Alaska At Last: Fun In The Tundra

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Fun In The Tundra

Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music.
~William Stafford

"Hey, Hey, Rangle," one of my speech kiddos, Adin excitedly ordered, "Cose your eyes! Now yook at Me!"
This is the sight that I beheld. Just the surprise I needed during a midweek blah. So entertained was I that it seemed fitting to share Adin's humor with you all. Connie in the background got a good kick out of it too. Just when paperwork, data, laws, data, mandates, data, protocols, data, testing, and data loom over you like a whiteouting Northeaster... An 'Adin' breeze thaws you and gently reminds you why you do what you do in the first place. A breath of 'fresh air' so to speak.

Here's an interesting little tidbit Connie just shared with me. If you are ever lost in the tundra in the winter (this could happen, Karen and I tried to go running last night at 7pm in a windstorm, not my most shining moment) you can figure out which direction is which by digging a hole in the snow down to the ground. Once you see the grasses you observe which way they are laying because they almost always freeze from the northeast. Of course that probably wouldn't help me since I wouldn't know which way to go from there anyway. But for those of you not so directionally challenged as myself, there ya go. Tuck it away for that just in case you're lost in the tundra moment.

Taking full advantage of the new fallen snow today, our intensive kiddos donned the newly waxed skis and had a go. None of them had even been on skis and all of them loved it! What fun:) What a great staff we have willing to have a new adventurous experience.

Kusokokwim 300 Dogsled Race starts Friday night in Bethel. We'll be watching the results from afar. Go Dogs Go!

"Children are a blessing and a gift from the LORD."

Psalm 127:3

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The Dare Rope

7/20/2009 My friend Lisa suggested we start a 'Dare Rope' (she has a 'Dare Chair' which I love, check it out on her blog-Surviving the Hood..Motherhood That Is). The premise is this: a little urging to get out of our comfort zones is healthy! This gadget is meant to provide the kick in pants we need;) I'll dare us once in a while in the blog posts (there will be a Grab the Dare Rope alert and I'll highlight them oh, say, violet or something) then we can choose to grab ahold and accept the dare...or not. But I think we should cause they'll be good dares;) Thanks Lis great idea! Here's to hanging on!!!

Archive: The Dealer

7/16/09 I admit it seemed shady from the start. I found him in an add off Craigslist, his email instructed me to leave my number, you know one of those "don't call me I'll call you" kind of set ups. We agreed to meet at high noon in the mini mall parking lot off Glen Hwy. and Muldoon. He'd bring 2 sizes, a large and a medium (military issued). I would choose when I tried them on. I was early (nervous)not wanting to miss him and make sure of my surroundings. He pulled up in his shiny, red corvette (must be a big demand for winter gear in these parts,I observed). He popped the trunk. Looking around he said,"Back here." and gestured as he moved toward the rear of the fancy car. "You stay here." I whispered to Mom as I approached the trunk and peered in. Hum, I wondered to myself...as he looked around again and pulled out the first one, the medium. I slipped it on certain I looked suspicious standing in the unusually hot sun of the Alaska afternoon wearing a (for extreme weather-he assured me) parka. Not wanting to linger and draw any more attention to our business transaction I shoved the money in his hand, he shut the trunk and sped away, leaving me squinting through the snorkel of my purchase. "Let's get outa here!" I yelled through the muffling hood to Mom as I made a beeline for the Civic, dodging an older lady coming across the parking lot from KFC with her chicken basket. What mattered was that the deal was done, I had my parka I would be warm this winter. Okay, maybe it didn't go down just like that but I bet it was pretty close;)

Archive: Filleting Fish Is An Art

6/29/09 Okay, Jake and I were the rookies on the river. We are just learning the ropes. I give us both credit for jumping in and trying a hand at filleting those slippery buggers. I admit mine weren't the best fillets but I got most of the meat off, sort of, in chunks and pieces that were kind of attached to eachother, mostly. So I don't think its necessary for my mom (currently part of the vaccum seal assembly line) to loudly and painfully proclaim, "Oh, boy this must be another one of Rachel or Jake's." I didn't see her fumbling away trying to keep the 'knife along the backbone'. Noooooooooo, she stood back pretending to supervise.