Christmas

Other than family being scattered in four directions, Christmas was good this year.  I had put up the tree for the first time in quite a few years (a few different reasons for that), and being closer than ever to the North Pole, I couldn't help but catch a festive spirit.  Here's a picture of what the place is looking like.

The weather was perfect for the day, not too cold, clear, little wind.  Having passed the winter solstice on 12/21, everyone was in good spirits knowing that more light is available every day.  Of course, we were never completely in the dark.  I haven't yet taken the time to figure out why during the summer there's about a month where the sun never goes down while in the winter, at least in this location, we're not completely in the dark.  I think the shortest day was just over 2 hours long.

The Hogans invited me over with some other folks for Christmas dinner.  They had lots of food already prepared, but when another lady and I were asking what we could bring, they mentioned a couple of items.  Would you believe that of all places, ice cream is on the menu for Christmas dinner here?  I've been told that Alaska is the state with the highest per capita ice cream consumption.  I believe it, too.  I decided to make homemade ice cream again, and every bit of it was eaten.  Everyone there said it was great...thanks for the recipe, Mom!

We had a good group of folks there, and we spent close to 12 hours eating, talking, playing games, eating again, and talking some more!  As I headed home arount 1:00 AM, I got my first glimpse of the northern lights.  They were very faint, and if someone hadn't pointed them out, I probably would have missed them altogether, but it was exciting to know that's what I was looking at.  They're usually visible in the wee hours of the morning, and since it was kind of a struggle to normalize my schedule here, I haven't been staying up to watch for them.  We're also in a low spot on the 11-year sun spot cycle which means less auroral activity.  I think we'll be set for more displays in about 3 or 4 years.

I don't have plans for New Year's Eve yet, but I've heard great things about fireworks in past years here.  Apparently they take the show out on the ice of Kotzebue Sound.  I've been told that because of the cold temperature the colors are very vibrant.  I haven't heard any announcements of fireworks for this year, but I'm hoping the tradition continues.  I have my mittens and scarf (thank you Mom & Dad) ready to go and have been looking for an excuse to walk out on the ice.

Hartford

I had every intention to keep posting while I was on the road, but when I got to the fancy-schmancy Marriott we stayed in for our conference, I found out they were charging almost $10/day to connect to the internet.  Yeah right!  There was one public computer which, of course, was always occupied.  In general, I was NOT impressed with the Marriott in downtown Hartford, and I definitely wouldn't pay to stay there on my own.  So, being removed from my routine and networking, I've fallen off the blogging wagon again.  I'll try to get back on!

The conference was for National Association for Interpretation.  It was pretty good.  I learned much more about what people in my position across the country actually do.  I met several NPS colleagues from the Alaska region.  Some of these people I had emailed and spoken with on the phone, so it was nice to put a face to them.  Very nice people over-all.  I stayed busy with the conference and didn't get a chance to check out anything about Hartford, but it was nice being in a place that feels connected to the rest of the world!

One day that week we got to go on a field trip.  We had to sign up for the one we wanted to take before the conference, and I selected mine one day way back while my boss read the descriptions over the phone to me so she could submit us for early registration.  I wasn't really sure what I'd be in for.  The theme was related to programs that accomplished their goals with a small budget and/or small staff.  We first went to a place owned by the CT Audubon Society at Milford Point.  It was nice to get outside, nice place, a few good ideas.  Then we went to the Yale campus to the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Front exterior of Peabody Museum of Natural History

Mixed feeling about this part of the field trip.  The presentation about what they were doing with their interpretive program was good and gave me some good ideas.  The museum also had some cool exhibits.  It is, however, a private museum that is interpreted through the lens of evolution.  There was, in fact, a whole exhibit that was practically a shrine to evolutionists.  Unfortunate that such nice collections are used to indoctrinate scores of kids that visit. 

I did find a couple of things for you, Mom.  The first picture is a mummified cat (there was a small Egyptian exhibit).  The second is a bonnet.  It reminded me of yours, but I dare say this one took even more work!  Unfortunately, I didn't write down where it was from, and I already forgot.

