Championship?!

"When late morning rolls around and you're feeling a bit out of sorts, don't worry; you're probably just a little eleven o'clockish."
Winnie the Pooh, Pooh's Little Instruction Book

So this morning I woke up late. Sherry had called to see if I'd mind watching the kids while she and Eric went mushing. Loving to visit with Einer who always has hilarious stories to tell, I quickly rolled off the couch, brushed my teeth, pulled on my fancy new Tour of Anchorage tuque and trotted across the street. Einer had me playing basketball in their living room, it appears to be the theme here this weekend...(timeout I have a headache and I'm just now realizing it is because I haven't had my coffee yet today and it's 2:00 pm!!!) No wonder I'm a 'little eleven o'clockish'. Hang on I'm going to start a pot o coffee...want some? Stop on over, I'll even let you use my new Iditarod 2010 mug. Ok so Einer and I played b-ball and watched 'Wow Wubbsy' (while entertaining I still like "Wonder Pets" best) this morning. A good way to wake up.

Got a phone call from my friend Karen informing me that 'we' (our LKSD basketball team) are in the championship playoff game sometime today! So Steph and I (being the integral parts of the team we are) can't wander too far from home, we are 'on call'. No pressure or anything. Really I can't take credit since yesterday's game which I missed was the game that put us in the championship bracket (they won that game) remember we lost the game I played in and here's the clencher, we are playing the same team that we lost too. Ugh. So I'm sitting here feeling 11 o'clockish trying to get psyched up to play a basketball game. Did I just say that? "Play a basketball game?!" lol, I still can't believe I am playing basketball, goes to show there's a first time for everything. Figures I'd have to come all the to the wilds of Alaska to embark on such a crazy endeavor as playing basketball. And to think I've been so successful at avoiding it for so long...

I'm sore from riding back seat in sleigh yesterday. Hang on again, coffee is done. Yum, smells good! Thank you Amanda for the Bunn coffee pot and for the Red Bull, lol, chocolate, and mas cafe! What a treat, gracias. Ani says "Woof wuf." That's 'Quyana for the treats'. He likes 'em:)

Oh, and check out the latest edition of Fish Alaska Magazine (the annual gear guide until March 2011) Jim sent in photos of Steph, him and me fishing on the Kanetok last last summer. They published them. I think we are on page 20. Neat, eh?

Reassurance to my wonderful concerned family and friends whom I cherish. Please know that I carry a gun when I run and I have my dog with me. If the wolves decide that Ani and I are on the menu we are not going down without a fight. My heart goes out to the precious family and friends of Candice Berner, teacher who was killed by wolves this week while going for a run in a village far south of us. What an incredibly sad tragedy that is. I suspect she understood it, as we all understand it, that Alaska is a wild place. That's why we come here. This 'State' brings with it equal doses of unexplainable joyous adventure and indescribable dangerous risk. It is inherent to Alaska. Teaching/living in the bush is no exception. May our thoughts and prayers be felt by her loved ones.

Photo by none other than Jim Barthelman

The bathroom hot water pipes froze again, had to wedge the space heater in the tiny 'space' between the bathtub and wall. All is well hot water is back in progress and nothing caught fire.

"Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus' sake, which makes Jesus' life all the more evident in us."
2 Corinthians 4:11

Spring Fever

"When I was a kid, I remember thinking that nothing was real. It felt like a movie set, and if you turned your head fast enough, you'd catch God changing the scenery."
- Joel to Maggie

Above Pic taken by Jim Barthelman, Photographer Extraordinaire

The scenery... Quinhagak to Bethel, Bethel to Quinhagak. Anchorage was a welcomed reprieve as we head for the homestretch of this school year. Third quarter is coming to an end. The year has been zooming by. I'm sure if feels much the same for all of you. Now in the throes of trying to make that decision to return to Quin for another year or head home to LCO after my year of leave. Never dreamed this decision would weigh so heavy on my heart. But Quinhagak has become: my home, the village: my community, and the people: my friends and family. It is that way back home in Wisconsin too. So could I just be in both places at once???? Why must life feel so ridden with decision making? I know God will point the direction, He has all along. I'm thankful for the blessing of decisions, don't get me wrong. I just wish He'd tell me which one exactly to choose. Loud and clear. Not leave so much up to my figuring it out. Sorry, I'm whining. Meanwhile...

