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.