First Storm

The first storm of the season blew in last night, and it is, indeed, all about the wind.  Perhaps being on the second floor causes me to be able to hear and feel it more, but it was pretty impressive waking up in the middle of the night to realize building vibrations from the wind were shaking the bed.  It felt like someone else was there just gently shaking on it.  In fact, I had a bit of a start when the electricity went out and came back on.  All at once the printer/scanner started rebooting, and with the bed moving at the same time I thought, just for a second, that someone was there!

Of course, being a holiday today, I was looking forward to getting out more than what I have, but it's given me a chance to see just what a storm is all about.  The winds today have been sustained anywhere from 30 to 40 mph with gusts to more than 50.  I know that with winds like this in Miami we would have been advised to stay inside.  I didn't know if people would stay inside here; there was much less movement since it was a holiday anyway.  This morning was more blustery than the afternoon, and all I saw were a couple of cars on the road.  I had wanted to go to the grocery store to get just a couple of things that I needed in order to use up some perishables I already had before leaving town next week, so I was glad when my neighbor said she would be up for walking there with me (it's time to stop using the ATV). 

It took about 15 minutes to get all my clothes on:  the t-shirt I had on, long sleeve t-shirt, fleece jacket, coat, glove liner, glove/mitten combo, balaclava, scarf, knit cap, snow goggles, long johns, flannel-lined jeans, poly sock liner, thick socks, boots.  I was, however, toasty-warm on the way there.  It wasn't as cold as it looked from the window.  It's gotten down to about -5 so far.  Today, with the snow, it was warmer -- up to 10.  But I thought the wind would make it icy.  (It must have been much colder in Noorvik the other day when I got off the plane because with the wind there it felt super cold.)  It was actually a very nice walk to the store.  It's the little things that make a difference.  The coat (I'm speaking in terms of "so far," I know I have much more to experience), doesn't make all that much of a difference.  You can layer up underneath it to stay warm.  Mittens, though, are much warmer than gloves.  The scarf is essential for covering mouth and nose that can feel the cold quickly.  I have to work on getting more scarves.  I'm using one Mom gave me when I went to work in Boise a couple of times one winter.  It works well, but it's a little short.  Long scarves are great because you have to pull on the ends occasionally to keep it snug around your face or neck.  Today, with blowing snow, goggles were the jackpot.  Without goggles, the cold and wind make you tear up and squint, and you just can't see anything. 

I did have on a few too many layers, though, or at least I should have taken more off at the store.  I was sweating by the time I checked out (maybe 15 minutes), and that's not a good thing.  It's a bit of a hassle keeping up with all the pieces.  I need an extra bag just to carry them all when not in use.

I did carry the camera today, and my neighbor got one photo.  Some didn't turn out well because the snow made big spots on the lens.  But here you have it -- the Michelin Man in blue!  This was about 4:30 p.m.

Light

I tried something new last night, and I like it.  Thanks for the idea, Mom.  We're now down to about 6.5 hours of daylight.  The sun isn't coming up until about 10:30 a.m.  I'm fine with that with the exception that it's a little more difficult to wake up.  With the right amount of sleep, I'm good at waking up more-or-less on my own without the jolt of an alarm clock.  However, I started to notice a while back that I was sleeping much later on the weekends than I would normally.  Part of it, I think, was still the odd hours of life here.  I got caught up during the summer of staying up with everyone else until the wee hours, and it just started this cycle of unusual sleep patterns.  Then throw on a bit of a busy schedule recently, and....  I think, though, the other part of it is that the light wakes me up naturally and gets me going.  Without the light, I would just fall asleep again if I happened to wake up.

Mom suggested plugging a lamp into a timer and setting it to turn on in the morning.  Yesterday the hardware store was having a 20% off of everything you could fit in a paper bag sale, so I got a timer and set it all up last night.  It will be a little tricky figuring out the precision of it.  The light came on a little later than I was hoping for this morning, but I think it made a big difference to open my eyes and see light.  I immediately felt like hopping up and getting my day started!  I think Smoky liked it too.  I found her curled up right next to me in the light.

