm looking forward to being there, and seeing all of you family and friends who may be reading this. Not looking forward to the hours I'll be spending in close quarters breathing re-breathed air, but worthwhile of course. Looking forward to seeing the sun set over Wisconsin waters this summer. Will it be as pretty as Alaskan sunsets such as this one late last night?

I don't know. These are hard to beat.

Home Stretch

2010-04-28T08:01:00.002-08:00

Time is running out on this school year. Monday of last week I flew out here to Tuntutuliak (Home of the Bluejays) for my final village assignment of the year. I got classes started here and then Thursday after school flew in to Bethel to help out with the Robotics Tech Challenge organized by a co-worker in our department. There were 8 teams from throughout the district competing. Each had designed, built and programmed a robot to compete in the challenge. This year's challenge involved a playing field with hoppers full of wiffle-balls, and different goals with different scoring possibilities. The idea was to create a robot that could release the balls from the hoppers, and then pick them up and place or launch balls into the goals for a score. I got to be a judge and referee for the competition and was quite pleased to see the maturity, teamwork and enthusiasm of our students at work. Unfortunately I did have to give the referee shirt back after the competition ended on Saturday.

Things in Tunt are going fine. My students are doing good work and staying relatively enthusiastic considering that it is springtime. It probably helps that the weather hasn't been particularly springlike. Temps have been in the teens and twenties for the past few days. As it warms up and more migratory waterfowl begin to arrive, things could become more challenging. Right about at that time, though, I should be finishing up here in Tunt. At that point, I'll be heading back to Bethel, and will finish up the year teaching in the Bethel Youth Facility, our local juvenile detention center. I'm looking forward to working there, and note that no matter what the weather, I shouldn't be having any issues with class attendance.

The school year has flown right by and I'm sure the next 3 1/2 weeks will continue that trend. I'm looking forward to seeing the family and friends back home, and enjoying some nice r and r in Wisconsin. Brewer games, cookouts, lakes and rivers beckon!!

Back to Bethel, First Catch, Spring Break, Go Brewers!!

2010-04-09T09:22:00.004-08:00

Last Friday I packed up and left Nightmute and headed back to town. I enjoyed Nightmute, but at the same time was happy to get back home. You can see the immediate difference it made here:

Some bum in Nightmute.

Me in Bethel.

I went out for a long ride and hunt with a Marc, a coworker in the CTE department this week and finally connected with some birds. Tonight there will be ptarmigan tacos for dinner.

This coming week I'll be on spring break. I'm hoping to get in another few good rides while we still have snow, and hopefully bag a few more of these tasty critters.

The Brew Crew is off to a good start and begins a series against the rival Cardinals this weekend. I'm so excited for baseball I went and bought a pack of brats this week at the AC store. Even though it was 0 degrees on the walk to work this morning, spring is in the air and the days are getting quite long. That's an indication that for folks back in Wisconsin, I'll be seeing you soon.

Good Morning, Negtimiut

2010-03-19T08:53:00.004-08:00

I flew out here to Negtimiut (Nightmute, home of the NightHawks) on a crisp clear Monday afternoon. Thus far things here are going ok. Staff and students both are quite friendly, and the people I've met in the community have been very nice as well.

The village/site is neat looking with big hills or small mountains next to it. (I'm not sure what the distinction is) It's pretty close to Toksook Bay, with somewhat similar topography.

Tuesday we had a really nice afternoon...sunny, no wind, and 10-15 degrees. So I decided to get out for a hike on top of the mounthills nearby. It was a nice hike, though the climb was a little tougher than I expected. There was more elevation than it looked like...

Up at the top is one place some people could theorize was the location of the Apollo Moon landing...

All I found up there were some piles of muskox scat. This weekend if the weather is good for it I'll go a ways further and see if I can find some ptarmigan to cook up.

There's plenty of daylight after school now that we're in daylight savings time. Twilight lasts well past 9:00 and we're gaining nearly 5 minutes of sun per day. Of course the downside to this is that students are beginning the yearly trend towards less and less sleep. With daily activities in the school lasting til 10 or later, I am having that trend cast upon me as well.

Being sluggish of brain after a truncated night's sleep, I guess I'll wrap the post up with a GO BADGERS and leave it at that.

Kuinnerarmiut Elitnaurviat, etc.

2010-03-06T20:00:00.012-09:00

Things here in Seahawk territory are winding down, and I'll be flying back to Bethel Monday night, weather permitting. (those are two dirty filthy words, yes they are) There isn't really much to tell of the things I've done here in Quinhagak. (Gwin-a-hawk, for those of you non LKSDers) The classes have had the usual ups and downs. I already told the story of Strep 2010. Never did get out fishing here which admittedly was a big letdown.
But today I did get to use a truck and took a little cruise. See, they actually have gravel roads here in Quinhagak. I took a drive out to this dead-end road that leads to, I'm told, some good summertime fishing. I snapped some photos, so I'll share a few that turned out. You'll probably need to click to enlarge them in order to make out much...

Stay tuned and take care out there.

Not Your Typical HMO

2010-02-24T19:21:00.002-09:00

So back last Monday I had a pretty busy day. I rode the SkiDoo from Bethel to Napaskiak and Oscarville and back to Bethel, proctoring tests that had just arrived. Then I hauled gear out to the airport and flew out here to Quinhagak (home of the Seahawks). It's a friendly school atmosphere. Nice students and staff. The site administrator is from Ladysmith and is a big Brewers fan, so we're getting along well. It's a beautiful site out here.

Over the weekend the Seahawks hosted a basketball tournament. Three of the teams were from schools where I've taught, so it was nice to get to say hi and cheer for my former students. The fourth was a school I'll be at in a couple months, and I got to meet several of their students as well. It was, however, alot of people to share living quarters (the school) with. Wouldn't ya know, Sunday I was not feeling so wonderful after living in the germ pod. Great, I thought, another cold...that's three now.

Monday was worse and Tuesday was the same. By Tuesday I was figuring it was above and beyond any cold I'd had, and was going to have to relent and seek medical advice. The two options were: go to the village clinic, or fly to Bethel and go to the clinic there. The village seemed like the faster way to get treated for what I was pretty sure (correctly) was a bad case of the strep.

Getting treated at the village clinic was an experience all on its own. It's in a building that is also the washeteria and what-not. There are only a couple of people on staff to deal with a village of about 800 people, so they are pretty busy. When situations and emergencies arise, you get rescheduled, which happened to me a couple of times. Yesterday I squeaked in to get tested quick, but they couldn't treat me, so I had another appointment for this afternoon. That got bumped back to later because of an emergency. When I went in, the emergency was still on. If my ears don't decieve, the emergency was a bad case of the stomach flu, or something to that effect. But...haha...they found time to stick me in the backside with some antibiotics so I should be good to go now. They were very friendly and treated me well.

Being sick and quarantined in the upstairs of a school for a few days is about as much fun as being restrained and forced to watch a marathon of Paris Hilton's My New BFF. Or a loop of the yankees' champagne celebration.

Better times await. It feels good to say that I'm really looking forward to teaching tomorrow.

Hopefully I get some more good days and clear skies so I can click the digital shutter and show you how cool looking this place is.

In the meantime, stay healthy out there.

Napaskerville Checkout

2010-02-13T11:38:00.006-09:00

So it's been awhile. I haven't been mauled by any more bears as of late, nor lost any more personal belongings to the gnashing teeth of my studded snow-go track. Relatively smooth sailing, although my daily triangle commute from Bethel to Napaskiak to Oscarville to Bethel was starting to wear me down a bit. Speaking of the commute, here's a couple peeks of what my morning commute might look like:

My river commute would start at the Lomack building, which would be just off the left edge of the above photo. Then you can see the ice road heading down the center. Then it's about a 10 minute (or less) ride down thissa way...

You can see just a little overflow at the edge on this particular morning. Crossing overflow is not the time to back off the throttle, unless cold and wet is your thing.

Back to what I was saying though...of course, at this time of year, wearing down=getting a cold, which I realized was destined weeks ago. So, although I've enjoyed being able to commute from home, I look forward to moving on, feeling better, and not putting in quite as many hours.

One pretty cool thing happened this past Thursday. I was in Napaskiak, working after school with some students on this project, a rack for their new dumb bells in the weight room.

My students were working away, about to put in another weld when I noticed some people approaching, so I told them to hold off and let these people pass so they wouldn't be flashed by the arc light. Seconds later this man approaches and greets me with a handshake saying "Hi my name is Sean Parnell." It's kind of an odd feeling when your state governor comes up and greets you unexpectedly. We chatted a bit about the project and our program. Nice guy. He was out visiting sites that are perspectives for getting new schools built. I wonder if having the governor encounter a welding class being taught outdoors in February helped Napaskiak's chances....couldn't hurt I suppose.

Monday, weather permitting, I'll be flying out to Quinhagak for a few weeks. I'm looking forward to working with the friendly folks I've met who work at that site. As well, I'm looking forward to being near the mountains again, and being able to hopefully feel the pull of a fish on a line again. The world famous Kanektok River flows nearby and I'd like to get some more fish for the freezer.

That's about it for now. Pitchers report for spring training in 7 days. GO BREWERS!!

Do Not Taunt The Bears

2010-01-24T14:10:00.004-09:00

Just kidding. This is what happens when you have a bag of stuff bungee corded to the back of a snowmachine and it gets sucked over the side into the track. Sad looking stuff.

The next day I found my pair of gloves and spare belt on my morning commute to Napaskiak. The rest of the things must have blown away in the wind. Ah well, not a big deal. Time to get a new backpack though.

I'm liking the daily commute over this spell. I get up and buzz down to Napaskiak, then I head across river to Oscarville (home of the Hornets) for an after school class, then back to Bethel where a little dog is happy to see me.

Ode to Winter Break

2010-01-06T20:03:00.003-09:00

So usually I'm relaying the Alaska experiences for the friends in the Lower 48, and it's mostly old hat for my friends in Alaska to read. The tables have turned, and fellow LKSDers and whoever else, this one is for you. You, and the loved ones I didn't get a chance to visit on this trip.

I got into Wisconsin on the 20th with no troubles other than missing 2 buses (by a minute each, dang it!) and having a cold. A bit delayed, it was so nice to see Mom and Dad waiting to pick me up at the bus stop. Also, it felt really good to bust my pickup out of the storage shed and drive it on down the open highway. When you teach drivers ed, and only get to drive Bethel's 15 miles, then putting on miles feels pretty relaxing and nice just to watch the windshield change. I did manage to get a few miles behind me over this break.

First I had to go hand-to-hand combat with that cold. I pretty much had it's tail whipped by the time Christmas came around, and good thing too. There was plenty of energy needed for the 2 days of family fun with all the kids. I couldn't believe how much my niece and nephews had grown and changed from last time I spent time with them. They are really starting to take on their own very unique personalities. Even the youngest, who is 1, has got an interesting way about him. Another really neat thing was seeing some of my cousins I haven't seen in quite a while. And aunts and uncles. Grandma. The whole family is doing great.

Other than that, random highlights of this journey, in no particular order:

-Going to three Badger hoops games with Dad. Wisconsin tradition never ends, and neither does Bucky taking care of business on the home court. The thrashing of Ohio State was particularly sweet.

-Heading north to my old home area, having some good outdoor fun with old friends. Even though we struck out on the ice fishing, it was really refreshing to spend some crisp cold time on the ice on a couple of beautiful northern Wisconsin afternoons.

-Heading north to see the wrestlers I used to coach compete in a tournament. That was big. They are looking like a good team, and also a good TEAM. The guys were all focused and competitive. So much that the first day I spent my time around the upper ring of the gym and stayed away from the action instead of distracting a focused group. The next day I spent some time chatting with the guys. I was so happy to hear of the successes the young men were having in life and on the mat, as well as their future aspirations. I'm really proud to have been able to work with this group of young men. Saying goodbye, probably for the last time to many of them, there were handshakes and some hugs, and ol' Coach Rendall was getting a bit of a lump in the throat. Yup I'll admit it. Of course...couldn't let THEM know that.

-Lots of tasty meals, both home prepared and at restaurants that somehow manage to surpass Bethel fare, believe it or not. Of course, after all the indulgence, some personal attention is in order so as not to take on the Mike Sherman physique.

-Visiting with lots of old friends from various walks of life. Everybody seems to be happy and healthy.

-And, of course, general rest and relaxation, and waking up on my own free will and accord.

Vacations rock. But they also end fast. One more day here, and Friday the journey begins, Saturday will be the arrival, and from there, the NEW journey resumes. I'm looking forward to the 2nd semester, and have some goals in mind. It'll be good to get back to work, but...one more week would feel pretty nice too I suppose.

I hope all of your winter breaks and holidays were as good or better than mine. And for those of you around Bethel, it'll be good to see you soon.

Update From the Blog Slacker

2009-12-15T13:30:00.003-09:00

I realize it's been awhile. In fact it's been so long that today's post comes from pretty much the same standpoint as the last post. Only the location, the in-between events, and the lights on the horizon are different.

See, last post came on a day of preparation for departure from Kasigluk-Akula. Today I am on the eve of departure from Atmautluak (home of the Falcons). I guess it bears repeating that time does fly.

I came out here right after Kasigluk and got classes going. After the first week, I had to head to Bethel for an inservice. I stayed around for the week, off contract. I needed some time to get re-energized, and I had hopes to get out and harvest a caribou. The first was a success, the latter was a bust. I had no luck finding anyone to go with. There's still plenty of season left though.

I also got to put a few fun miles on the new machine which I'm liking. It's not the sportiest by any means, but it's been airborn a couple times now. I thought about riding it out here, but am sure glad I decided not to. All the snow is gone, thanks to a warm rainy weekend a couple weeks back. It's pretty interesting watching people in the village continuing to ride their snowmachines around.

