Sweet Saturdays

"I used to think of all the billions of people in the world, and of all those people, how was I going to meet the right ones? The right ones to be my friends, the right one to be my husband. Now I just believe you meet the people you're supposed to meet."
~ Maggie O'Connel (Northern Exposure)

Chan-nel Ra-chel
My life is a sitcom for days when God needs a good laugh. This is the only logical conclusion I can draw to explain me to myself sometimes. Is that normal? Do you ever feel like that? Yesterday's episode would have started something like this: me in my admittedly warmer than most, 70 degree house, layering up in my parka (actually that part could be an episode in and of itself): zippers, buttons, pockets, flaps, fake fur flying around, over-sized hood blocking my view, do I put my mittens on before so the parka cuffs cover them but then I have to fight the whole zipping up drama, hat on before or after (its hard to do with the mittens on) but now I'm sweating and I haven't even gotten my boots on or out the door...wait do I have my keys on my lanyard around my neck? Ahh, geee, now I have to unzip everything, take off or set down my mittens depending on what I decided and dig around searching for the lanyard. Yep, I have it on. Okay, re-suit up. Finally I'm ready to go, out the door into the arctic air and whoops, just about slipped on the 5 inch mogul that has formed right outside (nearly amputated a innocent trick or treater later the next day). Steadying myself and finding solace in the thought that even if I did luge down the 6 steps to the ground, I would surely be unharmed with the amount of padding provided by my trusty parka (yes, feel free to envision the little brother off The Christmas Story movie). Squinting in the noonday sun and trying to regain my breath I plod off in the direction of the Quarnituug Inc. our local and only store. My mission? To go shopping. Delighted, I take the the new short cut "the snow go side walk". Thanks to the wonders of winter travel vehicles, there are now hard pack icy trails across ground that only a week ago was wet tundra. This is where I now walk. I have Ani with me. Upon arrival at the store he is promptly tied to one of the metal pipe-like frames under the store where he will patiently wait for my shopping fix to come to an end. In the store I wander up an down the aisles purposely not grabbing a basket because to buy the amount of items it would take to fill a basket would cost me next month's paycheck. Inevitably it turns into a walmartesq spree and I should have grabbed a basket. After an hour of perusing the shelves, I'm dying of heat exhaustion (my parka works really well), my arms are overflowing with incredibly expensive things that I don't need, I can barely walk in my arctic pack boots and to top it all off I'm obviously not sneakily blending in, in all of my 'cossack'-ness (that's white person in Yup'ik) so I'm sticking out like a sore thumb and (I say that with all the respect and humor I can possibly convey);) As I near the check out 6 people turn and look at me sympathetically. "Basket?" One lady asks? " Oh, No Quyana" I stupidly assure her further confirming whatever skeptical hilarious thoughts of me she was already thinking as beads of sweat dripped off my forehead, "I..I'm checking out now," I offer, as I stumble over my 'good to 100 below Sorrel/Ronald McDonald boots' toward the counter not registering the fact that I had just blatantly budged in front of a young man who had only one bottle of oil to buy. Then deposited my random purchases all over the counter. The cashier smiled stifling a chuckle as the basket lady at the check out next to me kindly offered to let the victim of my budging go ahead of her, that was the point I realized what I had done, ouch. So I sheepishly apologized and we all laughed at my expense. I bumbled around a few more minutes trying to collect my bags and found myself in the usual predicament trying to re-suit up this time with a line of people patiently waiting for me to get a move on. "Now where did I put my other mitten?" I mumbled to myself. "Did I drop it somewhere?" I try to peek around without anyone noticing. But the basket lady hears me, smiling she points to the 'mitten' tucked under my arm. "Quyana." I say again wanting to run for the door but knowing full well that if the bags loaded with expensive cargo didn't slow me down the layers of arctic wear would. "Well, folks it's been fun, I'll be here all year!" And with that I exit stage left but only after pushing the pull door. Cue the cheesy clapping and laughing. The screen goes black. Credits role: God-Author, Editor, Creator.

