Warmth in Winter, Shade in Summer

Quiet Alaskan Christmas

2011-12-25T14:41:00.000-09:00

As usual, the immediate family (kids and a spouse and grandson) are many miles away, but we got an early wake-up call from Taiwan. Our son was happy with his stuff- Puma shoes, clay, straight razor, vitamins, books and we were up anyway, so why not. We bought ourselves a Hexamid tent so we just had a few items in our stockings. Shout-out to Virginia for the neck warmer and Denali and Erin made me bookbag decorated with handprint palm trees and a Denali sized cookie cutter. Tim and Pam gave us snowshoes so we're heading out to the country tomorrow with a pack of lunch and matches for a bonfire.

One great surprise was that we won the quilt raffle from the Tillamook Quilt Museum. It'll look beautiful in our guest room so come and visit.

We are walking all the streets of Fairbanks (104 miles so far) and tracking it on the map in the phone book. Today it was -18 when we left and -6 when we finished our 5 miles 2 hours later. The snow is coming down and it really looks like Christmas. The 3 hours of daylight means we see the Christmas lights outside day and night.

Our family has all called (or we called them) and we're tucked in with our jigsaw puzzle and books. We go to my brother's house for Christmas dinner.

Consumer Activism

2011-12-24T18:18:00.000-09:00

I've been thinking a lot about a smaller footprint on our home planet. When is it okay for people to be conspicuous consumers, even if you can afford it? (See the 60 Minutes program on McMansions).

Tomorrow is Christmas Day and my activism is that I will NOT be going to any stores or places of business. If all of us did that, the stores would not make money and they would close and let their employees stay home with their families. Not just Christmas- all holidays.

Another activist behavior is not buying non-energy efficient lightbulbs. Let's run them out of business....we don't need no stinkin' laws to do the right thing.

I'll be adding to this page- please add comments. How can the sound of one hand clapping make policy changes?

Hooper Bay- Hazardous Duty

2011-12-11T10:58:00.001-09:00

The principal emailed me on Sunday and said that 77 basketball players were on an extended trip to Hooper Bay due to bad weather. He suggested I wait to come this week due to lows moving in across the ocean, so I changed my reservation from Sunday night to Monday night to Anchorage, early morning to Bethel on Tuesday, then to Hooper Bay by 10:15 am on Hageland/ERA.

Riding the pines at Hageland, I heard the number of cancellations- all around- Tuntutuliak, Tununak, Kipnuk, etc., but the clear skies and light winds were all around and the Scammon Bay and Chevak planes left so I boarded for Hooper Bay with 7 others. The guys next to me on the plane were Chicanos from Anchorage going out to do drywall. When I saw their sweatshirts and sneakers I asked if they were being met by anyone. "Gets cold out there" I told them. They laughed, "We're tough". Then I went to sleep.

When I woke up, we were being buffeted around and were about 15 minutes out of HPB. The only sign of a village was on the plane's locator grid. I never saw anything outside the plane until 30 seconds before we landed as the runway lights loomed up close directly ahead. When I got off the plane, the pilot threw the bags out on the strip into a complete white-out and roaring wind. The Chicanos disappeared from my view. My face was being sandblasted by the icy snowflakes and high winds. No school machine. No familiar face. I saw a young guy completely covered except for his eyes on a powerful looking snowmachine. My hero. I unhesitatingly asked him if he saw anyone from the school. "I'll bring you up" he said quietly. He strapped my suitcase on the back, I climbed in behind him and I held onto my cardboard file box full of food.

We took off into the whiteout while I huddled behind him. After about 10 minutes, he stopped. I peeked out from my human windshield as he said, "oh, the river". I asked, "do you know where we are?" to which he replied, "yep. the river". Then we switched direction and within another 10 minutes, started to see houses. When we pulled up to the school, he was icy from the top of his hood to his toes. I asked him if I could give him some gas money. He acted insulted and refused it. I think he saved my life. Vernon Tall, you're my hero!

Sadly, another person, Paul Kaiser died in that same blizzard later in the day, coming home from Chevak to Hooper Bay, about 5 miles. When his sno-go ran out of gas, he started walking. In the wrong direction. His frozen body was found the next day. All of Hooper Bay, Chevak and Scammon Bay are mourning this father and husband, nephew, brother and cousin.

You might ask, why did you fly when it was so bad? I have to say in my defense, once you get on the plane, you are in the hands of the pilot. You have to trust that they will look after your safety and know what they're doing. Bethel had clear sky and low winds. Hooper Bay reportedly had good visibility when we left an hour before we arrived. It's always a crap shoot.

Snowshoeing?

2011-11-20T15:01:00.001-09:00

The temps are still about -28, so we walked around the Big Dipper Ice Arena again doing four 20 minute miles. It reminded me of my cross country running team in Tolstoi Bay (1992-1993) which was on a floating log camp. The gym was in the old school. It consisted of two trailers that were cabled down to the 2 football fields sized raft that was the community. The kids had to run 84 laps to make a mile. After 42, I had them turn around and run the other way so one leg didn't become shorter than the other. We boated over to Thorne Bay for the first meet and the kids asked where they were supposed to turn. They were amazed to discover that they could just run straight and stop at the finish line! We took the first 5 places in the race.

I digress...walking in circles in not as fun as it could be, especially with the sun and blue skies out the window. But really, colder than -20 is not so fun either, mostly because the required clothes are bulky, glasses fog and freeze and breath builds up around your face guard to chap your sensitive skin. Inside though, there is lots of opps for conversation. We've been married for 30 years so I like to say we've already said anything we need to say, but the topic rolled around to snowshoes.

Being short-legged, my experience (once) with snowshoes was not pretty. The heavy Army snowshoes weighed a ton (give or take a 1,960 pounds) and were enormous. My legs were splayed out at about a 60 degree angle (my crotch being the vertex) and even so, I'd regularly step on the other snowshoe and fall. That was about 40 years ago. Maybe like distance hiking, it is time to update my perspective to reflect the new technology.

Ideally, we'd rent snowshoes to try them out, but Beaver Sports won't have any for a few more months. Prices in town ranged from $99 (Sportsman's Warehouse, Tubbs) to Atlas (to infinity and beyond). They look light (about 4 pounds) and smaller, but I am skeptical of the plastic-rubbery bindings in the cold and the narrow pads in the powder. We'll keep looking but I think we'd like to have pairs by Wednesday for an excursion out to Agony Acres. I'm thinking of a snoeshoe hike, soup and cocoa and a bonfire. Sound good?

On Friday, we'll take the snowshoes out to Central for an overnight. Our friend, (shoutout to Wendy!) has a cabin out there and it's a beautiful drive. The one teacher school there closed 2 years ago and the store is under new management. The hot spring has been closed for years, but I've heard that some locals can use it anyway. It's an old mining town, mostly non-Native and is making a come-back in terms of having cheap land and cabins for playing. The all year round road makes it possible to commute, but it's a good 2.5 hour drive and often the road is closed due to blowing snow over Eagle Summit. The snowplows go back and forth over the same 5 miles and still it can't stay clear of snow, so a gate gets closed to prevent the necessity of rescues. Warbelow's Air Ventures has a daily 6 day/week flag stop plane, but the same wind often cancels that flight. The long and the short of it is that we are packing snowshoes, emergency winter gear and some spare food, just in case. Also, the good news is that if I get weathered in, my work next week includes a stop in Circle, just 30 minutes away from Eagle Summit. Just sayin'.

The Occupy movement is also here in Fairbanks. That's serious dedication when it has been colder than -20 for at least 8 days. Living through the 60s gave me respect for non-violent protest. More later.

Breaking Records

2011-11-17T20:35:00.000-09:00

The second day in a row of record breaking cold. -41. Just bragging rights for Northerners. Right now it eclipses wars, hunger, climate change (ironically) and even politics. I could be standing in front of a moose and if another Alaskan approached, I'd be required to say, "It's really cold today, innit?" It would be especially appreciated if I had on a face scarf or mask that was well frosted and only my eyes making me recognizable. All this talk about "it's a dry cold"?....-41 is really cold.

I'm on jury duty for the 7th day in a row. Just today, me and another jurist were talking about the old days when sub -40 were the norm. Remember frost shields on the windows? Remember draining the oil out of the truck every night and bringing it in to keep it warm? Remember running the VWs 24/7? Remember when extension cords were as brittle as spaghetti? Remember when you dared your friends to pee outside to see if the pee froze before it hit the ground? Those were the good old days- warm gingerbread, wood stove and no cell phones.

About the trial...deliberation continues tomorrow. No more news.

We went to a talk tonight by Ed Plumb on Interior hot springs. It really got us thinking about doing some local exploring. Maybe as early as this Spring. We'd sure like to go to Tolovana Hot Springs. We could even go during the week. It's an 11 mile hike in, up and over a fairly steep mountain. Makes us think more about snowmachines. Anyway, it's on our wish list. As is Hultana (sp?).

We cancelled the tailgate party for hockey this weekend. Two weeks ago, we had brats, hot chocolate and warm potato salad off our tailgate in the parking lot with friends. It was a balmy 15 degrees and we had a great time. My husband had the bright idea of doing it before every Saturday game. I think -35 is too cold for a bonfire. But that's just me.

We walked yesterday at the Big Dipper- 4 miles around the track. If this blingin' jury duty gets over in time, I'm going to bundle up and walk outside again. Saturday for sure.

Walking the Icy Streets

2011-11-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

So, I'm home this month for jury duty. It's sort of planned leisure, although my to-do list is very long and not so interesting. I have managed, so far, to go to a play (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf), a musical (Annie) and dinner (Visitor and Convention Center Volunteer dinner) and handed out candy for Halloween- shout out to the dragon, the ballerina princess and Robin (the Rozells) and the various costumed Pilons as well as the dozen odd neighbor kids who braved the zero temps.

We (Paul and I) decided to walk all the streets in Fairbanks this winter. We went on our 3rd walk today. So far, we walked around University West, around Taku Subdivision and today we walked between Cowles and Barnette and 9th and 1st Ave and a little more. We've walked about 16 miles total.

It was about -5 today with light snow, but it was great to get out. The route planning has been interesting- a little lesson in discrete math. What do you wear when walking at -5? Wool tights, loose blue jeans, lined boots, a turtle neck shirt, a Zip-T from Mountain Hardwear and a parka with a hat and gloves. It's always tricky- being warm but not sweaty.

Scheduling for Village Travel

2011-10-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

I'm here in Oahu, enjoying my one year old grandson and his parents. When I arrive back in Fairbanks on Sunday, I'll be prepping for a weeklong visit to villages in the Yukon Flats School District. Scheduling has been a real hassle due to all the other demands on teachers this week- parent conferences, a teacher workday, report cards, evaluations, oh, and did I mention teaching? So it turns out that I will spend 2.5 days in Arctic Village and 2.5 in Ft. Yukon.

Packing this time of year is really problematic. Freezing food might thaw on the plane, but non-frozen might freeze. I need to pack snow pants and boots, but it might be muddy and relatively warm. I always need to pack microspikes (or crampons) in case of icy paths. I'll be sleeping on floors, so I need to bring my camp mattress and lightweight sleeping bag. It is now dark more than 12 hours/day, so I'll need a headlamp.

That's not even counting the work related stuff- a presentation packet (stickies, pens, office stuff, etc.), materials that teachers requested (notebooks, whiteboards), dinner for the first site (chicken enchiladas for 6).

One of the schools has 3 full time teachers and an itinerant special ed teacher. That's it. Everyone does everything. Oh, no. The Halloween carnival is coming up- glad I'll miss it!

Whooping it up in Hooper

2011-03-27T16:27:00.001-08:00

It's Sunday and I arrived home from Hooper Bay and Scammon Bay at 8 pm on Friday. I always come home tired from a village trip.

* Since I sleep in the schools on the floor on my camp mattress, I don't sleep very soundly.
* The heat goes off in the night and comes on early in the morning, but it is never possible to be both warm enough during the night and cool enough in the morning.
* The custodians work until 11pm and some of the teachers are there at 7 am and I hate being caught in my pjs.
* I never drink enough water since I am always suspicious of the purity. Many locals purify their water but distillers are too heavy to carry around and too expensive to leave at each site.
* I don't get out and exercise enough since I am working early and late and its dark until March.
* I schlep my bags around from airline to airline and from room to room.

Since I leave again tomorrow, I scurry around to buy and pack groceries, wash and repack clothes, secure travel arrangements and email the people I will be seeing, file reports on my last trip and put away receipts. That being said, I am semi-recovered.

In Hooper Bay, I saw a snowmachine towing a skiff across the frozen and snowy ground. They were going seal-hunting in the water between the shore and the drifting sea ice. Farther down, there were people walking out across the ice to go manaqing or jigging for tomcod.

The basketball tournament was a big success. Hooper Bay beat Kotzebue, a major upset for them. The road was plowed for hauling kids and gear during the tournament so a truck picked Betty and I up. Betty is a mentor who has been working with teachers there for 4 years. Scott Jr gave us a comfy, heated ride. He showed the work on the new plumbing coming to town. Except for the school and new apartments, no one in town has indoor plumbing...they all use honey buckets and haul water.

Road in Hooper Bay with street lights and power poles.

The school was all in an uproar. There was early out due to parent conferences and this time of year morale is at an all-time low. Many teachers are trying to decide whether to stay another year or go somewhere else. It is unprofessional to sign a contract and look for another job, so sometimes its a long-shot to not sign, then look for a "better" job. Although I think that people fit into some communities better than others, there is no easy job in education. The little irritating things about people really add up in a place where getting outside is difficult in bad weather, people live close together in teacher housing and leaving town is expensive.

High stakes testing is coming up in a week. Many kids are working at 2 grades (or more) below grade level. Only 42% of the students are proficient at their own grade level. The pressure to do well is really wearing on both teachers and students. In Hooper Bay, the problem is exacerbated by low attendence rates (75%) and student behavior. I don't pretend to know the answers.

SubZero Amusements

2011-02-13T19:06:00.000-09:00

The Stanley Cup is visiting town today. We went over to the Big Dipper to see it at 2:30, but the line was closed. Apparently it takes Stanley 1 1/2 hours to get ready to go over to Los Amigos for its next gig. It's Hockey Week (and Black History Month) in Fairbanks so ladies were handing out cupcakes and there were tons of skaters out on the rink. No walking though. Walking would disrupt the line for posing with the Stanley Cup.

Yesterday was volunteer day for us. We went up to the University Reichardt Natural Sciences building and checked scores for MathCounts, the middle school math competition. Kids did great. It's hard to believe that 100 kids spent all day doing math and loved it. I coached for about 8 years.

Last night, we ushered at the Fairbanks Drama Association play, Born Yesterday. The acting was great and the play was too, until the end when it got rather political. It's a lesson play on the value of learning- it's eye-opening.

Today wasn't so interesting. We had the requisite cinnamon roll and coffee and came home to do taxes. The thermometer read -35 by Lulus. I think it has warmed up to -23, but still not a day to go exploring.

I was supposed to do jury duty this month which is why I cleared my schedule, but it became obvious that I would be called just about the time I'd planned to travel. So, .....Amonda told me I could defer until November, but if I do that, not to expect ANY days excused.

Tomorrow, Paul and I are going to Anchorage. He'll stay just a few days and we'll go out for Valentine's Day and get our last hiking gear at REI. Then, I'll work on Tuesday and Wednesday by participating in the review of math standards for College and Career Ready. It's really volunteer. No pay, just travel reimbursed. The goal is to look at standards that will prepare kids for college or careers. Good goal- still has to be taught.

Pitka's Point is at the base of the road hugging the Yukon River bank. This view is from the 5 seat plane from Russian Mission.

On Thursday and Friday, I've been invited to Pitka's Point. It's a 3 teacher, K-8 school huddled near St. Mary's. It should be fun to see Peter, Sue and John once again.

Icicles show leaking heat from the old Arctic Village School, converted to apartments.

Fire and Ice

2011-01-01T21:08:00.000-09:00

We're spending the holidays in Kailua, Hawaii with our daughter and her husband and our 3 month old grandson, Denali and our son Ben who lives in Taiwan.

Before we left, the temps had been cold (below zero) in Fairbanks for most of December. In fact, the last time there was such a long streak of minus temps was in 1971. When we left, we put our coats in the garage so that the person picking us up upon our return can grab them on the way to the airport.

There are multiple comparisons, mainly by Hawaiians, about the similarities between the two states. For me, I can't see it. Maybe the relaxed attitude of the residents. Maybe the isolation from the rest of the U.S. and the often stated high prices. But that's about it. Besides the obvious (climatic differences and population demographics), it is really crowded here. Even on the least populated islands, the unoccupied lands are privately owned forcing high population concentrations.

10 Things I Like About Hawaii
Great beaches with public access
Dramatic sunsets
Access to snorkeling
Seabirds, flowers and whales
Hawaiian quilts
Strong sense of uniqueness in the residents
Public transportation
Friendly people
Scenic views
Unique music and dance

10 Things I Don't Like About Hawaii
Traffic jams
Commercialism
Expensive rents and real estate prices
Hot and damp climate
Mold and mildew
Camping and hiking is extremely limited on Oahu and some other islands
Residents get discounts- visitors get gouged
Chance of hurricanes
Snobby attitude of some residents that they are better than the visitors
Bugs

You might ask- why do I come here? Well, besides the 10 things I like, our only grandchild is now here. Also, in terms of getting warm in the winter, flying to Hawaii is cheaper and more available than other warm climates.

I'll be back in Alaska on Thursday morning. It will be good to be home, but I'll miss my kids.

Ice Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T13:46:00.000-09:00

Last week I was out in Circle, arriving home by plane. Good thing too because the Steese Hwy was closed at 12 Mile and Eagle Summits where it remains closed 9 days later. The blowing snow and ice from warming temps have made it treacherous.

On Thursday night, Paul and I went to see "Home" at the Blue Loon. The film was spectacular, but the theme was a real downer. It was about the human impact and effects of climate change. It showed massive deforestation, dying coral reefs, feedlots, overfishing, slums on the outskirts of Asian and African cities, the excesses of Dubai and Los Angeles and the scary fast erosional melting of the Greenland icefields. As a result, my conscience was really working overtime and we BOTH vowed to try to go vegetarian after our freezer is empty. There is mostly fish in there that we caught anyway, so I think it will be virtually empty in a month.

I've been imprisoned in an ice castle for 5 days. The rain on the cold ground made ice skating conditions and schools were closed for 3 days (sorta) followed by Thanksgiving. I did some cleaning, reading, cooking, thinking, arguing, phone calling but now I'm pretty irritable. Tomorrow I'm going out walking. For sure.

I need to rethink Thanksgiving. I spent the day cooking and 3 great friends came over to share with us. But really, holidays should have a deeper meaning. Our kids haven't been here for Thanksgiving for many years, so it hasn't been a family reunion. I personally don't think being thankful for my wonderful life is a one day event. I'm not sure what else should happen that day, but I have a whole year to think about it.

Our Annual Family Film Festival is gearing up again. We each nominated a movie with a title that had a real geographical location. We will watch them all, then vote on our favorite. This year we will have a trophy for the chooser of the winning film. Look on the right to vote for your favorites- 3 more choices still to come in.

We bought a Prius two days ago. It gets 51 mpg in town and so far all I've driven is the short test drive. The roads are still icy and even if I'm a good driver, there's always some hotshot out there burning rubber. It's "arrest me" red and really sleek looking. I think I'm going to like it once I get over my fear of change.

Enjoy our after dinner entertainment from Thanksgiving. Shoutout to those guest elves, Don, Nathan and Larry: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/Sw0ZAGtT2F2MN2vD

In and Out of the Fort

2010-11-15T19:56:00.000-09:00

I flew into Ft.Yukon this morning and out again this afternoon. The snow was falling, soft and wet and steady most of the day. The day will be famous for its lack of fun- I didn't even get a good walk in, instead working inside with educators. But the planes weren't late, the fellow passengers weren't drunk (had been drinking, but weren't drunk) and I was home in time for dinner.

Walking in the snow

2010-11-14T20:13:00.000-09:00

We finally got off our duffs and got out walking today. First we went to Lulu's for coffee and cinnamon rolls (about 2.5 miles total). The temps were very moderate, about 15, so we were encouraged enough to drive downtown and walk home. The snow was gently falling and it was just crisp enough to redden our cheeks. We walked the 5 miles home and drove back to pick up our abandoned car. Our calves are screaming tonight after pulling along our winter boots.

I bought some plastic tubs of supplies to take out to villages, so today I got to drill holes in the lids and sides for bike locks. Anyone with time and energy would just cut the plastic, but the locks are a deterrent to basketball teams who want to sleep on the mattress or use the spoons. The tub of "staples" should reduce packing needs.

Dinner tonight was seafood chowder and homemade bread. We also enjoyed planning our PCT hike, Christmas shopping ideas and upcoming visit with our kids. Life is good. Really, really good.

Kotlik and environs

2010-11-13T15:33:00.002-09:00

I spent most of the day in the garage with Paul. My little trusty 1994 Geo Prizm (188,000 mile) was skipping a beat every now and then. Simard Automotive charged us $159 to tell us it would cost $1500 to fix. I love that car! It stinks like a donkey's behind and the seats are worn through. The dent on the side reminds me of my years of sharing with my son...but darn...it gets 38 mpg and its easy to drive. We gave it a homegrown tune-up, replacing the distributor cap and wires, spark plugs, alternator belt, air filter, PCV valve and rotor and now it works fine. I also had the oil changed and cleaned off the battery connections since I was in there anyway. For $220, we fixed it ourselves. Works like a charm.

I'm sad to admit that my FB sound bites are somewhat replacing my blog entries. They are not nearly as satisfying, but they are more 2-way. There is something therapeutic though about blogging....completely selfish- I mean, really, publishing my diary? But I am writing again with new resolve.

This week was a quick overnight to Anchorage for the Curriculum Alignment Institute. The EED contractors, including me and the other math coaches, learned about enacted curriculum- what is actually taught compared to the aligned or assessed curriculum, what should be taught. We found out about cognitive rigor, a combination of Webb's Depth of Knowledge (4 levels of input/output relationships) and Bloom's Taxonomy (increasingly difficult levels of process). The ice on the streets of Anchorage made getting around very difficult. I was glad to have packed my crampons. Even so, getting a cab was nigh impossible so I stayed downtown instead of midtown.