And of course, there was thanksgiving dinner, where I joined the old crew over at the Tundra Oasis for an outstanding meal. Lee made a heck of a bird, including a homemade bratwurst stuffing that was unreal.

Back at Atmautluak, classes resumed after Thanksgiving weekend. We've been at it ever since, and even with some small and dwindling class sizes we made some headway. My welding class refurbished a bike rack for the school so that the kids won't need to dump their bikes on the boardwalk or else in the mud anymore.

We've had some beautiful weather as of late...clear, crisp, and lots of frost on everything. Gorgeous, really. I didn't take any pictures, because I just knew there was no doing it justice. As soon as you put a boarder around these sunrises they cease to be. I felt pretty lucky, also, to have clear nights the last couple nights, since it coincided with the Geminids meteor shower. Sunday night I went out and saw plenty of meteors. Last night I was out and only saw 5, but it was nice just to be out, all bundled up, hiking across the river and laying on the bank to gaze at the billions of stars.

Obscure candy available at Store here: Chick-O-Stick. Once in a while you find the darnedest things at village stores. I had forgotten all about the crunchy peanut butter coconut goodness of Chick-O-Stick. I don't think I've seen one in 20 years. Still taste darn good, by the way.

Tomorrow I head to Bethel, and on Saturday I begin the journey to Wisconsin. I decided to treat myself to a nice hotel in Anchorage for Saturday night. I'm looking forward to getting some good chow, soaking in a tub big enough to drown a calf in, and sleeping in a comfy king size bed. Even more, looking forward to the next day, arriving in Wisconsin. I can't wait to see family and friends.

Oh, and speaking of family... Happy Birthday Mom!!

Thursday Pre-Flight

2009-11-12T07:55:00.002-09:00

So this morning is the beginning of my last full day here at Kasigluk-Akula. In a little while I will use the break in my daily-changing class schedule to start carefully packing delicate hi-tech gear in foam lined boxes so as to alleviate stresses from the shocks and vibrations that are part of the fun of being transported in small planes and the backs of pickup trucks. Like anything in life, this procedure begins with a good hot cup of black coffee. Beyond that, I thought I'd try something different this morning, and reflect a little on my on my time and place here, and in doing so, hopefully get "into" the dull ritual that lies ahead.

My plane is scheduled to arrive at 1:00 tomorrow. This means I need to be ready by noon, and not surprised if it shows up late or never. That doesn't mean I have to like it though. Regular readers might remember from last spring when I was leaving Donkey Kong, I waited for hours. The company I use is kind and friendly, so I stayed loyal. Screw me again and watch my business go next door though. But that's tomorrow's concern. What about Kasigluk?

I've had some pretty darned nice students this year, and the trend has held up here. Teaching has been pretty fun. One trouble, though, is that of sticking with a commitment. For example, I teach a driver's ed class in the evening. There were 18 on my roster the first day, 11 of which showed up. The next day we were down to 9. This remaining 1/2 has stuck it through, although a couple with not enough regularity to get school credit. Predictable is this scenario during the last week of class: I'm approached by somebody who signed up but never showed up, and later heard good things about the class from a friend. Now they want in. They'll approach me in the hall and ask, with a day or two remaining if it's too late to be in the class. I know what you're thinking, but the problem is, it's ILLEGAL to smack people upside the head. Opportunities sometimes knock. "When will you be back to do this again?" "Probably in about 2 years." Realities set in.

Glaringly missing from my stay here, as well as last month's in Kwigillingok, was a real social life. It happens that way once in a while, but usually not. Never had it twice in a row before. Just not many young, un-married people around who do things besides work or sleep. That, and all the night classes make it hard too, as in Kwig, where night classes thwarted hunting plans.

Well sheesh. This is really not the direction I had in mind for this post. It sounds pretty down and out, and it shouldn't. Ahead of me lies a 2 day-that's right-a TWO DAY weekend in Bethel. I don't know what exactly I'll do with it. Have some good meals, for sure. Pick up my snow machine. Sadly, rains ruined the snow we had, so riding will have to wait. Hopefully things freeze up good and solid by Thanksgiving, so I can set out on my chainsaw-with-a-seat in search of some game. There's some photo exhibit I'll go check out. Watch some Sunday NFL. By the way, it killed me to miss the Favre-Bowl, and I'm happy for the outcome. I hope Teddy the Rat is squirming and nervous. One last thing on sports: yankees win the world series and nobody cares. yankees fans, you don't count. Anybody who does not or has not lived in New York and is a yankee fan is a poseur.

This is getting off topic and rambling, so you know that cup of coffee is finished and my body is caffeinated. Breakfast of half a can of corned beef hash has been ingested. I'm ready for what's ahead, ready to move on. Time to go pack up the stuff and take it all down, the circus is leaving town.

Count Akula in the Spooky Bingo Parlor

2009-11-03T19:40:00.006-09:00

Doesn't that sound like it would make a great title for one of the old Scooby Doo cartoons? I spent the 2009 All Hallow's Eve at the Akula Halloween Carnival here in Kasigluk. What a carnival it was.

My plan was to go as a character I thought up named Count Akula. (ha ha ain't that clever) But, I left my cape and fangs in Bethel, and besides, I think vampires are really pretty lame. Nevertheless, for the evening I decided to mentally be Count Akula. A Halloween costume is really a state of mind anyways.

Speaking of costumes, there were some good, non-mental costumes at the carnival. We had a parade where the contestants all walked laps in the gym to the rhythm of various tunes. My personal favorite came when some youngsters put on a costumed dance show to Alvin and the Chipmunks singing the Achy Breaky Heart song. It was one of those things of which few, and certainly not I, could have possibly dreamed.

After the parade there was some judging, and prizes awarded for different costumes. After that, a full blown CARNIVAL broke out in the Tundra Fox Gymnasium!! There was a cake walk, a slush-puppy machine, a free-throw shoot, skill crane, chuck a baseball at some metal bottles, balloon animals, face painting, eat an apple on a string (best deal of the night in my opinion), fishing for goodies over a wall, men's bingo and women's bingo.

I was busy teaching Saturday class when the carnival was organized, so I had no designated post. Therefore I assumed a roving helping and laughing role in the carnival. Count Akula was there to help should anyone need it. I sold some slushies. I tied some apples to strings. Then, the Count was beckoned to an emergency situation. I followed along, and was led smack dab into the middle of (do I really even need to say it or did you guess already?) women's bingo. They were shorthanded in there, with only a caller and a checker/ticket taker. But there needed to be a ticket seller. Enter Count Akula. But what the heck...I've never had so many women wave tens and twenties at me in my life. I didn't even have to dance, and the only clothing I took off was my flannel shirt because the room was so hot. The prizes for bingo were things like T-shirts, yarn, Gladware, coffee creamer and other assorted goodies. No huge prizes.

The prizes in the gym were even smaller. BUT, everybody had a nice time. I was really impressed by the maturity and cooperative effort put forth by the high school students here, who did most of the organization and work.

At the end of the evening, sleepy after having taught class all day, been to a carnival and worked at bingo, Count Akula retired to the dark Akula attic.

No News is Good News, Mostly

2009-10-27T12:10:00.004-08:00

So here I have been quiet on the blog for too long again. Sometimes it can be hard to find the time and ambition to get around to putting a post on here. The next thing you know a few weeks trickled through our fingers and I've been riding around in more airplanes. Generally speaking though, the better life is, the less frequently I find myself blogging. (Better to be living than talking about living, wouldn't you say?)

Kwigillingok is but a memory and life goes on. It was an interesting departure there back on the 16th. The plane showed up about 1/2 hour earlier than what would seem possible. Consider that it is about a 1 hour flight. Now consider that I called the airline to check on the flight, and they said they would send the plane right away. I set out in search of a man with a 4 wheeler and trailer who could help me with all the gear, and found him. The next thing you know, somebody finds us and says my plane will be here in 7 minutes. Better early than hours late. I had to high speed gimp around loading and moving all the heavy stuff, but got it done and airborne.

You heard me right, gimp around. Let's have that bad news now, shall we?

My knees are going bad on me. I played ball with some students one night and the next day my knee was stiff, sore, swollen, and noisy in motion. I went to the doctor and after a checking over, they gave me some motrin and some steroids. The 'roids seemed to help for a few days, cutting down on the inflamation and what not. We shall see how things progress. I probably only had 5 or 6 seasons left in the NBA anyways, before I would have had to go play in Europe.

As long as we're taking a quick ride in the waambulance I'll give you my other piece of bad news. I may have wrecked my computer in what will forever be known as the 2009 Kwig Tea Debacle.

So, my body is getting old and I'm no good at liquids, basically is the gist of it. But I've got lots of good news to offset it.

Like...

I had a great week in Bethel. I got to see some football on the TV. I was a judge for LKSD's junior high speech competition, which was tons of fun. I had a good productive week in town, made some good professional in-roads, and feel pleased with the way things went. Aside from that little computer thing of course.

I had some wonderful friends come and visit this past weekend. We went to a really neat fundraiser called Just Desserts, where nothing but dessert was served, and enjoyed the musical and dancing variety show that went along with it. We have some really talented people in and around Bethel. Add to that fun, even more fun gatherings, fellowship with friends new and old, and, well...I guess what I'm blathering about is that it was a great weekend that ended way too soon for me.

Monday I flew to where I am now: Kasigluk-Akula. Kasigluk is a village aquatically divided into two parts, each with their own school. I am teaching at Akula, home of the Tundra Foxes. The other side, Akiuk, will be pretty hard to get to until there is enough ice, unless the bit that there is melts away for a little while.

So far it seems fine here. It is early, but my morning classes went well.

Oh, and yesterday before leaving Bethel I bought this:

So, bring on the winter. Life is good.

Martha Stewart Was Here

2009-10-10T20:37:00.005-08:00

More on that title in a bit.

The week has been somewhat long and decent overall. I mean, it is long, and there isn't much opportunity for leisure or fun activities. We didn't make it out bird hunting last weekend afterall. There was a conflict of obligations for the people, and Sundays are out. Hunting is illegal on Sundays here. But I do have really nice students, and that makes work not seem so worky sometimes. One more week down, one more to go here, and then it's onward and forward.

I just got back in from my walk to Store. Despite high winds it was a nice little stroll. Last post I mentioned how I get to craving salad and the like when in villages. The other thing I really crave is eggs. So when I found a cooler full of eggs at Store you could have knocked me over with a dried salmon. Eggs over hard, fried hard for Sunday breakfast in the bush tomorrow. Or maybe huevos rancheros. We'll see.

I'm making good on the photos I said I'd post. Do you care about the photos? Here are a few I snapped here in Kwigillingok over the past few days. Nothing too special but I kind of liked them, so why not make them viewable to people all over the universe I figured.

Teacher housing is what's at the end of the rainbow. It depends on perspective though. A few weeks ago I saw a rainbow circle from up in the plane. It's been a rainbowy fall.

The arctic pipe heads off into the sunset.

The game goes on as kids play basketball past dark.

Now for the Martha Stewart thing. When I'm traveling I try to not rely too much on canned foods, but it's pretty unavoidable. Ya know how soup cans love to put recipes on the side of themselves, giving you new innovative ways to use their contents. Usually it's a passable sacrifice on something you could make better yourself, but good to keep in mind for when you're in a pinch. Well I noticed one this week that is just absolutely brilliant. This recipe is for the Ultimate Roast Beef Sandwich, and it appears on the side of a can of some kind of meat/gravy/potato/carrot product made by a company whose name rhymes with minty door. The recipe has an ingredients list and a step by step process, of how to open up the can and spoon this crap onto a hotdog bun. It comes with a finished photo so you know what it looks like. Somebody better call Arby's and tell them to watch out.
Next week, Oscar Mayer's recipe for the ultimate stew. Ahh, who can wait that long. What you do is, you throw two hotdogs in a bowl with two biscuits and eat it with a fork.

Bon Apetit.

How About a Nice Hot Cup of Kwigillingok?

2009-10-03T09:20:00.002-08:00

HI

First off, sorry for the delayed post. It's been over a month, I know. Life has been busy, and there have been a couple of technical issues on top of it. If you've checked in you may have noticed some unintelligible notice saying this blog has been flagged for some type of objectionable content, waa waa. The first time I thought maybe Blogger had discovered that fish video I posted from Copper Center. Alas, it's just a problem with the site itself. In any case I couldn't log in until one of my computer geek friends taught me about another secret entrance. And then I had to remember to use it...

The other issue is that I don't have internet at the NEW PLACE IN BETHEL. That's right. We moved into a new place, one big enough for the three of us. The mark I leave there is: a stack of rubbermaid bins in a closet, a red truck out front which moves around for the week I am in town, and...I don't know I guess that's probably it. But still it feels like a home when I'm there.

I returned from Goodnews on the 18th of September with a bittersweet taste in my mouth. It was nice to be back and see my friends again. At the same time, I was missing the people, the river, the coast and the mountains out in GNU. Hopefully I will make it back sometime in the not too distant future. In retrospect though it was probably good to give my arm a break from reeling in all those salmon. I was beginning to consider switching my reel to a lefty just to even out the burden.

In Bethel I had quite a busy week at work topped with an inservice on Saturday. I consumed many fresh salads and vegetables I had been craving when away in the village. After 3 or 4 weeks in the bush, few things are as mouthwatering a thought as a spinach salad. It's true.

This past Monday I flew through the fog and mist and landed in the village of Kwigillingok (KWK), Kwig for short. Home of the Eagles, by the way. Actual pronunciation is more like gwee-hee-yeeng-hawk. But that's not really right either. I'm told that in Yup'ik it means "place with no rivers." One of my community member students in Drivers Ed is going to tell me the story behind the name sometime, as she noticed the look on my face when she told me the meaning. (right now I can see the river out the window, and there is a barge in it being unloaded with a crane, so the look on my face was one of puzzlement I'm sure)

Things here are going fine. I work an odd schedule. The students are pretty nice. The little kids all know me, and for some reason they often would ask me for pepsi which I couldn't figure out until just yesterday. My coffee cup has a pepsi logo on it, so naturally I would therefore have pepsi in my backpack. That is the rationale of a first grader... Myself and a couple of my welding students are planning on going bird hunting this evening.