Knit, Knit, Knit so Thankful for the 'K'
Auntie Jan will yell out an' Amen' of this I am certain. After all she is the one who would for hours, tirelessly weed threw my heavy, lengthy locks with a fine tooth comb (literally) the couple times I was lucky enough to bring home unwanted hair guests throughout my last 10 years of teaching. Early on I adopted the mindset of "Bugs happen." (Calm down, no, Molly is not nit picking through my hair this pic was just to humor you. She was actually assuring me that she could braid and was giving it a whirl;)This became my motto as a way to remind myself to lighten up! The whole thought of invasive parasites feeding off one's scalp and the hours of work cleaning and exterminating that would follow wasn't really as dramatic as people make it out to be, like many things in life. The 'calling' everyone I may have come in contact with urging them to check their own heads and confessing I was 'infested'. Oh, the guilt but eventual humor. You know, everyone should have to experience a nit infestation at some point, it takes the fear and blame of the idea away. Bugs happen. O well, pick em out and get on with it.

What was my point you maybe wondering? Okay you are definitely wondering and your head kind of itches, lol. I just thought this post needed a unique intro (drum roll please): I have officially finished my first ever 'knitted' (with a K) item! It turned out not to want to be a scarf but prefer to become a 'neck up'! You know, one of those 'tubes' you pull over your head and wear around your neck. And if you live in Quin, you then, pull the remainder up over your face, assume the Frankenstein approach to walking and care less about your lack of sight than about the warmth of your cheeks and nose! Yep, the project is complete. Thanks to the help of Traci (Quyana) who taught me (trust me that part was not easy) and provided the needles and entire skein of yarn! And Sherry who helped me 'cast it off' to completion. Ironically that's exactly what I wanted to do with it after 4 hours straight of knitting this morning. I'm even dabbling in the knitter language, albeit not fluently:) I must confess this neck-up-tube-thingy does look better than the scarf I made for a friend of mom's during a very short lived (much to her relief, unbeknown-st to me) crocheting stint I went through several years ago. Apparently, when I wasn't looking she forbade him from wearing it in public. That's right, it was a scarf even a mother couldn't love. Rest assured this one, though nowhere near perfect, might even earn her scarf-snob approval;)

Trick or Treaters
Here are a few pics from our annual Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat (our school's name in Yup'ik, no I can't pronounce it yet I need a speech language program here more than my students I think;) The way one speaks Yup'ik requires the use of muscles I didn't even know I had, in order to formulate words in a manner of such that make rolling an r in Spanish seem like child's play:) But I'm trying. Anyway here are the Halloween Costume/Pumpkin Carving Contest candids. Steph and I tied for 3rd in the teacher contest. I was sporting the traditional Costa Rican Dress and Steph is Cleopatra, thanks to Geri Lynn sending up costumes! (the general consensus at the school however, was that I must be wearing a gypsy costume, probably more appropriate for me anyway;) Note Principal Eric and John Teddy, they went as 'Twins'. And, yes, even Elvis was in the building.
So starting at noon today and not ending until I left to make my first attempt at skijorning around 6pm, little lions, tigers, punk rockers, transformers and screams were knocking on my door, slipping and sliding their ways up and down my steps. What fun! Most costumes were hidden beneath layers of snow pants and snowsuits or stuffed amongst them. Below is Emma one of our stellar kindergarten teachers carving away!

Skijoring in Da' Moonlight
What way to ski! Ani chased Seeker and Sherry who led the way, while we jored off into the moon rise across the tundra toward the mountains. I've never felt like such a clutz except for earlier today okay and every other day. I fell more times than I want to say but thoroughly enjoyed doing it! Ani was a pulling fool. But his incentive might have had something to do with Seeker being in heat and me keeping him behind chasing. Either way I'm sold on the whole skijoring deal! We jored past frozen tundra lakes exposed from the wind blowing the snow off, under the ceiling of the first few stars stirred with a dash of pinkish, orange sunset and a nearly full helping of moon hung in just the right spot to provide the perfect finishing touches. As we zoomed along, headlamps flashing I couldn't help but sport a grin from ear to ear! It was like opening a present from God! S.W.A.K! I couldn't believe I am here with a friends and dogs and tundra. Wow, I truly stand in awe. I wish you could have seen the sun and mountains on our way out and then the lights of the village on our way back. It was a great first skijoring experience. Thanks Sherry!