I also took advantage of the sale to spring for a plant light.  I have a couple of plants that were given to me when I moved in, and I've been turning the pots round and round in the window for a while now.  They're leaning almost sideways, and the lack of light will soon take its toll on them.  I have a great spot for a plant light, so I got one.  Now, I will hopefully keep my plants, my cat, and myself happy and healthy all winter.

Last Day Until March

Yeah!!!  I'm not writing into empty space!  Thanks, Paul, for responding.  You may be the only person reading, but it's worth it anyway.  I actually had a dream about visiting you guys last night; I guess I'm just really looking forward to it.  I've been eagerly anticipating a picture of Nate!  Don't bother yourselves with trying to get a frame.  I can work on that when I leave town in a couple of weeks.  Mail it in something sturdy, though, and make "Don't bend" or something like that obvious; otherwise, they'll try to stuff it in my box.

Once again I had a packed day at the school -- 6 programs!  No time for lunch or the restroom!  Tomorrow will be my last day in a village school, I think, until March.  November is booked with office work, a conference in Connecticut, and a quick trip to Florida.  December includes a few programs in town in Kotzebue, then school's out for Christmas.  No one has signed up for January yet, so unless that changes...  February is full.  I'll have alsmost two weeks at the Grand Canyon for training, and I think I can swing a full two weeks for a trip to TX!!!!  March and April will be busy with four village school visits.  School is out the first week of May, but there will be a birding contest and summer season to get ready for.  Then, we start over again.  Whew, the whole year's mapped out -- I feel tired already. 

I got just about an hour to walk around today after school before it got dark.  I got a few pictures, and if they're any good, I'll try to post them when I get back to Kotz.  This is really a nice little town.  I walked across my first frozen pond today, about 200 meters across.  I have to admit that even though I saw people on the frozen river (which likely had less ice than this) and saw tracks across the pond, it was still a daunting feat for me.  I just always wonder just how thick the ice is and if it's really going to hold me up!  At first I could see the ground under the ice.  Then I saw lots of white blotches which, at first, I thought were plants or soil or something right underneath the ice.  However, I realized that they were just frosty bubbles on the bottom of the ice and that I was staring down into blackness, the depths of which I had no idea!  I felt like running at that point but talked myself into continuing along slowly.  I know this is something that even little kids feel comfortable with and take for granted here, but I had never walked on ice with liquid water below.  And this was just a pond.  I wonder how much I'll freak out when I walk or ride a snowmobile across part of the ocean in Kotzebue Sound!

On another note, I was dismayed today when I logged on and saw the news of the incident at Ft. Hood.  I read somewhere that Ft. Hood is the base with the most casualties in the war, and now this...  My heart aches for the families of the victims; another senseless act of violence.

Noorvik, Take 2

Yeah! I finally made it to Noorvik. The weather was fine today, just pretty windy, so no problems with the flight to the village. I just hope I can make it back on Friday. I'm hearing things about snowstorms moving in, and I read a Facebook update about one of the education rangers from Nome getting stuck in Wales on a visit due to a blizzard. The temperature actually came back up to the teens today, but with the wind when I got off the plane here, it felt mighty cold. It has been hovering around 0 for the past few days in Kotzebue.

So, I'm finally able to get online here at this school. Even though I have some preparation to do for tomorrow, it's nice to have a little distraction. This school is nice. I had actually been to Noorvik briefly back in July when I went to Camp Sivu for a week. We flew in here and then took a boat about an hour down the Noatak River. I didn't get to check out much then. I didn't see a whole lot this evening because I had to get back here and start heating up the medicinal oils the kids make today. The plants have to steep in oil for a few hours. Tomorrow they strain them and bottle the oil.

I did walk around for a little while, though. I also went to see some of the kids practicing Eskimo dance. It's kinda neat. The drums have a nice sound, and the dances are stories, usually about hunting, told with the motions of their hands. Apparently there had been no Eskimo dancing here for over 100 years, and the school just got it started up again. I don't know what the story is, probably something to do with the particular missionaries who came to work this area.