The week before was a hectic week of work in Emmonak, Alakanuk and Kotlik. I arrived in Emmonak on Halloween and we (Arlie- reading coach, Gail- science coach and Jean-district math specialist) all went to the Emmonak Family Diner to have burgers or fried rice. The diner has pool tables and is open until 11, so teenagers wandered in to converse, have a coke and shoot pool. The little kids were out trick or treating- huge snowsuits, armor against the cold wind, and masks. Emmonak (meaning black fish) is right on the intersection of the Yukon and the Arctic Ocean. It's famous for Molly Hootch (who won the lawsuit to have village high schools), Walkie Charlies (a teacher buddy who just got his Ph.d here) and John Lamont, the superintendent of LYSD. Most of the school was built in the 1970s, but there was a great addition with a new gym and great library. We were treated royally and presented all day at the inservice on Monday.

We flew out on Tuesday morning to Alakanuk, the village first on the list in the state to get a new school. Nine teachers are new at this site and the school is very old, but there was lots of positive energy.


Kids are getting across the frozen Yukon in Alakanuk by icebreaking from their boat.

The weather in Alakanuk was beautiful, but cold when we flew out after just part of one day and part of another. Math Family Night had a pretty good showing and all the teachers volunteered. We left on Wednesday to go to Kotlik. On the way, we caught sight of over 50 moose grazing in the frozen tundra below us.

Kotlik is by far the friendliest village in LYSD that I've ever been to- the custodians at the school made sure we were comfortable with everything we needed. Teachers came over to say hi and the principal did too. We stayed in the library and spent all day Thursday in classes with teachers. On Friday, I had time to teach lattice multiplication to 9th graders and did some songs and stories with K/1. The agent came to pick us up in his little covered cart. We spent one night with Raphia and Brook, enjoying laughs and pasta with Moana and Virgenia as well. Len walked with us along the new boardwalk to the store where we bought juice and ice cream to donate to the dinner. It was hard to say goodbye to our new Kotlik friends, but we had convoluted connections to get home.

On the airstrip, the Grant pilot Debbie asked us to get in, but she was going back to Emmonak. Fortunately, I knew that we were supposed to go by Caravan right to Bethel, so we didn't get on. Good choice- otherwise we never would have made it to Alaska Airlines in time. We even had time to grab a $10 burger at Brother's Pizza, above Yute Air at the airport.

I arrived home by about midnight. It was great to sleep in my own bed. I love traveling, but it is always exhausting. Not only do I work hard the entire time I'm out, but I don't sleep well on the floors in the school and the food I carry can't be perishable so I don't eat very well either. I only have 2 more trips before Christmas....next week I'll be in Ft. Yukon and Circle and then after Thanksgiving, I'll be in Alakanuk and Nunam Iqua (Sheldon Point). I hope to blog again soon. Maybe a rant about Alaskan cretins and our political system. Sigh.

Recycle center and me on a beautiful day in Kotlik.

The area is totally wetland in the summer, but the boardwalk seems redundant in winter. Passing on the overpasses are risky.

A piece of plastic reuses this broken bike into a downhill vehicle. This young man goes down hills fast!

Cassius is only 10 months old- the 6th child in the family. He was visiting friends with his Mom and returning home to Bethel on our flight.

After-Travel Let Down

2010-10-16T17:04:00.001-08:00

I just read in the AARP magazine (this entry will explain) that sitting for 8 hours a day shortens your life- you are more likely to die within 14 years than those who sit 3 hours or less. Well, today just shortened my life, I'm sure.

I have been gone from home from Sept 12- Oct. 16 with the exception of last Sunday and today. As a result, I have been just lying around. Call it jet-lag, call it lazy, call it whatever. I'm too lethargic to fight you on it. The mail is piled on the table, the clothes from my suitcase are strewn around, the phone and computer are within easy reach as I am wrapped in a blanket on the couch. My access to the computer means that I have used the Stickies to write a substantial list of "to-dos" and maybe someday I'll get to them.

It's interesting that I'd rather visit and travel than almost anything. But upon returning home, the rush has passed. I live here because I love all the things to do in Fairbanks. I will force myself up off the couch to go see "The Bear" at the Riverfront Theater, only because tonight is the last night. I have a breakfast date tomorrow, but I don't think eating cinnamon rolls can count as a valid back home activity.

Blog, I've missed you. Besides, I can reach you from the couch without getting up.

Denali, following his Lola's lead.

Chalkyitsik

2010-10-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

I just spent the week in Chalkyitsik. The night-time was cold and clear with temps dropping to -10. Looking out the window of the Chalkyitsik Hilton (the old teacher apartment created when the original school closed), I could see an enormous sky full of stars.

The town of Chalkyitsik is located in a traditional fishing spot in a hook in the Black River. No edible salmon run up here, but the river is thick with chum, whitefish and pike. There are ample trees for firewood and people here hunt for moose. The homes have no running water so water is hauled in barrels from the community hose by the washateria. Woodpiles are filled by September and the caches are full of meat. Seems idyllic, doesn't it.

The view toward the village from the airstrip.

Alcoholism has made life here a living nightmare for the kids. During the week I was here, children were left alone while their parents binged in town or some were afraid to go home because of a drunk parent. The despair and lack of structure has almost destroyed the family life that has been so traditionally important to the Gwitch'in. Promiscuity is a side effect of drinking. Some of the children are related because of a shared father, but have never enjoyed the familial benefit of being acknowledged.

There are some non-drinkers in town, but they have learned to steer clear and not interfere because of the confrontational nature of drinking. The aunties and grandmas and grandpas try to keep an eye out for the kids, feeding them when they can and correcting their unruly behavior. If the kids don't like it though, they just stay away. There is a feeling of lawlessness, like the Wild West.

It rolls into school. The little kids come every day, drawn by the personality of a teacher they like and breakfast. The older kids sleep late because they were up late. There is no stigma to leaving for town for indefinite amounts of time. After the snow falls, the kids ride around town in snowmachines until the wee hours of the night. No rules in town make the rules at school difficult to follow. The bossy teacher is always trying to tell them what to do.

Many famous Elders are buried here.

In spite of it, some of the kids in Chalkyitsik have wonderful spirit and outlook. I don't worry about theft when I'm there. Some of their writing is about adventures in the snow and with family and friends. The gym is full of laughter and friendly competition.

Teachers here have a difficult job. Not only are they on call 24/7, but the children are so needy- for 2 of the 3 meals a day, for recognition and warmth and praise and for a structure and safety. But, oh, you are also supposed to teach them, because they're smart. And you have a short window of time- before they follow their parents.

Why do I go back to visit and work in Chalkyitsik? Because I like the kids.

Birth

2010-09-26T14:40:00.000-08:00

9/26/10
Erin woke up out of a sound sleep at 6 am with a contraction. It's now 5:30 pm and she's having strong, painful contractions, but not at regular intervals and probably not very productive. It makes one ponder, not only the process of birth, but also the miracle. How IS he going to get out of there?

She can't get comfortable in spite of her affirmations audiotape, 9 possible positions as taught by a DVD, advice of a doula, birth partner and midwife and a wide range of food, drink, pillow, furniture, location choices. I guess comfort does not go hand in hand with giving birth. Get 'er done.

Urban End of the Roaders

2010-09-18T21:29:00.002-08:00

I've seen many interesting characters during my stay here in Chicago- a function of riding public transit and walking around.
* The guy in front of us on the L had a buzz cut except for a small furry fringe along his collarline. We called it a micro-mullet.
* A guy we met under the scaffolding that was shielding us from the rain told us we should be glad he had ob/gyn experience in case she had her baby there.
* A hipster dad was pulling his little girl in a wagon covered with a canopy and she was lying enthroned with a crown, pink blanket and a bug net.
* Two ladies were dining at the Greek restaurant, one talked on her phone the entire time while her tablemate looked bored and finally announced, "we're going".
* A guy walking by said, "will you donate to the homeless?" to which I replied, "I do", so he muttered, "well, not to me".
* Two businessman and a casual guy standing in front of the Starbucks discussing his probation from jail.

Many, many more in my 6 days of Chicago.

Awaiting the Grand

2010-09-16T17:10:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Chicago on Monday evening after a 5 1/2 hr. direct flight from Anchorage. From the "L", the traffic on 90 was gridlock. The bus driver grudgingly told me how to insert my passcard; each method of usage is different- swipe, insert, up, in, down, etc. At the corner by the Borders, I twisted the handle of my hand carry around the pull-up handle on my suitcase so I could drag it for the 10 minutes to the apartment.

As many years as I've experienced this, it is still an enormous culture shock to contrast what I was doing yesterday with real life in the city. I woke up on Sunday morning in my sleeping bag in the cabin we just built on our land on the outskirts of Fairbanks. After doing a little more work, I picked up my hiking stick and walked the mile down the trail to the truck and a rough dirt road. Here in Oak Park, I need to pay attention on the numerous crossworks because the streets are not aligned and traffic is heavy. Honking and cell phone talk and the bump in the road assail the senses. The comfort came in seeing Erin and giving her a hug. Only for my children would I leave my comfortable semi-retired life without a return ticket.

Her baby is due Sept 23 or is it the 26th? She feels ponderous and tired and hungry. Oh, and the child is sitting on her bladder which means she's up every 2 hours to use the bathroom. A rehearsal for the feedings. In her usual organized way, she has a list of things that we are working through- descaling the coffee pot, changing the filter on the air purifier, shellac-ing the belly cast. The fun parts, sorting baby clothes, a visit to the midwife, visits from her friends are sprinkled in to smooth over the wait.

In the midst of the life change of a new (and first) child, she and (Dr.) Ron are moving to Kailua, Hawaii as soon as her doctor allows her and "Kodiak" to travel. So, there are piles of Craigslisted items, boxes and fragile stuff but almost no furniture. The arrival of Kodiak should be synchronized with the mailing of the stuff so that she can live out of a suitcase and leave carrying only the baby and a diaper bag. Tricky business.

The wait and discussions are dredging up the memories of awaiting her birth- 3 weeks after her due date. I worked 1/2 days as an Army cashier until Friday and went into labor on Saturday. She was born on Tuesday....It was still bitter cold in Fairbanks and March so I made her a quilted sleeping sack. She had a handmade cradle from Aunt Kay and Uncle Mike. I still remember the excitement and amazement of a new baby. I can hardly wait for this newest arrival. It never gets old.

Building Our Cabin at Agony Acres

2010-09-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

After nearly 25 years of owning this land, we will finally have a structure on it (other than the outhouse). Paul wants to build a timber-frame house, but with no nails and 20 x 24, that will take years. In the meantime, the tent platform has given way for a summer cabin.

Here are some of the preliminary steps to building this temporary, uninsulated, 16 x 12 ft. cabin (not counting the buying and hauling of all the materials and tools:
select and clear the site, dig the foundation post holes, cut-peel-paint the posts, bury and level them, lay across the floor beams and all the floor joists on 16 inch centers, cover with and staple down chicken wire, lay down insulation, cover the surface with a vapor barrier, lay out the floor (tongue and groove plywood), paint the floor, frame each wall and raise them one at a time framing in for windows and doors, raise the roof beam, cut-peel-put up the supporting beam in the center of the cabin, cut and put up the support beams to support the roof overhang, put up the rafters, cover with tar paper and that's where are are as of today.

I've got arms like a gorilla now from hefting plywood. I'm sure the exercise is doing me good, but I'm not sure if the extra food from being so hungry is cancelling it out.


Paul standing by the door...hard to leave it unfinished, but it is hot, physical labor.

Palmer State Fair and Goats and the Henry Milker

2010-09-05T11:20:00.010-08:00

We drove the 464 miles down the Richardson Highway, then the Glenn Highway to camp in Palmer. The Taiwanese gals in Anchorage, Milly, Ivy and Brandy went with us to the Fair and slept all the way back home. Some highlights of the Fair were the Lumberjack Show, the rhubarb lemonade, the Birdman of Las Vegas, Hobo Jim and the barn full of produce and animals.

The goats in the barn are a kick. They have such personality- one was chewing on the requisite blue tarp and the clusters of goats housed together were active and playful. This year there were dwarf Nigerian goats- dairy goats that were so tiny that you'd have to sit on the ground to milk them.

I was interested to read in the paper about a man in Alaska who developed a milker for goats. Mr. Henry is an entrepreneur in the purest sense. He saw a problem, found a solution and found a way to distribute the product to others. (website: http://www.henrymilker.com/). I especially liked his initiative after hearing that 43% of all jobs in Fairbanks are government jobs. Hey, guess what! Americans can invent, manufacture and export, too! You go, Mike. The "eat local" movement likes him, too.

Movie of the Henry Milker
Article: http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/062410/sta_660849514.shtml

The drive down the Glenn Highway was beautiful. I hadn't been there in many years. The weather was fall-like, cold in the mornings (hats and gloves in bed), overcast, but with beautiful reds and oranges in the hills.


Paul in front of the Matanuska Glacier off the Glenn Highway

Back to School in Yukon Flats

2010-08-13T21:50:00.000-08:00

I went out to Arctic Village and Venetie this week. It was a little too soon for someone to be arriving but I made myself useful hauling stuff away from rooms and running off and laminating math games on the copy machine and laminator.

In Arctic Village, the locals are in the throes of late summer subsistence activities. One woman was carrying a bread bag full of huge blueberries that only took her an hour to pick. Apparently the rain really made for good picking. The Chandalar River is roaring high with bushes underwater, but it crested while I was there and was slowly going down. Adrian says that fishing stinks when its flood level. He also says that salmon rarely come up that far from the Yukon. Mostly grayling and pike....but occasionally a King Salmon makes it up by mistake.

Boats are floating from their mooring in the high water of the Chandalar.

Guys are going by 4-wheeler up to the lake where the caribou have moved in. When our plane took off, a caribou ran across the end of the airstrip and the locals on board wanted the pilot to radio their families. One guy bragged that he killed 12. Cutting it all up to smoke, dry, freeze, share is a major chore.

The new school is really nice and clean- large rooms with big windows. Students shower at school since none of the houses have running water. In the library, where I slept on a folding cot and blow up mattress, there was a row of fiddles and guitars.

The teachers were just arriving. There will be 3 this year for about 35 kids, grades K-4, 5-7 and 8-12. Two of the teachers are new and one was there last year. On Tuesday, one of the new teacher's dogs was shot dead. He had only just arrived. Someone said he should have tied it up. Really? I saw dozens of dogs loose. What a dismal welcome!

I flew into Venetie where I spent 2.5 busy days working in the school. I shopped at the store for Hawaiian Punch to augment the filtered water I brought. Faye brought me dinner so I didn't have to eat my microwaved "puppy chow". I walked up to the airstrip with two of the teachers on a beautiful evening...warm (65 degrees) and sun shining. Five teachers will work there with the 55 students (K-1, 2-3, 4-5 and two teachers for grades 6-12).

Both of these villages are related. They are also on the same contiguous ANCSA piece of land abutting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Adrian told me it was a reservation. Others say they are in Indian Country, but the Supreme Court says no...they are on their own private land, but they don't have sovereignty. Don't tell anyone there that.

This should be an interesting year of work in Yukon Flats and also Lower Yukon School Districts. When I am in the schools, I feel the same sense of excitement and purpose that I did when I taught, but I also feel the overwhelming amount of work needed that helps me stay retired.

What does "fuke" spell?

Not Raining

2010-07-27T22:13:00.000-08:00

The past two days have been more productive. I ended up weed-whacking the fenceline and picking the blossoms off of the potato plants. Yesterday and most of today was a "no car" day and I rode my bike on my rounds- haircut, grocery store, Value Village (where I bought a beautiful $5 blouse). The clothes dried themselves on the line and I finally swept the broken branches off the porch.

Tonight was a fun party by the river for my friend and colleague, Bjorn, now happily remarried and living in Norway. About 20 people came to see him and the desserts were great. I also had lunch with Sue (salad here at home) and coffee with Tony. All in all, a very social and sociable day.

It's 10:15 and the sunlight is low on the horizon making the leaves glow. The cooler nights are already happening, reminding me that summer is really disappearing fast. I can't let a single minute pass tomorrow without relishing it.

Beluga Nights

2010-07-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

The concert on the lawn of UAF, Robin Dale Ford and Pat Fitzgerald, was great. Families were picnicing on the huge lawn and one little fellow entertained himself by riding his big wheel down the hill then dragging it back up and repeating. The sun was shining but it was not too hot. The folk style of guitar and banjo was perfect for a long summer evening.

No driving today- just bike and walk. It was a quiet day. I finally put away my hiking gear. I'm well into the 4 books I borrowed from the library. Sandwich and chips for dinner.

9:00 and still quite light outside. Time for an ice tea and a good book. Life is good.

Not So Golden Days

2010-07-24T19:35:00.003-08:00

Don't get me wrong. I love a good small town parade. In Haines, the parade went around the route twice because it was such a short line. But today's Golden Days Parade was really lame (and it took 2 hours). There were really only 4 categories of participants.

By far, the largest amount of the parade was people loosely affiliated with each other wearing the same t-shirts and walking in close proximity. Not doing much except maybe handing out leaflets and/or candy.

The next category was politicians and their people doing the same as the above. Because the primary is next month, no one dared to stay home.

The next largest category consisted of vehicles- lots of vehicles....tractors, old cars, stock cars, scooters, race cars. The drivers had more fun than the observers for sure.

The final category was the actual, honest to goodness reason people come to a parade- 2 clowns, some marching bands, animals in funny costumes, themed floats. Unfortunately, this was a very small part of the parade.

I went with the Pilons, which included their 4 kids. They liked it, mainly because of the candy. They ate and took home bags of it. Ben commented that he was tired of sitting. Yep, I concur.

I spent the rest of this rainy day eating, reading, using the computer, visiting with people I met and talking on the phone. In other words, I better get out and exercise tomorrow. The Mus-A-Mun (light curry stew) at the Lemon Grass was delicious for dinner and I saw Susie and Bruce and Tony there.

Tomorrow I will be more active. I plan to bike down to see the Red-Green Duct Tape Regatta on the Chena River and then go the outdoor Shakespeare Theater to see Measure for Measure. In between, I'll be picking flowers off the potato plants and working on curriculum alignment for the state EED. And, one of these days, I need to clean out my backpacking stuff and put it away.

Shout out to Virginia! Are you going to be 60 this week? Wow! That's really old!

In Between Raindrops

2010-07-23T18:27:00.001-08:00

Last night I attended the Fairbanks Shakespeare Theater's performance of Two Gentlemen of Verona outside at UAF. It was excellent- funny, musical and easy to understand. The lead performer's voice was wonderful and he did some great spoofing of Elvis and Shakespeare.

It still wasn't raining this morning, so I rode my bike downtown to pick up some books at the district office. Then I visited the always busy Pilon house where Pam was riding herd on her 4 kids and 2 more. The kids were sleepy at 9 am, just getting up from a busy day yesterday at Pioneer Park and a picnic.

My legs are still achy, I thought from hiking, but it could be the new Shape-Up Skechers shoes I bought. I finally watched the video (with workout sessions) and the claim is that walking in these shoes are like walking in sand. The promotional video claims all kinds of things- tighter muscles, reduced cellulite, better circulation, weight loss, better posture. I'm in favor of all of these things. I'll get back with you but I think I can already tell that my buttocks are tighter.

I came home and ended up driving out to buy some Granny gear- namely a Flip camera. I'll practice later and post the results on this very blog.

I'm co-planning a party for Bjorn, a friend coming back to Fairbanks for a visit from Norway. I rented the pavilion on the river for drinks and desserts. I hope there will be a good crowd. It'll be good to see him again.

The lettuce and rhubarb are just bursting to be picked. I better make something or freeze the rhubarb. The summer is already going fast. Principals are going back to work next week. Good thing I'm retired....or sorta.

Finally Getting Moving

2010-07-22T18:03:00.001-08:00

I got up way too early due to a residual jet lag. It was raining so I paid the bills and did laundry while the deluge faded away.

I drove over to Cabin #2 and met Matt. I picked up a bagful of trash, gifted by the previous tenant. I still need to go back and pull another bagful from the woods. The raspberries are ripe and tasty right now so my wet cuffs were worth the effort.

The roof and lawn had dried enough for some work. I climbed up on the roof and cleaned out the gutters since it will rain again. Then I mowed the lawn and pulled (partially) chickweed from the flower beds.

I drove out to catch up on news from Sandy. Her yard was beautiful with flowers and veggies. I particularly liked the Maltese Falcon perennials.

I've started my work as a Math Content Coach. I'm working on aligning some math programs with state standards. I've also made reservations to go to Arctic Village and Venetie on August 9. Summer is ending too soon!

Off the trail for the summer

2010-07-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

I'm at Boston Logan Airport on my way home for the summer!The Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire and Maine is really tough! 1000-2000 (and more) elevation changes at least every 8 miles on some rough trail. The views were fantastic but they were physically expensive. I found myself thinking that the trail was unnecessarily rugged. Just a little tweaking would have made hiking more safe. I'm not unhappy with my 8 trail days, but next time I hike that far North, I won't start there. I'll work up to it.

One weird thing that happened was that on the 5 hour bus ride from Gorham to Boston, Immigration Service boarded and ended up taking off a Chinese man who had a passport but didn't speak English and couldn't produce a visa or answer questions. It was clearly profiling and penalizing for not speaking English. In this day of cell phones, it should have been easy to call a translator. I'm sure this young man was embarrased and missed his plane. And really- a bus in New Hampshire?

Have I mentioned the stink of hiking? My bag has a tang that encouraged Alaska Airlines to put my pack in a plastic bag. The savvy shuttle drivers put plastic on their car seats.

I'm signing up for the Summer Arts Festival- Gospel Music, if they let me in a day late. I'm really ready to get back to Alaska!

Highlights of my trip Outside:
* lunch with Erin in Chicago, * seeing my cousins and sisters in Detroit, * catching up with hikers Birch and Whitepaws, * fantastic views from Old Blue and Bemis Mountain, * talking trail with other hikers.

Alaskan Style Celebrations

2010-06-21T22:52:00.000-08:00

On Father's Day, we were awakened to calls from our errant children- Erin in Chi-Town and Ben in Taipei. It was a great way to start the day. We went for our usual coffee and cinnamon rolls at Lulu's and a Sunday paper. Then we drove with family as far as the Copper River Princess for dinner (about 280 miles) and then returned along the breath-taking Richardson Hwy.