Aye, Maqii! Do you?
We ended the whole beautiful day with an invite to maqii (take a steam bath) with a few friends. (To the left is an example of a steam house the little building in the front to the right of the snowgo) Jerilyn's husband Tim chauffeured all of us on their honda to the other end of the village where the steam house we would be using was located and then picked us up a few hours later to haul us back. Those two hours inbetween, were spent in the traditional Yup'ik manner of steam bathing (think super hot sauna) into the inner room with the hot rocks and stove then out to the changing room to cool/breathe, back into the steam room (which, if Tracy was in at the same time dosing the stove with can after can of water, I swear the mercury had to have hit about 6000 degrees) I don't know how she does it, anyway repeat that process like 10 times. It was one of those "no-way-could-I-have-planned-this-out-when-I-woke-up-this-morning-kind-of-days" day. My hope? That you all are having the same kind:) I'm going to sleep like a baby. Buenos Noches.

Shout Out To: Mike!!! He just called to share that today he became a GRAMPA for the first time!!!! Of a beautiful baby girl "Alana Rachel"! Congratulations to Daddy Nick and Mommy Rachel. And of course to GRAMPA MIKE!!! Gramps says to tell everyone out there reading hello too:) Also to Farve and Company!!! Go Vikings:)

"Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow." Matthew 6:33-34

Happy Halloween and Life

The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

~Jack Handey

Today behind the wrestling mat partition, the conversation went something like this:

Student 1: "Whoa you got old hands! (Pointing for student 2) Look at her old hands!"
Me: (futilely, neither student was listening) "Those are veins. And it's 'have'. You 'have' old hands."
Student 2: (Matter of factly) "It's because she got gray hair. Look." (Pointing for student 1)
Me: (to the wrestling mats) "Those are blonde highlights. And it's 'has'. She has gray hair. Okay, back to work."
Student 1: (involving me again) "How old are you?"
Me: (giving up)" 75."
Student 2: (Frankly) "My upi (that's grampa in Yupik) is older than you. He's 85 maybe."
Me: (Raising my eyebrows and noting to self that 'number concepts' just shot up to #1 on the priority list) ....So much for enjoying my 30s. Kids say the darnedest things...on with the lesson "The dog is jumping over the stool..."

As I was being dragged along the road by Ani the other day we came up on the kids having a hilarious time pulling each other around on their snow go. I remember doing that at Gram and Grampa's farm with my cousins. We would get laughing so hard we could barely breath, fun times. So, the tundra has taken on the appearance of a snow cross track! I'm hoping to get the skis on on that track this weekend after the big Halloween expedition. On that note, I am thoroughly prepared for all the little superheroes and movie stars, thanks to so many of my wonderful friends in the lower 48 sending me candy. I was actually worried about having enough prior to getting 4 boxes of the sweet stuff, obviously my concerns were unfounded, God is totally into the details, He amazes me. The Quinhagak kiddos will be well sugared, better yet the blame is on all of you;) Naomi, our incredible and always smiling, post office attendant, was laughing as she pushed these 3 boxes toward me. She was also probably wondering if I had some kind of 'business' going on the side. I had to get a pic as she was shaking her head watching me try to load them up, peer over the top and head out the door. Something fun about Quin is that as you are walking along the road, just about everyone on four wheeler and occasional car will slow down to see if you might need or like a ride. So I didn't have to walk far with my surprises, Jim hauled me home on his 'honda'. Earlier that morning I was picked up by a mom bringing her kids to school and a few days before I caught a ride with some students on their 'honda'. Everyone looks out for each other. There is a warmness in this cold climate, that makes Quinhagak a beautiful community. I have a confession (sort of) maybe it's a pre-confession, is there such a thing?: I think I'm going to be addicted to 360 North, it's the Alaskan version of PBS "Its the channel for Alaskans by Alaskans..." I'm writing this because it's on TV right now.

This is a picture of the new housing against our snow blanketed mountains across the tundra.