Other than that, it's been rainy, autumn has come, the tundra is browning, we've had some frosts, the bugs are dead, the Brewers are 78-82 with two to go. Send in the clowns.

I'll try to pull out my camera and push some buttons before the next post.

Enjoy Monday Night Football this week. It should be memorable.

Good News for People Who Like Good News about Goodnews

2009-08-28T22:39:00.013-08:00

A few changes are afoot since the last post and life is fine. Work has been within spec, and so has the fishing. Back on the 16th, Erin, Macy, friends/coworkers from the District Office Iain and Bethany headed out in Erin's boat once again. Earlier in the day Erin and I took a ride down to her old home of Oscarville to visit and drop off/pick up things. I basically went for the fresh air, as the day was a real beauty.

When we pulled up in the Oscarville Slough, I busted out laughing. There were little kids all over the slough, swimming in the cool water and totally full of mud, head to toe. They were all so thrilled to see Erin and Macy both. So all these mud caked boys and girls are running and yelling along the shore as they see Erin's boat approaching. It was pretty cute, and after some hellos we headed inside Erin's old house for a bit.

While the girls chatted, Macy and I went and played with sticks and fed ourselves to the gnats.
After a while we got out of there to go pick up Iain and Bethany back up in Bethel on the way further up river to the Kwethluk River. This time Erin had some secret hole in the river that had yielded several big silvers on the day after my prior fruitless journey upriver.

This time I got on the salmon board. First Erin caught 2 or 3 fish. She was on fire and we all were just looking on in amazement. She seemed to know just where the fish were. My first rod-n-reel salmon of my life was pretty unspectacular. I set the hook, it thrashed for a couple seconds, and then a boat went by doing about 80 knots. The waves rinsed the fish right up on shore, where I subdued it in short order. The afternoon had a fair amount of fishing action, and I got this one on what I had mentally said would be my last cast of the day. (and it was)

Macy was acting like it was really cold on the ride home, but she's kind of a wuss.

Back to work on Monday I spent my week setting up schedules, planning, setting up gear and getting everything ready for the Fall '09 Tour. First gig:
Goodnews Bay
Rocky Mountain School
Home of the Bears
8/24-9/18

And here I am...

So far life here has been great. I made friends with most of the staff last year, as they stayed at the TO from time to time. Really really good people to be around.

Monday I did the usual: pack up, haul gear to Yute Air, sit around, fly out, unload the plane, haul all the gear to school, schedule classes, set up gear. I got that stuff down to a science last year.

In the evening, a couple friends here Chris and Amanda invited me on a hike up Rocky Mountain which is just behind the school. We picked and ate some berries on the way and I snapped a couple photos of the village from on top.

Tuesday I kicked off classes. They all seem to be going pretty well so far, by the way. But after class was even better. Chris (teacher here, great guy, husband of Amanda), Paul (teacher here, owner of a boat, all around good guy), John (itinerant worker, former TO housemate last year) and myself (you know me) piled into Paul's boat and shot up the Goodnews River a spell. The fishing was unreal. I got fish on each of my first 2 casts. We stacked up fish for a couple hours and then set about cleaning.

The rest of the week went smoothly by, and today we got out fishing some more. This time is was Paul, Ken (Paul's friend from back home), Amanda (teacher here, Chris's wife, all around good lady) and myself. Today the fishing was equally awesome, with a few real bigguns. The weather was pretty much perfect, and I was in short sleeves alot of the day.

The bears were pretty active today too. I was fishing on the bank when I heard a twig crack behind me, and I turned to see a big brown furry head looking at me. A lot of shouting got it to leave the area eventually. Getting snuck up on like that had me keeping a closer eye on the brush.

After a while of catching more fish we decided to head down river to clean the fish away from the good fishing hole and fix up some dinner. About a half hour into the cleaning we had another visitor. This one acted aggressively and it wasn't until Paul cracked off a warning shot that it got the picture and boogied. I think it wanted to run us off and take all our fish. It wasn't too long before the darned thing circled back from down river and started up towards us to feed on our fish carcasses as the current carried them away. It got yelled at plenty, and the agreement was that it could eat all the carcasses it wanted as long as it did so down away from us. Not that it much cared what we thought...

We finished our business, got back to the village and called it an absolutely awesome day. A person's gotta enjoy days like these for what they are.

Back in Good Ol' Bethel

2009-08-15T16:36:00.002-08:00

Well this won't be the most picturesque or exciting post of the blog, but I think it's time to say "Hi" to the dozens of you readers out there.

I landed in Bethel here on the evening of the 3rd. So far it's been good here. I've been staying at the TO again. The place Erin and I are to live in is small. We knew this ahead of time, but I think it's becoming apparent that it is quite small for us. There is another place owned by the landlord that will come available and the plan seems to be to move in there once it is ready. In the meantime, the situation remains in flux. It's fine, though. The TO is happy and vibrant as ever.

I've reunited with my buddy Big Red Fred and have been cruising Bethel in style. I've made a couple improvements to the rig, with a few more planned yet.

One night in the first week, Erin, KC and myself went out in Erin's boat with a net we borrowed from a co-worker and took advantage of the silver salmon run that is still on. We netted 15 and were just getting the hang of working as a 3 person team, with a nice haul of 11 fish on our last set, when it was time to head in. We were up cutting fish til 1:30 in the morning, but it is nice to have tasty fillets in the freezer. A few days later we headed up river, past Kwethluk to try some rod-n-reel fishing. The fish were not cooperative and I landed the only catch of the day, a smallish pike which yielded some fillets for the freezer. The next day they went back with some other folks and caught a boatload. Usually fishing you hear "ya shoulda been here yesterday" but this time I guess it's more like "ya SHOULDN'T have." Ah well though. In a week I'll be heading to Goodnews Bay, where the fishing is supposed to be really good, and the views majestic and beautiful, so I'm excited and all...

Last week was back to work for me. Monday was inservice for 2nd year teachers in the district, such as myself. Tuesday and Wednesday were district-wide inservice held at the high school in Bethel. It was great to catch up with all the friends I made in all the villages from last year, and meet new people. We got trained on various things, both technological and teaching practices, and overall it was very positive. Wednesday brought a neat surprise with a couple of very important speakers: The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development commissioner Larry LeDoux and Alaska governor Sean Parnell. We all felt very honored to have such distinguished guests at LKSD, and they had some very encouraging words for us.

Now I'm getting all geared up and ready to go for the new year. I have lots of ideas and am just overall excited to get after it.

I hope that you all are well. Stay tuned. Go Brewers.

Copper Center, etc.

2009-08-05T16:08:00.015-08:00

On July 22nd I made the flight from Minneapolis to Anchorage. It was a little under 3 hours long, that flight, but seemed closer to 6. That's what happens when you cross 3 time zones...

After collecting my bags off the conveyor at Ted Stevens International, my friend and former TO housemate Lee met me outside to pick me up and head over to his place in Copper Center. The drive to Copper Center takes close to 5 hours and was pretty spectacular overall. After you get through the Mat-Su valley, you find yourself surrounded by mountains of varied size and shape, and there are countless panoramic views.

Eventually we got to Lee's place in Copper Center. It's a big 5th wheel parked on the land of some of his good friends, Mike and Pauline, and their large family. Their family, besides their two daughters, includes: 5 dogs, 6 cats, 4 chickens, 2 geese, and a horse. It was a fun, friendly, happy and relaxing time in Copper Center, and a great way to bring vacation to an end after all of my summer travels.

On the weekend of July 24th, Lee and I headed up to Fairbanks to see what was there and visit our friend Erin, who was finishing up her masters classes at UAF. I didn't use the camera on that excursion, but I'll tell y'all the highlights: Erin rented an inflatable raft from campus, and in that raft Erin, Lee, myself, and two of Erin's friends Mae and Donald floated the Chena river. We had a nice time, although the river was a bit lazy. It was nice and safe, but, alas, not an adrenaline rush at all. Camaraderie was the thrill of the day.

The next day Lee, Erin and myself drove out to Chena Hot Springs. The drive was really pretty when we were out of the smoke. The area had lots of smoke because of wildfires, and depending on the wind, it could be hazy, or you could have "ash snow" falling all over you. Many of the mountain views were obscured by the haze, but many were spectacular as well. After a while, seeing moose wasn't as exciting as it had been on my ride into Copper Center. Kind of like when you see your 10th or 20th deer of a drive...whoopee. But they were massive animals of course, all cows and calves. The Chena Hot Springs reminded me of the other hot springs I once visited at Thermopolis. It was warm and soothing, and I really think that sulfur does good things for your body besides make it smell like eggs. Also at the park, Macy, Erin and I took a hike and picked some blueberries.

On Sunday, it was time for Lee and I to break camp and head back to Copper Center. We had a nice drive, and it was impressive to see all the various craft and weaponry as we rode past Eielson Air Force Base. We didn't stop on the 4 hour drive back to CC, other than to implement some roadside dust control.

Back in Copper Center on Monday, Lee was packing up his belongings in anticipation of the end of his vacation. Meanwhile, Mike and Pauline said they had room in the van, which they were driving to Valdez to drop off their nephew. Of course I took them up on it, and was really glad I did. It was a gorgeous ride and Valdez was a pretty port town. It wasn't even raining on the day we were there. Here are some pics I took on that ride:

These are of a breathtaking place called Thompson Pass.

This is the end of the road for the Trans Alaskan Pipeline, where the tankers pick up all the black gold. No big tankers at the time, sadly.

This is one of the many glaciers I saw. This is Worthington Glacier. Apparently they're smaller now than anyone remembers.

Next is a racy video I shot in a nearby stream of some hot pink salmon action. Mature audiences only, bow-chicka-bowwow.

In Valdez we filled our guts with some good Mexican food and headed back up to Copper Center. Over the next couple days I relaxed, read, helped Mike out with "The Wheel" and tended to the animals when Mike and Pauline went up to Delta to the fair with their daughters. The horse only escaped once. Luckily she's a good horse and cooperated for me.

Wanna know about the wheel? It's yet another new way I've learned to fish here, and what ingenuity it is too. I could try to describe it, but here, just see for yourself. This is in the Copper River. I'm told that if you fall in this river you need lose your clothing fast, or it'll fill with all the silt and bring you right down. I did my best not to fall in.

It's a very efficient machine, but the one problem is that it gets entangled with lots of wood coming down river, which means pulling, chainsawing, and winching logs and debris. But when we had it running it brought in some red salmon. The fish in the basket drop on a slanted slide board which drops them right into the holding box on the side. Brilliant!!

Where the Klutina converges with the Copper, the eagle has his own methods of catching fish.

Finally on the 2nd it was time for me to load up and get a ride to Anchorage with my friend Sarah, as I was flying into Bethel on the 3rd. And here I am...back to work in just a couple of days. What a summer though.

The Frost Is Not Yet On The Pumpkin

2009-07-27T12:40:00.002-08:00

Summers come and go so quickly. There is actually a difference in the rapidity of time's passing in summer versus winter. That's why it's called "summertime." BS? Think back to last week, how much fun you had on the 4th of July. THAT WAS OVER THREE WEEKS AGO!!!

see?

I made sure to pack my summer with as much fun, recreation and relaxation as I could, and what a blast it was. If you were part of it, then thanks for being part of it.

Reflecting back, here are my highlights in no intentional order:
-Trip to Maine
-3 visits of northern Wisconsin
-Great America
-A couple Brewers games, which, sadly, they lost
-Great America
-Catching up with old friends
-Fishing, personal bests of musky, smallmouth, and rock bass
-Many rounds of disc golf
-Witnessing talented musicians play
-Seeing and experiencing new beautiful things back in AK
-Sleeping in tents
-Driving my truck and my boat
-Fireworks
-and so much more

The only sad thing is the finite amount of time, and not getting to see enough of some people as a result. Maybe somebody could elongate summer.

I've got a couple weeks left, one last gasp, before I get back to work. Hopefully I will have some more items to add to that list by then. Hopefully one of those items has the word "salmon" in it.

I'm back in Alaska, so regular posts will be starting to chronicle year 2. Stay tuned.

Enjoy the rest of summer everybody.

Full Blown Springitus

2009-05-16T13:27:00.002-08:00

Forget the swine flu. I have no hard data to support this, but I'm certain that Spring Fever has taken many more casualties this season. It's a northern hemisphere pandemic!! Disinfect everything you see!!! And if you should come into contact with me, you had better drink a gallon of OJ, get lots of sleep, and do whatever else it is that you do, because I am a carrier and I am contagious.

My students have it too, but I don't think we caught it from each other. The students lately have been coming to class exhausted. That's because the sun sets at about 11:30, it stays light/twilight til 12:30, and the kids stay up til 2 or 3 in the morning. But it is what it is. It's frustrating, but not daunting. I just stay upbeat, try to make it fun for the kids, and if all else fails, torture them with hands-on, minds-on assignments. Oh, the horror.

My symptoms:

Baseball. It's no secret that I love the Milwaukee Brewers. I love the fact that I can listen to them online, broadcast by WTMJ, courtesy of MLB.com. 4,000 miles from Miller Park I can hear the action clear as a bell. I have subjected several Yup'ik Eskimo students to hearing Bob Uecker do play-by-play. I also love the fact that the team is playing great. Today we listened to the Crew beat the Cardinals 1-0, much to my delight. I love pitcher's duels. I wish all games were 1-0 Brewer wins. "Hope springs eternal" was a phrase made for baseball. By the way, if the color scheme on this page makes you think about the Brewers, then I'm glad.