I also went down to the river which looks pretty well frozen over. I saw some people either checking or setting up a net. I'll try to get a picture of that tomorrow evening. It's interesting. I can't remember how they get the net in there in the first place, but there are two holes made in the ice, and the net is held on a stick in each hole, so the net is under the ice, across the river. It's just set up and left there for about a day. then they pull it in from one side, dump out the fish, and pull it back through the hole to set it for the next day.

Alright, have to go check the status of the medicinal oils. I'll catch you all later. By the way, if anyone is reading this, make a comment from time to time -- even if it's to say, "this is really boring, stop writing!" I know I haven't been great at keeping this going, but it's worse if it's one-sided! Let me know what you think!

Halloween

It's Halloween morning, 10:00, and it's still twilight outside.  The sun won't fully be up for another 40 minutes.  We're down to about 7.5 hours of sunlight now.  If yesterday was any indication, though, it will be fairly overcast today...might make for some spooky trick-or-treating indeed.  Costumes had better be warm because it's a toasty 10 degrees outside (-4 with wind chill). 

I've heard rumors of a haunted house and a dance.  The dance doesn't sound like much fun, but I'll try to find out more about the haunted house, might be interesting.  I wasn't much of a fan of them as a kid.  My neighber is having a get-together tonight - baking pizzas and playing games with NPS staff and some others.  That will probably be my entertainment.

My luggage did find its way back to me, so I'll try to get more pictures around town although they don't really do it justice.  Pictures just look like a landscape of white; it's more impressive in person.  There are about 5 - 7 inches of snow on the ground right now, but it's all from about a week ago.  Much of it is starting to look dirty.  We need another fresh layer!  Apparently there's usually much more by this time.  I keep hearing that we're being eased into this winter; maybe it's for my benefit.

So far my ATV is still starting up just fine, but it probably won't be long before I roll it into the conex to stay there the rest of the winter.  The store here sells some plastic sleds, so I'll get one of those to cart home any groceries or boxes from the mail.  By the way, I didn't win the snow machine raffle.

At work I'll have another busy week this next week.  The boss is back in town after a few weeks, then I'll finally make it to Noorvik (maybe, nothing can be certain).  After that, it should slow down a little.  I won't have any school visits for a while.  We will be moving our offices, though, during the week of 12/14 and will officially open on 12/19.  That should provide some chaos for a while.

Lost Bag

It looks like my bag was sent to Noorvik after all...maybe.  The problem is that it's nowhere to be found right now.  The Bering Air agent in Noorvik says that there were no unclaimed bags.  We'll see what happens.  I'm hoping honesty and diligence will prevail because I don't really want to have to replace what was in that bag!

This means for now, no pictures.  Sorry, I was going to try to be better at taking some.  There's more to shoot, and I have a little more time to do that right now. 

To be continued....

Plan C

I didn't make it to Noorvik, and I'm actually glad.  It was a busy morning.  I had left some work to do, planning to get up early and finish...yes, those of you who know me can recognize this scenario, all too common for me.  Of course, I wake up much later still grasping the cell phone (that I use as an alarm) in my hand.  Never consciously heard it!  So, I ran around like a mad woman but still managed to finish at least what was critical.  By this time, it's been snowing all night, and there are easily 5 inches on the ground.  The plows even came out this morning.  I've loaded my stuff in the park's passenger van (happened to be the available vehicle), and it's such a cow to drive on ice and snow, don't like it one bit.  I have to remember now, to leave plenty of time for scraping, thawing, and maybe even plugging in at some point.

I made it to the airport in time, in fact, in plenty of time.  It was foggy, so the flight was "on hold" for a little over an hour before they finally cancelled.  Plan B.  I called the school (in Noorvik) to see how they might want to adjust the schedule...fly out this afternoon or push the whole thing back a day, Tue - Thur instead of Mon - Wed.  It turns out that they don't really want either of those options.  This ended up being a bad week for them.  They have something going on with Eskimo dancing and the whole school being released at 2:30 each day instead of 3:30.  They asked if I could go next week.  I could fit it in at the end of the week, so I'll go Wed - Fri next week -- Plan C!

