There are icicles under the gym...

After cold and stormy conditions on Sunday (43 mph winds brought the temperature down to 40 below), Monday dawned bright and calm at 10:00am.  The winds were still present but not nearly as strong as the day before.  There were new drifts that had formed in the last 24 hours that blocked the roads and the big tractor was brought out to plow the snow.
Here are some picture I took during my lunch break of the drifts by our house.

I would like to direct your attention to the drift that developed overnight behind the red slide.  Follow that drift to the right and you will see Alex's house...yes the drift is almost to the top of the roof.

Here's the new snow drift that formed from the south side of our house and across the road to the Catholic Church.  The drift was three or four feet high in the middle of the road.

Here was the honda and snow machine path that used to go between our house and the red house.  It was erased by the wind.  The wind sculpted the snow like it does the sand at the beach.  

Monday night began as usual.  I went to Jill's house for Bible Study.  Around 8pm Jill received a call from Carolyn (our principal).  We heard Jill say, "I have a few volunteers already here."  We were being called to the big school...a pipe had broken and flooded the gym.  We bundled up, grabbed our mops, and walked to the big school.  On the way there Nathan noticed the Northern Lights glowing above the school.  They were low and far away and looked like a green cloud.  It was very pretty even though they weren't very bright or "dancing" across the sky.  We arrived at the school and were met by around ten other teachers already working in the gym.

First we mopped...

...then we towel dried the floor.  This led to towel races.

Two hours later the gym was dry, the fans and heaters were on, and we headed home.  The next day Mr. Picou (superintendent) sent pizza to the teachers in St. Michael as a thank you for helping out.  

Nathan went back the next day and looked under the gym.  There were icicles everywhere!  The gym is about eight feet off the ground.  There were icicles that reached from the bottom of the gym floor to the ground that were several inches in diameter.  No pictures yet though.

Our Next Arctic Reward

Nathan received a call from my dad last night asking if the Northern Lights were visible.  Apparently they were supposed to be bright and visible in Alaska.  Please keep in mind that the district I work in (15 villages) is the size of Minnesota and that is the state of Alaska was laid on top of the lower 48 states Juneau (east edge of Alaska) would be in Atlanta and the western edge of the Aleutian Islands would be in Los Angeles.  Yeah, Alaska is that big!

We had been hopeful this week and the week before when there were Aurora Borealis forecasts but each time we were disappointed or just saw glimpses of a spectacular show that would be happening much farther north (like the lights we saw on Monday night walking with our mops to the big school).  I went to bed last night feeling skeptical because there was nothing in the sky.  

At 1:15 am Nathan woke me up.  "You're going to want to get up and see this," he said, "It's amazing."  I jumped out of bed, put on my wool socks, snow pants, sweatshirt, parka, beanie and face mask, glove liners and gloves and my boots and we headed outside into the calm 25 below zero night.  Usually the moon is bright enough to light up the snow but for the next several days the moon rises just before the sun and sets right after the sun, so there is no moonlight.  I'm watching the snow and trying to breath in a way that won't fog up my glasses and then freeze.  We get to the road and I look up and right above me stretching from one end of the village to the other right above our heads are the greenish streaks of the Northern Lights!  We walked across the tundra and climbed the hill to the north and just stood and watched the lights.  They weren't as colorful or defined as the picture you see of them but they were unmistakeable.  We whistled at the (native tradition) and they began to dance.  While we were out we could hear another person down in the village whistling to them too.  We watched the green streaks dance to the north and become more defined.  The streaks would literally flow across the sky.  We stayed outside until almost 2am before the cold made us head back in.  It was a memorable experience.  We don't have pictures yet...Nathan is going to brush up on his low light skills with his camera.  Maybe we'll get some good shots before the sun takes back the night.  In March on the equinox we will be back to 12 hours of daylight and more.