Fishing. While I did get to catch a few pike and a few tomcod over the winter using a manaaq, that was a far cry from scratching the itch. Normally I would have organized all my tackle in mid-April, one of my annual rituals. Instead, I can only daydream about bringing fish into the '76 Starcraft I have collecting dust in Racine. Can't wait to get out fishing and camping.

Haircuts. I haven't had one since the end of February. I'll go visit Barber Bill once I get to town, and try to get presentable.

Food. When I think of summertime food like brats on the charcoal grill my mouth floods with drool.

Family and Friends. I can't wait to see everybody. You're all loved and missed.

And the cure: If all goes according to plan, I'll be landing in Madison on Sunday the 24th.

Oh yeah.

I've got it bad.

Eek! A Village!

2009-05-09T22:31:00.009-08:00

I'm squeezing in one last village for the year before the highly anticipated summer break. I landed here in Eek (home of the Cougars) on Monday and so far, so good. Two of my three classes are taught during the normal school day. No big shocker as to which of the three has attendance issues. What teenager wouldn't want to stay after school for an extra class in May? Especially when there are geese, swans, and cranes to hunt.

This past Saturday was prom night. I wonder what attendance will be like now that the staff here can't use that old "if you skip or misbehave you can't come to prom" threat. If you're wondering about the prom, I didn't go. I had the opportunity to chaperone prom back in my first year at Maple. I'm really not into dances. But, here's a picture of the parking lot at Eek school at 10:30 on prom night.

The accommodations here are top-notch. That's because I have a friend, Traci, who teaches here and has an extra room at her house. It's nice to finish out the year at a place with a comfortable bed, good food (including fresh fruit and vegetables), and good company. She has a couple of kittens that are actually quite friendly. In fact, overly friendly at times. They do make things interesting, it's just that if I sit down they climb all over me, they follow me around the house, and generally are pretty friendly. I'd still take a dog any old day of the week, but these felines are ok.

I got out for a couple of walks around the village. The Eek river is broken and flowing strong.

Here's the runway at the airport.

Just kidding. This is the old runway. They have a new, nice one now. This one looks like it would have been a tad spooky.

Other than that....2 weeks from now I should be in my truck bringing my boat to town for lots of summertime use. Students aren't the only ones who get excited for the summer.

The Birds Are Flying

2009-05-02T18:28:00.004-08:00

Yesterday I flew out of Kwethluk and back to Bethel, a flight of about 10 minutes. It was and is absolutely beautiful. T-shirt weather. Remember when I was stuck sitting at the runway back in Kong for a long time? I was actually kind of hoping it would happen yesterday, it was that nice out. Sadly, the plane was right on time.

Once we got up in the air we saw lots of geese flying. One group was relatively close to us and the pilot quick cut and released a hard right, flashing the wings at the group. We had a laugh over that one. It was so pretty to see the melting riverways and animals on the move, I would have loved to just fly around for a while for the fun of it.

Monday I'm flying out to Eek which is further away so hopefully it's a nice day. I'm looking forward to Eek, but I am worried about these birds. Bird hunting takes over peoples lives this time of the year, I am told. It was beginning to become that way at Kwethluk. Students fail classes because there are geese. People lose their jobs because there are geese. I'm worried about geese thwarting my attempts to teach.

I shot video of our takeoff from Kwethluk yesterday, just for the fun of it, to show the friends and family back home the difference between my commute to work and theirs.

Speaking of friends and family back home, I love and miss you all. I'm really excited to see everybody in just 3 short weeks!!

We Saw Us A Critter!!

2009-04-22T22:23:00.003-08:00

Not a heckuva lot to report here in KWT right now. Classes are in full swing, and with the great weather we've had over the past 10 days, student attendance is the #1 obstacle I'm facing. The calendar is a distant second.

Last Saturday Erin and Joel (roomate at the TO) rode their snow-gos up here to get me, and we rode on down to Bethel for the evening. I was able to do a little laundry and pick up some fruit and veggies to bring back to the village to share.

Sunday on the ride back we saw a big ol' lynx running across the river in front of us. It stopped on the edge and gave us a withering glare before turning away to the woods.

We've had even warmer temps this week, up to about 40, and last night and today some rain. It's making things a sloppy slushy mess, and the hikes just don't sound as appealing.

Spring was nicer when it wasn't so springy.

Touch of Spring Fever

2009-04-15T21:40:00.007-08:00

Each evening in Kwethluk has been sunny, and they've gotten warmer by the day. It's light until 10:30, and it would be a pity to waste the daylight. I've been doing some hiking and exploring in and around the village. Here is some of the evidence:

This is from the Kwethluk River, an offshoot of the Kusko. That burnt-orange looking thing in the upper left corner is the school.

This is what I believe to be called Birch Hill. It was a nice hike out to it, and the panorama from atop made it worth the while.

Ahh, spring!!

BET/KWT

2009-04-14T08:27:00.005-08:00

The busy, needed, and fun-filled week in Bethel is over. And what fun it was...

The first weekend back, I went out manaaq-ing for the 2nd time in my life. The first was out in Toksook Bay, this time was down river from Bethel at the confluence of the Kuskokwim and Johnson rivers. Don't worry, the ice was plenty thick. How thick? Well, we drilled as far as the hand-auger would go, and still needed to work hard with a pick to get through the rest. Luckily, after a couple of holes were drilled with much effort, a nice Native man came over with a power auger and blasted several holes for us, so all we had to do was pick through the last 4 inches or so. It was about 4-5 feet thick.

Having holes, we moved on to the fishing, which meant using a stick with some line, a heavy jig tipped with a pike eyeball, some jigging and some patience. Our group got several pike, I got 3 myself.

Another thing I'll be missing out here is some of that fancy home cooking at the TO. Here's John displaying a pan of brownies Jimmy made.

Now I'm at Ket'acik Aap'alluk Memorial School (Home of the Kings) in Kwethluk (KWT). Classes will begin this afternoon. I went out for a nice long walk last night, and there were lots of people out walking around enjoying the beautiful weather. (It was clear, calm, sunny, and zero)

There are trees here that are taller than me, which is a refreshing change.

So Long, Boiler Room

2009-04-09T08:34:00.003-08:00

This past Friday was the day for me to skedaddle from Kongiganak, aka Donkey Kong, aka Kongiganak, pronounced in the traditional, non-kassaq way. Normally I like to do these departure things on Saturdays, as there are tons of SNAFU possibilities when traveling, and having the whole day as a buffer for them is helpful. But this time I had my final inservice of the year to attend in Bethel on Saturday, so Friday afternoon we made a go of it. More on that in a bit.

How was Kong? I'm sure that's on everyone's minds. Kong was ok. There, I've said it. Positives first: I met, as always, some kind and friendly staff and locals there. I had a nice comfy living area up amongst the ductwork. I was so used to the hum up there, I was kind of sleepless my first night back in Bethel. Kind of like missing the sound of the trains at night in Gordon, WI, which I do. There was a pretty nice (clean) kitchen to use at the school, and even an open shelf in the fridge where I could keep my perishables. Oh, and they let me have a key to the school. Some places like to hem and haw about borrowing me a key to use while I'm there. Some make me sign my life away on a sheet of paper. Some pretend not to have any or know their whereabouts. Some just refuse. Anything besides giving me a key right away is stupid. Kong passed the B.R. Key Loan Intelligence Test.

Not-so-positives: My classes were all taught after school hours at Kong. This meant that my day was spent doing prep work, reading, conversing with friends, etc. I'd much prefer to teach in the day and be done in the evenings. The kids like it better that way, too. The thing is, they have a choice, and several chose to drop out of the classes, since staying enrolled would involve being at school until 8:30 at night. It gets frustrating having kids drop out of your program, especially since it's an opportunity they haven't had before, and may not have again. On the plus side, the students that stuck it through were dedicated.

Also, the facilities had a couple issues. With pretty much every village I go to, it's a given that there will be some civil construction project, with construction workers living out of the school, cramping my itinerant lifestyle big time. At this one, there was actually a temporary living place near the jobsite for all these guys to live, with most of the necessary amenities. The one thing they were missing out there was showering and laundry facilities. Not to worry, as Kong has a washeteria for them to take care of their needs. But, the day I arrived in Kongiganak was the day the washeteria burnt up and the music died. Doing hygiene, for me, meant waiting til stupid hours of the night for this parade of workers to be done in the only men's bathroom in the school.

Speaking of the men's bathroom, special thanks to the kid, who every 3 days or so would go in there and piss all over the place. Oops, I almost forgot to thank his buddy, the kid with the bloody nose who leaves blood on the floor, sinks, and walls.
Every school should have staff facilities, separate from everybody else's.

I suppose at this time I should cut to the chase and discuss the travel back. My charter plane was scheduled to arrive to get me at 4 PM on Friday. I had the maintenance man help me get the gear onto the sled and out to the runway 15 minutes early, just to be safe. The weather was about 5 degrees, wind about 20 knots. Not too bad. But, by the time the plane showed up at 5:20 I was kind of cold. Evidently the airline had me down for 4/7 instead of 4/3. When my ride went to pick me up at the airport in Bethel and asked about my flight, they made the panic face and scrambled to send a plane out for me. Not only that, but in the meantime a big A.T.S. twin prop cargo plane showed up and was taking up most of the taxi area, which meant I had to move all the stuff from the usual loading spot. Moving all the gear over to my plane across glare ice without spikes was a tricky, backbreaking pain in the posterior.

After loading up, it was a cold, drafty, noisy ride home. I got the plane with the really bad doors this time. I always have earplugs in my coat, largely due to the possibility of sometime having to ride in this particular plane. It pays off...

Arriving at Yute Air so late in the day, nobody was there besides the employees. My ride/box van was nowhere to be found. After I called the TO for a ride, then my coworker showed up all stressed out about the whole thing. So I had 2 rides show up. Right away, the scheduled driver said how they had to cancel an appointment to get me so late. Since they were the same person who set up my flight, I informed them that I had been sitting at the runway for an hour and a half, what the #@&* happened to 4:00?? Who knows how one can mess up the difference between Friday 4/3 and Tuesday 4/7. Soon enough I was at the TO, wolfing tacos for dinner, and Donkey Kong was just another one for the books.

Cama-i

2009-03-30T10:31:00.001-08:00

I went to Cama-i Dance Festival in Bethel this weekend and all I got was this lousy shirt puked on.

Home Sweet Home

2009-03-20T13:54:00.008-08:00

Here's my cozy little private living quarters I carved out for myself here in Donkey Kong. The hum of HVAC is so restful...

Donkey Kong

2009-03-19T10:48:00.007-08:00

So this past Monday I had quite the experience. I flew out to Kongiganak and I've been here ever since. The day started like any normal Monday Traveling Day. I got up and hurriedly threw together the rest of my gear, because it had gotten too late on Sunday night to choose finishing packing over sleeping on my to do list.

After taking care of some odds-n-ends at the DO (District Office) I had a coworker drive me and the gear out to Yute Air for the time-honored tradition of sitting around at Yute Air all day long. The standard procedure here is to show up and offload the truck at the dock. Go inside, tell the lady at the counter that I'm here, and then head upstairs to Brothers Pizza for the AYCE pizza lunch special. After lunch, the thing to do is to sit and read a book for an hour or so, then put in headphones and listen to some tunes for maybe an hour, and then go to sleep until one of the girls wakes you up and says "your flight is cancelled, go home." I had checked the weather on Kusko.net, and it said the wind was 40 knots out on the coast here. One knot equals 1.15077945 miles per hour (approximately). This being the case, I figured that the flight was pretty unlikely.

Evidently I figured wrong.

About the time I pulled out my book after my pizza lunch, this pilot, an older guy with thick glasses whom I'd flown with before, started calling my name. Making our way out to the plane, I asked him how the weather was out on the coast, as I'd seen high winds forecast. He said "Aaagghh, not too bad. I was out in Kipnuk a couple hours ago and there was a little ground blizzard. Up in the air it's fine." I figured well, he's an old-timer, he's been doing this a while, he knows what is what.

After flying for 20 minutes or so, the view up in front of the plane was a looming gray thing. After another 15 minutes we were in the gray thing and couldn't see the ground. Once in a while we'd get a little bit clearer spot, and I could see that the ground was pretty close by. The wind was really ripping by this time, and the 207 was jumping and dipping like crazy. Meanwhile, the GPS on the instrument panel said we were at Kongiganak. We couldn't see anything though. I was thinking to myself "Okay psycho. Turn the plane around, we'll try again tomorrow." But no. What I saw was Wall-Eye pulling his head down and squinting at the GPS, repeatedly, and trying to figure out where next to steer the plane to try to find the village amidst the blizzard. I was at this time hoping there wasn't anything tall in Kong for us to smash into, since the GPS claimed we were there. Plus, as my friend Lee at the TO (Tundra Oasis) once pointed out, sometimes clouds have rocks in them.

What happened next was very bizarre. The pilot turned sharp to the left, and soon we were at a right angle to the wind. We got down even lower and I could see the ground. Relative to the ground, the wing out my side was leading the way. Literally, we were flying more sideways than forward. The side window was the new windshield. We spotted the runway, made a crazy circle to double back to it, and somehow managed to touchdown, with the plane tipping, dipping, and skipping all the way. I guess that's how you get to be the only person to land in a village on a particular day. Everybody else had sense enough to not try it. I've got to commend the pilot though. I think that it was a needless risk to land here Monday, but he did demonstrate exceptional flying skill in doing so.

As we unloaded the plane, the wind was blowing so strong that I had to catch my big backpack as it tried to blow away. By the time we got into the school, everything already had a layer of snow blasted onto the side of it. As soon as I got in here, I heard the VHF radio in the school office, and it was a pilot radioing from another airline, checking on Kong's weather conditions. The local agent told him "It's not goot. Zero zero, go back."