I'm actually very ok with Plan C.  I was genuinely tired and need to dedicate some time to domestic duties, learning how to dress, walk and drive in snow, and to getting out and enjoying the changing landscape.  Also, just this morning, I got an email from a teacher in town wanting to bring 3 different 5th grade classes to our visitor center for programs on Wed or Thur this week (a last minute thing that worked well with her lessons).  Now I can accommodate her.  More programs!  And, this lets me put some finishing touches on some programs for Noorvik so I can be better prepared.  Perhaps this is an example of providence.  God always provides.

I'm planning to get out and take some pictures, but my camera is still in my bag at the airport.  Hopefully they didn't send it on to Noorvik this afternoon!  I need to get over there and pick stuff up.  Catch ya later.

Schedule Overload

At this point I've learned a lesson...don't schedule school visits for consecutive weeks.  I still ended up working this weekend, and I'm pooped, ready for a break.  After this week, I'll just have a few programs here in town for a couple of months.

I'm headed for Noorvik tomorrow.  I've actually been there before, very briefly.  This summer, when I went to Camp Sivu, we flew into Noorvik and boated out to the camp.  I haven't been to the school, though.  I'm pretty sure there won't be an opportunity for internet access there, so no posts for the next few days.

The temperature has been hanging around 28 degrees the past few days.  A little snow fell a couple of days ago and has stayed on the ground.  This evening as I left the office, it felt warm to me, at least I could feel a difference.  Sure enough, the thermometer reads 34, and it's snowing again.  There are a couple of inches on the ground now.  I'm pretty sure this is the stuff that's here to stay!

Ice

I'm two days back from Noatak but getting ready to go to Noorvik on Monday.  No rest for the weary!  I'm actually excited to get past this next week.  Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying this job, but it's just been so busy the past couple of months that I'm ready for a break.  I won't have any village school visits on the calendar until after Christmas.  I'm looking forward to spending some time watching winter roll in here (don't know if roll is really the correct verb -- it was doing some howling on Wednesday).

There's ice all along the beach and out over the shallow sandbars.  The lagoon is frozen over.  The temperature has been hanging in the high 20s.  I'm enjoying the cold.  So far my 4-wheeler is still running, but at some point soon I'll just roll it in the conex for the winter and pull on my boots.  I just got a pair of NPS uniform quilted bib overalls this week.  I tried them on and felt like the Michelin man!

It was pretty amazing flying over rivers, wetlands and ocean that were freezing over.  In Noatak there was a frozen pool left over after the river level went down.  I could see about 4 inches of ice, but I could also see some fish swimming below it, pretty cool.  It was thick enough to walk on, but I realized it makes me nervous to try.  I did stand right on the edge and take a picture of my feet on the ice the promptly hopped back on the sand! 

Here's a close-up of ice crystals growing on the grass.  Pretty neat, huh?  I might have some more pictures to share tomorrow.  Some ice and some wrestling.  This weekend is the famous Bush Brawl, a district-wide wrestling tournament.  Wrestling is the major sport around here!  They'll also raffle off a snowmobile, and I bought $10 worth of tickets.  Think I'll get lucky?

Noatak, AK

So, here I am having supper with Triscuits, string cheese and beef jerky in a SPED classroom in Noatak, AK.  I've been in town about 4 hours, and I have mixed feelings.  Really, I've just been in the school so far; I'm about to go out and check out the town.  I'm taking my time now that I narrowly dodged being essentially held captive in the school all evening.  In the other two schools I was given a key immediately to be able to come and go as I pleased.  That didn't seem to be an option here, of course it is a new school building (beautiful), and the principal is out of town.  However, I was told that custodial staff would be here 'til 11:00 and could leave the door open for me.  I was a little dubious about the custodians being at my beck and call; they're overworked, underpaid, and not doormen.  I felt better when one of the ladies actually came to me and asked when I thought I might be coming back to the school.  I said, "oh, 6, 7, 8 o'clock.  How could I know really?  I've never been here before, but I want to get out and look around.  Also, I told our biologist I would take pictures of fish drying racks in town for a grant she's working on.  Well, when another teacher standing near heard that the door would be left open, she balked saying that couldn't happen because students would come in (I agree).  She saw no possibilities for me...no key, no open door.  She asked if I couldn't just run out and come right back soon!  That was when I balked.  I come here at no cost to the school, provide great lessons on a jam-packed schedule, camp on the floor in an out-of-the-way corner, bring my own food...the least they can do is let me come and go as I need!  Mind you, I didn't say it like that, but I guess the look on my face did some talking.  She finally mentioned the acting principal, took me to see him, and he scraped up a key for me to borrow.