January Changes

January began with a week of temperatures that dipped down to 40 below on a few mornings and remained around 30 below all week.  This was the week of our flooded hall and bathroom.  This was also the first week back to school.  The big school began on Tuesday, January 2 and soon realized that their pipes were frozen.  One bathroom was still functional, but the sewage system was frozen as well which meant bathroom use needed to be limited.  Therefore homey buckets were brought in.  These are not the Honey Buckets from back home that you see at work sites or fairs, etc.  These are five gallon buckets with a toilet seat on top.  By the end of the week the pipes were thawed at the big school.
At Head Start, Tuesday was a staff workday.  Flora, Cecelia and I worked to assemble new furniture that we had received over break.  We put things away and began to prepare the room for the next week.  Our pipes were also frozen.  Wednesday began with anticipation of seeing my students, but when I arrived I found out that the pipes were still frozen.  35 little bladders in a school with no bathrooms for 7 hours...not a good idea.  When Mary L. arrived we cancelled school for Wednesday and Flora had to call the parents to let them know.  Wednesday became another work day.
Thursday began with the anticipation of seeing my students.  I arrived and found the pipes still frozen.  Again another workday.  This day, however, we told parents that we would have school on Friday for everyone.  This gave us something to work toward.  By Thursday afternoon our pipes had thawed.
Friday began with anticipation of seeing my students.  When I arrived I was told the pipes had frozen again.  Friday became another workday.  By now Flora had worked on lesson plans and finished the rest of the year.  I had worked on our Lending Library bags that I had found and had decorated the library lab with book covers and new pocket charts on the walls where the kids can put their favorite books.
Saturday and Sunday began to warm up and Monday we had school again.  Both school were thawed and the city had cleared the block in the sewage line for the west part of the village.  Monday began with limited water use but by lunch all the plumbing was working again.  We had a nice normal week back to school.
This brings us to list past week.  We had school on Monday, a teacher in-service on Tuesday and Wednesday, and school on Thursday.  For the in-service, a few supervisors from the District Office in Unalakleet came with the presenter, and the teachers from Shaktoolik also came to spend a few days with us.  On Tuesday night, the Shaktoolik teachers set up a karaoke machine in the commons area and we sang karaoke for almost four hours after dinner.  This week the temperature ranged from 10 below to 10 above zero and was noticeably warmer.  We received two inches of new snow (blizzard snow).  This snow is characterized by having large individual flakes (some 1/8 inch diameter) and by being very dry snow that doesn't stick together on the ground.  This snow will stay on the ground until the wind start blowing.  Then it will get tossed back up into the air where it will swirl and create blizzard-conditions with limited visibility.
Last night around 9:30pm, Saturday, January 21, Nathan and I went over to Tim B.'s (assistant principal) house for a night of games and crab.  Katie had just gotten back from Elim with the boy basketball team (she is the coach) and had received a large box of crab.  We cooked up three of the crabs and then worked at getting the meat out of the long legs.  After we had eaten what we wanted to work to get, Katie, Sara, Nathan, Tim, and I played 9-hole Golf (a card game), Spoons (another card game that resulted in bruised knees and a broken chair), and Farkle (a dice game- like Dicey).  We ended the evening with a quick survey of the horizon looking for the Northern Lights (we didn't see any) at 2:30am.
Now it is Sunday morning and the wind is blowing hard sending the snow into the air and limiting visibility.  No one is outside.  All I can see of the big school is the street light that is out front.  The buildings that are closer to us look like they are surrounded by fog.  The temperature outside is 8 below, but the howling wind (43 mph) has brought that down to 40 below.

Here are some picture of what 20 below looks like:

Hoarfrost forms on everything.

Frosted tundra grasses still peeking above the snow.

Our two inches of snow didn't fall straight down...it came in sideways.

Snow accumulated on the side of the power-lines too. 

Looking toward the IRA (Tribal Building) and the AC Store.

Snow and frost accumulation on our porch.

Hoarfrost on the swing at our playground.

Bringing in the New Year

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve celebrations began with a community dinner at the city gym.  I got to sit and talk with some of my kids and then had a chance to play with them after dinner.  After the dinner, the BSSD teachers helped clean up and then clear the gym for games.  We had a big game of musical chairs in the middle of the gym and on both basketball hoops we hung up three pinatas.  At 7:30pm Nathan and I headed home.  

