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!