Today was actually Solstice and our 28th anniversary. We bicycled The Loop, 17 miles in the sunshine and 60 degree temps. We stopped at Bun on the Run, the Musher's Hall and Creamer's Field. We went to the grocery store for a salad bar lunch while we planned our Appalachian Trail food drops and made a shopping list. This afternoon was consumed with odd tasks around the house and being out in the sunshine.

We finished off the day with dinner at the Thai House (does it seem like we moved between feedings all day?) where we saw the Pilons celebrating their 7th anniversary with all 4 kids (Lexie Lou is 11 days old).

Our last few minutes have been reading trail journals and looking at our tentative plans for the last 300 miles of the A.T. Can't wait- it should be exciting.

Temporarily in AK

2010-06-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

I've been off hiking in Pennsylvania with Susan. I've completed 1284 miles of the Appalachian Trail and I'm not committed to completing it all eventually. Click on the map to see my latest journal entries with pictures.

I planted asylium and tomatoes today in the midnight sun. Also, Paul and I moved rocks to put them up around a falling power pole. Lots of excitement around here.

I still have jet lag from the 4 hour time difference from the East Coast. Another 12 hours of sleep should take care of that.

Hiking again

2010-05-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

I have been so delinquent on my blog! I will not be promising to do better because I leave in 4 days for hiking the A.T. I was planning to write on my trail journal during the month of hiking, but I can't get into the journal. I forgot the password and no one seems to be monitoring the manager email.

I might be using this blog for my trail journal. That's good and bad. Anyway, watch for more.

Other news, next year I'll be working in Yukon Flats School District (Ft. Yukon, Beaver, Stevens Village, Chalkyitsik, Venetie, Arctic Village and Circle) as well as Lower Yukon School District. I hope to blog more about those trips and work.

First Class

2010-04-25T20:15:00.000-08:00

When is first class not first class?
a. when a 2 year old is sitting next to you
b. when a 2 year old is kicking your seat from behind
c. when the digi-players aren't charged up
d. when you already ate before you knew you were upgraded
e. all of the above

No answer key needed. Nuff said.

I just returned from a math conference in San Diego. I have such a sad life that the drought ended while I was there and it rained for 4 days- unseasonably wet, they say. I met lots of fun people- shout out to my new best friends.

All the math teacher talk focused on the following topics: assessment, coaching, National Core Standards, and PLC (professional learning communities). I came back energized but glad I'm retired.

We broke out the bikes today and rode around, stopping for Italian sodas at a Sunrise Coffee stand. The temps went up to 60, I think and there is no snow on the ground except close to buildings on the north side.

We bought a new washer and dryer today- why in the world do I need 15 settings- I'll only use my favorite 2. Apparently the dryers don't need to be green energy rated since the new washers are so great that the clothes are already almost dry when they come out.

Motion sickness

2010-04-17T18:22:00.000-08:00

We had another glorious day out in the country. Paul showed me last time where a rabbit was sitting on the trail last week. Today, we found gory body parts of self-same rabbit, we assume. We also saw tracks that I suspect are lynx. Out of your car, you're in the food chain.

I'm trying to upload some videos. Check back later.

Working again

2010-04-16T21:42:00.001-08:00

I've been working at the Human Resources dept at the school district this week. It was interesting and I learned a lot, but I discovered why I love retirement.

* Working eats up the whole day- when I get home, there are only a few hours left.
* I think I've gained weight for lack of exercise, even though I was busy.
* Paul is having fun without me.
* I've had to look at a calendar for consideration of activities.
* I have to live by a schedule.
* I'll never get this week back.
* I don't have the clothes for it- I've always been casual and now I'm especially casual.

Being a desk jockey is not for me although it was varied and social....there were people coming in all week long that I knew from my former life.

I started another blog- "What's for dinner". It's my attempt to catalog my eating so that I eat at home more and try to eat healthier and local when I can. It's more like a public food diary. Not so interesting but maybe if you can't think of what to have for dinner......

I miss blogging. Facebook's sound bites are edging it out. I know I'll get back into it when I'm posting trail journal entries.....the hike starts May 20.....begin the countdown. 34

Dropping a Load

2010-04-06T18:11:00.002-08:00

First trip of the season- 28 degrees and overcast.

We couldn't wait to haul materials out to our "Elliott Estate" today. We put the 15 sheets of plywood flooring and the trailer on the back of the truck where it waited patiently while we had a quick bagel and coffee with Leah and John.

The road was still frozen so relatively easy compared to the usual quagmire. We dropped off the stuff and went back home for the 4-wheelers wondering if anyone in our neighborhood would use their Oklahoma credit card. Nope, everything was still there.

Tailgate party- eating out means PB&J and SunChips.

We could put 3 sheets of flooring on the trailer at a time. The first trip out, we had to stop and dig out a few times, so we unhooked the trailer and went all the way to the end. There were moose tracks and a snowmachine trail, but everything looked untouched. We went back and rehitched the trailer and went a little further. Finally, we just made a materials pile about 1/3 of the way back....going back 5 times until we'd moved everything.
Full load- 3 sheets of plywood and a shovel.

The dumping feature of the trailer wasn't our friend either. It chose to dump our sheeting three times. Arghhh.....we tied it down, finally.

Anyway, Gary and Paul will be going back out tomorrow with a snowmachine to go the rest of the way back to the cabin site.

I've taken a "lola ne marat" job (grandma money in Tagalog). I'll be temping at the school district office for the next 7 work days. Not tough work, probably a little boring, but the $$ will go to the little Crouchling due in Sept. I'll be answering phones (and probably disconnecting upon transfer) and doing some light filing and paperwork....I think I can do it. Besides, I think it will help me stay retired.

Resurrection

2010-04-04T19:09:00.002-08:00

Today was filled with Spring. We walked up to coffee shop (not our usual one) for a cinnamon roll and frou-frou drinks- shaken, not stirred. Paul accidently bought the Anchorage paper instead of Fairbanks, but as he once said, "Nothing much happens on a holiday".

We brunched on frittata and fruit at Pilon's watching about 12 kids hunting for Easter eggs, cleverly hidden in the snow. Maybe I'm disremembering, but when our kids were little, they dyed eggs and eggs they hunted were real chicken eggs, not plastic ones filled with toys and chocolates. I know the Bunny brought non-edibles as much as possible- coloring books, small toys, books, etc. Anyway, there was even $$ in these eggs. AND, some of the chocolate wasn't even brown. What's with that.

We drove out to the Elliott estate to check out roads for slush. The road was fine- still mostly frozen, but we almost got stuck where we pulled off into the right of way. Note to self: pack a shovel. It looks like we'll be going back out there several times this week before a complete thaw with loads for construction- 20' 2 x 12s and plywood T&G for the floors, and the ever popular insulation. I'm thinking hot dogs on a campfire after several hours of hard labor. The 4-wheeler should be okay on the trail because the snow isn't deep. If worse comes to worst, we'll just offload and drag the vehicle around and leave.

We went for a long walk in the sunshine. I overheated in my Carhardtt jacket. My rant of the day is watching a man and his wife and two kids out walking together. The guy crumpled up a beer can and tossed it into a snowbank. Then he hollared "F... it!" to another guy who was just heading the other way that he apparently knew. If you've ever seen Mediocrity, you know what I mean when I say, it's not the future- it's today.

I finished the book, "Sarah's Key". It really sucked me in with parallel stories of the a French Jewish girl who was rounded up by the French police and sent off to die and a present day journalist wondering what happened to her. I'm not telling you more- just that I read it in 4 hours while sniffling on the couch.

Dinner tonight were new recipes- check the Food for Thought side bar. The menu was meatball kebobs, sweet potato fries, steamed asparagus and fruit. Yum.

Signs of Spring

2010-03-29T17:32:00.002-08:00

As I've been out walking in the long daylight, I've noticed some sure signs of spring. Here are my top 10 favorites, in no special order.

* You discover that the boy next door is actually a girl now that she is not wearing a complete parka and snowpants.
* The lane lines on the street become partially visible and you find out you've been turning left from the middle lane.
* You stop wearing snowpants because the temperatures are above 0, only to be splashed with an icy-cold snow/dirt slushy kicked up by passing cars.
* Sam's Club starts selling $27 swimsuits, even if none fit you after the long winter of comfort food.
* It is daylight when you wake up but you still feel like hibernating.
* Guys in the neighborhood put away snowmachines and take out 4 wheelers, but get them stuck in snowbanks.
* Asparagus drops to $1.98/lb in Safeway and Satsumas disappear off shelves..
* Trails in the woods become virtually unusable- not frozen enough or dry enough to walk. In villages, the river roads become unsafe and cheap transportation grinds to a halt.
* The ice carvings in the Ice Park start morphing into grotesques.
* Someone sinks their truck through the ice bridge across the Chena River. Demographic: male, between the ages of 17-23, between 7 pm- 2 am.

So, Spring is different here than the smaller states. The Easter egg hunt is done in snowsuits and the eggs "hide" in the snow- much easier to find unless they are undyed. Don't take off snow tires until mid-May- snow is still imminent. You can start your plants in the house now, but they go through several repotting sessions before you can put them outside. The daylight is gaining fast (about 6+ minutes a day) but just yesterday was the first day of above 0 in the morning. Kids wear shorts to school when the temps hit about 35, but they get cold on the playground equipment.

My spirits are lifted though, due to the longer light and more opportunities to get outside. We're having a BBQ on Wednesday and we might have to shovel a little snow off the deck, but Summer is looming. Next thing you know, we'll be on Pike's deck having overpriced burgers and iced tea.

Apartment Work

2010-03-24T01:24:00.002-08:00

I miss blogging. My restful retirement days are jam-packed so I haven't taken the time for writing. I'll get back to it more regularly now, I hope.

Paul and I have been fixing up the apartment in our basement. I've been painting (Cream in My Coffee) and being the dogsbody. It's a cute one bedroom with a dishwasher and access to our shared washer and dryer. We are in the process of deciding what to put in the lease so that we can get a good tenant, live happily in the same building, and not have lots of turnover.

I went back to Aquasize today where it was so crowded that my hair almost got wet from splashing. It felt good though and I ended up soaking with friends in the hot tub, then going out for coffee. I know it was a good workout too since my shoulders and arms were screaming.

The tax man didn't get to see our desperate search for documentation on Sunday. We calmly walked into his office with our crate of numbers and receipts and his organizer. What a relief to have someone else do it this year. For the last few years I know we have been very conservative since we didn't keep up on all the possible deductions.

We turned the corner after Equinox so it is daylight early...more than 12 hours and gaining over 6 minutes a day. The temps were below zero (not unusual) but windy (very unusual) so I scurried about my outdoor tasks. Tomorrow, Susan and I will be walking from downtown (about 4 miles) to begin our AT training regimen. There are icy patches, but overall, the afternoon sunshine means that the snow is receding (mostly evaporating).

I completed the last village trip of the season last week. Not tonight, but some day soon, I'll relay more of my "bush moments". The last village I visited was Pitka's Point. There are 2 teachers and a principal/teacher for about 20 kids. It is huddled against the shores of the Yukon River about 10 minutes by road from St. Mary's. When I was sleeping there on the floor, I heard the 4-wheelers roaring past all night. About 4 am, I heard some really loud pounding. It turns out that some kids broke into the school and were shooting baskets in the gym! The maintenance man in the next room woke up and threw them out. I had no idea what was going on.

The Health Care Bill just got ratified. About time. It's a sad situation when health care costs so much that young people have no insurance at the same time that employers (assuming you can get a job) are also cutting back benefits. Yes, it's not perfect. Yes, it will take time to be implemented. But, it's a start. And, I think that good affordable health care will save money in the future- reducing emergency room care. Come home, Ben. Your boil can be lanced here in Fairbanks!

Home, Cold Home

2010-03-13T19:47:00.002-09:00

The plane left St. Mary's late. I knew I had an 80 minute window to get from ERA to the Alaska Airlines gate. During that time I needed to collect my checked bags (sleeping bag and toiletries can't fit under the 14 seater plane seats) and recheck them in Anchorage. I had to liberate my empty small duffel and strip off my snow pants, mittens, neck gaiter, Minnesota mukluks with the festive trim and 25 inch leather cross-over straps for stowage and recheck. I needed to use the bathroom in Anchorage. Food would be nice too. Security could be slow- MVP- most vexed passengers line- often meant even slower service. Who do you think you are? You're no better than the rest of us!

The plane took off from St. Mary's for a "quick" trip to Emmonak and back before loading us up for the direct St. Mary's to Anchorage. Although scheduled to leave St. Mary's at 1:05, at 1:30 we heard the pilot on the radio nearing the airstrip. "We had trouble restarting the engine in Emmonak for take-off. When we get in, we'll pull in so that the passengers can enter the near side so we can leave one engine running". The waiting passengers eyed each other nervously.

The plane finally got there as my 80 minute window narrowed considerably. Well, I might make the connection to home. The co-pilot came into the tiny, full terminal with his "Cup o' Noodles". "Where's the hot water?" The gate agent shrugged. "Everything's froze up". We handed over our makeshift boarding passes and went out into the -15 degree wind to climb the gangplank ducking our heads to make our way to folding ourselves into our seats. Every seat taken. One engine running. Pilot pushing buttons and looking casual. No co-pilot. No co-pilot. No co-pilot. Keep your coat on because the door is still open. Finally, he comes with his "Cup o' Noodles". After the briefing and a safety message that no one could hear, we go. Beautiful view of Denali off to the left, just past the open mouthed snoring of the big woman with the fake fur ruff.

I made the connection in spite of the rush in Anchorage and the many people at Alaska Airlines who needed specialized customer service and who were in front of me. Great sleep in my own bed last night on clean sheets. Ommmm- the tao of travel.

Kotlik

2010-03-06T07:45:00.002-09:00

Felix serenaded us in the staff room with a guitar and song about the Eskimo boy living 3 miles up the Yukon from the Bering Sea. Jean and I were invited to Eskimo dancing, but I was still too sick from a sinus infection to have the energy to go back out in the evening.

I was there to give inservice on looking at student work to determine next steps in teaching. It's been a recurring theme in my work and I think most teachers want to know, what do they know? The inservice competed with the funeral potlatch in Stebbins. An elder died and most people knew her, so the inservice was a perfect reason to take a day off- no lesson plans and no kids in school. The 12 teachers and principal were friendly and responsive though so it was productive.

When we arrived, there was no ride in sight. We could see the school, but the wind was bitter and we each had a backpack and bag with our food, clothes and bedding to carry. Pretty soon, the snowmachine with a plastic sled showed up and Tony loaded us in. I gave Jean the back of the snowmachine and rode in the sled. I sat on my comfy bag which meant a cushioned ride for a few minutes. Very soon it was obvious that the plastic sled had little friction and my bag and I soon parted ways. Before long, my legs and head also drifted apart and I was almost horizontal. Between learning first hand about the physical properties of plastic and catching the sharp bits of snow in the eddy, I was glad to arrive. Walking would have been a treat.

Were we in time for lunch? Sorry, no. No tater tots and rice and meat with gravy for us. Too late. Were there mattresses for us? Sorry, no. The mattresses all had holes and besides, there was no pump. Jean makes for a good roommate though. She works for the district and was a village teacher so she knows everyone and expects nothing, the perfect combination. We bundled up and walked to the store where I bought orange juice, yogurt and Rollos, passing up the black bananas for sale for $2.49/lb. These treats spruced up my Hormel "puppy chow" dinner.

The new village and teacher housing and the public buildings all have running water. Across the river and in the older part of town, the homes have honey buckets. Honey buckets are buckets usually inside a liner with a toilet seat that sit behind a curtained area of the house. Erin and I had a honey bucket for 2 years in Atmautluak, 1980-1982. The prevailing odor is Pine-Sol and poo, but since other smells are also strong, it is not too put-offish when you are used to it. The most difficult thing to get used to are the sounds from behind the curtain. Outhouses and septic systems don't work on the tundra because there the frozen ground refuses to percolate. It would basically form a cesspool lake around the source. Community honeybucket dumps are generally dug mechanically (drilled more like) and are capped with steps up and a cover to lift. Some communities will haul the honey bucket product far away to Honey Bucket Lake.

Kotlik has two good stores selling everything you might need and some other things you might just want. The post office is new and the dump has a recycling center for aluminum (the first I've seen). The stores use paper bags instead of plastic and I didn't see any blowing trash. There is a community center and at least one church. Kids were friendly and everyone gave us the hello nod.

We had an early goodnight because Jean was developing a sore throat and I still have a wicked sinus infection that causes crud to pool up in my throat during the night. The ensuing coughing and struggle for breath wakes me up continually. In the 10 hours of downtime, I managed about 6 hours of sleep. The trips to the bathroom bring heightened awareness that if we don't take the key with us, we'd be locked out into the cold hallway in our jammies for the rest of the night.

Nonetheless, I was glad to fly back to Mountain Village last evening because I stay at Jean's house with a bed, conversation and shared food. Miraculously, the plane came in and got us in blowing snow and high winds. Felix was entreated to drive the snowmachine slowly and the sled was wooden, so the ride to the airstrip felt more like a guided tour of Kotlik. The plane ride was a short flight due to tailwind and was uneventful, just the way I like it. Brian picked us up upon arrival and took us to the store in the truck where I bought bananas and yogurt and yes, soy milk. A good night's sleep, BeeGees on the DVD player and Bertolli's dinner. Life is good.

The Grandest Canyon

2010-03-01T19:36:00.008-09:00

The morning and evening sun were memorable and each one was unique.

Paul and I flew to Phoenix on Feb 2 and arrived at 5:30 pm. By 6 am the next morning, we were having breakfast to start our hike in the Grand Canyon. Karl, the Desert Fox, had taken care of all the backcountry permits, picked us up from the airport and answered our planning questions. My pack was about what it weighed on the AT, maybe 27#s.

For some twisted reason, I thought that hiking in the Grand Canyon would be hiking down, walking along the Colorado River way down along the bottom and then hiking back up. Sort of a reverse mountain. Oh, man, was I wrong! For one thing, there is no sandy shoreline along the Colorado River. The Canyon is a labyrinth of rock walls cut by steep gorges and rock slides. Paralleling the Colorado River means going in and around canyons sometimes several miles long.
Hiking along the Tanner Trail.

The first day, we hiked down 9 miles into the Canyon on the Tanner Trail. Later I discovered on the map that it was considered an "expert" level trail. It is also a primitive trail, not maintained by the Park Service. Nevermind all that. We hiked through deep snow for the first 3 hours (3 miles) and then 3 more of intermittent snow. My legs were so wobbly that I collapsed onto rocks to rest many times the last mile. We slept that night on Tanner Beach, awakening to a frozen tent due to heavy dew and low temps.
Gear dried fast after the sun came out.

We stayed until the sun came up and our tent dried because we had only a 3 mile hike along the Cardenas portion of the Escalante Trail. It was a good day to recover and we camped again along the Colorado. We yogi-ed some lunch off some passing rafters, so had some green crunchies to augment our trail lunches.

The next day the work began. The 12 mile Escalante Trail had several cliffs to scale and a steep rockslide (see photos on Facebook). At one point, Karl scrambled up a 25 foot rock face and we lined up our packs and followed him, hand over hand up the steep rocks. (Don't look down!) Almost at the end, we went down a very steep rock slide, one at a time so we didn't kick down rocks.
For the most part, the trails were well-marked and fun to hike.
We hiked around for a few more days, ending up on the East Tonto Trail, a contour hike around lesser canyons. The last night before our first hike out, we camped on a ledge near Cremation Pt. overlooking the Colorado River. About 2 am, I heard a horrific scream in the night. Paul and Karl were both sleeping soundly (the usual). I woke Paul up and he heard the last few screams fading off in the distance. Naturally, it inspired him to go out and take care of business, leaving me to assume that he would be the next kill and how would I carry out all this stuff? In the morning, we discovered a sheep kill about 20 feet from our camping spot. Mountain lion or owl kill? You decide.

We hiked out the South Kaibab Trail starting at the Tip-Off, so it was only about 5 steep miles. Jacob's Ladder was a steep series of switch-backs. We had all day though and we were eating cheeseburgers in the bar by 3. Karl washed the clothes while we shopped for a few essential items and we went to bed early to hike back down. (2nd journey- next blog)

Eating out on the way down.

Hiking and more

2010-02-23T13:18:00.002-09:00

So, where have I been? This quick posting from Northville, Michigan is just a brief overview. Pictures and more details will follow when I'm back in Fairbanks.

I hiked in the Grand Canyon from Feb 2-14....what a stretch of my skills! For some strange reason, I thought the hike(s) would mean going down into the canyon, hiking along a river, then hiking back up. Oh, was I wrong! It was fantastic, but also, a tremendous amount of work.

I just returned from a road trip with my parents from Detroit to Duluth, MN and back. It is about 700 miles each way. The weather was great, but it's snowing right now.

I head to Chicago by train in the morning (shout-out to Mike- thanks for the ride!). I'll be spending a few days there with Erin and Ron (expecting a baby in September!). Back in Fairbanks on February 28 and out to Emmonak the next day. Life in the fast lane!

A Science Fair is no Picnic

2010-01-21T21:10:00.003-09:00

The night was long and cold. After trying three times to find a suitable mattress to pump up and sleep on, I finally found a good one. NOT! By morning I was on a mattress skin (again). Ironically, I had a difficult time actually pushing the last bit of air out that remained to fold it up. Apparently it wanted to continue its slow leak instead of rushing out the vent. During the night, the heat in the room goes down (a good conservation measure of which I agree) but the wind outside speeded up the cooling process, so I ended up sleeping with my down parka and wool socks on inside my sleeping bag.

It felt like I had just fallen asleep when I woke up with a start. I better get up and take a quick shower because kids would be in the room very soon. I have to pack up and stow my gear by day to avoid pillage.

Once again I was called upon to judge a school science fair, the world's hardest task. How can I pick a first, second and third place from 12 (or more) entries? All the projects were aviation-themed so it was pretty interesting.

Investigated questions included: How do the shape and size of the blades effect wind generation?, What does ash do to an airplane engine?, What is the effect of friction on hovercraft?, What type of fabric is best for a parachute?, How does air density effect the speed of take-off? Tough, tough choices but at least I'm flying away so I can't be found to explain myself. Personally, I still favor the Danish system of allowing multiple first, second and third (or none of the above) based on criteria instead of comparison.