At 8pm we bundled up and headed over to Pam and Michael's for games and snacks.  We played our new Cranium-brand game.  Then we played a long game of Phase 10.  At midnight we turned off the lights and watched the city sent off fireworks over the hill behind the house.  It was very pretty, with the colorful lights reflecting off the snow.  There were a few people sitting out on the hill to watch (it was 25 below without windchill).  We finished Phase 10 around 1:30am and then we all went home.  For some reason, Nathan and I and Katie weren't tired yet, so we invited Katie over for a movie.  We watched "Amelie".  Before it was over, the french narration had put us all to sleep.  Katie went home at 4:30am and we went to bed.

Juliet demonstrates the power of static electricity for us on New Year's.  She picked up a receipt when she was laying on the ground and it stayed on her fur for about 10 minutes.  It slowly worked its way down to the tip of her tail and finally fell off.

January 2, 2012

Monday morning began with a knock on my door at 8:30am.  Flora had walked to work and no one was there.  We start working on Tuesday and the kids start again on Wednesday.  It was 27 below.  

When I finally felt awake,  I started a load of laundry and Nathan and I settled in to watch the Ducks in the Rose Bowl.  Suddenly, we heard the loud splashing of a waterfall. 

Romeo trying to figure out what's going on.

 I jumped up from the couch and took off for the back room.  However, the water was coming out of the sink in the bathroom.  First I tried turning off the faucet, but that wasn't on.  Then I tried the valves under the sink, while I called for Nathan.  He pointed out that the water looked soapy.  We went to the washer and turned that off.  The water stopped coming out of the sink.

The floor was covered with water that came out of the sink drain.

It flowed out into the hall and into Nathan's office.

And into my bedroom.  

We began our clean up efforts with all our towels.  Bonnie gave us her towels too.  We called Carolyn, who called Steve, who will hopefully come over to look at our plumbing by tomorrow.

Another Alaskan Adventure.

GO DUCKS!!!

Merry Christmas

This was the first Christmas that I have spent away from home and my family.  It was different.  It didn't feel like Christmas.  We hadn't up up decorations, we didn't have a tree, and it was very quiet.  Nathan and I called my parents over Skype  and we were able to see and talk to my family for the first time since August.  We saw my parents, Dale and Janis; my sister, Michelle, and her husband, Michael; my Aunt Karyn and Uncle Doug, my Grandma Kaye, and Hal, our close family friend.  They had opened their gifts from us already.  We opened the gifts from them over Skype.  Seeing them and feeling like we were together made it feel like Christmas finally.  

Merry Christmas everyone, we miss you!

That night we went to church and got to see our friends from the village.  Even though our church is small the people are very friendly and welcoming.  At the end of the service, everyone goes around the room and shakes hands and say hi or Merry Christmas.  That was hard for me at first, but I am beginning to do the moving part of this and initiate some of the exchanges.  It makes the community more connected with people showing their support.  

The Week After Christmas

The temperature has remained between 15 below and 21 below this whole week.  The floor is noticeably colder.  (Thank you Gram for the slippers!   They are wonderful!)  Frost is settling over everything and the air is very crisp.  Our groceries have been arriving this week (we have received 10 so far).  Katie has loaned us her honda for the break and we are taking advantage of it.  It makes bringing four 50+ pound packages back from the post office at one time manageable.  Thanks, Katie!  Our pantry is looking well stocked.  I have spent the last few afternoons organizing it as I put away our groceries.  (Our checked bags and coolers made it to our house the day after we got home.  They were on the next plane.)

Between tomorrow and Monday the other teachers will return to the village.  School begins again on Tuesday.