But what's been happening???

Well, Steph and I had our basketball playing debut, shocking, yes, its true I played my first game of basketball this weekend in our local tournament to help support the bereavement fund. It was Steph's second game (she's an old pro). The fund was set up to help families with the expenses incurred to go to Anchorage when a loved one is sick in the hospital, airfare, food, housing etc. This is definitely a need out here since we are so remote the hospitalization costs are high for the entire family. So Steph and I accepted positions (I still don't know which one I actually played) on the LKSD team along with our fellow teachers: Emma (Capt.), Emma (Center), Karen (Organizer), Kathy(3 Pointer), Kathy(Rookie like me and Steph), and Susan (ALL STAR). We almost won and in my book that counted. I couldn't make a basket to save my life but I could run so that's what I did just chased the ball and threw it to my teammates so they could sink it;) I did get in trouble for double dribbing, go figure and hanging around the net for too long...I didn't know there was a limit, lol. Anyway I was worn out, sore and kinda sick today.


Instead of playing in today's game, this afternoon Jim fired up their snow go and off we all snow goed into the tundra. Destination a-bau-luk, upriver. Jim, Steph and me, Three's Company. I got to ride in the sled behind the snowgo. What a treat! Haven't done that since I was 7 or 8 up at Gram and Grampa's farm with all the cousins. I had the best seat for sure, like a lazy boy. Steph and Jim rigged up Marley and Bela's dog beds into a comfy seat. I snuggled into my Wiggies sleeping bag and we hit the trail. 50 miles along the Kanektok toward the mountains, 100 mile round trip. Beautiful day for it besides the chilly weather. The sun made up for the cold. We even got into TREES! Pretty good sized trees at that. Felt like I was in a parade, look at me, it's like I should be waving or something, lol. Anyway, spring break has been a good.




Shout Out To: Amy Lou on the 16th! Happiest Birthday my wonderful friend:)

"God-traveled, these roads curve up the mountain, and at the last turn - Zion! God in full view!" Psalms 84:7

A Little Anchorage Action For Ya'll

Asked to explain why mushers are drawn to this sport, four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King of Denali Park, Alaska, took time to reflect before answering...

"Until you've ridden a dog team you've trained from puppies on a full moon with a hard trail and feel their energy and hear the panting of their tongues, the jingle of their collars, feel the surge of power that comes through the handlebar, I don't think you can appreciate what it's really like," the 54-year-old said. "But that's exactly the reason."

We touched down in Anchorage Thursday night. Kinda felt like coming home, haven't been back since last summer. It was good to be around familiar places, even though I'm still at a loss when it comes to getting from here to there. Picked up my car, that was weird after our 7 month separation. (which did not have my map in it... Josh? Sam? What happened to my map???) Evidently I haven't forgotten how to drive it. Spent the first night with my friends Ang and Brandon and kids. Skylar was getting ready for some State Hockey Games. His team would eventually go on to win second! Good Work Skylar!