Anyhow, I made it. Dick R. Kiunya Memorial School, home of the Wolverines (BOOOO!!!) is an older school, and way overcrowded. On the first day here it was a real struggle to find a place to store my stuff. I slept in a classroom and then had to put away my sleeping bag/air mattress and everything else before there would be kids all over everything.

Tuesday, in my quest to find a place to store my stuff, I discovered a new home for myself. It may not be pretty, but it's relatively secure and private. I was even able to sleep til 8:30 there this morning, which is nice since my classes are all taught after school here, and my nights become later than I'd like. In my next posting I will take you all on a little tour of my new home.

For you folks back in civilization, enjoy the March Madness. I do wish I could be watching. I love sitting back and watching hours of college hoops in March. Good luck Bucky.

Two Really Long Left Feet

2009-02-28T11:15:00.006-09:00

Yesterday provided me with yet another friendly reminder that I am and always have been a clumsy oaf with regards to recreational activities which rely on a sense of balance. My mental filing clerk brought up old memories of youth outings to the Rollerdrome, drinking lots of fountain soda and playing arcade games because I was sick of falling down and crashing into walls. One time I even fell out the open back door of the place, spilling out of the dark roller rink into broad daylight.

I never got into the skater fad of the late 80s/early 90s. Partly because it was dumb, but mainly because I couldn't skateboard my way out of a wet paper bag.

I rollerbladed one time in our gym class at LaFollette. Once was plenty.

In that same gym class, we did a lot of cross country skiing. I actually kind of enjoyed it, despite the fact that I fell down constantly. To this day I have never made it skiing down a hill of any magnitude without falling down.

One time this winter I almost did. I was with Erin and Macy in Oscarville, and I went down a little hill and was doing really good. I wasn't flailing my arms or anything. But, directly in front of me Erin had decided to stop in the middle of the trail and stand there talking about her dog. I had to bail in order to not completely blast into them. And there went my one moment of not falling down a hill.

I've always been envious of those who go downhill skiing and snowboarding because it looks so unbelievably fun. But based on my experiences with waterskis, wakeboards and snowboards, I know that will never happen for me. If I ever attempted downhill skiing, it would almost certainly cause lots of pain, humiliation, and X-rays.

I only mention all this, because yesterday after school, Dirk and I decided to load up a bunch of clips of 22 shells, ski out to the dump and shoot stuff. The dump here is a wasteland of dead appliances and snowmachines jutting out of the tightly packed snow.

I only fell down a couple of times on the way there.

I think it's pretty cool that all the way out here there is a small wind farm. With all the wind out on the coast here, I don't know why there aren't more of these things in place.

Last weekend when we were ice fishing, I could hear the whoosh whoosh of the blades of these
turbines slicing the wind into pieces. Much quieter than the diesel powered generators though.

After come cathartic plinking of things in the dump, Dirk's dog Katja was getting cold and we were windblown, so it was time to head back. Back down the hill. I watched him go first, and it looked like fun, cruising effortlessly down a gentle slope, gaining some speed. In no time he was about 1/4 mile away, down at the bottom.

I made it about 100 feet before I fell. I was actually pretty happy. This was a personal best. I got back up, and made it about 100 more feet before falling again, this time a little harder. When I got back up, I was on enough of a decline that I started to slide right away. Boom. Repeat that 2 more times. Finally, I was on a flat spot where I could regain footing and attempt the rest of the hill, which I fell on only once. By the way, when I call this a hill, that's an exaggeration really. It's nothing more than a gentle slope. Sad sad sad!!!

Earlier in the week Dirk had mentioned going to ski this hill behind the village.

Sounds like fun. Looks like fun. But, I really think I'd be be a lot better off with a sled on this one. I'll probably try it anyways.

A Quick Fishing Report

2009-02-23T15:12:00.006-09:00

After watching an exciting fly fishing DVD on Saturday night, Dirk and I were primed with the urge to catch some fish. Sunday it was decided that we'd make it happen. Dirk borrowed a snow-go and sled from a coworker, and called up some students to be our "guides." Our target fish was the tomcod.

Out in the bay was a nice view of the cliffs. The students like to "high point" these on their snow machines, running up and down the gradual, sloping spots like a huge half pipe.

The route around the ice out there needed to be chosen wisely to go around and over all the compression cracks. It is not exactly flat ice...

Using a stick with some string and a jig tipped with a small strip of smelt, I was able to catch over a dozen tomcod. A couple of them were around 12-14 inches, and the rest were smaller. Everybody was having some action.

Everybody had a pretty good time, especially the kids.

OOK

2009-02-21T15:21:00.005-09:00

Already one week of this next stop is over and done with. Today I sit in the village of Toksook Bay (OOK if by air), in Nelson Island School, home of the Islanders. I give it a big "so far, so good."

The students are pretty motivated, interested, bright, friendly and fun. I have 5 groups, and time flies by with each class. So far my main worry is whether or not I can cover all of the content that I would like to. It's going to be tough.

This place has the most topography and beauty of any of the villages I have seen thus far. There is a range of very large hills (volcanoes) and of course the ocean is very close by. The school itself has an interesting layout, and some traditional crafts and artwork displayed inside, which gives it some character.

There are actually living quarters at this school, put here for itinerant teachers such as myself. But, they are in the midst of a few projects here involving generators, plumbing and electrical systems which means they have several workers from out-of-town here in the village. Interestingly enough, I got to talking with one of the workers here, and it turns out he's from Wascott, WI of all places. I drove right past his house many times on the way to one of my favorite fishing holes when I was living in Gordon. The Improbability Generator says it's a small world afterall.

So, the living spaces here in the school are all occupied. I was offered my choice of classrooms to sleep in at night, which is every bit as appealing as it sounds. Fortunately, I met a fellow here named Dirk Martin, who is a good friend of my good friend Erin. Dirk very graciously offered to have me over to crash in his living room, which beats the heck out of sleeping in a classroom any way you look at it. I'm having a good time staying with somebody of a similar age group and agreeable mindset. Thursday night we feasted on halibut, which I think I could happily eat every day if I had to.

Yesterday I was supposed to fly in to Bethel for inservice. "Weather permitting" is something that I guess you are required to say at the end of discussing travel plans. It's like saying "Amen" after a prayer. Or "suck" after "the new york yankees." The point being, I didn't get in to Bethel due to fog. I participated in our inservice via a polycom thing, which we use for distance delivery of classes from Bethel to villages. Basically, I sat in the school with a TV connected via internet with a little camera on me, and tried to approximate the experience of an inservice. Halfway through, the internet connection was lost. By the time it came back on, I had no frame of reference for what was going on. I could have buzzed in and asked what they were doing. But when you tune back into an activity and find that everybody is cutting out little pictures of women in dresses, sometimes it's best to not ask.

Tonight hopefully Dirk and I are going to get up on the hills, and I'll hopefully get some photos of the natural beauty here to share with you all. Weather permitting. I'm going to get out of the school now and enjoy the rest of the day. Moreso than one of the workers, who is yelling and cussing up a blue streak in here. Do you think it's the one from Douglas County, WI?

Could be....

Play Day

2009-02-13T14:40:00.003-09:00

You know it's time for a day off and some relaxation when you are excited to spend an entire day in the company of somebody who: has no thumbs, smells of lingering fish, and has a vocabulary consisting of grunts, huffs, and woofs.

On Wednesday night, Macy's mom dropped her off with a backpack full of toys and supplies, and specific feeding instructions. Erin kind of reminded me of a parent sending their child off to that first day of kindy-garden. Eventually we cut the cord, and Erin blazed a trail to Oscarville on her Ski-Doo.

Macy was kind of a pain on Wednesday night. She was a little restless without her mom, pacing and chewing on sheets. In the morning she heard the voice of Jimmy out in the kitchen. In the kitchen, Macy likes to corner Jimmy with her sad, beckoning eyes and rope him into giving her treats. It works every time. He's powerless to it. Jimmy's voice is to Macy as the bell is to Pavlov's dogs. This nonsense began early in the morning on my play day. OUR play day. During which, by the way, this little con artist managed to get herself a piece of steak, a leftover pork chop, and several pieces of cheese. Shameless she is.

After Macy calmed down, we got to sleep in, which felt realllllllly nice. I got up and cooked us some breakfast. (yes, she got an egg too) Our day was filled with games of frisbee, rope, loofa doggie and blanket monster. In between dogsports, I had many cups of tea in hopes of thwarting this illness which seems to afflict nearly everybody I have seen in the past couple of weeks.

When we weren't playing, Macy assumed a sentinel role, protecting the house from any would-be intruders.

Sleep well tonight, people. Macy is on point.

Doggy Day-Care

2009-02-11T12:58:00.007-09:00

This past Friday was the conclusion of my Kipnuk effort. Things there did not go as I would have liked. I guess that place has kind of a reputation, and people on the homefront expected it would be a tough go for me out there. It would have been easy, except for the fact that I care. Caring can really wear on a person sometimes. By the time Saturday the 7th came I was so ready to get out and move on.

The weather had different plans.

You just have to take that as it comes. I mean, look how long it took me to get to Kipnuk. Travels back only took one extra day. I got to go have a nice breakfast (and dinner after the planes couldn't fly) with Kris and Paula (plus Honey the Chihuahua and Kong the Big Mutt) on the day of my extended sojourn. Silver linings, people...

But it is good to be back. I'm enjoying the plush living conditions at the Tundra Oasis, including: Smoke-free living quarters, running water, flush toilets, and above 60 degree ambient indoor temperatures 24/7. It's good to be pampered. We had steak dinner at the TO on Sunday to celebrate the return to Bethel. I have been able to make some headway in the office this week. Tonight Erin is running some errands in Bethel and will be bringing my little buddy Macy along.

She's going to leave Macy in my custody for a sleepover, and then tomorrow I'm taking a day off and Macy and I will be having a play day, which we are both looking forward to. I'll let you know all about it.

Clean Jeans and the One-Eyed Chihuahua

2009-01-30T13:10:00.005-09:00

Yesterday was my Clean Jeans day. When I head out to a village, I bring 2 pairs of blue jeans. One packed, and one being worn. So after a week and a half comes Clean Jeans day. I usually celebrate on Clean Jeans Eve by taking one of my bi-weekly showers* in anticipation of the joyous splendor that is a folded and clean pair of blue Levis.

*The bi-weekly shower thing...It's not because I'm a filthy slob. Out in alot of the villages, water is precious and scarce. We drink purified snow at the house where I'm currently staying. Moving on!

For me this day had particular meaning on this particular go around. I don't want for this to become a complaining rant, but I'll say this for perspective: Usually my classes are viewed by students as a new thing, a chance to gain useful life skills, and, oh, here's a word-an OPPORTUNITY. But here, something is amiss. I don't know what it is, but a good many of my students would just as soon use this opportunity as something to wipe their butts with. Effort and punctuality seem more like abstract thoughts than anything else.

So, after what I can only call a lowsy day on Wednesday, I was really ready for this Clean Jeans day to sort of cleanse myself of the residual bad feelings that came from my day's struggles.

Along comes Thursday. I arrive with clean duds and smelling good. Feeling good. My breakfast of instant mashed potatoes and summer sausage and coffee is treating me well. Class begins....

The day full of apathetic, lazy, flippant, shut-down, grab-asstical behavior of the school day was too much, and I had a pounding headache by the time class ended at 5:00. It was what I call the headache of unhappiness. How can people waste their opportunities so stupidly?

But at the end of the day, fortune smiled upon me with a reward. I was invited to the home of a couple of the teachers for dinner. They are notorious for being good cooks and gracious hosts.

When I walked in, I saw a pretty silly sight. It was a little tiny long-haired chihuahua named Honey which was winking as it regarded me with a cock-eyed glance and a kittywampus stance.

I came in and sat down. I made some comment Paula (one of the hosts)about that chihuahua and she went on to tell me it's story. She had adopted this pseudo-dog from an abused animal shelter. When she got it, it had no fur, because it was so flea-bitten and mangy. It had scabs and things all over its bare skin. The thing had been malnourished for so long that its teeth fell out. When it was fed, it was fed dry kibble, which it wasn't able to gum, so it was nearly starved to death. It had been kicked so hard that its eye was ruined and its head was misshapen. Likely because of the kick, it also suffered some neurological damage and has a hobbling walk to this day. When Paula got this dog, the people didn't really think it was going to make it.

But she took the dog in. It was so traumatized from its pathetic existence that Paula had to buy thick leather gloves in order to handle the animal while she helped mend it's health woes. It would bite and chew and scratch and struggle, but gradually, over time, she earned Honey's trust. After a year, the thing was still alive, and with hair. She took it to the vet and had its ruined eye taken care of and sewn shut so that it would no longer become infected or have tears constantly flooding from its tear ducts to wet the missing eyeball. It loves Paula, but is still pretty distrustful of others. She's the only person it lets pet it. They have a very large mutt named Kong, and this tiny little chihuahua bosses it around constantly.

For dinner we had parmesan chicken, corn, wild rice, mashed potatoes, salad, and homemade ice cream, and plenty of good fellowship in our dinner party of 6 teachers and 2 students. They even sent me a huge plate of leftovers for lunch today. By the way, that dog, Honey...goes wild if it hears the word "chicken" even if it was just whispered in another room. She loves chicken like fat kids love Twinkies.

When you get kicked, it's the friends you meet that get you through those tough days...

Man, So Scary!