Shout Out To: Mary Lou Who turns the BIG 30 on the 30th! Happy Golden Birthday My Friend! And to Amanda who turned the BIG 30 on the 26th! Hope it was fun in Puerto Rico! To Robyn my Kilimanjaro climbing/wound care healer friend who is arriving home from AFRICA!!! Jambo! Welcome back:) Auntie Jan, I love the branches I'll have a forest in my house soon:) Will post pics for yas. Thankful for each of you sharing life's journey. Have a Safe, Happy Halloween.

"Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs..." Psalm 8:2

Walking etc. in a Winter Wonderland

“When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels." ~Anonymous

This weekend in Quinhagak the wind died down and activity picked up.

Actually you have three choices... the third being have a snowball fight! We selected option numero tres and have pictures to tell the story.

Correction there are four choices, also sledding on the hill (which we hope will grow in height as winter continues;)









Wow, pardon me, five choices, Steph and I walked the herd down to the ocean which had surprisingly swapped out it's summer/fall attire, featuring sprawling beach for a stylish ice pack edging, with that, the not so subtle threat of the coming disappearance entirely of our beloved beach altogether as more frozen water continues to move shoreward. This afternoon Sherry, Seekers, Ani and I seized the beach and went for a pre-skijoring run, that makes six choices when it snows;) Dogs and runners are now thoroughly anticipating the skijoring season.


Pics of the quickly disintegrating beach and the multiplying ice flows.

This is a snapshot of Quinhagak on our way back from the beach.








Shout Out To: My Gram and Auntie Shelly who so graciously called me this weekend to tell me they were eating at Dairy Queen and going shopping. Thank God for family to help me keep my perspective;)

"He orders the snow, 'Blanket the earth!' Job 37:6

Tundra Trends

"She's modeling the best way to wear a parka-as-a-style-piece: with a sassy outfit underneath (Carhartts). A parka in the City (Village) screams for sky-high heels (yeah, right) and a healthy dose of confidence. Of course her's is super high-end (military issued) but the one from Wikipedia is also pretty sweet in an old school way. If your mum, like mine, lives somewhere in the mid-west, try to steal her's when you're home at Thanksgiving. Maybe the drycleaner can get out that horsey/barn smell? Anyways, I don't really mind the parka but again it's a staple around here rather than a trend." ~Stylebites

Okay this is me in my fancy parka. Ani likes to walk down by Principal Eric's team because that's where all his friends and brother are, so I entertain him once in a while. Today was the first time we've wandered that direction since we've had snow to conveniently disguise the minefield that lies beneath. I appear to be joyously sending out a hug to the world from Quinhagak but the reality is, I am standing in a 2 foot deep hole dug by CT (Ani's brother), one of my principal's trusty sled dogs, which I had only moments before tripped and fallen into as snow was covering the hole creating a boobie trap. I'm actually taking a bow of clutzdom (which is the general state in which I exist). Poetically, I had a couple of students with me while Ani and I were on our evening walk so they were present to capture the moment on film and witness the whole graceful performance. That won't be lived down very soon.

We had teacher in service today so the kids took advantage of our new fallen snow, bundled up and spent the day playing outside.







Ani and CT (his brother) checking to see if I was okay after nearly plummeting to my...waist;)

Shout Out To: My neighbor back in Wisconsin, Larry, who's concern with the environment is noteworthy, I'll be planting a tree as soon as I find fertile ground just to keep you reading the blog;) And to Barb, his lovely wife, whom I was just informed, was on her way out of Marketplace Foods that fateful day the Bear made its way into the liquor store which made her the first person to spot him as he zinged past her on his way in!!!

"He continued this subject with his disciples. "Don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the ravens, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, carefree in the care of God. And you count far more." Luke 12:22-24

That's An Affirmative

"I can't criticize what I don't understand. If you want to call this art, you've got the benefit of all my doubts."

