Happy Friday

"Life here is so elemental. So real. Without the interference of civilization you can really experience things like,...silence. Silence and darkness in its purity. Right now, right outside my window all I can see is a black void. Endless darkness. It's totally exhilarating, and I feel very lucky to be here. Very, very lucky." ~Dr. Fleishman, Northern Exposure

Kids in, out, and under my house...the other day as I neared my house after school I started hearing my name being hollered but couldn't for the life of me find it's caller. Then, movement under my house, 2 of the kiddos had tucked themselves under (remember our houses are on stilts so we don't sink into the tundra) and were awaiting my arrival from school having beat me home. LOL. "Can we visit?" they sang out in unison. How can I saw no? The kids who visit love to dress up in the costumes from Halloween, my scarfs, my chunky shoes and oddly enough my fleece robe has become the symbol of royalty, as the wearer runs down the hall proclaiming "I'm the queen!" Robe flying in the breeze. They write letters to Mike, who they all miss dearly and matter of factly informed me a few weeks ago, is more fun than me. No offense. We have hot chocolate to warm our cheeks, draw pictures, wash dishes (if I'm lucky;), and make Mum's famous canoe on the floor. We have fun.


Exciting events at school this week? Tyrone learned to tie his shoes! This was a pretty big deal and he reported that he would be teaching his sisters later that evening. I've been called a lot of things in my life, but never "Louie" before this week. Thursday afternoon on his daily drop by Wendell trotted in my room, smiled and greeted me with a cheery,"Hi Louie!" Somewhat surprised I replied, "Hi Cindy." Realizing his slight mix up he chuckled, "I don't know why I called you that?" shaking his head, he headed for the door.



Eager young skiing enthusiasts busted out the skis and poles today after school before the cold north wind blew in. Jim was able to get the school several pairs of skis, boots and poles last year. We even have school skijoring equipment so that's the direction we will eventually head this winter! Once we get real comfortable on our skis and round up enough pulling dogs we will be off mushing across the tundra-the Quinhagak Skijoring Team:) Note the 'boot-pack' we designed so the girls could ski their winter boots to the ending point (my abode) without having to come back to the school to pick them up again. It worked pretty slick.




On my dark walk to work this morning the stars are out, the air is cold and if I look straight up (I have to move my parka fake fur hood out of the way first) the big dipper empties itself on Quinhagak. Behind me Orion stands guard, frosty snow crunches with each step and God's Thumbnail moon is anchored just above the silhouetted mountains, I stop and consider taking a picture for you but my camera takes crappy night pictures, I know it won't do this scene justice. So I stop for all of us just before the store and take the whole stunning view in for a few minutes, a couple for you and a couple fore me. Beyond the range, if I strain my eyes I can imagine the first few amber hues of sun trying to creep over. I greet the two others that are out so early as we pass. These quiet walks to work before the world wakes up are comfortable and real. I look forward to them, walking through the changing of Quinhagak's tundra seasons. This morning was like none other. Peaceful, dark, silence...crunch crunch crunch...

Tonight I'm sitting on my couch after our semi-weekly teacher gathering at Marsha's house to do arts and crafts stuff, knitting, beading you name it. Knitting was on my docket this evening while enjoying my last can of Red Bull (they are hard to come by out here). Steph and I hiked back through the escalating winds and piled snowdrifts across the road which were not there when we arrived 2 hours before. So now I'm camped out on the couch, thinking of you all and blogging along as I watch an episode of House my favorite series since Northern Exposure. I DVR it and watch it as often as I can. Last Christmas while visiting my brothers in Arizona, to my delight there was a House marathon on the USA channel. My dear brothers cut me off after the 6th straight episode thinking they were saving my TV starved brain. Ha ha no brothers here... joking I only watch 3 episodes at a time anymore;) Ani is snuggled at my feet occasionally trying to push them off (he's a couch hog), the Christmas lights that the kids helped me put up today are twinkling a rainbow of colors above us and the outside wind continues to howl it's lullably.

Shout out to: My Lac Courte Oreilles Family back home! Quyanaqvaa (Chi Miigwech) you guys, Lora, John, Kayleigh, Ann, Donna, Grampa Mike, all of you! You are such amazing blessings to me. I miss you to the tundra and back!

The Lord's Prayer in Yup'ik
Atanrem Piicautii

Atavut qilagmetellria
Atren Kenciknarili
Angayuqauviin tekilli
Pisqucin nunam qaingani piuli qilagmetun
Neqerkamtenek ernerpak cikirkut
Assilngumtenek-llu augariskut
Wangkutnun assiilngilriit augaritelaucimcetun
Picetaarutmun-llu pivkaqsaunata taugaam assiitellriamek aviuskut
Angayugauvik, piniq-llu, ucurnarquciq-llu elpet pikngavki
Nangyuilngurmek
Amen

"When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face." Lamentations 3:28

Veteran's Day

"All it takes for evil to overcome, is for good men to do nothing." ~Edmund Burke
"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."
- Elmer Davis

And that is it, home of so many brave men and women who serve/served in our armed forces. Thank You So Much, Quyanaqvaa and Chi Miigwech to all our Veteran's out there and beyond. Bless each one for all they've done and sacrificed for the freedom we have.

A lesson that should be taught. This is from my Auntie Shelly and I thought it fit for celebration of our Vets.

Back in September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School, did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.
When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.
'Ms.. Cothren, where're our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'
They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'
'No,' she said.
'Maybe it's our behavior.'
She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.
By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven (27) War Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'


Pamyua We had visit from Stephen from the World famous musical group Pamyua, originally from around here. He spent 2 days at the school telling traditional stories to the students and singing. He was brought up here through funds from an art grant that our district received. What a treat! I saw them in concert in Anchorage 10 years ago and this week there he was visiting with us over coffee in the school office. Small world.