Tomorrow night, students from Nome and Chevak are coming to play basketball. 100 kids sleeping in the school and me. La la la...I don't hear a thing.

I'm still in Hooper Bay, home of the fantastic sunrise from the school windows. I declined the school lunch of a slab of beef, a scoop of rice, peas, peaches and strawberry milk. I got to observe some middle school math classes today, always my favorite age. They think I'm the mother of the teachers I observe...?

Tomorrow, I'm planning an outing to the store, my first chance out since I arrived yesterday. Too much work, too little sunlight. Too much cold, not enough sleep.

Flying Adventure

2010-01-18T19:29:00.002-09:00

Every trip to Bush Alaska has it's own fine and pleasant misery. I left yesterday to overnight in Anchorage so I could make the early Bethel flight. I arrived at about 10 pm at the Comfort Suites and got a 4:45 am wakeup call. Yawn and a donut and shuttle to the airport at 5:15 for the 7 am departure.

No problem checking my bags of food, sleeping bag, clothes and educational materials all the way to Scammon Bay...Alaska Airlines and ERA Aviation are partners, after all. I checked in at the ERA/Frontier desk for the connecting flight to Scammon in Bethel because I had about 40 minutes between flights and they were about 1/2 miles of cold apart. Leisurely latte and Egg McMuffin. Hey, mentor Carol Jerue is sitting next to me. Right on.

The plane needed to be de-iced due to the 4 inches of snow and still accumulating. Closing the doors early? Alright! Early but couldn't be better! Waiting 7:00. Waiting 7:10. Still waiting 7:20. Finally leaving at 7:30. Bumpy due to 30-40 mph winds in Bethel.

I arrived in Bethel at 8:45 and the Scammon ERA flight is scheduled for 9:00 departure. I checked with the Alaska Airlines desk to make sure the bags would be transferred. "What? We don't transport bags!" I showed him the bag tags and he scoffed. "In Anchorage, they know we don't transport bags!" to which I replied that apparently they don't know any such things. I waited for my bags to make their way around the conveyor belt- finally they arrived. The Hageland van hadn't arrived yet so I called them and asked them to hold the plane. "I'll see what I can do" was the tentative response.

The van came, I re-checked in my bags (20, 23 and 14 pounds) The cheeky pilot said that he would always wait for me. Isaac Hill and I were the only passengers next to the mountain of pop(s) and canned goods. In Hooper Bay, the wind was really blowing and new passengers got on with rosy cheeks and face masks.

The views were breath-taking as usual with stone people grimly facing the frozen sea. The sea ice was frozen into place and only the pilot's navigational screen discriminated between land and sea. Scammon Bay was a welcome sight- tucked in out of the wind (today). The flag pole broken in two gave mute testimony to the fierce wind potential.

I'm hunkered down in the resource room with a shower/bathroom close by and an internet connection and iTunes' Bob Dylan. Back to a day of respite and hard work before renegotiating a trip between here and Hooper Bay because "routing will decide if you are going to get on". But, that's another day.

Shoutout to Chrystal for having Jean and I over for home-made chicken pot pie and cake with jam and Cool-Whip. Thanks!

Alaska teacher job openings (that I know about): Fairbanks- 4 month long-term sub for North Pole Middle School, pre-school/kindergarten liaison to live and work in Nunam Iqua and commute to Scammon Bay and Emmonak (on-going), after school program coordinator in Fairbanks- part-time for SESA for next school year. Anyone unemployed?

Life in the Fast Lane

2010-01-17T16:51:00.002-09:00

It's been a long time since I've blogged. For a retiree, I've been working a lot. I just got back from Anchorage where I'd been since Monday, so 5 days of the Big Wild Life.

Highlights were:
the drive down on Monday with Paul where the Mountain was visible for about 4 hours. In Wasilla, the wind was blowing a gale, apparently causing damage to buildings and causing the truck to parasail.

shopping at REI where I bought a child's size rainpants ($29 as opposed to $90 for women's) and a new pair of Keen Targhee shoes to break in before I hike in February.

dinner at TGIFriday's...I've never been so it was first.

lunch with Dawn at Nordstrom's. She gave me some Ginger Sesame dressing for my birthday that has been great- it even inspired me to make Chinese Chicken Salad for dinner.

work with LYSD people who love to laugh and are very professional, but informal, if that makes sense.

Other things that have been happening:
Paul and I went to Bon Appetit, the free cooking class at Spenard's Building Supply. We watched 3 guy chefs make Polish stuffed cabbage rolls and peppers. It was fun and fairly simple. The sauce was catsup and crushed tomatoes. The secret is using some ground beef but some ground pork too and cooked rice.

We got our new computer- a MacBook. It's easy to use and has a camera for skype and eLive, but I haven't figured out how to save Keynote (the PowerPoint equivalent) as a whiteboard so it is taking me some time. The Numbers (Excel equivalent) has an easy function application that I like. My math class was easier to teach using video though. I'm not taking it on small planes, so Paul will enjoy having exclusive rights while I'm gone.

I received a jury summons for US District Court. I have to be on call from Mar 8-June 8, so that will be tricky with all my scheduled travel. I wrote a humble plea to the judge to allow me some flexibility with my hiking dates and travel obligations, so time will tell.

We packed our hiking food for the 2- six day hikes. For the first time ever, we are trying some Mountain House dinners. We think that just heating water will prevent messy pans, so we'll see how it goes. We ordered freeze dried beef and assorted veggies from PackItGourmet.com and made up about half of our own meals using couscous and Ramen and mashed potatoes. Other than shoes, we dug out our old stinky gear and had a love fest. It shouldn't be that difficult to pack.

This week I'm in Scammon Bay and Hooper Bay (again). I'll be on Facebook though and trying to do better with taking and posting photos. I'm giving inservice presentations which are (almost) always fun and keep me at the top of my game.

Get My Drift

2010-01-05T22:48:00.004-09:00

A cold weather thermometer. Don't like the temp? Drive around until you find one you like.

When I left on Sunday, it had warmed up slightly to -31, so balmy Hooper Bay looked good for a short time. The storm blew in on Monday and I haven't been out for 2 days. The whole town has been resculpted with snow drifts on top of the glace ice. The ride to the airstrip for the journey to Pilot Station, hopefully tomorrow, will be by snowmachine, although on Sunday it was by truck.

I'd like to post some new pictures of this very picturesque place, but the timing is tricky since there is still only about 3 hours of daylight and unfortunately they are during school hours when I'm expected to work.

Entrepreneurs out on the corner at -35 degrees.

On the small plane (Grant Aviation) leaving Bethel, I was talking to a fellow traveler when we noticed that the plane turned around and went back to the Bethel airport. Avgas was streaming out of the wing fuel tank and black smoke was trailing the plane. The pilot checked and pulled the dummy string out of a sealing gasket. Did he refuel? Heck no, we just took off again.

Our new MacBook should be arriving soon. My skype calls will soon be accompanied by video. Lucky you.

Teaching practice I abhor: denying kids gym time for not bringing in homework, making kids be silent during lunch, rewarding a completed worksheet with another one, telling students that they always hated math too, no laughter, punishing a whole class for the behavior of a few, failure to recognize and/or respond to the individual needs of the kids.

Good times in Hooper Bay: making abacus with chenille stems and pony beads, storytelling with 3rd graders, playing Match Mine at inservice, working with Virginia on Yup'ik math translations, putting up calendar centers, discovering a treasure trove of math manipulatives in the storage room, picking out new earrings made by William, having 14 people sign up for credit for the inservice I presented, buying (and eating) a Rollo from the school store, getting emails from my family.

Happy New Gear!

2010-01-01T15:03:00.004-09:00

Predictions #2

The new year rolled in despite our desperate attempts to slow time. Instead of walking up, we slackers drove up and parked amongst the kids on the bridge overlooking the fireworks. The show went on for about 20 minutes- one direction the pyrotechnics, to the other the big, bright, blue moon. We hopped back in the car with warm hearts and frozen feet.

Paul refused to make any resolutions- as a matter of fact, he resolved not to make any, but I like the self-imposed deadline for goal-setting. This coming year will be a busy one. I have at least 3 good hiking opportunities planned- in February to the Grand Canyon with Desert Fox, from May-August on the AT, and in October (tentatively) in Hawaii maybe down to Hana from Haleakala. Concurrently, Paul and I are both eating more healthy- we are having salad bar for lunch (choosing from lettuce, spinach, bell peppers, olives, baby corn, cheese, croutons, tomatoes, bacon bits, Krab, hard-cooked eggs, mushrooms) and baking our own bread.

In addition, personally, I want to get started on both quilting and knitting. I've started both with very minimal progress. I also want to continue my micro-philanthropy- tutoring, volunteering, strategically donating. And, maybe this is the year I write my play. I might get more politically involved....like the old days.

We're looking forward to the visit from Kate, our 22 year old niece, in February. She's a babysitter extraordinaire, or so I've heard, so make a note and email me. She's taking a break from her life in NY to come up and regroup. We'll have a short visit time before she housesits.

The whirlwind January work is starting on Sunday when I leave (again) for Hooper Bay. This month consists of 4 weeks of travel spaced with short weekends of laundry and grocery shopping. The $$ will come in handy for the summer.

Moon Shaped Heel Blisters

2009-12-29T17:38:00.005-09:00

Old Man Winter!

My face is still warm from the walk downtown and back (about 9 miles roundtrip) with temps at -15. I was plenty warm with all my layers and it was great to get out into the low light/contrasty snow. My only issue is the two crescent blisters that formed on my heels from the forward slide of the felt liners in my boots. I'll have to fix that.

We ate at the Thai House (thanks Pam and Tim for the g.c.)- mild curry called Mus-A-Mun. The place was packed, even at 2 pm. That's a good advertisement for the food there.

Other news in our exciting life of being retired: We're continuing to work on the basement apartment...I'm priming the walls and my hands and Paul is building a wall around the new plumbing.

The background noise you hear is the dehydrator (thanks Wendy and Larry for the loan) where we have 3 trays of strawberry yogurt drying. They become chewy buttons of flavor. We'll take them on the Grand Canyon hikes in 5 weeks (hurray!). We're also putting together some other meals for the hike. We'll be assembling and trying brown rice, sun-dried tomatoes, pistachios, and vegetable soup mix. Just add hot water and put into a cozy and wait.

Erin, Ron and Paul at the Cookie Jar where we went for breakfast.

Hiking quilt made for us by Carol Cocker- can you find "Pound Hound"?

Fun link #1, 2010

Night of Christmas Passed

2009-12-24T15:13:00.002-09:00

We've been busy relaxing for the holiday. Ron flew in late on Tuesday night and so the festivities really kicked into gear.

On Wednesday, Erin and I volunteered with Sue out at North Pole's Christmas on Ice. There were about 30 sculptures and a kid's sliding park right next to the Santa Claus House.
Erin and the Big Guy.

It was chilly (about -10) and surprised me how many people came from out of town to be in North Pole for Christmas Eve. We met a family who flew up for the day to visit Santa in NP (he's an Alaskan Airlines pilot) and another Australian couple who were really cold.

Happy and doing good, too. Sue and Erin collected money and stamped hands. I ran the food concessions at Christmas on Ice.

The Family Film Fest started on Tuesday night with the film Junebug. Last night, we went to Silver Gulch and came home to view Casablanca and Charade. Remember, the theme was films with one word names (no "the" or "a" either). Please vote on your favorite on the right sidebar. Leah, don't stack the votes- one vote per person.

Today, Ron and Erin went out to soak in Chena Hot Springs. Paul and I walked up to Fred Meyer for a cast iron fry pan and a few food items for Christmas Day. I put on my one pound down jacket covered by a raincoat and was plenty warm for the -5 temps. My legs were cold though- no long johns.

Pat Erdown

2009-12-17T18:46:00.005-09:00

The Slay Belles won handily over the Misfit Toys.

Busy day yesterday...we went swimming and did a mile. Then, I did a little tutoring- shoutout to Jordyn and Jamiee, fighting the battle of the numbers.

Bruis'er Booty handed out candy to the crowd. She also sings a good national anthem.

I bought a Bionicles Transformer and a Polly Pocket to donate at the FBXRG Home for the Holidays Bout at the Carlson Center. The Fairbanks Roller Girls really rocked. It was fun to watch and easier to follow than a hockey or football game. My favorite roller girl was Bruiser Booty. If I was younger, I'd be out there.

A ref with attitude.

Then we went to Barnes and Noble bookstore and sat by the fire. I found a book of tramps in New Zealand (hikes, not bums), so I'm all hooked on going there sometime soon. Maybe the kids will come with us? I guess a trail is good, a track is more difficult and a route is near impossible. Also, there are 10 "great tramps" which require much advance planning but the other tramps are beautiful and have huts and so on. The other good news is that our winter is their summer, so we can have it all.

Today, we walked up to the University on some business (finding out how to write a proposal for teaching a professional development course) and we checked out the museum store for Christmas gifts. We walked back via lower campus and saw the student art show.
A painting entitled "I hate Winter" by Zoe Keith- one of my favorites.

This afternoon, we did some last minute shopping and picked out cabinets for the new apartment we're (mostly Paul) building. Tonight is a quiet, book night. One of these days I'll have to do some cleaning around here. I did cook dinner though- scrambled eggs with shrimp, spinach, mushrooms, bacon, and onion with a slice of homemade Egg Bread slathered in (also homemade) raspberry jam. Can't be beat.

Happy 52nd birthday, sister Nancy.

Esther Williams and Sam Walton

2009-12-14T19:36:00.004-09:00

I swam 1 mile today in the warm waters of Mary Siah pool. My sinuses are feeling better and not talking and hot tea is working wonders on my pipes.

We bought a new TV today- an extreme luxury for us after debating it for months (Vizio 37"). We played the Sam's Club game by buying a Walmart gift card (we never shop there!) with our airlines bankcard and then using it to buy the TV. Whoops- it wasn't activated. So, Paul had to go back and get that remedied. I would shop at Walmart if the products were American-made. I have no beef with their employee practices- they are no different than Sears or any other large retailers. I just heard of someone local who works there because they allow him a flexible schedule for taking UAF classes. Oh, wait, the ambiance leaves much to be desired, too. My son once said he wouldn't shop at K-Mart because he couldn't stand to watch people smack and hollar at their kids. Same-o, same-o.

While we were in Sam's Club, we bought raisins, M&Ms and cashews- yep, GORP. We're looking forward to hiking in February.

Speaking of said kid, he is in Guilin, China this week. Guangzhou is apparently very polluted and the dirty air is really bringing him down. I think he plans to return to Taiwan in the near future. How could he live anywhere that has YouTube blocked.

In another case of corporate stranglehold, I can order mail order medications from Costco. But first I have to transfer them to a store. The nearest store is in Anchorage, 360 miles away. I guess that's okay, but I really would have preferred to have my prescription processed nearby.

The Noel Wien Library has a pretty good gig. I can download audiobooks for free with my library card. After they expire, I'm required to delete them, but that's not a problem, since I can listen right away. If you live in Alaska but not in this borough, you can pay $25 for a library card with all the rights and privileges.

Shoutout to Brian, Tim and Kale- Happy birthday all you guys!

Bad Throat and Good Trip

2009-12-13T21:27:00.003-09:00

A beautiful sunrise at 11 am from the porch of Hooper Bay School.

I don't know where to begin on telling about the exploits of the week. On Monday, I flew to Anchorage on my way to Hooper Bay. The plane was fogged into Kodiak so our flight was delayed waiting for the plane. It left about 30 minutes late. Darn- I'd miss my connecting flight to Hooper Bay. But no, as luck would have it, that plane was late leaving Bethel because of glaze ice and drifted snow on the runway. I think someone must have polished it back up for our arrival because it was smooth and glassy for our jump down. I hitched a ride to the school with the clinic truck. It turns out that the driver was the principal's son anyway, so it was all good. I was supposed to phone the school but my iPhone doesn't work there. All over the YK delta area, people jumped from CB radio directly to cell phone, but it is GCI only.

View of some Hooper Bay houses close to the school overlooking the Bering Sea.

I have a horrendous sore throat caused by draining sinuses, so I was tired and had minimal voice volume. In spite of it, I had a great time working with teachers and students. The little girls at the lunch table (a hot dog in chili with french fries, cake and canned peaches) looked at my eyes in amazement. "You got blue eyes". "Yep". "You got contacts?" "Nope". "How come?" I moved around the table and cut up the hotdogs and cake, but most kids just ate the cake and peaches. Yum, let's have sugar!

This community has about 1000 people and there are 3 distinct housing areas. The downtown is up on a hill- a good vantage point for seals. The large AC store is up there as is the Bingo Hall and church. A small bag of chips there cost $9.50, so I didn't do too much snacking after my 1 mile walk up to the store. Just cough drops and chapstick.

I slept in the 1st grade room on a blow-up mattress. It was comfy and warm and right across from the bathroom. The principal made coffee from fresh ground beans for the 3 of us visiting. I was welcomed into classes and one of my favorite moments was storytelling to the K-1 kids. I also had fun visiting Yup'ik Santa and eating with the kids.

I flew north along the coast, past the Yukon River delta into Nunam Iqua (land's end). No kidding. I saw on the pilot's radar that there was land below, but it sure didn't look like it. Flat, flat, flat and ice broken only by drifted snow. Then there was a beacon light and village. The school appears to cling to the shore. Francois (yes, he's Yup'ik) picked me up in a 6 wheeled cross between a 4-wheeler and a truck. The cab had a windshield and top but was open on the sides. It had a short truck bed and studded wide snowtires and rolled right over the glaze ice and up the slight, ever so slight, rise to the Sheldon Pt. School.

The village at Nunam Iqua is a short, Yak-Trak walk away. It's the only village I've been to with absolutely no store. Not even in Agnes's house.

I was given a warm welcome, come to find out because I'm an arriving judge for the science fair. The science fair was great- all 25 entries were organized by question, hypothesis, procedure, results and conclusions- from the high school students down to the 1st grade. I'm not cut out to be a judge- I want everyone to win an award.

The first grade hypothesis was that magnets would stick to iron. Nicolle had a heck of a time trying to teach them the relationship between iron and metal.

The water in the village has been out for 3 weeks with no end in sight. The same storm that iced over the roads and airstrip in Hooper Bay pushed sea water up on shore and it seeped into the shallow water table. There was talk of flying in drinking water. The water was only slightly saline, so could be used for toilets, showers and clothes washing, when it got turned back on. The school water was fine.

I was glad to go home on Friday...my laryngitis was pitiful and I was tired from coughing all night. At the airport, I began finishing the announcements...."Please keep your children off of the luggage carousel (or we will need to put them in a kennel)". "The flight to Anchorage is now closed for check-in and the boarding will begin soon. (The flight however will leave whenever we damn well feel like it). "We will begin boarding now. Please have your boarding pass ready (and your money nearby for purchasing beer on the flight)".

Yesterday and today I was in a foggy stupor when I wasn't downright ornery. We did some last Christmas shopping for mailing and I took care of some paperwork. Now I'm curling up with a mystery and a cuppa. Ya hunh. I expect a turn in my mood....maybe when I go to the roller derby on Wednesday night. My derby name is Margaret Hacker. If only I could skate.

If you want to see more pictures, add me as a Facebook friend where I post my village photo albums.

Pre Holiday but Post Nasal

2009-12-03T11:04:00.003-09:00

I'm laying around coughing and hacking with a sinus infection and post nasal drip. I can't even stand to write it, but it is a chronic health issue I have- my sinuses drain down the back of my throat causing me to cough, have an aching sore throat and laryngitis. Woe is me.

In spite of the pending malady, Paul and I managed to go swimming yesterday. We've worked up to 1 mile (36 double lengths doncha know) by swimming Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Mary Siah pool is warm water so the seniors flock over there for the 90 cent use, while we youngsters pay $3.75. I can hardly wait to qualify.

I hung out the icicle lights on the fence. Unfortunately, one of the three strings is green and red to the other multicolor ones. When I asked Paul which he liked better, he told me that the red and green all look alike to him. I made him name what they looked like and he said, "Maybe all green?". I just don't get that color blindness on a holistic level. It has been explained to me, but I just don't get it....we've been working on it for years.

The Chinook winds brought in warm (above 0) temps and winds, very unusual for this time of year. Too bad I feel too punk to take advantage of it. I don't even want to walk around outside- too puny.

I added a new "gadget" listing some of my philanthropic websites. I've been a lender on Kiva for a few years since Erin gifted me. Not only has the original $75 donation grown to $150 in just a few years, but I feel like loaning to women entrepreneurs improves their standard of living. The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world. That has the effect of promoting peace- people who live comfortably don't need to go out and fight. Wars are started when there is an angry population who have nothing to lose by dying. I'll be adding my favorite sites for peace...my criterion for donating- it must effect the quality of life for children (education, food and water supplies, health).

Another winter weekend in Fairbanks

2009-11-29T11:04:00.002-09:00

Warm and wild- enjoying the Nanooks.

The weekend has been relaxing and fun....no Black Friday for us. I did a little online shopping, including a few Kiva gift certificates. I helped the Pilons clean their old house, enjoying the fun of the 3 little ones. Pam suggested that Carly wasn't little- just "fun-size".

The Nanook games (against the Northern Michigan wildcats) were both heart-pounding. Both games tied, then tied again in overtime and went to shootouts. We really got our money's worth. I enjoy the games because I empathize with the young players who give it their all, have pucks shot at their head, are targeted to get knocked down by the other players and then often, suffer the agony of defeat.

Some fan behavior that I don't understand: the adult who carries a stuffed polar bear to the game, the cad who shouts at the team over the plexiglas, the kids who shout "you suck" at the other team, adults who go back and forth to the snack bar walking in front of everyone during the game and the cussers.

The Alaska Nanook entertaining some young fans.

Facing off.

2/3rds of a Triathalon and Thanks!

2009-11-27T14:47:00.002-09:00

On Wednesday, we grubbed up finishing the cleanup of the TV room, our deadline being Thanksgiving. We drove out in the single digit weather to the pool where we swam an energetic 27 double lengths (3/4ths of a mile). When we came out into the sunshine, we discovered that an un-named driver forgot to turn off the headlights and the battery was dead.