With that said, I'd better get a move on; can't waste precious daylight because we're getting less of it every day.  I think we're down to 9 hours.  Winter is moving in.  I noticed yesterday there were thin ice floes gliding along offshore.  Today from the air I could see the frozen patches.  In places the ice freezes in huge rectangular patterns, very cool looking.  I also look from the air each time to try to spot wildlife, but I haven't seen anything yet.  Alright, I'm off to check out the town.  Have a good night everyone!

Busy

Ok, after a few days of trying to keep up here, there was just nothing interesting going on and lots of work to do.  Also, no one was looking.  I see a couple more have now, and I stopped writing again!  It's going to be sparse for the next couple of weeks because I'm swamped at work.  I have a trip to Noatak tomorrow, and I'm not ready, so I'll be working this afternoon.  After I get back, I prepare for a trip to Noorvik the following week.  I was trying to prepare ahead of time, but I had a full week of school programs here in town this last week.  I did get a good review from my boss who observed me on one of the programs, so that's good.

Otherwise, nothing to note.  It's now below freezing, and I think it might stay there.  We're supposed to have some snow later this week or next weekend.  Once I get through the next couple of weeks, I should have some time to slow down and actually enjoy it.  The pressing work for the first couple of weeks in November is to organize work equipment and furniture for our move (probably delayed 'til December) to the new office at the Northwest Arctic Heritage Center.  Then a week in CT for a conference followed by a short but greatly anticipated trip to FL.  Don't worry TX, I'm working on you guys for February!

I may or may not have internet access in Noatak.  If I do, I'll try to share some pictures.

Mighty Quinn

It's a beautiful night.  Cool but not cold.  Huge waning gibbous moon overhead.  Ripples reflecting light off the still unfrozen water.  I just got home from another long day of work since I was in charge of the Tuesday night movie.  I did get to see about 6 seals swimming some distance offshore today, though.  I hope to see more as the water starts to freeze up.  I also need to go online and check sunspot activity and aurora predictions so I can actually observe an auroral event that I've talked about in programs.  It tends to happen in the wee hours of the morning, though, 1:00 - 3:00 or so.

I ended up with another winner of a movie to present tonight.  It was a 1960 film, The Savage Innocents starring Anthony Quinn.  The plot was very much like one of the last movies I had which was a 1933 film, Eskimo.  This one was way more stereotypical, though, and had no native actors and was in English (the other was Inupiaq or another native language).  The funny thing is that the non-natives in the audience tonight cringed and winced at the portrayal of Eskimo life, but the one native audience member asked where he could get the movie!  One interesting fact related to it is that Bob Dylan was a fan of the movie, and it inspired him to write the song that became famous as "The Mighty Quinn." 

Mary asked what kind of winter entertainment I was referring to.  Well, some of it remains to be discovered by me, and other things that I call entertainment are probably more rightly considered vocation, work, lifestyle, or something like that.  I'm talking about ice fishing for sheefish.  Skiing -- it's flat around here, so I don't know if skiers do mostly cross country or snowmobile out to a more mountainous area, but I know some people talk about skiing.  Snowmobiling -- both to actually go somewhere with a purpose and for just getting out to access countryside that was inaccessible before the snow and ice made the landscape one big road.  Dog mushing -- this is becoming less common.  Not as many people have dogs, but there are a few in town who mush for their own recreation and others who race.  The Iditarod is a big deal as well as the Iron something-or-other...the snow machine equivalent to the Iditarod dogsled race.  There's also an ice skating rink that hasn't been used for a few years.  However, my neighbor, who is now a volunteer firefighter, is going to try to get the firefighters to spray it down once it freezes for good to be able to use it to play broomball.  I'm not familiar with the game, but I think it's just what it sounds like.  This is a start.  I really have no idea what to expect this winter.  I guess I had just better be ready with my parka, mittens, insulated bib overalls (still need these), bunny boots, and my camera warming in a pocket waiting to take pictures.

