Selawik is Frigid!

I'm on my 5th village school visit -- Selawik, AK.  I knew just by looking around at temperatures that although Selawik isn't too far from Kotz, the temperature is always lower by a good 10 degrees.  So, I figured I'd be in for a bit of nippy weather this week.  It is just plain frigid.  I usually like to get out and walk around the village a bit, and I had every intention of doing that here as well.  I came prepared with my (too big) insulated overalls for work and my bunny boots.  I also really wanted to try to find this lady that I bunked with at Camp Sivu last summer.  I don't usually come into town knowing someone, so it was a refreshing thought that I could have a local contact, and I just wanted to check up on her and see how she was doing.  However, I heard that she may be out of town in Anchorage dealing with knee surgery.  Between that and being beat from a late night and busy day, I've decided to just stay in tonight.  Besides, I have to heat up some medicinal plant oils for one of the classes.

However...I just now was talking to a teacher who loves to cross-country ski, and she asked if I wanted to go tomorrow evening.  I said, "Sure!"  Sounds great.  So, maybe there will be more to the story tomorrow. With that said, I'd better finish my work and get some rest tonight.

It is kinda funny though, that just when I'll be heading to my Becoming an Outdoorswoman workshop this coming weekend, I'm getting a chance to experience activities for two of the topics I'm taking -- snowmobiling and cross country skiing.  This last Saturday I went out on the ice for just a few hours with a couple of co-workers and a dog.  The intention was to find someone's hole and try our hand at ice fishing.  The other two had their own snow machines, both single-seaters, and I don't have one.  My neighbor was already going to haul her dog in a sled behind the machine, so she wanted me to drive while she sat in the sled with her dog.  All well and good except that I'd only ever ridden one once before and had never driven.  And, the sled was attached with a rope.  So, when I slowed, guess what the sled would do.  The icing on the cake was that my goggles fogged up and then froze leaving me unable to see with the goggles and unable to open my eyes and drive without them.  I eventually had her change places with me.  I cradled the dog in the sled & she drove.  Much better.  However, after all this, the fog socked in around us, and we decided to not look for a hole.  We just played frisbee with the dog and hung out and talked on the ice for a while.  Anyway, it was a good heads-up about wardrobe malfunctions and equipment issues related to snowmobiling.  Maybe this little cross-country ski experience (if it happens) will give me a little more insight before my class this weekend.

Alright, signing off for tonight.  I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

Back in the Saddle

Just a quick note to let you know I'm still here. I know it's been a while. First there were computer problems, then I was on travel for a month. Now I'm back in Kotz where it's still cold!

I heard it warmed up quite a bit while I was gone, into the 20s, but I would never have guessed it based on the bone chilling minus 33 degrees that greeted me as I got off the plane. In fact, everywhere I went was experiencing an enhanced winter with more than average snow.

First it was several feet of snow at the Grand Canyon.


Then, it was just a few inches in Central TX, but the most I had seen since I was a kid.



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