2009-01-23T15:06:00.002-09:00

A phrase you will hear about a hundred times a day out here is "Man, so (insert any adjective)." The phrase of the day is so scAAaary. That would be the reaction of any one of the girls in my driver education class as they embark on their first "drive" with the simulator I have set up here at Chief Paul Memorial School (home of the Falcons) in Kipnuk. With some of the panic stricken reactions I have seen here, you'd think this is the real thing. Thank goodness it's not, or else I would be demanding hazard pay. The best so far was a would-be left hand turn, where our pseudo-driver crossed over into the oncoming lanes, turned up the opposite side adjacent street's right turn lane into oncoming traffic where we were all met head on by an eighteen wheeler. It sort of reminded me of my first family vacation to South Dakota. Aye aye aye....man...so scary.

Things are getting moving here in Kipnuk. The first week is in the books, and it feels like there is too much to do and not enough time. If I'm not at school, I'm generally eating or else asleep. Hopefully we reach our goals.

In other village news, our girls high school basketball team was supposed to travel to Scammon Bay to compete in a tournament this weekend. But, of course, the weather caused their charter plane to cancel. Likewise, the Falcons were to host a middle school tournament today and tomorrow, but the other teams couldn't make it yet. As of now, the high school girls time is scrimmaging the middle school girls. It's up in the air as to who will win. The gym is on the other side of the wall from this room and the floor/wall/ceiling/lights all shake with every burst down the court. So loud.

So long.

Grumpelstiltskin

2009-01-19T20:33:00.013-09:00

It took a whole week, but me and all the stuff are now out in Kipnuk. Our weather decided to go ahead and stay ridiculous for just a little while longer. We had plenty of freezing rain, and then rain on top of that, which made the act of coming to a complete stop a thing of the past in Bethel. I didn't do any driving in this stuff, but was on a couple of hairy rides around town. And if it wasn't rain, it was wind. Have you ever said this to the driver of the vehicle you are in?: "hey, watch out for that sheet of corrugated steel that's flying at us." I have. Apparently high winds and freezing rain are even worse for air travel.

Because of the hot and weird weather, the K-300 was actually postponed. The start time was moved all the way back to Sunday at noon. Sadly, due to a variety of slow-ups, including my giving up on people coming/not being bundled up when they arrived, we missed the start. Even worse than missing the start was the disappointment of Erin at having missed the start. She assumed the darker, sinister twin of hers which I call Grumpelstiltskin. I hadn't seen anything like that since we took a road trip and I was slow to understand something called the Thumb-O-Meter. But that's another story. The point is that we were on disappointment level orange.

Fortunately, not all was lost. The K-300 is not the only race that takes off from Bethel each year. We were in time to see the start of the Bogus 150, but it was too cool out for us to wait another hour to see the start of the Akiak Dash. For me, the experience was still great. It was amazing to see how excited some of the dogs were to be able to run. I never made it up to the Beargrease when I lived in northern Wisconsin, so just seeing the teams in action made quite an impression. Erin and Macy seemed happy to see it too, especially Macy. I held her pudgy little rump up where she could see the teams of dogs. She looked and shook. Erin says that Macy gets big ideas and dreams big after the K-300. So we were having a better time at this point. I still wasn't about to hand Erin a flamethrower.

I think the end of the race would be even better to see. Maybe some other time. I do hope Erin and Macy find a way to make it there tomorrow for the finish. She was sweet enough, despite everything, to bring me a delicious cheeseburger. Erin, that is. Macy gave me nothing but bad attitude.

A few doggie pics, and then that's enough for today, I need to make a good impression in the morning. I would have some better pictures, but for some reason my camera decided to have a mind of its own when the race started.

Doesn't Look Too Good For Flying Today

2009-01-15T09:45:00.002-09:00

Well here I am, back in Bethel. Erin, Macy and myself got in on Saturday afternoon. We spent a couple of days in Anchorage where we were able to pick up some groceries at a tolerable price, and watch the Badgers rally back from an 0-2 deficit to out-puck the SeaWolves 3-2. It was about as cold in Anchorage as you have it now in Wisconsin, but not mind-numbingly cold like Bethel was. Luckily we missed the nasty cold snap of Bethel for the most part, just catching the tail-end of it on Saturday.

Getting out of the cold stretch has presented me with a new problem: warm weather. That's right. It's too dang warm for me to do my job. Here's the rub: Monday I was to charter to my next village assignment, Kipnuk. I went through the usual routine of hauling a cube van full of gear and equipment out to Yute Air, having pizza at Brother's upstairs, sitting around and waiting. They called me, we got on the plane. We taxied (sp?) out to the runway, at which point the pilot took off the headset, used a mid-level expletive, and taxied back over in front of Yute. We were called back because other planes were icing up in the freezing fog.

So I went back in and sat down and waited for an hour or two before falling asleep. Eventually a young lady tapped my knee, giggled at whatever look must have been on my face as I woke up, and told me we were canceled and I should go home. Feeling a little under the weather, this wasn't the worst news I'd had. Nothing compared to the Christmas Flying Catastrophe of 12/21/08.

Tuesday I stayed home sick. Ironically, planes were flying to the beat of the band on Tuesday but I was in bed where I needed to be.

Wednesday: Freezing rain and temps in the low to mid 30s turned Bethel into a skating rink. Schools were closed because the buses couldn't get out of their parking area. If you drove over 10 MPH, you were going too bloody fast. Kipnuk had a blizzard warning. The phrase of the day was "We're still on weather hold. Call us back in maybe an hour."

And ditto for today. Freezing rain towards Kipnuk, and a runway full of glare ice in Bethel. Who knows when I'll get out. I just accept the fact that there isn't a damn thing I can do about it other than stay comfortable and wait for it to pass. Kind of like this darn cold I have. I focus on the positive in that I get to recuperate at home instead of away.

It turns out I may be in town to see the start to the K-300 afterall.

To and Fro

2008-12-28T16:13:00.002-09:00

Well, we made it.

Those ridiculous storms in and around the Seattle area were the bane of many itineraries, including those of myself and Erin and Macy. This is how it felt, just so you know:

When we loaded up and flew from Bethel to Anchorage on the night flight on the 20th, everybody on the plane was so excited. Just about everybody on that bird worked either for LKSD or else YKHC, and we were all on cloud number 9 thinking about the vacations lying ahead.

Once we'd all de-planed at Ted Stevens Int'l and had a chance to eat at Chilis and then look at the boards, only to see that our late night connections into Seattle were cancelled, we all were deflated. I think a few times I actually saw people look at the board and heard the audible sound of a balloon being let go.

When we waited in the customer service line for an hour, only to find out that the soonest our flight could be rescheduled would be on the 25th....well that was kind of like being slapped upside the head with a cold dead carp. THWACK!!

Throw in some personal problems, and add to that the fact that my friend Macy (Erin's dog) was puking constantly, all night long, and you get a couple of haggard and emotionally drained travelers in Erin and I.

Luckily we made the decision early on to try and make the best of it. So, we got a free flight back to square one, Bethel. From there we were able to have fun with friends, do some skiing and snow machining and eat some nice meals and enjoy not having to work.

Take 2 of Return to Wisconsin went quite well, everything was on time or else early. We got to Madison around 8:30 pm on the 25th and everybody slept like a stone at the Rendall house. The next day, the 26th, we headed to Racine and I un-stored the pickup. What a feeling it was and is to be able to drive my pickup after it sat for all those months. I think the Chevy was really happy to see me too.

From Racine, Erin, Macy and I headed up to Kaukauna to Mary & Jerry Kavanaugh's home. We went out for some terrific fish, and the next day I stayed for part of the Kavanaugh family christmas fun as I waited for the fog to improve. (which it did not) The Kavanaughs really made me feel at home with their fun, hospitality and conversations. There were a couple of exciting moments, but overall everyone had a nice time, and I was thankful to have been a part of it all.

Today my family and I finally got to celebrate our Christmas. We had more delicious food, fun, racket and chaos. Also, a couple of exciting moments. I always have kind of thought that my family was nuts. And we may be that. But this holiday I've sort of come more to realize that any family worthy of membership would and should appear a little crazy to an outsider, and totally nutso to a sane person. So I'd suppose mine qualifies and I'm glad for it. Traveling 4,000 miles with travel hiccups was completely worth its reward.

Hopefully it was for the rest of you weary travelers out there too.

ABBA-ZABA

2008-12-15T22:40:00.007-09:00

I've been struggling here for days. I am really at a loss, disenfranchised, disillusioned, disheartened....disgusted. It just kills me. I mean....$161,000,000 for SEVEN FREAKING YEARS are you kidding me??!?! Baseball was really getting to be great. Not just because the Brewers made the playoffs last year. Not just because we have aspirations of doing it again, either. Over the past few years, the Yankees finally butted out of the scene (success-wise) and October mystique came back. Now Junior Steinbrenner is out to wreck it all over again. I hope CC finds success in new york, but not as much as I hope that that ridiculous contract comes around to bite the yankees in the ass.

I have but one more day teaching class here in Chefornak. It seems like a long time I've been here, due largely, I'm sure, to the fact that this visit has been drawn out longer, punctuated by a couple of sorties into town and several little adventures.

Thoughts on CYF:

Interesting people here. Folks are friendly and there are definitely some characters about. Not the easiest groups of students I've taught, but by and by I think we accomplished a good amount. I had to cancel my morning class today, as I had no students. They had flown to Newtok (boys) and Toksook Bay (girls) for basketball tournaments on Friday, and got weathered in up until today. Shamans basketball had a pretty good weekend on the court, by the way.

Speaking of weather, the wind can really rip out here, as I had mentioned earlier. Yesterday we had it blowing steady 50-60 for a while. People like to tell me about a couple years ago when it gusted 100. The seal hat does an unbelievably great job of cutting that wind.

The staff here is a pretty good mix, personality wise. I came to feel like part of the group, and this past weekend was even invited over for some delicious meals and fun games. I would have liked to spend another weekend here and hone my dominoes game, but there's always next time.

The store here, Chefearmute (aka Store) is quite the place. There are, of course, plenty of things you can't get there. Which makes the things you can get there that much more surprising. I treated us to some Dunkin Donuts coffee from Store. And, they have about any kind of candy there you could want. I got an ABBA-ZABA there tonight. I thought those things were long long gone. They also have Zagnut bars. Who'da thunk?

Aesthetically, this village is a looker compared to many. There is actually some topography in the form of Tern Mountain, which, sadly, I never made it out to. The ocean is very close, and when there is a clear sky (fairly uncommon) the sunsets are neat to look at. I'm going to be a double camera clown and post some pics of tonight's too. The reason being, when I looked out and saw it it nearly blew my face off. Pictures never do anything justice though, as we all know.

Well tomorrow classes come to a close, then Wednesday it's time to shine it and ship it.

Already.

Come See the Tundra Oasis Christmas Cabaret!! One night only!

2008-12-12T15:40:00.002-09:00

These are the roomates at the TO, and this is how we celebrate the holidays. I guess.

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/9QO2zcLb6EZ7il9NT5OO

well...enjoy

It's a Wonderful Saturday Inservice

2008-12-07T18:38:00.000-09:00

This past weekend I flew back to Bethel for my 2nd of 5 fly-in Saturday inservices. I've yet to meet a teacher who likes inservices. Across the profession, people harbor various levels of hatred for an inservice.

As I sat there I started to ponder on what life would be like if this inservice had never been mandated. With my mind's eye I saw myself wandering the icy boardwalks of Chefornak, alone and cold, taking with me only the small comfort of anticipation of a can of Nalley chili that awaited me upon return to my quarters. Afterwards I came to realize that I was glad to be at inservice instead of in that sad little daydream. It got me a free trip in to Bethel, where I got to (briefly) see friends. We had a nice lunch served. I was learning a few new tricks, and besides...I would have been working on Saturday anyways.

At about the time I came to this acceptance of the inservice, I really was perturbed by what took place before me. The presenter was showing us how to use an online resource that brought forth myriad teaching materials, and a lot technical things that would relate directly to what I teach. But, I don't know how to use it, or really what the presenter said at all. That is because 2/3 of the people in the room were getting up and leaving to go catch their planes (which were on weather hold anyways.) And, they were talking about all of their plans and griping about the weather hold, worrying aloud about how they would get back home. All while somebody gave a presentation. I've seen teachers display the undesirable characteristics of their classes in the past, but this took the cake. It's one thing to hate inservice, and another to be plain rude about it. I'll bet Jimmy Stewart would agree.

I had a nice flight back to CYF. It was clear and sunny and crisp outside. From the air, the tundra looked like a black and white painting done by a lunatic. It was very easy to tell from looking which direction the winds blew last Wednesday.

I snapped a couple pictures of the awesome color spectrum that comes from a good sunset here. The bump on the horizon is Tern Mountain, which I am hoping to take a trip out to while I'm here.

Have a nice week, everybody. And for the folks back home...It is only 2 weeks before I get to come visit!! I am so excited to get to see you all soon. Especially the newest addition to the family...my youngest nephew Evan, born this past Monday morning.

Turkeys, Blizzards and Vomit

2008-12-04T18:25:00.000-09:00

Once again, a delayed posting. There has been a little excitement, but maybe not completely what we were after.

The week before Thanksgiving I had a pretty cool opportunity. My bosses approved my attendance of a conference in Anchorage. This time it was for the Alaska Association of Career and Technical Educators, and I was pretty excited for it. I was given a choice of "strands" which I could sign up for. The strand is basically a topic of certain seminars, and my choice was Alternative Energy Sources. It was to take place at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus in their Automotive and Diesel Lab. I was pretty excited for all the neat things I would be learning. As an added bonus, I would be receiving a college credit for attending all the sessions and writing an essay about it.

So the day came, and I flew into Anchorage, excited about my next four days. Once we landed, Jan, my co-worker, and I got her rental car and went and got some Thai food. Afterward, she went to attend her first strand, while I checked into my room at the Sheraton to rest a couple hours before I would be picked up and taken to my class in the evening.

A couple of hours later, it became obvious that the plans had changed. I found myself yawning in Taiwanese technicolor. Talking to Ralph on the big white phone. Nothing would stay down and I couldn't go anywhere. The plans had changed? The plans were totally screwed, that's what they were.