Week in Anchorage

We spent the first week of Christmas Break in Anchorage with Nathan's parents and the Hollands.  On Sunday, the temperature was too warm for snow machining.  Instead, we slept in and enjoyed the Bed and Breakfast.  That afternoon we went to Cyrano's Theatre and watched "It's A Wonderful Life: Live Radio Show".  The set was an old fashioned radio studio with the stand up microphones, sound effects table, Christmas decorations, the "Applause" light, and the "On Air" light.  There were five cast members who then performed "It's A Wonderful Life" doing all the characters in unique voices.  We were able to recognize what character was talking based on the voice.  It was wonderful.  A great way to spend the afternoon.  After the play, we went back to the Hollands' house for dinner and games and a fireplace.
On Monday we got up early and met the Hollands at there house at 8 am.  We were going snow machining.  We loaded up the Suburban (Ky, Sharon, and Dave on the front seat; me, Ellen, and Nathan on the back seat).  The back of the Suburban was full of our supplies and clothing for the day.  We drove about 2 hours to Suisitna Landing, a park on the Suisitna River.  We unloaded the three snow machines and got dressed (knee socks, bottom base layer, spaghetti-strap top, top base layer, top mid-layer, wool socks, jeans, Patagonia jacket, insulated snow pants, glove liners, mittens, knit hat, face warmer, helmet, goggles, parka, and boots).
Ky unloaded the three snow machines, we loaded them up with gear for the cabin, and then, after a snow machine tutorial, we were off.  We went through the park (with picnic table covered in mounds of snow), then we began our crossing of the Suisitna River.  The crossing points were marked for us.  The scouts mark the crossings where the ice flows pile up across the river.  The crossing is not flat like I expected.  It is rough, with big dips and climbs as the trail goes over the huge blocks of ice that have frozen together and been covered with snow.  We would parallel the river, then cross, then parallel, then cross, until we reached the other side and rode up a steep hill to the top of a bluff.  This was the first and only time that Nathan and I tipped the snow machine and fell off.

The Snow Machines!

Looking at the picnic tables at Suisitna Landing.  Look at all that snow!

 On Snow Machining and Marriage

The snow machine has two skis on the front that keep it on top of the snow and a track that is less than a foot wide the supports the entire machine and propels it forward.  Therefore, the riders must actively ride the machine.  We have to lean into the curves and if we feel the machine tipping we must adjust and lean the opposite way to keep from tipping over.  

While Nathan and I took turns driving the machine, Nathan drove most of the time (he was a good wind block for me).  This meant that in order for me to watch the snow ahead of us I had to lean to the side and therefore disrupt the balance.  While I was riding I was hit with a great analogy:  Snow Machining is like Marriage.  The passenger needs to trust the driver.  When Nathan leaned to a side, I needed to trust that we were approaching a corner and lean with him even though I could not see the turn.  (Nathan had to do the same thing when I was driving; although he had an easier time seeing over me). If I decided that I knew better than he did and leaned the other way, I would cause the machine to tip and we would both fall off.  Now to the marriage part.  In marriage sometimes the husband is "driving" and the wife needs to trust that he knows best and support him.  The same thing is true when the wife is driving.  With  trust (at times blind trust) we follow and support each other and this keeps our marriage from "tipping".

After traveling ten miles across the river, through the woods, and on top of the lake, we reached the Hollands' cabin.  It is on an island in the middle of Trapper Lake.  They own half the island and the other half is swamp and marshes and is public land (although no one wants to camp in a swamp).  We parked the snow machines in front of the cabin and began unloading, shoveling snow, and looking for trees that fell in the storm (firewood).  

Nathan checking the snow machines while Ky shovels the porch.

Looking out at Trapper Lake.  To the right of the picture is the boat house.

Ellen and I at the Hollands' cabin on Trapper Lake.  This was our destination on our snow machining day.

After unloading and bringing in the supplies we brought we settled in at the cabin.  It was about the same temperature inside the cabin as it was outside (about 20 degrees).  Ky and Sharon worked with the wood stove and got a fire burning.  Ellen and I shared a coat to keep our feet warm.  Dave took the snow machine out on the lake to explore the capabilities of the machine.  Ky and Nathan took the other two snow machines to the spring to get water.

Heading back to the car after snow machining to Trapper Lake (around 4:15pm).

Dave and Ellen on the left and Ky and Sharon on the right.

After snow machining we went to Anchorage and met up with Katie and her parents, Katie's former St. Michael roommate Lacey, Pam and Michael (also from St. Michael), and Michael's daughter, for dinner at LaMex.

