Can't Keep Up!

Ugh!  I just can't seem to keep up with anything.  I start a million things and am lucky to finish one.  I don't think I've always been this way, but it seems to be getting worse.  So, here I am after a long enough time to make everyone lose interest.

New Year's Eve was interesting here.  A few of us in the office ended up taking a last-minute day trip to Noatak for a few work errands.  I took along a teddy bear mailed to me from a 1st grader in Georgia.  Their class was learning about national parks, and they all colored these bears and sent them to a park asking that they be taken on an adventure.  See the bear in the window?

I also got to go into several houses and meet some residents there.  (I had already been to Noatak on a school visit, but when I go to the school, I stay there and don't always meet people outside the school.)  We had some DVDs to pass out to folks who contributed stories to some listening stations in the exhibit.  One guy was pretty funny.  He spent part of his childhood in Texas, and he calls himself a Texkimo. 

I tried to capture a bit of how beautiful it is from the air this time of year, but a photo doesn't do it justice. This was on the trip home as the sun was sinking below the horizon. The colors are fabulous pastels. The dark areas you see are trees; otherwise the land's covered in snow and ice.

That night, after we got back, there were snowmachine races out on the ice of Kotzebue Sound around 9:00 PM, followed by fireworks at midnight.  The fireworks were nice.  The city of Kotzebue and a couple of businesses and/or organizations in town go all out with big, simultaneous shows this time of year since it's too light to enjoy them on the 4th of July.

The past few weeks have been busier than I was imagining.  As soon as school started (even before), I had teachers contacting me right and left for school programs.  Also, we now have an exhibit area where they can bring their classes, and I'm the one who is in charge of scheduling those groups and coming up with programs to do with them within the exhibit.  Add to that the web page work I was behind on, helping to staff a book store that's open all day every business day (used to be just during the summer), etc.  We do have a permanent Interpretive Ranger hired, but he won't be here until JULY! 

Last week was a challenge on the job...all of the office staff except for myself and a few others were out of town for a meeting.  Even with my school programs and THREE staff medical emergencies (hearts & gall bladders), we kept everything going.  Then, at the end of each day, with the coldest weather I've experienced so far, I had about an hour long routine to take care of dogs for some out-of-towners.  I had the sled dogs again and Gabby who got to come spend the night with me and Smoky (the cat was thrilled).  I still haven't donned the parka (have to save something for a cold snowmachine ride), but I was wearing quilted bib overalls the whole week.  My hands could tell a huge difference in gloves.  I liked the ones I borrowed while cleaning up and feeding the sled dogs; they kept my hands toasty.  They just looked like ordinary work gloves (lined with some fuzzy stuff and leather palms), Kinco brand I think.  There were two pairs, one fit a little loose, the other snugly.  Same kind of glove.  The loose-fitting ones kept me warm, but my hands got so cold in the snug ones that they ached.  So, it's all about air pockets!

Last week, the weekend, and even yesterday, we were measuring some low temps, around -30 F without wind chill at times.  Today it warmed up a little, and sure enough, there was a dusting of fresh snow on the ground.  No blizzards for a while.  I have a week and a half, then I'll be away from the weather for a month!  It'll be a nice break.