- Maurice to Chris, on his sculpture
Northern Exposure, 1990

I've raised my eyebrows for the second time. You got it. It means nothing to most of you but it's as exciting as all get out to me. It's a cultural thing. Within the Yupik culture it is acceptable if not even more probable that the answer to a question which requires a 'yes' response will be a nonverbal raising of the eyebrows in place of a verbal 'yes'. It's the same as nodding your head 'yes', except here we don't nod. Instead we raise our eyebrows and I've converted. Not intentionally but assimatingly. I was so surprised that I answered that way the first time which was a few days ago that I just passed it off as coincidence. But today at the post office I definitely answered Mac with a definitive raise of the eyebrows when he asked me if all my packages were for me I didn't even have the urge to say 'yes'. Am I loving Quinhagak, Alaska? See the photo for your answer;)


Weather: Yesterday the kids were outside playing football in t-shirts just outside the Quinhagak Store. Snapped a fun pic (left). It's the only football I've seen here so I guess that was our season. Today however the wind is whistling a different tune. Today the tundra has teeth, ice on the ground has appeared seemingly out of nowhere, thick enough for 2 of my fifth grade girls to skip across it side by side without going through or in Wisconsin terms: thick enough for the die hards I know (I won't mention names, you know who you are) to drive their trucks out on it and go fishing! So I plodded along to school this morning and ran around in the village this afternoon for parent teacher conferences, cold was wrapping itself around my toes, nose, eyes... yes, the time has come. Tomorrow morning I will bust out that parka I bought out of the trunk of a car in Anchorage this summer and the goggles that my friend Robyn gave me a few years back (little did she know I'd need them in the tundra of Alaska). So apparently up here we have 'instafreeze'. It's like they do to the halibut you catch down on the spit in Homer. The fish are vacuum packed somehow 'instantly frozen' so happy anglers can haul their catch home. I think the idea came from this part of the country the tundra and all of its inhabitants are zapped into winter in less than a day. Wisconsin is cold yes, but we usually have a week or so to get adjusted to the idea of winter moving in, a little snow, a little cold etc.

Quinhagak Parent Teacher Conferences: where 'Trick or Treat' becomes 'Trick or Teacher'. Don't come to us we'll go to you especially in -10 degree weather on foot or on four wheeler. At 2:00 pm we teachers invaded the village and were welcomed into the homes of our students to visit and discuss how our kiddos are doing. Every time we knocked on a door I felt like we should have a pail and ask for candy. It was a great idea I think but weather was not too cooperative. Needless to say, we had a 100 percent turn out;)

Art: Traci (our instructional coach) has taught me to knit. Yes, you read it correctly. Go ahead, go back and reread it, if you must. But it's true, I am currently knitting a scarf, at least that's what I think it will be. I'm approaching it like a carver approaches a piece of wood.. you know, let the object show you what it is supposed to be. Not sure if that method works the same with yarn but I'll keep you posted as progress is or is not made. Pray for me and Traci she is very patient.

More Art, sort of: This is Ani's new pumpkin sweater that Mike sent him in the mail the other day. Ani was so excited to wear it around outside and be the cool dog in the village.

Most Art: Here's a peek into my classroom and our festive pumpkin project. There is a general pumpkin theme going on around here just like everywhere else. Note the blue wrestling mats I stole from the gymnasium to create a make shift partition in my room. Try to teach kindergartners when you have 5 other groups of kids and people in and out of your room. I was forced to be creative;)











Featured Inventor (it's like Art kind of): Hey you guys, my friend Joy is officially an inventor! She has created The Strainaway and they even have an infomercial for it! Check it out and order it! Go Joy! Congrats:) P.S. I already have her autograph;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ_pPCMt1j0

The Latest Tundra Delicacy: Thanks to Tim again:). We all tried some breaded and fried beaver. Yep. He got a 55 pound beaver up river last weekend and cooked it up for us to try. It did not taste like chicken. It was dark meat and I think it just tasted like beaver.

Shout out to: Mike, June, Julie and Amy Lou for the wild rice, decorations and Halloween candy. The kids and I appreciate it. Sonia I love the dried leaves we are going to use them in a project at school. Bless you!

"First this: God created the Heavens and Earth...God looked over everything he had made;
it was so good, so very good!" Genesis 1:1,31

Back From Bethel Bound

"The road to a friend's house is never long."