Nathan and I at LaMex. 

Ellen, Sharon, Ky, and Dave at LaMex.

Tuesday was our shopping day.  We went to Costco first and bought our non-perishable food items.  This included ridiculous amounts of some items.  Nathan and I had gone through our food inventory that Ellen and I made this summer and used that to determine the amounts needed to feed us through July (our next trip for groceries).  I was going through the store with Ellen and Sharon putting things in the cart thinking this is way too much.  Ellen had to remind me that there was a reason behind the amounts I had determined.  We filled three carts at Costco (just like in August) but the amount we spent was less than we spent in August.  Then we went to Fred Meyer to buy the items that we couldn't get at Costco and filled one cart.  Significantly less than in August.  Nathan had a bet with the checkout lady on the price.  She found several coupons for us just to mess up his guess :).  

After shopping we called Ky and Dave and let them know where to meet us for dinner.  We went to Sorentos (an Italian restaurant).  After dinner all six of us went to see "Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows" and then Dave and Ellen headed to the airport to catch their 12:30 am flight back to Utah.  Nathan and I went back the the bed and breakfast.  

Wednesday Nathan and I went over to the Hollands to use their garage to pack our groceries for mailing.  We ended up buying a few more RubberMaids and ActionPackers in the process.  We ended up with 14 total containers that we were going to mail back to St. Michael (not including our perishable groceries).  

On Wednesday night we watched "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol".

Packing up our groceries for shipping.  We filled three shopping carts at Costco and one at Fred Meyer.    We packed those groceries in 14 RubberMaids and ActionPackers.  

On Thursday we went to the post office at the airport and delivered our containers via the loading dock (because we had more than ten), weighed them, loaded them onto a pallet, and paid for them.  We ran out miscellaneous errands.

Mountains around Anchorage.  Beautiful Trees!

The living room of North Country Castle Bed and Breakfast.

On Thursday night we watched "Breaking Dawn: Part 1", then walked to Red Robin for 45 minutes (a quick dinner-snack) and then watched "TinTin".  Every night the snow would start falling.  On Thursday the snow started falling around noon and didn't stop.  By the time we finished our last movie we had at least five inches on the car  and around the wheels.  

Thursday: On our last night in Anchorage, Nathan and I  shipped our containers, then celebrated our accomplishment by watching Breaking Dawn and TinTin.  By the time we got back to the car, we had gotten five inches of snow.  

By the nest morning the snow was up to the bumper of the suburban.  It was up to the top of my boots (just below my knee) no including the snow I pushed down with my step.

On Friday morning we left the Bed and Breakfast (one foot of powder had accumulated around the suburban overnight).  

Friday morning we pack up all our things, loaded the car, said goodbye to our hosts, Cindy and Wray, and headed downtown to pick up Sharon.  Then we went to Costco with our three coolers to buy our perishable items that would be additional checked bags on the flight.  From their we went to the airport for our 12pm flight.  We arrived at 11:30am, unloaded, said goodbye to Sharon, and checked in...3 minutes too late.  

The other truck in the Hollands' drive way.  On Saturday, when I arrived it was visible.  On Friday when we left...well... you can see the side mirror.

Fortunately the lady at the counter didn't put us on standby.  She told us that our checked bags might not be on the plane with us but they would leave on the cargo plane later that day.  We made it to the gate (fortunately again, not behind security) with about five minutes to spare.  Then we boarded our plane (Pam and Michael were on the flight with us back to St. Michael).  90 minutes to Unalakleet.  Our bags didn't travel with us.  After we arrived we were told our plane to St. Michael was already in Unalakleet and we would be leaving early.  Our plane was supposed to leave at 4:30pm.  We left around 3pm.  The plane was so cold when we boarded that the ice you usually see on the outside of the windows of commercial airplanes at 30,000 feet, was on the inside of the windows at sea level.  We arrived in St. Michael at 3:30pm and were met by Tim B. (assistant principal) who drove us home.  The first thing we did when we got home was walk to the post office where we had two packages waiting, just in time for Christmas.