Friday,we quickly adjusted to our new home, also the "Headquarters of the Iditarod", The Millennium Hotel. The parking lot was full of mush-mobiles featured left. Obviously, we immediately had to have our own impromptu meet and greet with the dogs. Of course, Steph and I were secretly sizing up our future competition;) We have now invented the co-op dog sled team. Our motto?? "Together We Mush!" We figure if we each keep collecting dogs between the two of us we'll finally have a whole team. Unless of course I can find a cute, single, christian musher man who doesn't want a cook, but rather would like help mushing, hummm, let's revisit that one another time, lol. Anyway, below are many touristy shots of us. We were supposed to hit the slopes, sadly that did not happen due to my taxes taking an incredibly long time to complete and the 'avalanche' danger at Alyeska. The mountain was closed all day. Unfortunately that was the only window we had open to take advantage of it. Oh, well, luckily we understand the tumultuous reins of Alaskan weather and its all too powerful hold on one's plans. So we did what any flexible sourdough would do, we changed gears. I had been looking forward to meeting up with Mike (remember the boys' foreman who is a friend from this summer), he was going to be part of the Alyeska extravaganza too. But was willing the revamp his itinerary as well and joined us in downtown Anchorage instead. He didn't really stand a chance, poor Mike.

Steph and I conned him into taking us shopping while the boys went back to the hotel to wax skis for the quicker than I could appreciate approaching Tour of Anchorage on Sunday. Mike was a good sport though, he led us to some rocking deals on new carhartts, lol. It obviously wasn't the typical shopping spree that might be why he hung in there with us so long. His comment? "I've never seen anyone care what they look like in carhartts until now. I believe I've seen it all." When Steph and I were trying to decide if the women's carhartts were too big in the hips.

Even gave us a tour of what was left of the ice sculptures (see picture). What is it? Your guess is as good as mine. Anyway, thanks Mike! Later we cruised out to Girdwood to eat at Chair Five, a fun restaurant with kicking pizza. Aside: Still not as good as the Moose's Tooth. Then to Alyeska Resort to listen to the bluegrass yodels of Peter Rowen. Wow, is he ever good.

Below is a pic of the whole village herd of us soaking up the Iditarod 2010 (Principal Eric w/Einer, Sherry w/Addy, Dirk, Me, Jim and Steph).

Saturday morning we headed for 4th Ave to witness the 38th Annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Ceremonial Start. Each musher is announced and mushes down the street for a pseudo send off before the actual start on Sunday in Willow. We saw them all folks, Jeff King, Dee Dee Jonrowe, Lance Mackey, Sebastian Schnuelle, and my person favorite... whom I totally made eye contact with as he mushed by (mostly because he was probably startled at all the commotion on my side of the road, I was hopping around hooting and hollering trying to get his attention, it worked) Martin Buser! I LOVE HIS VOICE!!! It captivates me, his slight swiss accent, I could listen to him talk all day long, okay enough of that. 71 mushers and teams in all, cruised by. Thousands of fans and armchair mushers (like us) stood by to cheer them on and wish them well, "Happy Trails" was the theme to be sure. It was amazing to see, all those happy pupperoos and mushers waving back and throwing dog booties full of candy (that was Lance). Couldn't believe we were really there. Some even slowed down enough for the little kiddos to give them a high five. I tried, but was promptly escorted off the road/trail by security.... Pictured top left Steph and I just happy to be there, top right Martin Buser rounding the corner, next left Dee Jonrowe, next right MARTIN BUSER!!!! (he's looking right at me, you just can't tell;) Next left Sebastian Schnuelle. Finally the racer from Jamaica. Of course we also have the guy next to me who, as Eric so eloquently put it...looks like Chubaka. He is wearing a Grizzly Bear Fur coat which his father hunted. He fits the part rather well, don't you think. I couldn't resist the obvious photo opp. By the way the same thing was happening to us right and left, random people wanted a picture with the "Elena Charles Original Parka". We were able to share where she was from and the story of how she made it with all sorts of people.

Below Sherry w/Addy, Me and Steph.