(especially if they lend you their truck and are in Bethel, AK;)
~Danish Proverb

Marsha, Steph and I flew into Bethel this weekend. They, for an art retreat/training and me to work on paperwork and make up an in service training I missed during our regional cross country meet. It was a bit of an oasis once the work day was done. Friday night we did some much needed shopping, this consists of paying $4.00 for a 14 oz. bottle of dish soap, $6.00 for a 1.95 lb. squash, $9.oo for a bag of Doritos, $18.00 for a bag of halloween candy, and $10.00 for some powdered lemonade. We hauled our groceries to Steph's hotel in backpacks. We looked like pack mules more than humans. We could take a cab but its still above 20 degrees and there is no snow so walking is the preference. A fun fact: Bethel, Alaska has more taxi cabs per capita than New York City. It's true more people in Bethel travel by cab than have their own car. Remember to get a car in Bethel, it has to be barged in. We decided on 'Shoguns' for supper, one of the few restaurants in Bethel feasting on chinese and mexican topped off with chocolate malts. When opportunity knocks around here you fling open the door. We enjoyed the food this weekend. Upon arrival back at the hotel, we decided to play beauty shop and do some high lighting. As you can see Paul (another fellow 'new' teacher at a neighboring village who was in Bethel for the art retreat as well) couldn't resist and got in on the action, actually we coerced him. While Steph was washing out the foiling I did on her hair Paul graciously jumped in and put a few foils in mine;) Anya took these pics and they are hilarious. Even more if you met Paul, he's an ex juvenile justice officer, sword fighter, fortune 500 investor, bush teacher and as of this Friday night he has added hair stylist to his repertoire. After my 8 hour in service Saturday my coworker/mentor and friend Joel let me use his truck to cruise the 12 miles of interstate in Bethel. Quyana Joel. He also invited Anya and I over for supper at his house with a couple other friends from Bethel. Again Quyana Joel. Notice the great galoshes Anya is sporting, like I said before, the tundra is an adventure, bring your mud boots;) It was nice to catch up with everyone and enjoy Joel's fab cooking...Thai shrimp and some other yummy shrimp recipe. As well as Anya's apple pie! Corey bought ice cream and it was gourmet meets gramma's home cooking, not a bad combination. This morning Anya whipped up the best blueberry cream cheese frosting french toast I've ever eaten or ever heard of for that matter. Finally it was time to head back to Quin. I said good by to Anya and Jackie (her roomie), my home away from home and hopped a cab to the airport. There I ran into a few other teachers I know and got to fly to Eek to drop them off before heading on to Quinhagak. Had a nice visit with Andrew the pilot from Virginia who made me very jealous sharing his stories of flying up the mountains, building a cabin with his friends and snowboarding through powder all winter long. He, like many of the pilots in Bethel, has the luxury of living in Anchorage and flying up here a few times a month for work. This is similar to the people who work on the 'North Slope' too.

Meanwhile back at the ranch in Wisconsin....I thought I needed to be worried about bears up here...guess not:)

updated 3:20 p.m. PT, Sat., Oct . 17, 2009

HAYWARD, Wis. - Shoppers in a Wisconsin grocery store got an unexpected surprise when a 125-pound black bear wandered inside and headed straight for the beer cooler.

The bear stopped Friday night at Marketplace Foods in Hayward, about 140 miles northeast of Minneapolis, sauntering through the automatic doors and heading straight for the liquor department, WEAU-TV reported.

It calmly climbed up 12 feet onto a shelf in the beer cooler where it sat for about an hour while employees helped evacuate customers and summoned wildlife officials.

Officials from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources tranquilized the animal and took it out of the store. Store workers say the bear seemed content in the cooler and did not consume any alcohol.

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another..." Hebrews 10:25

Digging for Gold? Perspectives on Prospecting...