Traveling to Anchorage for Break

Friday afternoon sunset...at 3:52pm.  The sun finally came over the mountains at noon.

On Friday evening, Katie and I had a sleepover at my house since Nathan was in Anchorage already.  We made pizza and apple-pear sauce.  We watched "The Painted Veil" and then stayed up talking until after midnight.  The next morning we both woke up before our alarms (at 6:30am) and then got ready for our trip.  She went back to her house to finish packing and I finished packing and got the cats ready for the week.  At about 8:15am I went to Katie's house and we had grapefruit and omelets for breakfast.  At 10:40, Carolyn came and picked us up in the Suburban and drove us out to the airstrip where our plane was waiting.  Then we took off and headed to Unalakleet.

The view from the plane on the way to Unalakleet as the sun comes up (11am).

 We spent about three hours in Unalakleet.  It was very windy but we braved the wind and walked around before our Pen Air flight left.

Unalakleet layover walk.  

The five-plex where Ellen and I stayed on the way to St. Michael in August.  The windows under the snow drift are where we slept.

Ice that had been pushed up on the beach during the "Snowicane".

 We left Unalakleet at 2pm and landed in Anchorage at 3:35pm on Saturday where Nathan was waiting.  Anchorage was under a winter storm warning with wind gusts to reach 100 mph We stopped by REI to buy snow pants for snow machining.  We also went to Tidal Wave Books (a used book store) that was next door.  After shopping we went to North Country Castle Bed and Breakfast where we are staying and brought in my luggage.  I changed out of my traveling clothes and we went over to the Hollands for dinner.  During dinner the power flickered off and on many times until it went out for good.  We lit candles and lanterns and continued dessert and conversation until 11:30pm.  There was no power at the bed and breakfast either.
The storm continued through the night and morning bring the temperature up into the forties.  This meant that is was now too warm for snow machining.

Christmas Program

At Anthony A. Andrews School (the big school) in St. Michael, the students and teachers put on a Christmas program for the community.  Each class comes up with something to do--either a song, skit, dance, etc.  My class made an acrostic poem using "MERRY CHRISTMAS" and as a class came up with a word for each letter.  When we stood up in front of the community to present our poem, we began with "S" and moved down the line to "M".  Then Flora and I said our line "Now if you read our letters from left to right, you'll find a Christmas greeting for everyone tonight."  Then we all sang "Jingle Bells".
My class of four (and and now some five) year olds has 20 students (we got a new student at the beginning of the month.  If you count the letters in Merry Christmas you will notice there are only 14 letters.  This didn't bother me, because I know there is a very good chance that certain students will not be at the program.  I was right.  We had 13 out of 20 students show up for the program.  Cecelia, our teacher aide, got to be one of the letters with the kids.
After we were done preforming, the students went to sit with their parents and I got to sit back and enjoy the rest of the show.

Waiting "backstage".  From the left: Regina, Dorris, Cecelia, Chris, Kyra, Leandra

From the left: Lennie, Zach, Staci, Paul, Kobe, Daiza, Tennille, Carter, Regina

Me and 13 of my 20 students waiting "backstage" while the 3 year olds performed.  They did a mini-musical based on the book the Littlest Christmas Tree.  I wish we had been able to see it.  

Performing.  On the far right, Lennie begins the presentation with "S is for Snowball".

Daiza saying, "I is for Icicle"

Flora leading us in "Jingle Bells" to finish up our program.

Leandra, Staci, and Regina made Christmas cards with me on Thursday.  

Our finished cards: mine, Leandra's, Regina's, and Staci's

I am so proud of my students.  They did a great job.  They came up to me after the program saying, "Teacher, I wasn't scared!"  They had a lot of fun.  Here is the poem we wrote:
S is for Snowballs
A is for Apple Pie
M is for Music
T is for Tree
S is for Ski Pants
I is for Icicles
R is for Ribbons
H is for Hats
C is for Candles
Y is for Yams
R is for Racecars
R is for Reindeer
E is for Eskimo
M is for Muffins

We performed it from right to left so the audience saw the letters in order.