Speaking of pictures, I finally got some of mine up on the walls.  A certain set of family members is conspicuously absent, though.  I need a picture of the Houston threesome.  Mary, I don't have a picture of you at all except for some of the snapshots with a tiny Nate!  I think I have an idea for you guys.  We need to talk. 

Well, that's all for today.  I need to try to go to bed and keep some sort of schedule because it's getting light later and later, and I notice I'm not waking up on my own all that early.  I guess I'm shifting into deep winter sleep mode!  No time for winter naps now, though.  I have a full work schedule at least until Christmas.  I'm in town next week but have 4 programs at the elementary here.  The following week I go to Noatak.  The last week of October I'll be in Noorvik.  So, goodnight everyone.  Please write comments when you can...I'd like to think I'm not talking to myself!

Poser

Last night was the finale of the Ken Burns series on the national parks, another good episode.  I have to admit, though, that I was hoping to see a little more of Kobuk Valley National Park.  The whole series was centered around Yosemite and Yellowstone being the birthplaces of the national parks.  The Alaska parks, except for Denali, are much newer, but they have some pretty exciting stories around them.  Kobuk Valley was not even mentioned; there was just some brief footage lumping it with the other ANILCA parks.  I think lots of people here were hoping for a little more because we had our biggest turnout last night -- 15 people!  Over-all, though, it was a good series.  I'll miss hosting our little event.  I do need to watch the series again to catch all the pieces I missed while "babysitting" and performing host duties.

Today I've been very industrious on the domestic front.  I finally have my little dining table put together.  I started it last week some time but was stymied by the need for a Philips head screwdriver that wasn't all chewed up at its point.  I made it to the hardware store yesterday and got all the screws in at lunch.  I see, though, why my screwdrivers are all chewed up and that it must be a racket by the hardware companies.  They must be making the screwdrivers out of materials that are softer than the screws themselves.  Anyway, today I finished the rest of the table.  It works very well!

I guess I can use my old screwdrivers as ice awls.  Real ice awls (in case you don't know -- I didn't) are kind of like two ice picks with covers over the point and a long string connecting them.  You wear the string around your shoulders to avoid dropping them (under your coat and through your sleeves).  Then, if you fall through the ice you jam the awls into the ice, the cover slides back, and the picks grab the ice so you can crawl your way onto the ice.  However, old screwdrivers could work as well. 

There are many things along the lines of surviving and thriving in the winter that I'm learning here.  Sometimes I get this funny feeling and have to laugh at myself...I feel a little like a poser.  This is all so new to me -- clothing, transportation, tools, shopping, food, even winter entertainment -- that I'm just looking around and copying what other people do.  It doesn't feel real and makes me feel a bit fake.  I'm enjoying getting to know how to live up here, and I have to suppose that at some point once I've had enough of my own experiences up here and can assess and predict my own needs that I might feel I belong here a little more.

Episode 5

Another really good episode of The National Parks: America's Best Idea.  The ending came suddenly, before I could swallow a lump that formed watching footage of Marian Anderson sing before a crowd of 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial.  I didn't know who she was before tonight.  In fact, I'm learning an incredible amount of history related to my employing agency through this documentary.  Although the hours have been odd this week, I'll be a little disappointed tomorrow that the series is over.  We've had a nice little crowd of 8 or 9 people during the last few days, and it's nice to see how much they've enjoyed this story as well.  My supervisor has told me since I started that a big part of our job as interpreters and educators for this group of parks here is simply to make friends for the parks.  Thanks to Ken Burns for doing just that.