Sunday... We Came to Service Highschool picked up our bibs and tried to stretch. I wondered what I thought I was doing. I felt that all too familiar sense of impending doom, when sleek skier after skier sophisticatedly discussed which waxes they prepped with and what training they had done up this or that mountain. All I could hear in my head was Principal Eric assuring me my skis would be waxed, which I appreciate immensely (and they were, but unfortunately as he had apologized and informed me only moments before...not with the good wax) you see, Dirk used all the good wax on his skis for the 25 K. Thanks a lot Dirk. Though at that point the good wax really was the least of my problems. I was about to attempt to ski 40 kilometers of uncharted territory with little to no real training (unless we count ski joring and a handful of runs). So to distract myself from that which was now out of my control I rummaged through my pockets to inventory that which was still in my control, my trusty survival kit:

*2 large handfuls of gummy candy for energy from the packages I bought at the gas station last night because I forgot to get 'Gu' "check"
*1 'has seen better days camera' to take pictures of the 'Tour' lest I forget I had no business out there trying to 'race'. "check"
*1 GCI cell phone to call people. Thankfully in Anchorage there are not as many dropped calls as in the village. In case I think of something important I need to tell people along the way for instance, oh I don't know, something like ..."Help Steph, Jim, come pick me up at such and such a place"..."check"

"Okay, I'm ready to go!" I doubted enthusiastically to myself. Then as if a gift of encouragement from God, just when I stepped onto the snow I overheard one skier say to the other...
"So you skied Birkie? How was it?"
"Yeah, I just got back it was great! Now this will be a piece of cake."
Ahh, I breathed a sigh of relief, a secret message from home. If I can finish Birkie I can finish the Tour De Anchorage. The announcer beckoned Wave 8, we staged, "Skiers take your mark, ready, BANG!" The journey of 40 K begins with one push...WHOOSH! The ol' rock skis ride again...

We Skied across the football field into some of the most stunning scenery. The first 20 kilometers wound through thick pine forests, playing hide and seek with the mountains, crossed over creeks with bridges (I'm certain were close to where mom and I were nearly trampled by that moose and calf last summer. I'm confident they were being chased by a bear which made me thankful that bears hibernate so I could 'bearfreely' enjoy my ski through the woods this morning). It was definitely Birkie-esq. My strategy was to try to think of a strategy. I started out trying to stay with Principal Eric, that didn't go as planned so I took some pictures of him before he skated out of sight and scratched that idea. Bon Voyage Boss, I can't keep that pace. Not if I want to walk tomorrow anyway. So my digital tour began... for the rest of the race I stopped to smell the roses, maybe better put is, stopped to smell the trees. Either way I breathed in the surroundings. Even bothered some spectators to take my picture as you can see. The next 15 k was across overpasses with tons of traffic zooming beneath, through tunnels with traffic zipping overhead, and along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail (whom by the way, I passed at about 30 K). Yep, Tony Knowles himself was classic skiing the whole thing. The trail was like skiing along the north shore of Lake Superior back home. Until of course, the last 5 K...






We Conquered in our own minds anyway. That last 5 kilometers was a nonnegotiable! So much that had I known what the seemingly short leg was in comparison to the other 35 ...I'd have seriously considered throwing in towel. That's right I might have just forfeited. That last 5 kilometers was insane, at best. Uphill, who finishes a race uphill???? It was tough. I managed to slog it out but it wasn't pretty. Nobody was getting any tips from my form, well maybe they were, maybe a coach could have used me as an example for a skier in training "You see that? I don't ever want to see you looking like that! You got it? That is not what skiing is supposed to look like." The deal is, I finished, enough said. It was a beautiful blue sky, sunshine day. We topped it off with Addie's first birthday party at the Moose's Tooth. A day well spent. Thank You God. Washed the car and said good bye until May.




Monday this morning we had breakfast at Gwennie's. Caught our plane back to Bethel then on to Quin.









Meanwhile back at the ranch....Justin who had been watching Animosh called with some interesting updates regarding Ani's activities while I was gone. Take a look at what Ani had been up too. Apparently he didn't want to be kept in the entry over night...so he remodeled. Justin found him curled up on the couch the next morning happy as a clam. I fixed it with cardboard and duct tape. What a dog! Welcome home, eh?