Snap! We walked home to pick up the truck. Well, we did stop off at KFC for lunch and warmth since I lost feeling in my thighs and I still needed them to walk the rest of the way home. Upon arriving back at the pool parking lot, we pushed the car out of its spot into the parking lot so that the jumper cables would reach. The gal in the car next door had been busy on her cell phone, so she jumped out and wondered why we didn't let her out? So, we pushed it back again. She backed out and we pushed back into charging position. Paul had to pry off the cap with his key, but that good ol' red stinky started right up. So, add it up- swim 3/4 of a mile, walk about 3.5 miles home in 5 degrees, push the car back and forth a few times in the parking lot. Sounds like a triathalon to me. At least a Gray Panther version.

Thanksgiving was great. The menu (which is living on for a few more days) was turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, candied yams, jello with bananas and mandarin oranges, salad, corn, homemade dinner rolls, shrimp cocktail, deviled eggs, pumpkin and apple pie, wine and assorted juices. The cranberry sauce was made from berries I picked this summer. Shoutout to the Ehnerts, John, John and Nathan for joining us. Not to get sappy, but we have a pretty good life.

Our 2 kids called. Ben went to Hong Kong and stayed at the Honshu Hong Kong Mansion for his birthday weekend. He was born on a Monday (26 years ago), I was released from the hospital on Wednesday with him and we flew immediately by small plane into Old Harbor. There was a storm coming and he kept flying up into the air so I kept a good grip on him. The staff Thanksgiving dinner was Thursday. He played Jesus in the Christmas play about a week later. He showed talent even then.

Erin and Ron had carryout dinner from The Diner in Chicago- pumpkin ravioli and all the fixin's. Thanksgiving isn't the favorite holiday of vegetarians. She said there was no pardon for the soybean yesterday.

We missed Black Friday today. Or, I guess we didn't miss it. We don't go out to compete for the honor of spending $$. I suppose if we really saw something we needed at an extreme discount we might. But not this year.

Velcro Phil

2009-11-22T17:18:00.004-09:00

Riverfront property in Marshall, northwest of Bethel.

In Mountain Village, we huddled in the truck in the low light of midmorning on the Yukon. The temp dropped to about -20, but the wind made it seem much colder. When the plane pulled up, a 6 seater from Hageland Air, we reluctantly hauled our meagre bags to the side boxes, knowing full well that our shampoo, toothpaste and food would be frozen solid for a good 4 hours after we arrived.

"Oh, good", Jennifer said. "It's 'Stick It, Phil!'". His other name is Velcro Phil, so named because he can stick a landing, even in the roughest weather. I'm riding with him! The sturdy looking pilot, Phil apparently, jumped out onto the tarmac, wearing his Carhardt insulated bibs and coordinated jacket, a beaver hat and bunny boots. Is it a tarmac if it's dirt covered with a foot of hard packed snow? Anyway, he said, "Anybody supposed to go to Scammon? You ain't goin'...it's all dogshit downriver there". Mary and someone else got back in the truck, not unhappily I think. We stepped the 3 feet up into the plane, tangling our snowboots in the shoulder harness and struggling with the cold stiffened seat belts. I got mine finally fastened about the time the plane jumped off the short runway into the air.

The frozen Yukon River intersected our path far below every few minutes as we took the crow's route. When we approached Marshall, we were hugging the window to spot the moose, about 50 on the island between the slough and the Yukon. "Wolves brought them down", was the simple answer. It was impressive though, thinking about all that meat and wildness clustered together just outside the tiny human settlement. Lots more pounds of moose than people, I thought.

We spent the day and the next day working in the school with kids. A quick trip to the store helped us appreciate that we'd brought our own food- lots of duct tape, tobacco and Mountain Dew, no veggies, yogurt or fruit juice. The volleyball team pounded the ball around the gym, getting ready for the big tourney in Nunam Iqua starting the next day. When the lights went out that night, from our sleeping platforms of blown up airmattresses on the floor in the kindergarten, we could hear the late night pounding of ballers in the gym and the roar of snowmachines just outside in the starry night.

Working in the school helped remind me of why I retired. Good work. Meaningful work. Hard work. Kids coming late, struggling with academics, hungry and tired and suspicious, expecting miracles. Contracting to fly in, give it my best and fly back out works for me.

Sharing letters, but never enough to spell anything much.

Back home here in the -3o in Fairbanks, but snug and warm with plenty of time, food and family, it seems surreal. Hard to believe that the same full moon is seen by Ben in China, Erin in Chicago, Virginia in California, and Bosco in Marshall.

This dog has his own TV. Bush life sure has changed.

Mission to Russian Mission

2009-11-06T22:46:00.004-09:00

Russian Mission from the air, looking northwest.

Yesterday, we flew to Russian Mission on a charter plane for the district. We arrived just in time for lunch, rice, chicken, gravy, canned peaches and Pilot Bread. On the table was a ketchup-style squirt bottle of brown stuff...turns out it is peanut butter and jelly, premixed. Great on Pilot Bread. Grape or strawberry. A Russian Mission original.

I spent the afternoon in a 5/6th grade classroom, enjoying the ambiance. After work, colleagues/roommates and I walked to the grocery store to buy grapes and drinks. It gave us a little air and a chance to see some of the village. When we got back, I pulled on the door to the kitchen which seemed to be really stuck. He said he'd leave it unlocked. He didn't. I just pulled and the whole hasp ripped out of the door and hung loose. Whoops.

An icy Kuskokwim yields eels and sheefish this time of year. People in this area dipnet and snag with a club with nails. The fish only run for about 4 days, so everyone is out this time of year, inspite of the cold, but not frozen yet river.

Several things struck me about Russian Mission. The new school is being built and the old school is really old. It is California style- you must walk outside to get between the 3 buildings. The gym is also the cafeteria and is about 1/4 sized.

But my favorite part was seeing 5 elders eating at the table with students. These grandmas come to the school everyday to work with the kindergarteners and the Yup'ik teacher. One of the elders told me about quluq-ing, or dipnetting for eels. She told me that one day a man was dipping for eels and he stretched his arm way out and scooped up a really full net. He lost his balance and fell in the icy water. She was nearby, but had nothing to reach out to him. She called out and 2 men extended a net to pull him ashore. They had a big bonfire going so he stood by it. The women gathered up grass and stuffed it all into his clothes and he survived.

I worked with two teachers today on their planning and then flew back to Mountain Village. It was a wonderful Friday night in the village. I walked to the store taking my final pictures. Then I went up to the bookfair, a fund-raiser at the school. After dinner and a few laughs with Raphia and Jean, we went up to the Community Hall to see the fiddlers here from St. Mary's. It's unique to hear Yup'ik men singing country songs. Everyone dances with whomever, even the new guss'aq in town, and I tried my hand at line dancing. The dance was a fund-raiser for the Russian Orthodox Church and the priest was in the band. Great music and all ages were there. Kids had a great time running up and down and elders solemnly two stepped to every song. The cake walk had cake, but no walk- just a raffle.
Ignatius Beans Memorial School in Mountain Village is getting an addition.

An elder reached out his hand to thank me for coming and telling me he would see me around. It was very friendly. A strange irony is that the same village kids with challenging behavior in school can sit for hours with their families in church, at fundraisers, etc. It's all about the messages that parents give about what is important, I think.

A common village sight- clothes freeze drying on this line in Mountain Village.

Mountain Village

2009-11-04T17:42:00.005-09:00

Mountain Village is tundra, but hilly. The side of the local mountain is the cemetary-covered in crosses.

I left at 4:45 am (again) for Mountain Village on the Yukon River. I arrived in St. Mary's where Bernie picked me up in a truck to continue the 26 miles to Mountain Village along a pockmarked and narrow road. He told me that once the state built the road, they never looked back at it and there has never been any work done. The two 4-wheelers that went by with passengers were leaning away from the wind and the riders were covered up except for their eyes. Bernie had attended the Jesuit boarding school in St. Mary's, but his kids went to Mountain Village School.

The Yukon River is wide, cold and frozen right now. Bernie told me that villagers have fish camps all up and down it where they go in the summer, but in the winter, they run fish traps (for emmonak), fish nets and they jig for pike. There is good hunting here too- mostly caribou.

The temperatures weren't too cold (20) but the wind really froze skin. Note the low sun for 10:30 am.

I'm staying with Jean and Raphia (Filipinas) in school district teacher housing. Since the district office is here, there are lots of apartments for staff. Jean and Raphia have been very gracious, giving me their spare room and encouraging me to eat! I brought my own food, but managed also to consume some rice noodles and Halloween candy.We have had a few laughs and every night we play Sequence. They are addicted, but were gracious when my beginner's luck allowed me to win.

I finally got out during daylight to walk to the river and the stores. Mountain Village has two- the A.C. and ANICA, the Native store. If you were wealthy, you would never have to order food. I even found soy milk there as well as Christmas decorations, electronics and warm clothes.

Mountain Village Mall- a one-stop shop.

The shelves sported an amazing array of choices, but the prices are high.

My work has been mostly in the K-12 school. I've visited 5 classrooms and have enjoyed meeting the kids. They are like kids everywhere- busy, funny and curious. I've had school lunch both days- both days having beef stew and canned fruit. I'd weigh a ton if I stayed here too long.

I'll be flying to Russian Mission tomorrow on a chartered plane. The district has its own plane, but there is also lots of demand. My plans are to come back here on Friday and go back to Fairbanks on Saturday. It's been windy and cold, but just a trace of snow. Cross your fingers.

Hunk a hunk a burning love

2009-10-31T21:39:00.003-08:00

Paul is shaping a perimeter on the remnants of the fire.

We've been out to the country estate 3 times in the last week, burning brush piles and hauling back a ginormous load of recycled (read scrounged) lumber. The sun coming through the trees made it necessary to wear sunglasses in spite of the single digit temps. We did some soul searching about burning piles instead of reusing as heat in the upcoming cabin, but the piles of wood were willow and alder, brushy and green and not very easy to even burn. Waiting until snowfall was a good idea though (mine) because we didn't worry so much about setting the woods on fire and we had good cookout and warming fires.

A flat spot where the brush pile used to be. Note bunny boots.

We put together a 10 x 12 tent platform from 2x4s that were already out there. Our plans are to put up a tent as soon as Spring allows so we can put the floor on the foundation.

Enjoying pocket stew while supervising the fire.

On Monday and Tuesday, we drove to Tok. We stayed at Fast Eddy's, where Paul enjoyed a ribeye steak dinner to my lasagna. I gave an inservice presentation to Alaska Gateway secondary math teachers on "Math on the Move". It was fun and I hope invited to come back (all signs point to yes). The roads became slippery those days with the first snow of the year and 30 degrees temps. Fortunately, it is getting colder so the roads are better.

Uncommon traffic jam in Fairbanks following the first slippery snow.

Thursday was Fox Day. When we were loading the truck with the 4-wheeler, we saw a red fox cut across the yard across the street. It had a doggy rope chew toy in its mouth- we assume it was taking it home to the kits. Later that day, a black fox stayed on the country road ahead of us for about 5 minutes, keeping up an easy jog. It reminded me of my one and only road sighting of a wolf on Prince of Wales Island when the wolf ran along in front of the truck for at least a mile at 25 mph. What strength!

I volunteered twice at Barnette Magnet School, Mrs. Meath's 1st grade class this week. The kids were fun and the thank you card is really a keeper. Let's just say I'm glad I've retired so I can pick and choose my times and topics.

It's Halloween night, but we went to the first "real" Nanook CCHA games. We beat Ferris State which was fun. Although we didn't stay home to hand out candy, 14 Halloween pencils and about 20 M&M packets were gone from the supply we left. The little German speaking kids behind us kept me entertained during the dull moments by asking, "Why, Mama?" to every little thing and even saying, "Mit elbows?" after an elbowing penalty. Cute, cute.

We've been watching old "Have Gun, Will Travel" shows on DVD. That Paladin is quite the man! I have to say that I missed all the subtleties of the show when I was young. Richard Boone plays this sophisticated, well educated gunman (oxymoron?) who uses his brain to solve most of the conflicts he's hired to fix. The notes on the DVD tell the background of the guests (Angie Dickenson, Denver Pyle, Richard Long, Charles Bronson to name a few) as well as the historical premise of each of the shows. We're hooked and now we have to see them all. The Lone Ranger, on the other hand, was a sorry disappointment. Clayton Moore looks scary and weird in his mask and even though he's described as an "fantastic individual" in the intro, he seems like a fop and a phony...he should have stuck to radio.

Susan, Cheryl and I met to plan our May hike. We plan to fly to Pennsylvania and begin hiking north from near Boiling Springs. We looked at gear and we're figuring out travel arrangements. I'm getting excited all over again- last year at this time, Paul (GarageMan) and I were only 3 1/2 months away from the start of the Appalachian Trail.

Tonight is Fall Back- daylight savings time. We're retired...who cares?

South to North Pole

2009-10-23T20:54:00.005-08:00

We set off about 10:00 to walk the 14 miles to North Pole from downtown Fairbanks. It was grey and about 25 degrees, but we enjoyed digging into the hiking box to liberate our long johns, down jackets, wool hiking socks, mittens and Zip-T jackets. Good thing we layered because it warmed up during the 5 hour hike.

When you walk, you notice more. Some of the old establishments are closed and for sale. The Sunset Strip and Fantasyland Video have both lost their niche market and are shuttered. We passed a few Baptist churches.

There is no trail to NP from Fairbanks, so we had to follow the Richardson Highway, staying mainly on access roads, but walking along 4 wheeler/snowmachine trail along the highway for about 2 of the miles. The first 3 miles out of Fairbanks bordered the Army artillery range where I qualified on a .45 handgun when I was in the Army. Stay Out! No trespassing! Rookies and misguided youth with deadly weapons.

At some point, we followed the dike parallel to the road. The mound hid a few little lakes and some prime moose browse, but we didn't see any mammals- just a few birds.

After not hiking for a few months, we missed it, but we were out of shape. The NP sign was welcome and we staggered into the Pagoda for some Chinese food before taking the bus back to Fairbanks. The bus had shaded windows, but we had the ambiance of the rowdy teenagers in back who were coming to town to get to Walmart.

The small sign on the fence says "Keep Out". We went into NP anyway.

Paul "Garageman" wanted to hike up a mountain and stay overnight in a tent. Maybe next time. We enjoyed the day out and the long walk, but the scenery wasn't that great and neither were the traffic sounds.

Cacophony of Conferences

2009-10-22T20:23:00.003-08:00

The Board Room skater shop art.

Right after I got home from the Math/Science Conference, the ASLA Literacy Conference started. I was helping out with vendors, the Meet the Authors night, and presented a session on Math Poems in Two Voices.

The vendors paid big bucks for their tables so there was a sense of entitlement (understandably). We worked it out, balancing their perceived needs with the reality of limited space and tables and I grew to appreciate a few of them due to their generosity, the respect towards teachers and the quick way they became part of a community. The only weirdness was that one vendor left all her leftover boxes in the middle of the Lathrop cafeteria for UPS to pick up. Unfortunately, there would be students in there the next day so I got stiffed- I had to move her boxes. I guess I'm glad she didn't sell out like some of the other vendors...she gets a C- for citizenship from me.

It's sorta odd being retired and still attending inservice and conferences. I saw Dinah Zike talk about foldable note-taking and Bob Williams (with his Tigger tie, not Eeyore) talking about math technology tools (try the free Google Sketchup and a calculator emulator). It almost made me want to try it out with kids, but no.

The beautiful Voyager Hotel on 5th and K.

The ASLA conference ended on Monday night and in the snowy darkness of 5 am, Paul and I went to airport to fly to Anchorage. He walked from downtown Anchorage to mid-town and back, visiting REI and Barnes and Noble while I attended meetings and audio conferences. Afterwards, we walked away from the inlet to the Lucky Wishbone for dinner. Hot fudge malts and white meat batter-fried chicken can't be beat. Shout-out to Leah (in Europe!) for introducing that place to me. We stayed at the modest but comfy Voyager Hotel retiring early to open the window and look out at the stars over Cook Inlet, followed by reading "Garlic and Sapphires".
The Lucky Wishbone and the lucky duck.

The next day, I went to the Turnaround Schools Institute. A turnaround school is one who was chronically underperforming (and we know one when we see one) that reverses the trend and begins to raise scores for at least 2 years in a row. While I'm not a big one on evaluating schools solely on test performance, low test scores are certainly a symptom of a chronic ailment. The treatment, according to this research is: signal the need for dramatic change with strong leadership, relentless and consistent focus on improving instruction, make visible improvements early in the process and build a committed staff. If it sounds intriguing, check out the What Works Clearinghouse.

I went to see Dr. Mavencamp today, my eye doctor. He dialated my eyes and checked out my starter cataracts. He showed me on his flip book that cataracts are cloudy fluid in the lens of your eye. Surgery actually sucks all the fluid out of your lens and replaces it with a plastic sac of fluid with just the right concavity to correct nearsightedness. He also told me that the viscous sac of fluid between my lens (right eye only) and my retina is slowly pulling away. That's not a problem unless it gets a tear (not a tear silly, a tear). My right eye is getting slightly worse, but not a problem yet. He's a great guy and we talked hiking, kids and his new Shih Szuh dog named Lucy. I placated myself with a latte and bagel from LuLus.

"At Your Own Risk Road" was in great shape today. The mudholes were dried up and the ground was frozen hard in the 25 degree temperatures. Still no snow that stayed. We dropped off some scrounged lumber and we'll be taking it back to the stack when we can.

I found out that hiking created "bunionettes" or "Taylor's bunions" on my feet. The little toe bone turns in towards the next toe creating a bony bump on the outside of the foot. It hurts when my shoes rub. No cure except surgery when it becomes too painful but it helps to get wider shoes. My guess is that my foot widened as I walked 1100 miles, but my shoes stayed the same size. I need to switch shoe brands- I think I'll try Merrell's- they were recommended by bunion experts (what a sad job!).

Blog Poem in Two Voices (read with a friend)

Blogging gives you voice Blogging gives you voice
To express
your thoughts
your opinions
your actions
your emotions
your politics
your foibles
Oh, sad day
When the internet is down When the internet is down

Fourth Ave in Anchorage the second week in October.

Mind full of Math

2009-10-16T22:39:00.003-08:00

Joan says there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes.

I'm in the airport (again) returning from the Math/Science Conference in Juneau. It pretty much could have been anywhere though, since, besides walking to and from the hotel to the high school, I didn't get out at all. I arrived on Wednesday night and left tonight, Friday.

I ran into many, many familiar faces, some from Haines and some from other places around the state, including Anchorage, Kenai and Lower Yukon. Two notable keynote speakers were Ken Wesson, who spoke on brain development and Constance Kamii, a septagenarian who spoke on acquisition of thinking skills.

Dr. Wesson's premise is that teachers should know about the brain. He said that education is the most complex job- compare it to brain surgery. Surgeons only operate on one person at a time whereas teachers must work on up to 30 brains at a time. Surgeons' patients are anesthesized! Surgeons have a whole support crew and teachers work alone. Interesting! His website has some boring looking articles with good information based on brain research.

Constance Kamii challenges that the only way to teach kids to think is to make them think all day long about everything. She talked about hierarchical thinking- keeping in mind 2 concepts at once and referring back and forth. Her examples were place value and elapsed time. In place value, kids generally think of tens as a row of ones instead of a discrete value. If they are hierarchical thinkers, they can jump right from the tens to the ones to manipulate two or more digit numbers. In elapsed time, they juggle hours and minutes. She looks disparagingly at texts, NCTM and standardized curriculum that discourage thinking by mandating rote and algorithm.

Downtown Juneau

A highlight of the conference was a fun dinner at Lori's. Samantha, Leslie, Joan, Bob and I ate pasta and salad at Lori's house on Douglas, overlooking the strait. We told stories, reminisced and hassled the Alaska Teacher of the Year. Good time had by all.

Home again, home again, lickety split.

The Audacity

2009-10-09T15:50:00.003-08:00

Imagine waking up to the news that Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize. Oh, wait, we did. I think it was the sense of hopefulness that was rampant after his election that drove the Board to their decision. Even though not much has changed towards peace, just electing someone willing to talk to anyone who is interested is a step forward. Even electing someone who represents the world, as opposed to Western culture, is a bold move towards internationalism. If you go to the Nobel page, be sure to try the games. They are very fun.

It was a great day for a bike ride. Unfortunately, the route to Lowe's had lots of uphills. I made it though and we managed to spend more money on building materials. I've also been inspired to continue working on my sewing projects.

Tonight, hot dogs on a stick over our patio fire. Good weather continues.

Eating out, Alaskan style.

We walked home from downtown tonight....4-5 miles. It was cool and dark and very fun. The Bingo hall(s) were packed, as was the Big-I (see Into the Wild). There were lots of people out walking and enjoying the balmy 40 degree temps and clear skies, at least for a few more days.

Walking through downtown on my way home.

Alaska Autumn

2009-10-08T21:14:00.004-08:00

I just came inside from sitting on the deck alternately looking up at stars and down into the fire. The air is just cool enough to make the fire seem cozy and the neighborhood noises settled down during the hour outside.

It was a busy, productive day. I went in to Aquasize and did some geriatric aerobics in the warm water of Mary Siah pool. Myra, a fellow exerciser, told me about the Wednesday night knitting support group. That might be fun. Then I walked over to Denali School with a friend to drop off the 4 kindergarteners under her care.

I arrived home in time to paint shelves off and on all day (sides and coats) and I made curtains for the new windows out of an old sheet- a stopgap until the window trim goes up and the walls get painted. The sewing machine out inspired me to start quilting some squares for Christmas gifts - no, I'm not telling what or who, just in case.

I joined some friends at Bobby's for moussaka- I'll have to make that at home again- eggplant and baked bechamel sauce. Laurie regaled us with stories of her climb up Kilamanjaro and her visit to Africa. Hearing about the open markets and the labrynth of city streets made me interested in traveling again.

Luke Hopkins and Tammie Wilson need a runoff for Borough mayor in our local election. They each garnered about 32% of the vote in a field of 6. I hope there is a good turnout for the runoff because the Borough funds the schools, collects taxes, has the power to monitor air quality and recycling, funds parks and recreation, manages planning and zoning and has a large budget (collected from property taxes) to manage. In these local elections, being Democrat or Republican is not as important as being honest and knowledgeable in my book. In other words, each candidate has their own platform.