On another note, I got my parka in the mail today.  That was one thing I accomplished in Fairbanks a few weeks ago.  It's very toasty, so I shouldn't freeze my torso this winter.  I still have to work on the legs...have to get some insulated bib overalls.  I tried some on in Fairbanks but couldn't get everything into my suitcase and didn't find a great price, so I'm still working on that.  So, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Speaking of snow, I'm imagining the two people reading this will get tired of the daily snow update, but it's still a novelty to me, so bear with me for now.  No snow overnight, but it snowed some during the day.  It's still not sticking.  When I was looking for snow goggles at the store (it's not fun to ride an ATV with snow pelting your eyeballs), they said the goggles wouldn't be put out until the end of the month.  I guess the snow won't be sticking for a while.  Anyway, as I left the visitor center after 10:00 tonight, it looked like tiny little styrofoam balls scattered everywhere.  I don't really know if it was classified as snow, hail, sleet or something else, but it was cool.  It was dry-like.  It brushed away as if it really were styrofoam.  Very cool!

Teaser Snow

It was snowing when I woke up this morning (thanks you-know-who for the 6:00 phone call -- don't forget I'm 3 hours behind Central and have been working late hours at the visitor center!)  Anyway, the snow was exciting to see.  There was more falling than last week, and it left a thicker blanket.  I notice when I see the snow I sort of catch my breath and think, ok, this is it, the beginning of the road to -60 degrees.  But then it mostly melts as the day goes by.  I wonder when it will finally stick to stay all winter.

Today I had a program at school and America's Best Idea in the visitor center tonight.  I didn't get to watch last nights episode because someone brought their three children, and Kristen and I spent the whole time keeping them from disrupting the other viewers.  Tonight we had a plan so we wouldn't have to do that again, so I got to enjoy the episode.  I'm glad because it was an especially good episode, very moving stories about people and their experiences in the parks, the struggle to create some of the parks....  I never realized either how much of a friend the Rockefellers were to the parks.  I'm looking forward to the next two days.  I think Everglades will be highlighted tomorrow, and Kobuk Valley should show up on Friday.

America's Best Idea

The premier of The National Parks went well.  No A/V disasters, always a good thing.  There was a fairly small turnout which we imagined would probably be the case.  There's usually only a handful of people for our Tuesday movie night (in a town with no movie theater), let alone a loooong documentary about an organization many people here disapprove of on TV that they can watch at home.  Oh well, we do what we can.  As we're learning in this documentary, many of the great achievements in the history of the park service were accomplished primarily due to one person's inspiration and dedication.  So, it's the quality of the audience and the experience we give them that matters, not the quantity.

Unfortunately, a full day of work today followed by the documentary kept me from fully enjoying another beautiful, sunny day with temps in the low 30's.  It's great weather, and there has been a clear view of the low, snow-topped mountains of Cape Krusenstern across Kotzebue Sound.  The snow that fell last week has all melted, but there are a few puddles around town that stay glazed over or slushy with ice.  According to the forecast, we may be getting more snow later this week and a bit cooler temperatures.  At this point, I'm still looking forward to it!

Let's Try This Again

Ok, I completely dropped the ball on my blog. I have been sprinting to get life to a manageable pace, and I think I'm getting there, slowly. Well, that's partly it, but my own inconsistency and tendency to not follow things through is, I'm sure, a major factor. I had also chosen a blog site that didn't allow me to see how many people were following or get comments from them, so I thought maybe no one was interested (yes, Mr. Horner, you were right on again). After a couple of comments just this weekend expressing disappointment over my languishing blog, I'm encouraged to try again.

The highlight this weekend is the new PBS series The National Parks: America's Best Idea. One of the highlighted parks is our own Kobuk Valley National Park. Of course, the whole National Park Service is promoting this and hoping for renewed interest in and support of the parks. With Ken Burns as director, this is supposed to be a good series. I don't know his other work, but I've heard good reviews. The shows start tomorrow on PBS and run two hours per day for six days.

This also means I'll be working. Kristen is at the Visitor Center today for a preview in case anyone in town is interested. We've tried to lure people there with donuts. The rest of the week we'll be showing the PBS broadcast. Of course people can watch it from home, but we do have popcorn and juice and are projecting it onto a big screen with decent sound. I have the first episode tomorrow night.