The next day I dragged my sorry kiester to the conference, despite my internal doctor's orders. The fact is, I went because this organization was refunding the school district for our air fare to Anchorage IF I attended at least 15 hours worth of sessions. So I needed to go, but I got about as much out of it as I would get from listening to Russian folk ballads. Less, probably. Unless we're talking about misery. Then it's back to about equal.

The next day, Friday, I manned up again, although it was easier this time. I actually ate a couple of normal meals on Friday. I still was nowhere near full strength. Saturday I finally got to attend a strand at the UAA campus again, and it was great. It made me even more sad that I had to miss the big class on Wednesday. As for that college credit-forget it. No chance, move on. Boy was I glad that trip was over with.

The next week, I finally made it back to Napaskiak and Oscarville to proctor the driving tests from Way Back When. I stayed over in Oscarville at Erin's on Tuesday, and took Wednesday off so that I could partake in the Thanksgiving Feast at Qugcuun School in Oscarville. We had turkey, caribou, potatoes and gravy, pie and juice. It was delicious, and a good warm-up for the official Turkey Day.

After the feast, we headed up to Bethel on snow machines up the frozen river. We stayed at the Tundra Oasis on Wednesday night and on Thursday got up to watch the Lions keep the dream of a perfect season alive, and with panache. Then we all sat down and enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, ham, potatoes, stuffing, corn and dessert were all served. We made pigs of ourselves and then snacked on leftovers. I love Thanksgiving!!! I did miss the family meal, but what we had at the Tundra Oasis was an acceptable substitution by Bethel standards.

The rest of the weekend was filled with rest, relaxation, fun, snow machine rides, sledding, and more rest and relaxation. Of course, all good things must end, and on Sunday I had to fly back out here to Chefornak, and even worse, I had to get back to work.

Yesterday we had ourselves quite a blizzard here. The winds were blowing 50-60 mph and it was a white out. If you opened the door, it started snowing inside the house. This morning we awoke to warm weather (mid 30s,) rain, and slush everywhere.

I'd post some pictures of Chefornak, but I don't have any. Whenever I've had time for photography, the picture would be a white and gray mess. Maybe next week I can post something for you to look at. Right now I'm ready for a turkey nap.

Get Back

2008-11-21T12:42:00.000-09:00

For those of you who look forward to reading the new postings, I apologize for the drought. And, for those who don't particularly look forward to new postings, but feel some sort of a compulsory obligation to read them as a friend, then you are welcome for the break.

At the last posting I was working away in the village of Newtok. Things finished out pretty well. That village is a real diamond with all of the positive attitudes and good things going on. I also enjoyed my many opportunities to learn that I was past my prime in hoops. Way past...
On the 11th my charter plane showed up after a couple hours of delay. Once the plane radioed the school to say it was coming, two of my older and stronger students came and helped haul all the gear out to the snowmachine and sleigh to be dragged to the runway. The plane brought me and all the gear straight to the village of Chefornak.

I started teaching classes in Chefornak on the 12th. The plan was that I would start out the Chefornak gig, and then come back to Bethel, have the weekend off (finally!), see some friends (finally!), then work out of the office for a couple of days before heading in to Town for a professional development conference, and a nice Thanksgiving. Of course I was looking forward to all of this. After spending 3 weeks away and sleeping on the floor in a school, I wanted nothing more than to, as they say, get the Hell out of Dodge.

For friends and family in the lower 48 who wonder what Bush travel is like:
Friday afternoon in Chefornak was bright, sunshiney and nice. In Bethel, it was just the opposite. Planes were not coming. I called the local agent who handles reservations for 2 of the 3 airlines that come to Chefornak and said I wanted on, ASAP, and I didn't care which company. This is how you make a reservation. So I waited and waited. Luckily, the runway was right outside the window, so I could wait inside. As time passed I was starting to harbor some ill thoughts, damning the Bethel weather all the while, for keeping my airplane, my chance for some restful down time, on the ground.

Then suddenly a humming sound....A PLANE!! Not one of the ones I reserved with. So you know what I did? I grabbed my gear, boogied out there, chucked my stuff on the plane and got on for a mildly spooky ride back to Bethel. The first leg was a quick jaunt to Kipnuk. Because of the short distance and low ceiling, we were at about 100 feet for that part. After that we went high and quick on the Caravan, and after some searching, found a nice hole through the clouds into Bethel.

After a while, my pal Sarah came to pick me up. It took a while, (since I reneged on the plans to fly with the other airlines,) for her to locate me. I was pretty thankful when she finally did. I really needed a break. The weekend was so nice and relaxing. I got to watch a couple movies, take a frozen river hike, take a nice sauna, and catch up on sleep.

Some pics of the river, taken before poor Sarah fell through.

WWT

2008-11-03T12:33:00.000-09:00

Another aeronautical code title posting, this time it's WWT which is PilotSpeak for Newtok. I was going to photo the airstrip for show, but then thought better of it, so as not to give my mother a heart attack. These bush pilots earn their money.

Now that I've completed my first week here in this village, I have to give this place high marks in terms of how nice the folks here are. Staff members have invited me into their homes for supper on three occasions, and another delivered supper to me here at the school in between classes. I have good groups of students that are pretty well motivated and fun to be around.

On Friday we had a Halloween carnival and dance here. Many of the kids and teachers dressed up for the day. I did not have a costume, but I worked at the carnival. Unfortunately, due to weather, the DJ couldn't make it in from Bethel, which meant they had to use the gym's PA speakers and a student's iPod as an alternative. Between the sound and the smell, I didn't spend a ton of time at the dance.

I've been playing some hoops with some of the kids, including a long game of 3 on 3 yesterday. Hence today I am feeling very sore, broken, and past my prime. Good exercise though.

The weather here has had a lot of fog and low skies. People traveling to/from here have had delays which can last several days. Finally today we had a relatively clear, sunny, and very nice day. So, I got out on my lunch break and snapped a few photos of Nelson Island and the ice floes of the Ningaluk River. Sadly, I haven't seen any seals yet, or really much wildlife out and about. Or Russians. But I'll let you know if I do, you betcha.

Lastly, a story I hesitate to tell. I thought it was kind of strange, but at first I didn't pay it much mind. A couple of the older ladies around the school and community here have been asking me if I'd met any women here at Newtok. It seems like once or twice a day, I get "Hi Brian! Meet anybody yet?" One woman even suggested putting me up in a raffle for the Halloween carnival. (Which was NOT done, by the way) I started to really wonder where this was all coming from. Well well well, come to find out that one of my esteemed co-workers decided to have a little fun at the expense of yours truly. So, they went ahead and spread word prior to my arrival that the new teacher was looking to meet a lady and settle down in a village. Ahh nice play there. That's alright though. Anybody who was ever on the Lancer Wrestling Team knows that when it comes to practical jokes, I don't ever get even.

I get ahead.

Mr. Rendall Goes to Town

2008-10-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

My wonderful friend Erin Kavanaugh thought that would be a great title for my next blog posting. It sounds like a children's story to me, but I suppose it fits.

As some of you know, this past week I headed to Town (Anchorage) for a professional development opportunity. Now, opportunity....there is a word that I can never use in the same way after having taught and worked at Maple. Our principal there was a great man, and ever the optimist. He would use "opportunity" as a descriptor of some odd things. In that light, I might say that last weekend I had the opportunity to change the Big Red Fred's oil in the icy driveway of the Tundra Oasis when it was 15 degrees out. Or, I might say I had the opportunity to sit in a class being taught to teachers by people who don't teach. I also just had the opportunity to watch the Illini take a 17-10 lead over Bucky.

So the class was pretty much like having a tooth drilled-all day long, for two days. It was a good chance for me to reflect on how much it must suck for MY students when I'm having an off day. The benefit of this class was that I gained a core curriculum and endorsement from CEF (Construction Education Foundation) that is by no means limited to construction trades. At some time this could come to benefit my students, but probably not under the current configuration. Perhaps the bigger plus was networking with CTE teachers from all over the state. Some of the guys had some pretty interesting stories from the areas they came from. For example, one guy who teaches in Barrow was saying that the daylight changes by 20 minutes per day right now. Talk about rapid change...they will be in complete darkness very soon. From talking to some of these cats I got the sense of how unique each area of the state is, and some of the strange ins and outs that go along with them.

So I didn't want to give the impression that the whole trip was torture. This organization put us all up in a really nice hotel. Big bathtubs, down comforters, big screen TVs and drop-dead beautiful desk workers. It was a nice place. The view out the window wasn't bad either.

The mall was right nearby, which afforded me the chance to finally get a haircut (the first since mid-July) and I went ahead and tamed the beard as well, which I think was probably due.

I got to go out for a couple of good meals. One was take-out from a nice pizza joint at the mall. On the walk in, I noticed several dads with their little boys with little hockey sticks walking in to the mall. As I waited for my pie to cook, I walked over and watched the little kids' hockey practice in the rink that serves as sort of an atrium for the mall. I felt bad for some of the kids who couldn't do the drills. One kid was brought back to the side with a stick, like he was a big hockey puck in a green sweatshirt.

The next night, Thursday, I was feeling a little stuffy, so I went to a nearby Thai restaurant that came highly recommended from Wednesday's Foul Mouthed Latin Cabbie. He used so much profanity in describing the quality of food here that I knew had to go try it. The spicy curry I had really cleared out the stuffy head, and yes, Cabbie, I would agree that it was some kick @## mutha *#*$@# ! #!***, brother. Way better chow than what's in Bethel.

Also, I got to pick up some needed supplies before heading back. Some new shoes, some mitts, and some toiletries. And there is a Sportsman's Warehouse. That place is a little slice of Heaven right there in Anchorage. It's kind of like Gander Mountain, only dare I say a little better.

Finally, it was back to Anchorage International for my trip back to Bethel. Here's one of the many impressive mounts in the airport, a world record brown bear.

By the way, I found out that security really does not apppreciate if you lose your boarding pass in the process of taking off your shoes, coat, backpack, and emptying your pockets in a big rush. Security guy "Boarding pass?!?" Me "Umm...crap. Sir, I think it's in your X-ray box." Security guy "What's it doing in there? You need your boarding pass!" Fortunately it turned up in one of the plastic tote bins as I rifled through my stuff coming out of the X-ray box. I was becoming fearful of the "question room."

As I wrote this story, I had the opportunity to watch Bucky come back and beat those Illini. And tomorrow, I have the opportunity to head out to Newtok and start my next assignment.

An interesting read....

2008-10-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/us/13land.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

HOLY CRAP!! THE RUSSIANS!!!

2008-10-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

This morning was a nice, calm, sunny morning in the village of Napakiak. I deemed it the perfect time to get out for a nice leisurely stroll. And besides, it's part of my daily duty to go out and make sure there aren't any Russians roaming about. There was a HEAVY coat of frost on everything. The Kusko had some steam rising off the surface. The ravens were making new sounds I'd never heard before. For the information of folks back home, ravens make a lot of very bizarre sounds, unlike the crows we all know, which are just obnoxious.

I walked down to the Kusko, then veered off to the side and walked along the Napakiak slough. I could hear the ice that had topped now empty puddles along the shores cracking all around me. At first I thought nothing of it. Then I pulled focus and watched as the shore appeared to flood all around me. The rising tide was refilling all the puddles and breaking the ice everywhere. It was pretty surreal to watch and listen to.

Eventually I followed a trail towards the airport. Right about that time, I could hear this distant dull roaring sound. I looked up and on the distant horizon I could see what in all honesty looked like a huge rocket or missile taking off, followed by an enormous plume of spent rocket fuel and smoke. I did a double take, rubbed my eyes, and thought to myself, holy crap, it's the Russians. Then my mind started pontificating about what a brilliant place the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta would be for our military to conceal nuclear arms. So maybe this was one of ours. One thing was for sure. This thing was moving, rising, and I could hear it gaining intensity. After a couple of minutes, the 'missile' got closer, but not necessarily higher, and through the fog I could see it for what it was. I then headed back to the Kusko to watch the missile as it went by. I couldn't actually get the tugger in the shot, as it was about 400 yards ahead of the barge.

I have just 3 more days left here in Napakiak before I head back to Bethel to regroup and take care of some business. Then on the 20th I'll be heading out to Newtok, which some of you may have seen featured in the Tougher in Alaska show. It is the town that they are going to move/rebuild before it erodes away completely.

And don't worry, folks. I'll still be keeping my eyes peeled for any Russians.

At Napakiak, the Sky Falls Out of the Snow

2008-10-02T10:23:00.000-08:00

That's right, people. We had our first official accumulation of snowfall this morning. When I saw students walking in with snow stuck to their clothes, I knew I'd need to skip out of school for a spell today. A mere dusting, but the first bona fide sign that winter is only a step away. Soon we will walk into it face first. What we had this morning was one of those beautiful winter wonderlands. I suppose partly because it's the first snow I've seen since the end of April. The other bonus was that all I needed to stay warm on my walk was a hooded sweatshirt. That first icing, for whatever reason, stirs some emotions in all of us. It's beauty, it's change, but it's the omen that our beloved summer sun is calling it a happening.
Here are a couple pics I snapped for you folks in TV Land. Then I put the camera in my pocket and enjoyed the rest to myself.

Saturday Inservice, Sunday Funday

2008-09-29T12:03:00.000-08:00

This past weekend afforded me the opportunity to return to Bethel for the first of a series of 5 different teacher inservice sessions that are for first year teachers at LKSD. Any teacher can tell you that the bane of their existence is the inservice. These are on Saturdays, so it's just that much more excruciating. Couple that with the fact that getting in to Bethel means catching a flight, which for me meant waiting at the Napakiak airport (WNA) for an hour, having the plane come once I had finally abandoned hope. The nice thing about coming to town, though, was having a weekend to spend with friends.
On Sunday, one friend, the co-owner of Fred (as in Big Red Fred) called and wanted to go on a date. So, what do you do if you want to have a fun date in Bethel? You go to the dump.
Here is some of what the dump has to offer: A tundra loaded with soft overripe blueberries, panoramic views of far-off mountains and planes taking off from Hangar Lake.