We have a quiet weekend planned- working at home. It gives us time to plan our hike next Summer, a topic that works its way into almost any extended conversation.

Susan's bookclub is reading Garlic and Sapphires, Thirteen Moons, The Broom of the System, Song of Solomon, The Maltese Falcon, The Funnies, We Live in Alaska, Outliers and J.B. I hope to read them, too, even if I can't get to the meetings.

Indian Summer

2009-10-07T19:26:00.004-08:00

I got up at 6:45 am to go to the imaging lab at the hospital for a mam.....procedure. The technician was upbeat and heading for Anchorage tonight to see the Lion King. Where else but Alaska do you drive 360 miles to pay $75 to see a musical? Granted, not just any musical.

Today was a fabulous Indian Summer day. The balmy weather prompted me to ride my bike downtown with Sandy to have a salad at Gambardella's, followed by a stop at the library. The salad was significant to mention- pear/walnut with carmelized walnuts, sliced pears and apples, sliced chicken and raspberry creamy vinaigrette. Yum. I had to drag the bike out from under the backporch where it was stored for the winter, but it was worth the extra effort.

My job as a desk jockey is causing me to get the slows. I'm going to have to pace my access to Facebook, blogs, Backpack, email, skype, iPhone and eLive. It is preventing me from really feeling retired, since I can be contacted all hours of the day and night. Okay- from now on, I'll only be checking computer applications twice a day- morning and evening. I'm resolved. That and doing the planning for my conference presentations (which are still only a paper concept right now). Then I can be free to do outside work, like putting up new house numbers and hauling lumber back from Lowe's. Also on my to-do list, making curtains from an old sheet to prevent curious neighbors from inspecting our ongoing apartment project. I'll make real ones when we've painted the walls, after we empty the rooms, after we build the shelves and so on.

Recycle idea of the day: We're building our shelves from the old garage doors- 9 feet long and 2 feet wide. Thatsa shelf! Extension idea: I wonder if the garage door company is looking for ways to recycle the doors they remove? Paul needs to get on that.

Other recycle idea of the day: Make soup from the chicken carcass. Oh, yes, Ben had a "Thanksgiving dinner" on his last day here. We were thankful he came to visit. The soup was good with dillweed and marjoram and smoked gouda cheese on the side.

Fun to Go, Fun to come back home.

2009-10-03T21:33:00.002-08:00

Not much action today, but I spent a few fun hours with Ben, who is leaving on Tuesday. The hockey season starts tonight with an exhibition game with Southern Alberta and I gave Ben my ticket. (UAF Nanooks won) That's fine- I cleaned the kitchen and downloaded some pics to Facebook. (email or comment to me if you want access to those 16 pictures of Lower Yukon).

The sweet pain of flying away is alleviated by the constant adventure of meeting new people and negotiating a new community. And, sinking into your own bed, whether after hiking 1100 miles or a few days of sleeping on a kindergarten floor, feels mighty good.

Cinnamon rolls and latte, a small meet/greet/eat/beat feet party for Ben, and then a reading evening defines tomorrow. Gotta love a weekend, even if I'm (sorta) retired.

Upcoming events to note- voting day on Tuesday, Oct 6 for Borough offices and the Literacy (ASLA) conference is Oct 17-18.

Coming to You from Pilot Station

2009-10-01T20:31:00.003-08:00

The beach in Hooper Bay is hard packed and speckled with shells and driftwood, perfect for picnics, but alas, not for me. Early in the morning, we could see the lights of Chevak across the water.

The flight to the YK Delta on Wednesday was a little bumpy and crowded, but it was just overcast in Bethel, in sharp contrast to many of my visits there, including one in which I crawled over glaze ice. We packed the plane into Hooper Bay where the wind was blowing a steady 30. On Thursday, I gave 3 presentations and assisted in giving the welcome to the 100 or so teachers from Lower Yukon School District. As usual, a motley and unique crew, no slaves to fashion, but easy to laugh and very friendly.

Big, beautiful sky and a village nestled into the side of the hill greeted us in Pilot Station.

Pilot Station is gorgeous. We flew 40 minutes on a charter plane inland from the coast into trees, hills and riverbank. On our walk, we saw a steambath (maqivik) going, kids chasing each other, a Bingo hall packed to the gills, a Russian Orthodox church and cemetary, 2 kids with guns, lots of 4 wheelers, 2 kids with homemade slingshots and 2 kids with paws from a recently killed bear. Yep, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Since last I wrote, we dug our puny supply of potatoes...only about 15-20 pounds. They're tasty though. And we visited some "super"kids.
Super Duper Boy!

Another lean year at the farm.

Politico

2009-09-26T15:00:00.005-08:00

I just returned from Juneau after 2 days of training on AIMSWeb. I was prepared to dislike it- an assessment program mandated to certain low performing districts which was difficult to manage and did little to inform instruction. Okay- I was wrong. It isn't very difficult to manage- it just takes time to learn. And, it is designed to be a quick progress monitor- not diagnostic AND the new Math Concepts assessments are actually monitoring real math, not just computation. That's all about that.

Weather was typical all 3 days I was there; often rain and wind, but otherwise one or the other. It didn't put off the beautiful mountains and harbor though, so I managed to do some walking anyway. I stayed at the Goldbelt Hotel which was somewhat overpriced at $119 for government rate. My room had a view into the neighbor's windows and a exercise bicycle which I used while watching a Bill Cosby rerun.

On Friday, the governor, Sean Parnell, met with all Ed Dept employees for a few words of encouragement and some longevity awards. I took aside an assessment gal in an out-of-the-way place to grill about some protocols and who should walk by? No, not Citizen Palin, but Gov. Parnell. He looked right at me, expectantly. I stuttered a "thank you for coming to talk to us" like a kindergartner at a tea party, but, after all, I didn't have my speech writer there. He answered, "my pleasure" which was nicely said.

The plane ride home was uneventful in most respects. I should have gotten a partial refund for the JNU to ANC leg due to only being able to use part of my seat. The person next to me overlapped into my area. She was a loud talking, gum snapping, easily amused, People magazine reading, gal. I couldn't dislike her- she was way too friendly, but really...buy two seats! The luggage in Fairbanks was put out about 40 minutes late (at 1:45 am!), but I received 2500 air miles due to a 25 minute guarantee. That was an unexpected bonus. Also, my fellow AIMSWeb cohort were fun during waiting time....we had a few chuckles in between flights and said "hi" to others we knew.

Ben and I went to Sen. Mark Begich's health reform town hall meeting. It helped me understand a few issues and gelled some of my opinions.
So far, here is what I like:
* considering preventative health care, not just emergency or illness health care.
* opening up the federal employees health plan to anyone who wants to buy in.
* cracking down on fraud and waste in government funded health plans that already exist.
* expanding the age limit on insuring children up to 26 under their parents' plans.
* considering co-ops.
* health care is a basic human right (as is the right to exist without being hassled- even if you're homeless!)

Here are some other random thoughts:
* most of the opponents to health care reform are already covered- how selfish to not consider those less fortunate.
* if those holding signs were really against federal spending and socialist programs, they wouldn't apply for medicare, social security or any other subsidized programs. That would free up some money to pay for those not already eligible.
* the school district health committee discovered a physician's assistant program whereby they pay the salary of a PA. This PA can see covered employees for all routine and non-emergency care. It's saved a bundle. It seems like educating people on the range of possible caregivers would save insurance companies $$ which can slip down to us.

On-going questions
* what are the plans for the under and unemployed- mandating health insurance only works for people able to pay?
* what part of the Constitution permits a socialist medicine model? None, to my knowledge.
* why do doctors maintain the right to be millionaires? Why isn't their training subsidized so that paying for med school isn't an issue.
* there are so many groups (American Indian and Alaska Native, veterans, elderly [medicare], children in Alaska [Denali KidCare], disabled [medicaid], wards of the state) who already receive FREE (or already earned) health care, that it seems like those who are not eligible for any other care could form another category. As a group, they could get group health insurance paid for on a sliding income scale...and they could come in and out as their employment situation warranted. This other group might include underemployed, homeless and unemployed, students of uninsured parents, visiting foreigners, legal and illegal aliens.
Alaskans are less rowdy than other states or maybe it's too expensive to send up the Tea Party organizers.

Maybe we could "sponsor" an uninsured person if our insurance company would let us.

There was snow on the ground and coming down for my welcome home last night. Paul and Ben put in the new door and windows just in time. Picking potatoes soon.

Hunt Cabin

2009-09-22T14:14:00.002-08:00

The cabins even come with firewood.

We spent the evening and night and morning at Hunt Cabin (Alaska State Parks) at 42 mile Chena Hot Springs Rd. We had a great time talking by the fire, reading, playing Bananagram, eating and just relaxing. If you're retired, can you really talk about vacation?

Our new garage doors (R17.7) are being installed right now. Now, if only there was room to park my car inside.....!

Autumn Equinox

2009-09-20T21:38:00.003-08:00

The Retired Teachers Booksale really rocked- lots of books and people just paid what they wanted. I found a few for myself, but really used restraint. Any unsold books went to Forget-Me-Not, the Literacy Council bookstore. I decided to join the group whose motto seems to be "hakuna matata".

We put the roof over the apartment door canopy until the light dwindled and we were 6 feet short of shingles. It was good family time- Ben and Paul and I. Dinner was great at Lemon Grass and we slept soundly.
Don't worry- I was working. I cut and handed up the shingles.

The trees were on fire today- wonderful yellows and reds. We walked out to the land and cleared brush. Ben and I heard something big in the woods, but it refused to show itself- Bigfoot perhaps? The picnic tasted great and we moved lots of heavy, awkward logs to appease the Taskmaster.
The house site hasn't changed much this year.

Dinner tonight was salmon on the barbecue, the last corn of the season imported from "South" and a wonderful Clean the Refrigerator salad. I picked the last of the rhubarb and put it in a pie shell to bake and remembered that the oven didn't work. (Note to self: call a repair person tomorrow). So I ended up microwaving it (9 minutes on high). Unfortunately, with all the distractions, I forgot to put in the sugar. Whoops! Not so great.

From the Golden State to the Golden Heart City

2009-09-18T20:12:00.004-08:00

Happy 90th birthday, Wilma!

7 days in California makes one weak. It was great to see family and to wish Grandma Mercer a happy 90th, but the constant car traffic and busy pace made me yearn for home. I know it sounds crazy, but I constantly worry about earthquakes while I'm there. And the 90 degree temps gave me heat frustration.
This pond at Cal State Northridge was lousy with turtles, fish and a pesky duck. For 25 cents, you could buy food and cause a feeding frenzy.

Ben came home with us and we drove back the same day as flying from Burbank. The scenery was spectacular with great views of The Mountain all the way up until dark and then Northern Lights.

My only caveat on driving home was that I didn't want to drive after dark- I'd drive any time up until then (about 8:45pm). Yep- you guessed it. The guys drove first and rested when it was dark. My biggest fear was realized when a huge moose loomed up along the side of the road. Fortunately, he was eating and only looked up, casting his red eyes into the high beams. If my passenger had reached out the window, he could have touched him.

The last 4 days have been a blur of working on the apartment (digging, cleaning out away from the house, removing a fence, picking up materials, painting a door, moving stuff away from the windows, feeding the crew, etc.). Fortunately Ben was here to help and so far I haven't had to do much digging, my least favorite job ever....even worse than peeling logs. We're playing beat the clock with snow and freezing temps but we should be able to put in the new door and windows by next Wednesday and pick potatoes.

I've also been doing some $$ work, always welcome to feed the dragon. I'm looking ahead to volunteering tomorrow at the Equinox Marathon and also the Retired Teachers Book Sale. On Sunday, we'll be taking the 4-wheeler out to the land to work on the road and have a picnic. It's a shame to stay inside with the leaves so beautiful before they drop. The little maple tree in our yard is brilliant red.

Desert Fox called when I wasn't home and both of us felt the call of the trail. He finished the AT last week and invited us to come down to his home in Arizona to hike with him. We just might take him up on that- long about February. We're both jonesing to finish the Appalachian Trail next year. I hope I have the fortitude.

Happy Rosh Hoshana!

Hurrying to Relax

2009-09-07T23:36:00.004-08:00

This week has been a blur and I feel rather guilty about not blogging. Besides, I missed it! I went to Anchorage on Tuesday on business, finding out about my new job. It turns out that I might be going to 5 different districts in the state, Yupiit, Lower Yukon, Northwest Arctic, Yukon-Koyukuk and Yukon Flats. I'll be working with groups or individual teachers on getting more efficient in teaching math. It should be an exciting job. At the beginning of Oct, I'll be in Mountain Village and Pilot Station.

Larry Ehnert turned 50. We went out to their house on Harding Lake, enjoying the beautiful view, hot tub, chicken-mushroom crepes, wine and good company. Happy Birthday, Larry!

Sunset over Harding Lake on Sept 5.

We're currently in one of my favorite places, the Anchorage airport, on our way to Wilma's 90th birthday party. My kids will both be there- it will be great to see them!

Putting a roof over the apartment door.

We spent quite a few weekend hours in the yard building a cover for the new door that will be cut in the side of the house for the new apartment. Since nothing is square, each roof 2x4 had to be measured and cut separately. Fortunately, I'm a trained professional.

On the way to Anchorage, we stopped at the Palmer Fair to eat pasties, elephant ears and frappuccino. We did some shopping and watched Mr. Whitekeys.

Looking good at the Palmer Fair.

The Chugach Mountains loom above the Fairgrounds.

Giving President Obama some advice about talking to students.

Fairweather Birds

2009-09-01T21:49:00.002-08:00

Monday morning was rainy and ABO (Alaska Bird Observatory) didn't band any birds, so I slept in. We went and ordered doors for our house ($$$) and picked up Whitey (our ginormous goldfish) at Leah's. He doubled his size 3 times in the 6 months he's been visiting. What is in that water! I sure don't want to drink any by mistake.

Birds, Valdez and More

2009-08-29T21:49:00.006-08:00

Another great Fairbanks speller worked on the Post Office door repairs.

I just got back from seeing "Julie and Julia", a great movie of relationships, blogging, comfort food and inspiration. That's all I'm going to say, except that Paul enjoyed it also. It also inspired me to come home and blog, recognizing the power of the written word. An interesting point came out about blogs that have always bothered me- they are the ultimate in narcissism....it's all about me. On the other hand, the blogs that are political in nature or evangelizing are totally boring to me, so I think I will continue to mix business with pleasure.

On Tuesday, I went to Valdez with Sue. The weather was great although the colors on the Richardson Highway are brilliantly painted for Fall- reds, oranges and yellows. The passes were gorgeous but the air was brisk and traffic was down.

Once we were in Valdez, we discovered that Sue couldn't get a senior (free) fishing license there- it was a duplicate form, so we couldn't fish. No problem though, we visited with local historian and retired social studies teacher, Dorothy, went to museums, went to the fabric shop, walked around town, bought seafood at Peter Pan and drove around. The ride home on Thursday was also beautiful. It rained only on Wednesday, our only full day in Valdez.

The museum of Old Valdez had a displays on the town located at the old townsite. It was moved after the earthquake in 1964. Dorothy's house where she grew up was moved to the new site.

On Friday morning, I was at Creamer's Field Farmhouse at 6 am with Judy and JoAnne. We walked back to the bird banding station to start a few hours of volunteering. I "shadowed" Judy while we put down the bird nets and later picked birds out, bagged them in cloth bags and brought them to the scientists who band them, take data and release them. We saw lots of orange colored warblers, juncos (my new favorite birds), and a few others including the intrepid black-capped chickadees (who put up a fight every time). It was noted that the birds are showing lots of fat this year. The time went really fast and I plan to go back out on Monday morning. I can't work with the birds until I have shadowed 3 times, so I'm hoping to do that before the end of September when banding ends.

Some friends and I (picture of Bev) went back out to our best berry spot and picked cranberries and blueberries. Amazingly, they are still plentiful.

We went back to Bev's house and had a yummy lunch of fruit salad, cucumbers and tomatoes, pasta soup and an open faced zucchini fritter sandwich (see recipe).

For the last 2 days, Paul and I have been working on the basement, painting, reorganizing and preparing the space for the new apartment we are making. His broken rib is still bothering him and I'm guessing today's work of lifting down books from the top shelf will cause him some pain tonight and tomorrow. Hey, don't look at me! He just can't tell himself no.

I have another trip this week- only to Anchorage though and I'll even be paid, but I plan to go with friends to see the Lion King. Hacuma Matata. The first week in October though, I will be going to Mountain Village in the Lower Yukon School District and you know I'll love that.

Rainy Allison Point in Valdez

Sullen Sunday

2009-08-23T21:58:00.006-08:00

What a lazy day! Paul and I slept in, then walked to Lulu's for a cinnamon roll and coffee while we read the paper. We checked out Lowe's and ordered windows for egress for the apartment we are putting in our basement. They will be here in 5 weeks, just when the weather is getting cool.

The clothes on the line took forever to dry and it's now raining outside. This is a good day to hunker down with some comfort food (baked potato and halibut?) and read a good book. Wish I had one!

The grocery store didn't bring any inspiration either. We stocked up on fruit (nectarines, grapes and oranges) that were all on sale. We have plenty of food- it seems strange to have so much choice in the cupboard and fridge after months of eating out of a small bag.

We finished the evening by looking at Paul's videos from the hike. They were fun and we had a little nostalgia, but no regrets. His rib still keeps him awake at night and I'm looking ahead to next year.

Sue and I are going to Valdez on Tuesday. That's something to look forward to. Also, tomorrow I'll be busy doing paid work- maybe not as fun, but busy nonetheless.

8-17-09 Reporting from Aniak

2009-08-22T17:31:00.005-08:00

Getting up at 4:45 for my 6:15 flight to Anchorage was a chore. My luck immediately turned around though when I was automatically updated to first class. I slept the whole way though, so it was wasted on me. With 3 hours to kill in the Ted Stevens International Airport, I ate a healthy breakfast at Chili’s and cancelled out the health benefits with a Starbucks soy latte.

Monument to Alaska's bush pilots at the Ted Steven Internation Airport in Anchorage.

PenAir is downstairs outside the security gates. Apparently people would have to be really crazy to highjack a PenAir or Era aircraft, so there was no inspection of any sort. The waiting area was full of young Yup’ik women and their babies, but they all flew off to Sand Point and Cold Bay. The Dillingham flight also took off full but on time. My flight was 2 ½ hours late- the plane was delayed somewhere else.

Susan was supposed to meet me here in Aniak, but she’s sick and I haven’t seen her yet.

The Kuspuk inservice was in full swing, but people were welcoming and I enjoyed the huge dinner and visit with everyone before my short presentation on Math in a Cultural Context. Dinner looked like a potluck- 3 kinds of salads, spaghetti and meat sauce, roast beef, rice or mashed potatoes, gravy and butter, green beans, jello, 4 types of cakes for dessert with Kool-Aid punch or water or coffee to drink. I must confess that I felt like I was back in the Midwest and took a second helping.

A local pizza restaurant that does a booming business.

I’m sleeping in the voc ed building. It has 2 beds per room and lots of floor space with a large kitchen, office space, a large classroom area and an attached shop. I know the kids in this district can come here for career ed classes. I’m not sure how else this nice big space is used. The women’s shower room has a “fresh paint” sign on the door, so I’ll see if it’s true tomorrow.

The inservice has been conference style with sessions for people to choose. The only discouraging thing I heard was the Kusko Corp. non-profit land permit person tell the teachers that they had to pay $100 to access corporation land for berry picking, hiking, skiing, etc. In my opinion, teachers should be welcomed into the community by being given guest access to the adjoining land- WITHOUT being the only ones who have to pay for the privilege. In other words, it is racial- I’m sure non-shareholders who are married to shareholders or other Native non-shareholders don’t pay. It also guarantees that teachers don’t feel like part of the community. I think the school district, and their local school board, could/should take care of that. No non-shareholder (apparently) is allowed to hunt on Native land, and I understand that a little better, but really- a teacher would be a prisoner without paying the $100 freedom fee.

The town of Aniak feels a lot like Galena, wrapped around the airstrip and clinging to the Kuskokwim River. It is heavily wooded with willow, aspen and birch. The houses are spread out and I’ve seen lots of gardens, trucks and boats in yards. Tomorrow I’m walking to the store which is on the opposite side of the strip from the school.

The upriver Fair was last week- just the Fairgrounds remain.

The two schools are about a mile apart- 50 kids in the middle/high school and 70 in the pre-K to 6^th grade. The little Alaska Airlines/PenAir air terminal was full of kids heading to Anchorage, but it had a satellite big tv and a semi-clean restroom. In this town of about 500 people, there are no taxis, so principal John came to get me. He said that his staff has been making huge leaps in achievement and he has had very little turnover in the 4 years that he’s been here. Other schools in the Kuspuk district are Upper and Lower Kalskag and the upriver villages of Sleetmute, Stony River, Crooked Creek, and Chuathbaluk. The next community north on the river is McGrath and south is Tuluksak. I’m planning on walking to the store tomorrow...apparently a 2 hour expedition. The road is gravel and a little dusty in spite of the rain and most people are in cars or 4 wheelers, like most villages.

Long time, no blog

2009-08-22T17:12:00.008-08:00

The Alaska Air/PenAir airport in Aniak.

I spent 2 days at the Kuspuk School District inservice in Aniak. I'll add it in on the next blog entry, out of order, since I was blocked from posting, but journalled anyway.

The trip back from Aniak was uneventful- just the way I like it. I did see some action at the luggage carousel in Fairbanks. There was a group of tourists who were aggressively pursuing their bags. One old guy grabbed at every enormous bag that went by and was repeatedly dragged along the conveyor knocking down or pushing away all the bystanders. Once I made the mistake of pulling off a bag that he reluctantly released. I told him, "Here's your bag" and he looked indignant and said, "That's NOT my bag". He must have done this maneuver about 10 times. There were many unanswered questions, like, "why doesn't he seem to know what his bag looks like?" and "why did he pack so much that his bag is the size of a body bag for a man the size of minature gazelle?". I eventually waited for my bag in a no drag zone. Alas, to no avail. My bag had more fun than I did on the trip home and extended its visit to Anchorage. I picked it up the next day for 3,000 bonus miles on my mileage plan. Ironically, the tag read, "Rush" when it arrived.