"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose..." ~Common Knowledge in Kindergarten

While sneezing across the u-shaped table that I teach at all day long and in mid- swipe with the 80th Clorox clean up wipe in a useless attempt to ward off unwanted germs, bacteria and viruses, I had an epiphany. I realized that nose picking doesn't even phase me anymore! It felt like I had earned a badge of courage in the realm of elementary teaching. Remember I have been a middle school teacher for the last 8 years until now and getting used to these little primary kiddos has definitely been a stretch for me. From my hormonally challenged pubescent middle schoolers who waver between swearing at you one moment and wanting to be your best friend the next to these miniature creatures that cry and pick their noses. Now if you are an elementary teacher you can appreciate what I'm talking about here. Little kids like to stick their fingers in their noses and they don't care who sees. I guess, I've come to kind of look up to them, they are liberated. Seriously, I think they do it to desensitize us. At least that's the effect it has taken on me, as I scraped the crusted on boogers off my table while coughing up a lung- I have no questions as to why I'm sick again. We're all sneezing around here with our runny noses spreading our H1N1 visuses to each other so much that I'm going to recommend us for an award in sharing. I am on round 3 of this crazy flu/cold/virus/whatever it is. And I'm starting to get used to it as much as the nose digging. Don't get me wrong, like every other elementary teacher out there I'm trying to get the point across that tissue is the appropriate hygienic mechanism with which to navigate one's nostrils. I use the GermX, disinfectant wipes, wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands... etc. to no avail. It seems eventually as history shows, kids apparently catch on and tone down the public prospecting but right now we are at the base of a very large learning curve. So think of me next time you grab a kleenex and have a good laugh at my expense.
On a more exciting note we received our brand new school suburban on the last barge in! Since the 82 white lightening (featured below) kicked the bucket a month and a half ago (RIP). Principal Eric put out an APB looking for licensed Alaskan drivers willing to help 'break it in' according to the new owners manual. We have to put quite a few miles on it before we can go faster than 45 mph. You may wonder, if the longest stretch of road is no more than 3 miles how do we ever go faster than 45 mph and well, your guess is as good as mine. But the whole scenario takes me back to the Skime farm and plops me in the drivers seat of our vintage 1950 Army Jeep, stick shift, no power steering or doors or top, spray painted camouflage (yeah, some of you out there know exactly what I'm talking about here). It had a cassette player that if you cranked to the max and strained to hear you could almost make out the songs over the roaring engine. To us the army jeep was nothing less than a corvette.... So the edict was proclaimed, if we could show Dad that we could shift it, we would be allowed to drive it along the fence line of the pastures (approximately a mile perimeter). I'd be willing to bet that by the time we all turned 16 the mileage covered in the army jeep on that well- beaten path could give Alaskan Highway a run for its money. At the time of the edict I was actually the tallest, this gave me a distinct advantage over my younger/shorter brothers. Within moments of the challenge I had Dad watching me: trying to prove to him my worthiness in all of my 12 year old body which barely touched the pedals and saw over the steering wheel simultaneously. There in the front yard just past the barn, jeep and I lurched and leaped along, guessing, and jolting and trying to shift and clutch and break and all the while praying to God that I looked like I knew what I was doing. I'm sure Dad was peeing his pants laughing-cheap entertainment for him and come to think of it the whole idea of the challenge itself was probably something he didn't truly think would happen within the next year. But me, myself and I are somewhat determined. We would be cruising those fields if it killed us! Pretty sure it could have with the lack of safety features this world war II jeep did not possess. I think if you live on a farm you automatically receive a few get out of early death free passes. Anyway I was granted the privilege of driving the fields and screaming along to Wilson Phillips. The few and the proud friends of mine out there reading this from the big IF will probably fondly or fearfully remember riding shot gun. Dad would later issue another challenge to the 3 of us, in which he confidently stated that whichever one of us could pull back his bow could have it. Well he didn't specify how we had to pull it back. So with the help of my feet and body, though nearly impaling myself in the process I pulled that bow back, I got yelled at and told never to do that again, but I earned that bow (least that was my opinion). Dad you never gave it to me. He quit throwing out these seemingly unachievable dares shortly thereafter). So that is a very roundabout way of saying I'm excited to get behind the wheel of the new suburban and cruise the scenic highways and byways of Quinhagak;)

Shout Out To My Gram! Thanks for the colorful leaves, now it's fall in my living room:)

"Point your kids in the right direction— when they're old they won't be lost."
(Or picking their noses...Rach version)
Proverbs 22:6