A new boat, a new gun, a new way to train your best friend.

Isn't this pretty? Guess what these ducks are swimming in. I'll give you a hint: it is not water.

I should have some pics of Napakiak coming soon. I need to take some pictures here first, and the weather has been kind of iffy for the camera.

The Dog Days of Bethel

2008-09-22T18:49:00.000-08:00

I have spent the past 8 days in Bethel. I have not posted recently because Bethel in and of itself is not a place that inspires a ton of stories. But despite that, there have been a few noteworthy events.
Last Friday there was an inservice for site administrators (what folks in the lower 48 call principals) at the district office. There were several other district teachers in the office for inservice and professional development as well, including my wonderful friend Erin and her roomate Christina. To accomodate all the people and make Friday fun, there was a potluck, which lent my first opportunity to sample some of the traditional native foods. There was plenty of food that would be right at home at a traditional potluck, as well. But none of the hot-dish we 'Sconnies know and love. Anyhow, the first new item for me was dried fish. This is pretty much what you might think. It is dried fish. The fish is hung up and dried. I enjoyed my dried fish. Next I had akutaq, which is pronounced a-goo-duck. Akutaq is the famed Eskimo ice cream, for which there are many recipe variations. Typically it will include berries and whipped crisco, and some other additions could be cream, potato flakes, fish, and I don't know what else. What I sampled had salmonberries and blackberries. It was also quite good. The salmonberries are tasty and unique. The third thing I had was pickled fish. I love pickled fish, especially herring and pike. So I took a couple chunks of this figuring I would surely enjoy it. As I enjoyed my meal, Erin and Christina asked me a couple of times if I had had any of the pickled fish yet. Their poorly masqueraded grins tipped me off to the fact that they probably were privy to some information which I was not. And sure enough, they were. It turns out that what I had on my plate is called salunaq, which means fish head and belly, salted. It didn't really have the pickled fish flavor. It did, however, have the fish head texture.
In other Bethel news, it is PFD time. People are getting their oil checks and that has a variety of effects. For many people, it means that they have the money to get that 4 wheeler or snow machine they have been wanting, or they can stock up the household with the many supplies needed to last the winter, they can buy new clothes, shoes, boots, and other things that they needed the money for. Other people blow it on pull-tabs, bingo, and booze. I talked with one man at the airport today who works for Yukon-Kuskokwim, the hospital in town. He stated that the amount of alcohol related injuries in the hospital since the PFD checks started coming was "asinine." Last week the police had to use lethal force on a guy. Another was found dead in the road. We're all hoping that the PFD season quiets down.
To end on a happier note, I have included some pictures of a local dog team. Mushing is big around here. This is home to the famous Kuskokwim 300. In Napaskiak, a couple of mushers were working with their teams by having them pull the 4 wheeler in neutral and that in itself was quite a sight. These pictures are for all you people who have read Jack London and envisioned a team of huskies.

I'll be back

2008-09-14T14:11:00.000-08:00

That's what I told my students from Napaskiak and Oscarville as I wrapped up classes on Friday. And thanks to our state DMV, I will be back there this week to finish up some business that really should have been finished this past Thursday. It is a somewhat delicate situation, so I had better leave it at that.
It is nice to be back in Bethel, back at the Tundra Oasis. I flew in yesterday. From the airstrip in Napaskiak I could see some of Bethel's landmarks, mainly the radio tower, the hospital and the big oil tanks. It's kind of odd to be able to visually see your destination when your mode of travel is by air.
Kenny (the site administrator's husband) and I hauled all my gear (2 four wheeler/trailer loads full) out to the airstrip and waited for my noon charter plane. We were early, so we chatted and waited, chatted and waited some more. We saw some planes go by from Bethel but none of them turned to make the landing on our airstrip. At 12:30 suddenly a plane pulled around the corner and came taxiing over to us. It came from the other direction, and managed to swoop in and land without us even knowing it. It turns out the plane was one we had seen go by earlier, looking towards Bethel, but it went to Napakiak, which is a few miles downriver, not Napaskiak, due to some confusion on somebody's part. How could you mix up those two names, right? The pilot waited there for me for about 15 minutes before radioing in and going to the right place. I didn't bust the pilot's chops about it too much, since, you know, my life was in his hands.
It took us about 15 minutes to load up the plane and about 5 minutes to make the flight. After touchdown in Bethel I was picked up by my boss with an LKSD cube van for all the gear. On the way to the District Office I spotted Big Red Fred at the fire station where it was supposed to be. The keys were in the glove box, so away I went with my wheels. All the gear was offloaded at the District Office, save for mine, which fit in Fred's bed. Soon enough I was enjoying three tacos in the company of a good friend, and feeling pretty happy to be back in Bethel.
Last night my roomates got to find out how serious we Wisconsin folks take our Badger football. For anyone who watched the game, that "no fumble" call reversal pretty much sent me over the edge. I was shouting at a television set. Football season has now officially begun.
Sadly, neither the Packers nor the Jets were featured on the Sunday broadcasts here. And for the record, I'd rather watch the Jets.
I had a great experience at Napaskiak. The people were very welcoming and friendly overall. I will be back. But for now it is nice to be able to go out to eat and watch a ball game on the TV.
I've added some photos of: My shop setup from PKA, and some in-class activities.

Four Star

2008-09-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

It is getting near the end of week 2 in Napaskiak and it feels like I just arrived. I thought I might as well share a few photos of school life. Aunt Barb asked, and Nephew Brian delivers the goods. First picture is my room in the attic. Now, in my defense, there is no furniture in my room, so where else would I store my gear besides on the floor. That really is the best place for it. At least I have an excuse.

Next is the famous basketball court outside of Z.J. Williams School. I was invited in for a pick-up game tonight, but I declined on the grounds that I'm a wrestler. That, and none of the students had bugged me enough to want to go in and foul the crap out of somebody.

Thissa here is the infamous Red Shed. This is where the magic takes place. Sort of. It is where I have set up my welding machine (the doors to the left) and my driving simulator (doors straight up the boardwalk.) I spend at least half of my day in the shed.

Stepping inside, it's a pleasant 58 degrees now that I've mastered the controls of my heater. Before this, it ranged somewhere between 40 and 80. The driving area is also a quasi wood shop. I also use a classroom inside the actual school to give the students other content. They like the driving alot more. Here are some students from Oscarville in my night class, hard at work, making me proud.

I thought this was interesting....

2008-08-31T17:45:00.000-08:00

Notice the long line of poles in this photo, about 15 feet tall with yellow bottoms? These line the bank of the Kusko in Bethel. Come to find out, these poles are filled with freon. They are there to keep frozen the permafrost mud river banks so that they don't collapse and wash out. That's what I call a proactive approach to erosion prevention.

PKA

2008-08-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

Monday I began my real work here as I was shipped out to my first village, beautiful Napaskiak (home of the Hawks), or PKA as it's known from by airlines. So that morning I packed up the rest of my crap and headed in to the District Office, and from there I loaded up an LKSD cube van with all my gear and the drivers ed/welding gear. We chartered a Cessna 207 and one of the boxes still didn't fit. Once it was time to go, our pilot turned and asked "ok who's co-pilot?" to which I said "what the hell...can I be?" It turns out, yes, I can. Pre-flight instructions are a little bit different on bush planes. Ours went something to the effect of "your seatbelt works just like you'd think it does, the emergency exit is the door right next to you, we'll be there in about 10 minutes." A friend told me about the pre-flight instructions they got a while ago, which went like this: "In case we go down, the gun's under my seat." I can see how that could be a really good thing to know. So sure enough, 10 minutes later we were at PKA International Airport and Convention Center. (see photo)

It was a really nice day, and the pilot radioed the school to let them know we were soon there, so upon landing I just dragged all my gear out of the plane and sat down on some of it and waited for Joe, (the school secretary, town mayor, barber, et al.) to come get me on his 4 wheeler/trailer, which he did within a half hour or so. After a hectic day of setting up, settling in, planning schedules (overfilling my schedule), and other business, I was "ready" to teach on Tuesday.

My daily schedule has 4 welding classes in a row in the morning, then a drivers ed class in the afternoon. Then at 6, I have a group of 10 students from the village of Oscarville (home of the Hornets) who come across the Kusko for drivers ed class. I give these kids a lot of credit. They work hard, have good attitudes, and they get on a boat every day to go take a night class. I've really enjoyed the students so far. Here is the Napaskiak slough where nautical arrivals and departures take place.
I have had the opportunity to cross over to Oscarville a couple of times myself. I went and taught the class at their place this past Wednesday, in the very classroom of my great friend Erin. We had so much fun that I was invited back to Oscarville after class on Friday, where I was treated to a couple of delicious meals and learned how to play Canasta. Crossing the Kusko is more of a trip than it would seem like. It's a very, very big river. It takes about 10-15 minutes in a boat moving at a pretty good clip. Here are some photos of the river. It is not only large, it is effected by the tides by several feet. That is why you will see some boats sitting way up on dry land in some photos, and boats wisely anchored out in the sloughs in other photos. Getting in and out of boats at low-tide requires rubber mud boots, which places mine high in the running for being the Best 17 Bucks I Ever Spent.

At Napaskiak, everybody gets around on 4 wheelers via the boardwalks, which go everywhere, like streets almost. There is a small general store, a public water fill station, the school, and a large Russian Orthodox church(below), among other things. There is a basketball court at the school, 3 feet above ground on deckboards and fenced in. The kids are really good basketball players. They play anytime the weather is good for it. The weather has been alright. We've had some really nice days and a few, like today, that have been sort of drizzly and blah. I teach class in a little red shed outside the school, where they have their "shop" classes. Wednesday morning was a particularly chilly one, about 45 degrees, and I hadn't yet gotten the heater working out there. The girls came to class and exclaimed "MAaaaannnn, so COoooolld"
Anyone who has spent time in the bush has probably heard that.

Ice cream for breakfast

2008-08-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

That's right, I decided to go ahead and have a nice bowl of ice cream for breakfast this morning. Tomorrow morning I head to the first of my estimated 9 villages for the year. For the next 3 weeks I will be calling the village of Napaskiak my home. I am looking forward to going there. Napaskiak is right across the Kuskokwim from Oscarville, home of my dear friend Erin Kavanaugh. I'm hoping I can sweet talk her into showing me some of the sights and sounds of Oscarville and the nature that surrounds. The Oscarville students will be joining my class as well. How many places in the lower 48 do kids get on a boat after school to cross a river and take a night class? None I'm aware of. After Napaskiak, I will be spending 3 weeks in Napakiak. Following that, having exhausted our district's villages that rhyme with Napaskiak, I will be moving on to Newtok. So I figured with all that on the agenda I had better enjoy my ice cream now, while I can have the kind that has no fish or Crisco.

I am going to miss the Tundra Oasis. I have had a really nice time here. I will miss my new friends that are my roomates. I will miss my king size bed. I will miss the fine dining at VIP, Shogun, and pizza at the airport, my favorite so far. But, there is work to be done.

As for the pictures, one is of the TO, the other is of me walking the bank of the Kusko. Enjoy.

Big Red Fred

2008-08-19T17:59:00.000-08:00

Let me introduce you all to the newest addition to the family. The name
is Big Red Fred, and this is what $250 will get you in Bethel if you go
halfsies with a friend. All in all a pretty sweet rig, sure to be the envy
of many.

Touchdown, extra points

2008-08-14T17:35:00.000-08:00

On Sunday the 10th I made it to Bethel. Mom and Dad took me to the bus stop at 5 am and by 8 I was in Chi Town. There I stood in long lines, and when I finally got to the front of each, my business at hand (check in, security scan)took a matter of seconds. I was a little saddened to miss Six Flags last week, but I guess I got to have about the same thing at the airport.
My flight from Chicago to Anchorage was about 6.5 hours and put me there at 1 PM AKDT. From there I got to enjoy a nice 5 hour layover (make that 6 hour after our delay), during which I made a couple last phone calls and took a couple of airport naps.
We finally boarded the 737 for Bethel. I thought it was hilarious. We've all been to an event where somebody comes and finds another somebody sitting in the seat that is by rights theirs. Well, that happened over and over again. Everybody just got in and sat down wherever, and this flight was filled. Nobody was sitting where their ticket said to. As the pre-flight announcements went, people kept getting booted out of the wrong seat as new passengers straggled in. The last one was yours truly. At least I was in the right row. And my rightful seat was a window one, so all the better.
I was picked up by Jimmy, who runs the Tundra Oasis (the house I am staying at.) My roomates are all really good folks. We have coffee to drink in the mornings. We have wireless internet in the house. I have a queen sized bed in my room, as well as a TV, which gets more channels than I have time to look at. SO the living situation is very nice here. I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest before I head out to the villages.
Bethel is unlike any town in the lower 48 that I know of. It has about 7,500 residents, and the one main road is about 17 miles long. There are little subdivisions scattered here and there along this road, separated by low bogs and sloughs. Boardwalks make for a nice dry footing on a shortcut if you're walking, otherwise there are cabs to get you around. I've been fortunate enough to live with folks who also work for LKSD and have vehicles. One more thing I should mention. Today we picked up some groceries for our dinner here at the T.O. and to give an idea of the price differences, a jar of off brand pickles will run you $8.69 here in Bethel, AK. Water, power, fuel, and any necessity will be steep. So, if you take it, eat it, if you're done, turn off the lights, and if it's yellow, let it mellow.
I've taken some pictures which I would love to share. As soon as the download software shows up I will do just that.