Virginia and Tim were already in Fairbanks and we drove out Chena Hot Springs Rd to soak at the Hot Springs. They were gearing up for the energy fair (we're missing it this year). We had a leisurely soak with the Koreans from Fairbanks, but it was really too warm (65-70) to really enjoy the hot water. We spotted about 4 moose enroute.

The next day we drove out the Elliott Hwy to our land and hiked back on the muskeggy trail. It was a good test of Paul's endurance with a broken rib, but we all took hiking poles and walked slowly. We had a hotdog cookout over an open fire and you know how good that tastes. We did a brief walkabout to locate the spring, but stopped short of hiking down the shallow ravine due to infirmity.

We ended the beautiful day with dinner at the new Cuban food restaurant, Azucar. It was amazingly nottoo- not too much, not too spicy, not too expensive.

Regrettably, Virginia and Tim left today for Denali. Good company- good fun.

A fishwheel along the Kuskokwim River in Aniak.

Summer of my Discontent

2009-08-13T23:46:00.002-08:00

I awoke after about 7 hours of sleep to go over and babysit for Michael and Meagan. We made sugar crystals, read stories, made an elaborate obstacle course including a cushion tunnel, ate French toast, played Wii and watched Madagascar. I had fun with those guys.

The clothes on the line were fully softened by Nature's fabric softener, rain, so I used the clothes dryer for the first time in weeks. I put a few things away in anticipation of Paul's return home tonight, but then I lost interest so he'll get to see like he never left. He's not feeling very well though, so my guess is that he'll eat and sleep for the first few days he's home and that will buy me more time. I made some blueberry muffins though to welcome him home at 1:30 am tomorrow.

I donated a few hours at the school district Fair booth before working as a cashier. I had a great time showing parents the school supply lists, calendar, bus routes and schedules, and lunch menus. The best part was talking to kids about their readiness for school on Monday. Almost every child was excited about school starting.

The Fair collected canned food today for a discount. Adults donating 4 cans of food had to pay $2 for a Fair ticket. Since a ticket has always been free with food in the past, there was a lot of griping. I seem to remember the Food Factory sponsoring this day in the past, that is, donating a sum to offset the free tickets. Anyway, change is good- you go first.

Bad News in 3s

2009-08-12T22:49:00.005-08:00

They say that bad news comes in 3s....so I'll see about that.

The alternator went out in my car yesterday. First the battery light came on so I took it in and had the posts cleaned off with some miracle solvent. My reward was the dashboard lighting up all over- the little man with the rifle (seat belt unfastened), the ABS (braking system) and it went downhill from there as they all started to fade. I coasted into my garage and attached the battery charger.

Paul called from New Hampshire this morning, waking me up fairly early. He was walking to a clinic in Gorham, NH. He'd fallen and was in lots of pain. Apparently, he was climbing over some particularly slippery and steep rocks when he started to fall backwards. He twisted and fell hard on a sharp rock. He heard his rib hit the rock and it felt like something snapped. Some fellow hikers came upon him and stuck around for a few minutes, helping him on with his pack. He assessed that he'd rather continue up to a visible gondola (about 3/4 mile) rather than back down the steep mountain 2 miles. A family at the top helped him get into the gondola and stowed his pack and at the bottom, he paid his $7.50 and an attendent helped him off. He hitchhiked back to Gorham, dropped his pack at the hostel where he stayed last night and walked, in pain, about a mile to the nearby clinic. They wouldn't even see him and had no advice for him on getting to the nearest hospital in Berlin, about 15 miles away. He hitched, by now in the rain, waiting almost an hour for a ride. The driver, from NJ, dropped him off at the hospital. Yep, broken rib.

So that's two. Hopefully, the run is over.

Resolutions: Sunshine Rae Motors installed a new alternator to the tune of $258 and the car is running fine. Paul is flying home tomorrow from Boston and will arrive in the wee hours of Friday morning. It will take about 6 weeks to heal and he is resigned and happy to be coming home. Check out our trail journal in a few days to hear the story in his own words.

In other news, I'm still working at the Fair and picked up a check today for the first 2 days. If I'm very conservative for the last 3 days of the Fair, this check will cover the food I've consumed.

Teachers started back to work and I'm retired, nyah, nyah, ne-nyah, nyah. On Monday, when the school kids start back, I'll be dining in style with the Retired Teachers Club at the Carlson Center.

Senator Murkowski is holding a town meeting style forum on the health care proposals. I'll be donating time at the School District booth at the same time, so I won't be able to attend. Lisa, too many people don't have health insurance and those of us that do are paying too much for it! Fix it! Even if I have to pay more taxes.....!

I'll be going to Kuspuk District next week maybe to see my fellow mentor Susan and establishing professional rapport for Math in a Cultural Context. I've never been to Aniak before so I'm quite excited about the prospect.

Fair Assessment

2009-08-10T14:20:00.004-08:00

Recruiters were there in a big way!

I was hired as the relief cashier at the Fair, a chance for me to see people I haven't seen in awhile, an opportunity to earn a little spending money, and the ultimate dinner destination. This year's Fair is a little toned down- more expensive (naturally!) with fewer bells and whistles. There is no "kid's day", just family day today and the big tent of fun is not so full. I haven't seen any mascots walking around and the entertainment is great, but no big names.

It seems like many more of the vendors in the Borealis Pavilion are selling something, knives, pots and pans, pain relief appliances, quilting cutters, hand lotion, Tupperware, private schools, etc. It's rather put off-ish. I did pick up some freebies from the GVEA booth (Golden Valley Electric), the school district booth and the Interior Democrats.

I didn't sign the petition to lower residential property taxes- how will we fund our schools? I also didn't sign up for drawings- I don't need someone trying to sell me a vaccuum cleaner in the comfort of my own home.

As far as food, I'm really trying to be cautious. So far I've tried a chocolate covered cream puff (only one!), a latte, a hot dog, corn on the cob, and a dipped ice cream bar. Not bad for the 4th day of the fair. On my list before the fair is over- veggie burrito, pad thai, cherry smoothie and egg roll.

The livestock are looking great. A pig was evading capture the other day and I can hear the cows mooing from the Red Gate when I'm working. People aren't allowed to bring in dogs this year and my only comment is: why have they ever been allowed? It seems like dogs and livestock don't usually mix very well.

I'm pacing myself on looking at stuff. I've checked out quilts, the recycled projects, livestock and agriculture- cabbages and such, but I'm going early another day to look at photos, pottery and woven stuff. I also need to go to some of the science booths- fisheries, forest fires, etc. just to learn something new.
The biggest Tanana Valley cabbage was about 55 pounds.

I've signed up to volunteer a few hours at the school district booth and the US Census desk- I'm getting in free already so I can donate a few hours since GarageMan (Paul) is not home.

More berry picking tomorrow and that's it- I mean it. I also plan to pick currants for jam. The little bush that we've been growing for 10 years is finally bearing enough red currants for a few jars of jam.

GarageMan is over the White Mountains and just about to get into Maine.

We Jammin'

2009-08-08T15:07:00.006-08:00

Boiling up the raspberries, strawberries, pectin and sugar.
Some of the jars are for freezer jam and don't need sealing.
All the jars sealed and the fruit looks great.

My neighbor and I went out for more berries and she and I and her son, Marcos made jam. I plan to share it this year- hence the small jars.

This week I started working for MCC (Math in a Cultural Context). Our retreat was at Denali. We worked long hours, but the setting was glorious. Karen, LuAnne and I walked from the Denali Bluffs hotel along the river, through the woods on the Jonesville trail to the Visitor's Center, and then back through the Riley Creek area. It was about 5 miles and really reminded how easy it is to lose muscle strength. The aerobic benefits of an 1100 mile hike remained however and so I didn't get breathless. We didn't see any wildlife except lots more berries and some wild looking young people, maybe worshippers of the Christopher McCandless lifestyle with the exception of a premature death.

At the visitor center, we went in late to see a movie which turned out to only cover Denali in the winter. We decided that since it was winter for 9 months of the year, and only the Park Service employees had access to the Park during that time, we probably didn't miss the other seasons.
The road and railroad cross the Nenana River, famous for whitewater rafting trips.

The interpretive displays at the Denali Park Visitor Center.

The drive home from Denali on Friday was potentially hazardous. I'd heard rumors that the Parks Hwy was closed due to smoke, but it really wasn't too bad. The rain the night before had slowed some of the massive area fires. Many planes had been cancelled though during the week because of poor visibility so many people were stranded in Fairbanks.

Bluegrass, But No Blue Sky

2009-08-01T21:08:00.005-08:00

The smoke in the air drove me to be sluggish about working outside. I did manage to get to Sam's Club and Warbelow's to deliver a table for a friend, but the rest of Friday morning was spent inside, cleaning the kitchen and working on the computer.

I drove in the smoky, twilight afternoon to Anderson, 71 miles south for the 22nd annual Bluegrass Festival. $20 gave me all weekend including camping, even though I was only spending one night. I was advised that the parties were down by the river and the quiet family section was down on the end, but I compromised by finding a quiet spot on the edge of the woods to pitch my tent.
The whole park was campsites, complete with running generators and barking dogs. The only thing missing was the campfires.

The music started at 2 and played until the wee hours of the morning. I vaguely remember the loud music that was playing about midnight and it sounded more like rock than bluegrass, but judging from the raucous laughter, no one cared. Shout-out to Valerie and Daniel- it was great to see you there!
White Twang from Kodiak sounded great!

I ate my pb&j and banana for supper then bought a strawberry/sour cream crepe for dessert from the vendors. Most are going to be at the Fair next week hawking cheesecake on a stick, corn on the cob, salmon crepes, pulled pork, and Navaho tacos. The Lions Club was selling beer and from the looks of the dancers, they made lots of money. The high winds kept the smoke and bugs at bay, but sent everyone scrambling for warmer clothes. Carhardt jackets and boots replaced the shorts and sandals with a big blast of 40 degree air.
Vendors had to batten down the hatches in the wind.
This was my first camping trip (albeit car camping) since I hiked the AT with Paul ending the 28th of June. It felt really roomy, but lonely in the 1 1/2 person tent we carried for 950 miles, but I was totally comfortable. It is ironic that it has been hot and dry since I've been home the last month, but the minute I pitched the tent, it turned windy and cold and we even had a short rain during the night.

I got up about 8 and took a walkabout down to the river where the beer cans and chips bags were in mounds around clusters of tents. I'm not sure about the river crowd, but I heard the f-word so many times during the night that I thought I was back teaching school. The music was scheduled to start at noon, but I headed home and back into the smoke. The constant smoke is making my eyes red, dry and itchy.

I picked berries today- both raspberries and blueberries- yep- two different places. After cleaning them and enjoying a dinner of a baked potato, I'm hunkered down for a quiet Saturday night under the midnight sun....a book and music. Life is good.

Smoke, Smells and Smiles

2009-07-30T20:41:00.007-08:00

It took me awhile to get going this morning since I attended to phone calls and computer business. I rode my bike up to Zachs for lunch with my 2 favorite FAA employees (one retired). The Chinese Pork Loin Sandwich was delicious with coleslaw, onions and spicy sauce.

It's odd that something named "loin" could taste good. It has something to do with our movement away from killing, catching or digging our own food so that the graphic language has lost its meaning if it is meat. My children don't want me to refer to their birth as "springing from my loins"....whatever! (Re: Brave New World)

A friend celebrated 2 years of hard work in the UAF SLATE program tonight and she invited me to attend as part of her family. I had fun making a bucketful of asaliaq to bring. Nothing like fried dough to make the house smell good. The potluck buffet was memorable, showcasing Native foods since most of the Master's degree and Ph.D students were Yup'ik. There was muktuk, moose soup, caribou spaghetti, dried fish, several types of akutaq, salmon strips, and an assortment of non-Native foods as well. What a feast! The short program recognized the students and was done in Yup'ik language as well as English. Congrats, Erin K for your hard work and thanks for inviting me to share in the celebration. Happy retirement, Dr. J after many years of teaching, researching, writing, supervising theses (no, not feces!) students and reading to kids.

I scooted over to the Schiable Auditorium to watch Arctic Dance, the movie of the life of Mardy Murie. What a remarkable women! I don't agree that the lands of Alaska should be locked up, but rather that they be conserved, not preserved. Regardless, her efforts continued until she was 95. I hope I'm still paying attention when I'm that age.

The smoke was very bad today. I saw lots of masks over faces in the gloomy "nuclear winter" atmosphere. The wildfire in Minto Flats is blazing on making the perfect truffle hunting woods. In the meantime, my eyes sting and my car is covered in ash.

AAR MTF TTFN

Smoke over UAF in the 8pm daylight.

Singing the Blues

2009-07-29T17:02:00.005-08:00

Bev and Cora; pickin' and grinnin'

Today we picked blueberries in an undisclosed location. This year, the berries are everywhere and bigger than I've ever seen. I think the combo of 2 weeks of rain followed by a month of hot, dry weather produced this windfall of berries. Right now there are lowbush cranberries, wild raspberries and blueberries all ripe and ready for the picking.
Ready for the freezer.

In 2 hours, I picked almost a 1/2 gallon of blues. At home, I covered a cookie sheet with wet paper towel and poured one layer of berries across it. I rolled the berries and most of the stems, leaves and brown ends stuck to the wet paper. Using a spoon, I moved the cleaned berries to a gallon sized freezer bag. Some people freeze the berries spread on cookie sheets and then pour them into a baggie, but I don't have room in my side-by-side freezer. We'll use the berries in pancakes, muffins, and as a topping. Other friends use it to make cobbler, custard pie, akutaq (Eskimo ice cream), syrup and liqueur.

I'll be working at the Fair this year as a night relief cashier. I like cashiering at the Fair because I get to see lots of my friends and/or former students and their families as well as staying very busy right before school starts. Even though I'm retired, like the tides, I feel a strong cosmic pull this time of year.

Annette, the Fair general manager, said that this year's fair was almost canceled due to the huge financial loss from last year's rainy fair. Instead, they decided to have it anyway, but to only have local entertainment and to get rid of lots of bells and whistles and to focus on the traditional favorites- contests, exhibits, local entertainment, vendors and rides. The Fair is from August 7-15. Goody, goody- cream puffs, falafel and quilts.

GarageMan and other thru-hikers at Green Mountain Hostel.

Hit the Ground Running

2009-07-27T22:01:00.008-08:00

Vanity plate in Fairbanks- tell us how you really feel!

I spent most of the day today chasing my tail around. I went to several insurance places and discovered that I need to do more research on business liability insurance or I could end up paying too much or not getting the right stuff. Insurance businesses I'm checking (or checked) include State Farm (yes), Horace Mann (no), Baker & Associates (maybe), AlaskaUSA Insurance (too expensive) and NEA-Retired (no info yet).

Mentors and former mentors Lesa, Debbie, Cathe, Jessica and Lorrie and I all met on Pike's Deck for lunch and chat. It was hot and the yellow jackets were dive-bombing the hamburgers, but it's a perky group and we enjoyed catching up on all the news.

I went home and made a hornet trap by cutting off the top of a liter drink bottle, putting the cut funnel top upside down into the base, stapling the 2 parts together and baiting it with meat. So far I have trapped only ladybugs and my garish sweatshirts drying on the clothesline are attracting the yellowjackets. Go figure.

I dropped a friend off at Calypso Farm to work. Leah and John have a garden share there and have been receiving a generous portion of veggies all summer. I reaped the benefits of a zucchini handoff, so I'm happy, too. I've always wanted to join up, but I seem to always miss the short sign-up window and this year I wasn't around.

I'm assembling a winter clothes maildrop for Paul when he gets to NH at the end of the week and shopped around for his stuff. I never did find any Bag Balm, our secret weapon against foot problems. It's probably as much about the daily foot rub as it is the Bag Balm, but we swear by it. He's also getting dried mushrooms, Thai ginger noodles and some tasty protein bars as well as his warm sleeping bag, a fleece jacket, rainpants and vitamins. Now that he'll be hiking above treeline, the temperatures are more extreme and he might need his heavier gear.

Some local Sarah watchers have informed me that her parents, Todd, and son Trig were with her on the serving line yesterday. Also, she drove up in her motorhome from Wasilla, so might be enjoying the sights of Denali today now that she is not encumbered with work.

One of the most hopeful signs of change in the Middle East is the protests in Iran over a corrupt election. My brother says, and I agree with him this time, that the people of Iran, unlike many of their surrounding countries, have had a long tradition of sending their children to be educated outside of Iran. Like the Crusaders and Spice Trade, that brought admittedly some bad results, an international education brings in new ideas and the educated Iranians returned with ideas of what democracy might look like. It seems to me that focusing on education in Afghanistan might pay off big dividends in terms of ending endless war there.

FaceBook headlines: You don't have to be very techno-savvy to have a page. I've already been in contact with several people who I haven't spoken with in years, but miss. I'm also still figuring out who sees what since I see comments from people who are not identified as "friends". I also need to find a balance between profound and trite. In FB, the space is limited so the postings are more like sound bites.

Great deals around town- all bedding is 25% off at Fred Meyers (note: new pillows!) and every Monday, McDonald's has free iced mochas- no purchase necessary. Time to start a stock reinvestment plan.

Palin Serves Alaskans

2009-07-26T14:02:00.004-08:00

Sarah's admiring fans, she can really serve hot dogs!

Yep, you heard it. Governor Palin served hot dogs to Alaskans, today, her last day of work. The park was one big love fest. I've never seen so much makeup, designer clothes and Republican t-shirts. I've never heard so many Southern accents announcing that they are Alaskan. There was one guy holding a sign that said, "Texas Loves Sarah", to which my response is, "Great- she's looking for a new job and now she knows where to go". Another sign said, "Hello, Seldom-Seen Sarah". Two red hat ladies proudly displayed, "We love Sarah" and another t-shirt said, "Don't blame me, I voted McCain-Palin" which seems ironic now that Sarah quit.

Another huge presence was the media interviewing "Joe Peasant". I noticed that they didn't approach anyone on the fringe of the crowd, those of us in blue jeans and public service t's who came for the hot dogs.

For those of you who have never been to the governor's picnic, everyone is invited to go to any or all of the 3 picnics (Fairbanks, Anchorage and this year, Wasilla). There is usually a big tent or two with serving lines on both sides. Everyone was on Sarah's side (just for lunch, not politically) and there was no waiting at the other tent. Local, state and occasionally national politicos delight in serving up the food- hot dogs, bags of chips, watermelon and punch this year. In previous years there was also baked beans and potato salad but those pesky forks make for lots of cleanup. The picnics are totally funded by donations- not public funds. It gives you a chance to meet your elected officials in a personal way. Tony Knowles was especially approachable, sticking around as long as there was some one to talk to him. Regardless of political leanings, it's great fun with lots of music and a chance to rub shoulders with history, albeit, local.

I didn't stick around for the passing of the baton to Sean Parnell. The cameramen staked out all the good seats this morning and I can't suppose she or he will say anything new.

I did have a chance to thank Commissioner Schmidt, the commissioner of the corrections facilities who turned down the newly available lieutenant governor's position to finish the work he's started on prisons. At least there is someone with integrity and work ethic.

I got up early and rode my bike to Graehl Landing to be a KUAC volunteer for the Red/Green Regatta. I helped with traffic to get all 66 vessels unloaded at the 2 boat ramps. They were hilarious and fun. I've gotta do that next year. Some people were in the water before they left the boat ramp. The weather was hot and dry today, unlike most years. They rode from downtown to Alaskaland and throwing water balloons and using water sprayers was expected.

The Red/Green Regatta flotilla along the Chena River.

Gnashing My Teeth

2009-07-25T22:16:00.002-08:00

I know my life is really too exciting, but I did manage to learn a few things at the dentist office yesterday.
*those tooth whitening strips that bleach your teeth also compromise the little microcanals in your teeth and weaken them- the 12 week whitener by Listerine works better.
* don't use anything bigger than a flossing threader to clean under your bridges- all the wider or thicker ones are too rough on your gum tissues.
* only use a soft toothbrush

I've been quite sedentary, but at least I'm eating salads! Bev and Erin came over for short visits yesterday followed by a picnic at Alaskaland (like Spatula World but farther north) with the 3 Moons Over the Chatanika gals. Later in the day, Sue and I picked raspberries. I'm gave them to her and plan to pick with enthusiasm later this week.

Today, I met a friend for 1/2 of a cinnamon roll at Lulu's. Yes, I rode my bike over. Then I watched some kids and made another salad for dinner. The rodents in the neighborhood have nothin' on me as far as munching greens. My brother joined me for that respite and a short, but vigorous discussion. I also washed windows and hauled away trash from a rental cabin. Does the excitement never end?

I received a contract in the mail for a new job with the state of Alaska. I'm a "Content Support Specialist" and, although the job description is quite long, I will mainly represent the state with districts to align and improve their secondary math instruction. Sounds fun, doesn't it? As a contractor, I had to get a business license and now I'm looking into indemnity insurance. I expect to be going out to requesting districts and sleeping on the floors again. Good thing I have not gotten used to a soft bed yet after hiking.

I'm on Facebook now and it is very interesting. I think there must be some people who are addicted and spend a good part of the day answering surveys and joining groups. I started one once, but it never ended so I just quit it. When you link, it asks for all your info too which is too invasive for me.

Fact Finding Mission

2009-07-23T22:03:00.002-08:00

I have found some links as research to some of the controversial topics that came up this week in talking to members of the opposite party. I think you may find some of them interesting and balanced. Click to access

Media bias

Health care reform

Illegal aliens

Government spending

It was fun to do the research. I spent an easy 40 minutes reading about the ethics, money and legal issues surrounding Gov. Palin's resignation, but didn't find any one site that was very balanced. Go figure.

Kenai Trip

2009-07-23T17:35:00.004-08:00

Evening smoke rising over the Minto Flats by Nenana.

I had a great trip to the Kenai Peninsula over the last 4 days. Leah drove me in her Prius Hybrid- 43 mpg. I overnighted with Dawn and Bill in Anchorage, enjoying the hot, dry weather and the BBQ that Bill provided. The 2 hours of H2Oasis plumped up my skin cells with humidity and I enjoyed the interesting and varied swimsuit crowd (NOT!).