"Not a cedar in God's garden came close to it. No pine tree was anything like it. Mighty oaks looked like bushes growing alongside it. Not a tree in God's garden was in the same class of beauty." Ezekiel 31:8

A Friend

“Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy.” ~An Eskimo Proverb

My friend up here, David Simon, had another stroke yesterday morning while in the hospital in Anchorage. Today they took him off life support and he went to be with Jesus around 8 pm this evening surrounded by his family and friends. It
was even reported to me that he took with him the grandkids' pet bird and fish from back here in Quinhagak. Both passed on too! It made everyone laugh because he is forever saying to his family that they don't need all those pets around! David and Fannie welcomed me with open arms into their home and family back in August when I arrived in Quin. I know they were sent by God. I would often stop in after church to visit. David always wore a smile, had a funny story and a cup of coffee brewing to share. What a blessing to have known him
in the short time that I have been here.


Please continue to pray for Fannie his wife, Lily, John and Martha his children and his grandchildren and the wonderful friends and family he leaves behind for awhile. Quyana. Thank you all for your prayers. Here are a few pictures of David earlier this fall when he, Fannie and Lily took me upriver fishing. What a time we had! Pretty nice catch, eh? He really is a generous, loving, kindest, gentlest soul. He will be greatly missed by our community.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." John 14:1-4


"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:4

"Anchorageward, HO!"

"You had me do a two hour turn around to Anchorage to pick up *bagels*? They were supposed to be medical supplies!"
- Maggie to Joel, Northern Exposure



Above: The only hill in Quinhagak
(I think a dump truck must have put it there on the beach.)

This is me giving you all a call checking in. This is Ani bored because I talk too much. You know... sometimes you just gotta go to town for something. So watch out Anchorage the villagers are coming. Jim, Steph, and I are (Lord willing with weather permitting) headed to the big city tomorrow night! We will be meeting up with Eric, Sherry and the kids and Dirk from Eek. Jim, Steph and I are staying with my dear friends Brandon and Angie and crew for a couple days. Friday I am getting my taxes done, yaw-whooo that means I don't have to take responsibility I'll leave it up to good ol' H & R after all. We hope to hit the slopes of Alyeska, sometime that afternoon/evening with my friend Mike (who worked with my brothers this summer). I can't wait cause I haven't snowboarded all winter and since the Olympics I've been kinda craving it. Maybe catch some bluegrass music Friday night in Gridwood. Saturday is the ceremonial start of the Iditarod so we'll be taking in the sights of downtown Anchorage, enjoying the Fur Rondy Festival, and sending off our favorite mushers in style! Then Sunday is the Tour of Anchorage, my Birkebeiner stand-in for this year. Eric, Dirk and I will be cross country skiing 40 beautiful kilometers of Anchorage (ahem, correction: Dirk chickened out and is only skiing 25, of course some might consider him all the wiser for it) . This is, of course, assuming that I can finish with the less than ideal ski jor-ish training I've been winging around here...hum wonder if they let dogs in the race???? Wonder if I can remember how to ski without one?? Has living in the tundra made me soft? Well this is where the wax meets the snow (thanks to Principal Eric), the trail will tell so to speak. Either way, I am looking forward to embracing my blissful ignorance and hopping in the race/tour no matter how ill-prepared I truly am (lol, I say that now). Honestly, that seems to be my motto, "Why train when you can just skip right to the race?" Though with an attitude like that nobody's winning any medals, lol. Luckily, I don't care I'm one of those who just want the proverbial t-shirt so I can make a quilt out of it someday. Speaking of, Auntie Jan sent up a Birkie Pride tee shirt that she made! I plan on sporting it in honor of Birkie '10 which I missed. We'll get some pics for yas:) Then Monday it's a wrap and we head back out to Quin.

"All sunshine and sovereign is God, generous in gifts and glory.
He doesn't scrimp with his traveling companions."
Psalm 84:11