The next day, I went down the Funny River Rd. in Soldotna to visit Tim and Virginia in their beautiful home facing Dow Island. We had a lively discussion of all things political- we are definitely a mixed family. The next day, Virginia and Leah and I ate lunch at the St. Elias Brewing Company (2 thumbs up!) and I stayed overnight with Leah's dad and stepmom, Big John and Helen. Their Kenai home is near the mouth of the Kenai River, about 40 river miles from T&V.

On Tuesday, I put on my overalls and t-shirt, sweatshirt with a hood, raincoat and rainpants, rubber boots, ball cap, and rubber gloves to go dipnetting for Red (Sockeye) Salmon. This fishery is open only to Alaska residents and my limit was 35. We used huge (2 feet in diameter) nets at the end of 8 foot poles. John drove the boat, Helen was the crew boss and Leah and I dipped. The tricky part is keeping the net close to the bottom but not on it. Lifting the heavy nets were not that easy either. I started my dipnetting experience by falling on my butt into the boat, but that turned out to be the most action we saw. We got skunked for the first time in John's experience. The day before, everyone maxed out, but by Tuesday and a minus tide- the fish were gone.

The rest of the time in the Kenai, I ate and visited with my Republican hosts. I overdosed on Republican dogma. I can't say FOX without choking up.

My brother John drove me back the 9 hours, stopping for traffic near the Devil's Pass Trail, sushi and bananas at the New Sagaya in Anchorage, Sunshine Travel Mall on the highway and arriving late.

Ben called from Singapore. It was great to hear from him! Taiwan may be graced with his presence soon.

30 minutes of waiting by Summit Lake in the Kenai for about 1/2 mile of work.

The Moose Stewed

2009-07-16T15:52:00.002-08:00

Susan and I returned prematurely from our trip to the largest National Park in the US, part of the largest wilderness area in the world.....yep, the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The weather was hot and smoky, just like an opium den, but the drug was the breath-taking mountains and huge rivers that had exotic Ahtna names that I'd never heard.

On Monday, we left about noon and drove to Chitina, taking turns with the driving and passing Delta Junction, Paxson, Glenallen and Kenny Lake. Traffic was light all the way and it took about 6.5 hours. We stopped only for the bathrooms and at the Glory Hole to check for salmon (none visible) and our egg salad sandwiches. We also did a quick walk along the Klutina River to see the best fishing river in the area although the fish weren't running and it was empty.

The Chitina House B&B was a renovated bunkhouse from the Copper River Railroad. Carla and Mike fixed it up beautifully- it was clean and comfy. We did a walk-about to the Chitina Hotel for dinner, then down the road to the bridge over the Copper River where we could see the confluence of the Chitina River. The water was so high that the fishwheels were in the middle of the water instead of the edge where they could easily be checked. Carla said that people were risking their lives to wade out or canoe to pick fish from them. Then we took a ride down the road to O'Brien Creek, the jumping off point for dipnetting Kings and Reds. Kings were closed for dipnetting and no one was getting anything except the guy who went all the way down to Haley Creek. Word on the trail is that the fish are holed up downstream waiting for the current to subside.

In the morning, we had homemade muffins and good conversation with Carla about her turkeys and dogs with personality, her B&B business and Chitina in general. The 2 hour 60 mile drive to McCarthy on the dirt road was a pleasant surprise. It was in lots better shape than people said and that we remembered from our long ago "last trip". We got out to hike back to the bridge over the Kuskulana River and also back to the railroad trestle bridge farther along.

We camped beside the raging river that had peaked that morning. It was roaring and even a five minute time span provided the entertainment of big chunks of shoreline dropping into the torrent. Imagine my disgust to discover that the tent I threw in was missing the rainfly and had a broken zipper. Susan and I sewed the zipper shut and the weather helped us out by not raining. The campground guy was friendly and helpful, but we were cautious and survived in spite of the rapidly eroding shoreline.

We spent the day exploring Kennicott by crossing the footbridge and paying $5 for a dusty, slow ride up the hill to the old copper mill town. The National Park Service bought many of the buildings in 1998 and are in the process of renovating and stabilizing. We ate lunch at the Kennicott Glacier Inn ($10 for a chicken salad stuffed tomato) overlooking the miles of glacier. The smoke from the fire in the Chitina Valley limited the view, but the gravel covered glacier was still an amazing site. The NPS historical tour took us into the power plant, the ammonia leaching plant, an administrator's house and along the main road of the town. We continued on another mile or so to get views of the town from a higher perspective and then the busride back for a quick look and ice cream in McCarthy.

The walk to the bridge was an easy mile and we got back in time for tuna roll-ups and teddy grahams for supper. Two crazy kayakers launched under the bridge so we got to watch one of them capsize in the icy river, but disappeared from sight as the other guy was effecting a rescue.

We stumbled around stepping on "Einsteins" to find a hunk of glacier ice for the cooler. We went to sleep under the midnight sun to the roar of the river. The cooler temps made for a great night's sleep and the sewn zipper kept the carnivorous bugs at bay.

In the morning, the river had calmed down. We hiked down the West Glacier Trail, through the woods to a terminal moraine rockpile where we sat and listened to the crash of ice calving off and dropping into the lake.

On the trail, we were startled and disappointed to see a 2 year old moose bull about 50 feet beside us in a clump of willow. As you know, a moose, even a 2 year old is about 7 feet tall at the shoulder and equally as long- a sizeable adversary. His ears were up like a donkey's and we sped on by. Thanks, Susan, for reminding me that more people are killed by moose then bear. On the way back, he was still there and we retreated into the trees by the edge of the trail to encourage him to leave. He didn't seem impressed with our loud exclamations about how we love moose meat and we hate willow, how we might be moose's main predators but we personally were unarmed, how we didn't mean to disturb him and if he'd get going, we'd be on our way. He didn't seem at all intimidated and took his good old time (maybe 10 minutes) getting far enough away for us to continue past. He'd look over at us as if to say, "I'm leaving because I want to, not because you tell me to- and you better not touch those willows".

On the way home, we went on by the turnoff to MacLaren River Lodge, part of our original plan because of the lack of rainfly. We stopped at the Kenny Lake Cafe for coffee ($3.54/gallon for gas-no, thanks), the NPS Wrangell-St. Elias Interpretive Center, the Ahtna Corp for Susan to pay $75 for use of trails on their land, the Hub for gas ($3.40/gallon) and in Delta Buffalo Restaurant for a quick dinner.

A rock imbedded itself in one of the tires and a zealous young man changed it for us in Delta.

It was a great trip and had us thinking about next year when we'd like to fly into Chisana (pronounced Shoos- sana) in the northern part of the Park.

What we learned:
The 193 mile railroad from Cordova to Kennicott was completed in 1911 and shut down in 1938 when the mine shut down due to running out of copper.

The Nabesna Glacier is the longest in Alaska.

The Collins family farm on Long Lake was established in 1961 and had the best lawn in Alaska.

There is no ice or gas for sale in McCarthy.

The footbridge across the Kennicott River is free, but locals can pay to use a private bridge for vehicles.

The Visitor Center on the Richardson Hwy is the best developed visitor service for the entire Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Garage Sales

2009-07-11T17:07:00.004-08:00

I am really conflicted about giving a garage sale. While, I feel great about weeding out and recycling at a low cost some of my worldly goods, I sometimes take it too personally.

I need to get more thick skinned about the disdainful way that the garage sale shoppers paw through the tables of recycled goods and find nothing worth buying, even for two bits. Really....all of my stuff was purchased for usefulness and value. How could my offerings be examined and found unworthy? Sometimes a shopper will tell me that a $2 is overpriced and "I'll give you 50 cents". It makes me want to retort, "No, you do not measure up. It's no longer for sale". Alas, I have already selected that item to leave and never come back, so I have to let it go, even to someone with no taste for value. I do remember a large slingshot, one for shooting water balloons across the street, that never sold because I kept reclaiming it just when someone wanted to buy it.

The weekend garage sale crowd was quite thin, in spite of the good weather. Sue had tables of household goods including quilt fabric, chairs, nicknacks and kitchen stuff and a rack of clothes. I brought a Barbie Jeep, a keyboard and a large speaker/amplifier to sell for friends. I met lots of people, but business just dribbled in. The next sale.........

Thought for the day: If you take the shell off of a nut, do you say it is shelled or unshelled?

Definitely 9

2009-07-09T23:23:00.003-08:00

Today was definitely 9+ out of ten. It would have been a perfect 10 if I didn't have to ride into the wind on part of my bike ride. A perfect 10 would have a tailwind in both directions.

After a fun time with Erin, I finished a book and went on a ride-about on the bike. The sky was overcast and the temps were a comfortable 65. Perfect exercise weather. I turned in a volunteer application at the Alaska Bird Observatory, picked up books at the library, visited the Pilons and Zoe, visited Brian at Cyberlynx, and finally ended up at the ARSC party.

The party had great food. Also, people who brought shirts tie-dyed them and they looked pretty good. It was a fun time visiting with our friends from ARSC and I got a peek at Liam's new baby boy, Tucker.

The evening ended with Othello. The lead was an American Indian; Cherokee/Blackfoot. He was very good at his role as was the bad guy, Iago.

Here is a synopsis in exactly 14 words:
Never marry a soldier. Violence is not a happy solution. Husbands tend to over-react.

Cooling Down

2009-07-09T09:56:00.002-08:00

I walked up last night to the UAF Schiable Hall lecture by Dave Payer about hiking/canoeing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The 4 rivers highlighted in the show, Marsh to Canning, Kongakut, Sheenjek and Hulahula, looked really exciting and accessible, assuming you can pay for being dropped off by small plane. It seems like the most economical way to get there is to drive to Coldfoot and fly in a C-206 out to the takeouts/dropoffs. The scenery in his slide show was breathtaking, highlighting again the difference between hiking the AT and hiking in Alaska. Even though ANWR is the 2nd largest wilderness area in the US (2nd only to the Wrangell-St. Elias), only about 1500 people visit annually, including all uses. ANWR is also the only wilderness area that has all 3 bears- polar, black and grizzly. In almost every slide, the canoeists were wearing parkas and warm gear, even though they were June/July pictures- that's telling. I think I would start by going in a group of 4 or more (being bear conscious) or on the lower Sheenjek to the Porcupine Rivers where it is gentle and rolling.

Yaayuk stayed with me last night. Her youngest child, Mattie, graduated from RAHI, Rural Alaska Honors Institute, a college experience for rural Alaskans. Yaayuk (Bernadette) and I had a short time to visit before she left today.

I also had coffee with Erin Kavanaugh. Shout out to you, Erin. She's working on her master's degree on blogging with students, a great topic. I hope I see more of her before she heads back to Bethel for the new school year. I'm encouraging her to present her findings at the literacy conference in October. The conference will be great- Dinah Zike, the foldables guru will be a featured speaker so what's not to like about that!

The rain and wind cooled things down here. I'll be hopping on my bike and heading out for exercise and errands before stopping in to say hi at the ARSC (Arctic Region Supercomputing Center) annual picnic, then out to North Pole to drop off garage sale stuff.

I'm also hoping to reread a few scenes of Othello before I go to opening night tonight. It's one of my favorite Shakespeare tragedies because of its beautiful language. I do wish that the virtue of the daughters were not so commonly discussed persooth. Tis marry, no merry, that the knaves doth hold entwined in the dialogue in this perfidy.

Hot Town, Summer in the City

2009-07-07T20:02:00.003-08:00

Back of my neck feeling dirt and gritty.....

95 degrees? I'm not sure the bank marquees are right, but it is definitely hot outside, coupled with smoke from some pervasive fires. I think my next door neighbor got a citation for burning his trees today- at least I saw a fire chief with a clipboard making some notes while the fire in his yard burned. Yep, gotta love a neighbor who spreads ashes and smoke on the hottest day of the year.

Today was another bike day. I rode it to Aquasize, then downtown, then home again. I also rode it to replace the tips of Paul's trekking poles and to order the iPhone. I really worry about crossing streets- drivers (mainly on cell phones) don't seem to notice pedestrians or bikes when turning right on reds. It's scary. I want to smack their car hoods and hollar about paying attention. My only defense is to catch their eye before crossing. Oh, and I always wear my brain bucket, even if it's somewhat loose.

John and I went to the Princess for dinner- he wanted a Caesar salad. We were welcomed to Fairbanks. I guess they don't seat many locals. My burger was good (but overpriced) so I had to assuage my discontent with a Hot Licks sundae (also overpriced). I wonder if I've eaten more calories than I burned today? Too late... there's always tomorrow.

Back in the Smokies

2009-07-06T17:29:00.002-08:00

Just a reminder that GarageMan is still on the Appalachian Trail after hiking 1301 miles. He plans to finish at the end of August. Click on the map to the right to read his trail journal which I am updating based on his emails.

I bungee-d a crate to my bike and rode to the dump with one measly bag of trash. The dumpster divers were out in full force enjoying the really free market. The added weight of the trash and the crate took some getting used to, but it was a great day to go car-less. My errands took me to the Fairgrounds to apply for a job as a cashier and to volunteer. I met Annette, the operations manager, who said she'd give me a call next week. I took books back to the library and set up playdates for myself with Pam tonight and Gretchen on Thursday. I finished up my bike hike with a trip to Northern Threads where I bought some fabric for my quilt project. My ankle is bumpy but painfree so I have no excuse- I need to start getting out more.

The smoke in the air continues to be the price of sun around here. It hasn't rained in awhile, but my tomato plants are enjoying the frequent watering and the warm temps. Even my currant bushes are rewarding me with lots of berries.

Here are some fun things I'll be doing this week:
Wednesday night at 7 in the Schiable Auditorium: "Dave Payer, ecologist with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, will share his expertise and experience floating the rivers of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "

Thursday night at 7 is Othello at the outdoor theater. It's pay as you can or pay "as you like it" with 2 cans of food for the food bank. Click for a link to read it online.

Friday and Saturday I'll be working a garage sale in North Pole- selling, not buying.

There's still lots of twitter about the late and grating Gov Palin- apparently she's trying to step on the blogs speculating on her true motive for quitting. Although Shannyn Moore is way off base someone should tell Sarah that quitting because of legal costs to the state and then threatening legal action is hypocritical at the least. Besides, as far as I know, the first amendment has not been repealed, inspite of Bush's best efforts.

Home of the Brave

2009-07-04T17:32:00.002-08:00

I wore my spiky flag hat to the Ester parade. The big question of the day was, "is it over?" to which the answer was, "did the fire truck go by yet?". After the fife and drum corps and every child around with or without a bicycle, there were political statements, politicians, community gardens, old cars and local characters. Handouts included multitudes of candy, radishes and beans. The air was scented with petuli and wood smoke.

We all adjourned to the picnic grounds for a pig roast or picnic. The water tanker for Goldstream Volunteer Fire Dept sprayed anyone who came near. The place was lousy with kids, pregnant women and dogs....a good time had by all in the 80 degree temps.

As always, my favorite part of any social event is reconnecting with old friends. My former students Devin, Margy and Kari were there, as were the Pilons + 3 and the Rozells +3 and many, many other friends. I saw Ashley from Hoonah, Becky from Arctic Village and Shannon from Ester and others too numerous to mention.

On the radio yesterday, the NPR staff read the Declaration of Independence. You know, I don't think I'd ever really heard it in its entirety before. The Preamble and Articles of the Constitution, yes, but the D of I, ???? It is really interesting with very bold assertions about the responsibility for speaking up when you feel oppressed. Once again, I am struck with the good fortune I've had to be born in this country with all the opportunities I've had. Particularly, I am grateful that I have the right and responsibility to speak out when I disagree with governmental policy or injustice.

There is smoke in the air from myriad fires. The garden needs rain, but the sunshine is glorious.

I have not been on my ankle much today, but tomorrow I plan to take a good long bike ride, then go the movies (The Proposal) and a BBQ. All in all, a good life.

Another comment about Gov. Palin, I wonder where she got the idea that being governor was about having a title, like a duke or princess. I thought it was a real job. Click to read her Facebook comments.

Failin' Palin

2009-07-03T18:54:00.003-08:00

She resigned! Mid-term! Teachers don't do it and students don't do it. Apparently, a governor can do it which makes me glad again that I didn't throw away my vote on her. Her rambling explanations indicate a loose cannon decision-maker: nyah, nyah, nyah, because I want to, that's why! It amused me to hear commentators on the radio speculating on her "real" reasons- face it, she just didn't want to do it anymore. She has the same attention span that I do, but I'm smart enough to only sign on for a job 9 months at a time.

I tried to stay off my swollen ankle today- honest, I did. Brian and I picked up some sandbox sand this morning, but he didn't call me to help unload it. I'm beginning to design a quilt and did a recon trip to the fabric stores....I'll need to spend more time on putting it on a scale model to make sure I don't overspend on fabrics. I also read book(s) borrowed from the library. I hope they last through the weekend. The potato plants got weeded and my veggie planters were relocated to sunnier locations.

I updated Paul's trail journal and downloaded some free playwriting software from the BBC site. I started organizing some personal writing. The formatting has a learning curve though, so I just started to generalize when I needed a break.

First Friday was tonight. I only went to two galleries, including to the Annex to see Todd Sherman's animals, which were delightful. They only served juice and crackers though, so I had to eat dinner at home. I also went to Pioneer Park's gallery where I saw oceanic baskets and oil paintings of rectangles. The traffic "drove" me home after that where I am quietly admiring my painted fingernails, done during a moment of boredom.

I'm making tuna pasta salad for tomorrow's potluck after the Ester parade. I think I'll put it in a cooler to keep botulism at bay.

The next door neighbor cut down every tree (about 15) on his lot, exposing the naked reality of suburban living. His yard looks diminished and his house is revealed for all its faults. I can't do anything about it except sit in my cool, shady yard reflecting on the irony of buying a house in Alaska and cutting down all the trees to put in a lawn. I'm resigned to only looking north. I hope my shade stays in my own yard so he can feel some remorse for his bad decision.

Rural v. Bush

2009-07-02T21:12:00.002-08:00

President Obama is sending 4 cabinet members to Alaska on a listening tour on August 12...they are going to Bethel. I hope they wear hats and bring bug dope. They should get an ear and an eyeful. In the opinion of many health officials and policy advisors, Alaska is a third world country.

Today was a bicycle day. My shin swelled up again and turned bruise colored bluish after several hours of errands on the bike, but I left the car at home. Sue claims I injured my shin going back and forth to the tables at the "all you can eat" buffets while on the Appalachian Trail. I checked out the new iPhone and discovered that it would almost double our monthly obligation (for 2 years) to become a 2 iPhone family. I'll have to think about that.

I managed to volunteer to help at the KUAC Red/Green Regatta on July 26...that will be a first. I'll be helping with traffic and I hope I get a badge and some authority. I'll clean up that road rage. I am also helping Sue with a garage sale next Friday and Saturday. Come out to North Pole, across from the Middle School and buy stuff.

I haven't really been using my free time very effectively yet. Mostly visiting and using the computer. I need to get some projects going soon. Tomorrow I'm doing yardwork, starting to write my first play and planning out a quilt. I also might go with some friends out to Chena Lakes if it's hot. That should help with using my time. I just can't get used to being alone and retired. I still don't regret leaving the trail half way done. The afternoons were way too long!

Deja Vu all over again

2009-07-01T19:08:00.002-08:00

I'm back from hiking the AT- this time by choice. It was obvious to me after about a week that I didn't want to spend the rest of the summer hiking north. I could wax eloquent, but there were a few main points that consumed my thoughts- I missed the Fairbanks summer, I'd been gone already for 3 months and didn't want to be gone another 3, I was hiking through a narrow corridor of nature surrounded by cities and towns and I missed the real wilderness, the sameness of everyday hiking was becoming tedious and I want to want to hike in the future.

GarageMan is hoping to hike the entire trail during this season- expecting to finish at the end of August at Mt. Katahdin in Maine, 2178 miles of hike. I would like to finish sometime in the future- I'll restart in Boiling Springs, about 1100 miles into the hike.

The long trip home started from Cathy and Al's house on Monday. Cathy and Roy took me to the bus stop at the Park and Ride on Highway 33 for the 1 1/2 hr. ride to Newark. It turned out that Alaska Airlines only "mans" their counter 3 hours before the flight and I couldn't go through security with my trekking poles. The nearby WestJet counter had lots of amusing action and I found that sitting on my Thermarest pad on the cooling ducts made a comfy seat.

The 5 1/2 hr. flight to Seattle was packed. The person in front of me immediately reclined his seat as far back as it would go, only pulling up on the insistence of the attendent upon landing. I wanted to cut a deal with the gal behind me- if she would quit kicking my seat I wouldn't recline, but she fell asleep about 2 hours in so the point became moot.

The flight from Seattle to Fairbanks, only 3 1/2 hours long, was almost empty and I stretched out across 3 seats on my Thermarest enjoying better sleep than I had in most of the AT shelters. The midnight sun closed in on us and was shining at 1:45 am when I arrived.

It's strange to be home alone. It is the longest alone time I've ever had. The house is quiet, the fridge is empty and the conversation is one-sided. I haven't yet figured out how to fill my hours short of recreational activities. I would hope to start/finish some projects but no plans yet.

On Tuesday morning, I got up and went to aquasize followed by a tasty chicken salad and rhubarb/cranberry cobbler at Sandy's with Bev and Susan. Then I took care of shopping and the PO, caught up with correspondence and did some computer updates.

Today, I went out the Chatanika River with Bev and Gary in their boat to their cabin. We hauled out some supplies for the weekend. The cabin was partially flooded at breakup and there is still silt all around. Other cabins will need extensive repairs, but theirs has been cleaned up. Barrels, wood and a picnic table completely floated away. The river was beautiful and Bev saw a newborn moose calf. A little excitement came when a new fallen log stretched completely across the river. Gary ran across it and the reverse on his engine needed repair. On the way back, he chain sawed it to make a channel.

Tonight I spoke with Paul about his new tent (Big Agnes Fly Creek). I'm continuing to update the trail journal recording his exploits. He's not one for detailed stories, but I'll do my best.

Find Us on the AT!

2009-06-08T19:44:00.002-08:00

This is my last entry of this blog until we return from the Appalachian Trail. I'll keep posting to my trail journal to let you know our progress. Click on the map for a direct link to that journal. If I post pictures on this blog, I'll mention it in the trailjournal. When you sign our trail journal guest book, I get an email from you which is always encouraging!