Letters From The Edge:

Take a peek into the life of an itinerant school counselor, Anya said it was fine to share her latest email, I thought she did a great job describing what a day in the life of a bush itinerant might be like:)

The Following is a Weather Report to Set the Stage and Anya's email:
KUSKOKWIM DELTA- INCLUDING...BETHEL...HOOPER BAY...NUNIVAK ISLAND 400 PM AKST TUE NOV 10 2009 ...HIGH SURF ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM TO 9 PM AKST WEDNESDAY... ...STRONG WIND LATE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT ALONG THE COAST... VETERANS DAY...SNOW SHOWERS. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 1 INCH. HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 30S...TEMPERATURES DROPPING THROUGHOUT THE DAY. WEST WIND 20 TO 35 MPH EXCEPT WEST 30 TO 45 MPH ALONG THE COAST. WEDNESDAY NIGHT...SNOW LIKELY IN THE EVENING...THEN SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATION UP TO 1 INCH. LOWS 15 TO 25. WEST WIND 15 TO 30 MPH EXCEPT WEST 25 TO 40 MPH ALONG THE COAST. THURSDAY...CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S. WEST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH. .THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. LOWS 15 TO 20. VARIABLE WIND 10 MPH SHIFTING TO THE EAST AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE BETHEL CLIMATE NORMALS FOR TOMORROW NORMAL RECORD YEAR MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE 24 41 1974 MINIMUM TEMPERATURE 13 -11 1975 SUNRISE AND SUNSET NOV 10 2009..........SUNRISE 9:39 AM SUNSET 5:24 PM NOV 11 2009..........SUNRISE 9:42 AM SUNSET 5:21 PM AMOUNT OF DAYLIGHT TODAY (HOUR:MIN)........7 HOURS 45 MINUTES GAIN/LOSS SINCE YESTERDAY (HOUR:MIN:SEC)....-0:05:06 ...GALE WARNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT...
Did you get through all that? It is WINDY here! Some background information..... The Bethel airport is like the 2nd or 3rd busiest airport in Alaska. There are 4 commercial/passenger carriers, including Alaska Air who flies in in big jets---737 combos and larger. There are about 8 (maybe more) cargo and charter carriers at the airport also. Alaska Air flights to Bethel were canceled all day Monday and Tuesday morning due to bad weather. The atttitude is, if Alaska Air cancels, then the weather must be bad. Sunday was beautiful, sunny and warm. Sunday night, it started raining. It rained all day on Monday, and the temperatures dropped. Tuesday was about 37 degrees, and the weather could not make up its mind to rain, snow, mix, sleet, or if it should get colder or warmer. I needed to get to Napaskiak to finish some testing with High School kids. I call the airport around 1 to see if anything is moving. The answer is "at this moment, yes. Get down here as soon as possible, though. I pack my mobile office then get a ride to my house to pack my gear. Early on, i was told to plan on being weathered in regardless of where I go. So even for one overnight, i pack for a full week.....sleeping bag, sleeping mat, underwear, socks, food, and busy-work (crafts, books, dvds, something). Catch a cab to the airport. When i walked in, OMG! the place is FULL of people WAITING! I pay for my ticket and wait to board. Usually the wait is at least an hour. Yesterday, the wait was about 10 minutes. Why? the weather cleared and it was time to take advantage of moving aircraft as quickly and safely as possible. Alaska Air had landed, but still had not moved to return to Anchorage. 5 passengers crawled into a Cessna 207 (a small plane), all planning on going to Napaskiak. I get to sit in the co-pilot seat. In addition to being interesting, it is also the smoothest ride in the entire plane. Given my 'sensitivity' to motion sickness and previous experience with my 'sensitivity', this is my favorite seat. Despite the ice on the ground, we start moving. I asked the pilot if he had all season radials or studded snow tires on the plane. He chuckled. We take off. Yes, the runway was icy. Yes, the wind was strong. But hey, we were in the air and gently banking the turn towards Napaskiak.....all eleven miles to Napaskiak. Even though some villages are only 5, or 11, or 20, or 28 miles from Bethel (Rachel Aside: Quinhagak is 70+ miles from Bethel), given the swampy nature of the tundra, there are no roads to the villages! The only way to get there, one must fly. So back in the air. Gentle left banking quickly turned into an intense and hard left turn....like.......look out the pilot's window and you can see the ground! Not only can one see the ground, one can see we aren't very far UP OFF the ground! Like....WHAT is happening??????? Is this plane going to...? (hard gulp)......and i immediately get dizzy.....i'm thinking 'holy cr-p, am I going to be sick? is the plane going to stay in the air? what IS going on?' My instincts say to grab hold of something. I look forward and start to reach.....then realized "NO! DON"T GRAB THAT!!!!!!!" (the controls!) so i grab the strap in front of the door and my seat belt. I'm working very hard NOT to panic, thinking "OMG i'm going to......NO. God did NOT send me to Alaska to be pummelled to the ground at great velocity!" Then i realized that the pilot is making a change in plans, and is turning the plane around. By now, we are straight and flying parallel to the runway. The altimeter says we are at 200' and our heads are literally in the clouds. Just beyond the end of the runway, we make another hard bank to the left (just like the first one), and try to align with the runway. The wind blows us to the left of the runway. The pilot is struggling to get the plane under control. (Rachel Aside: He managed) We make the landing and return to the terminal. Our total 'flight time' was MAYBE 10 minutes. As the pilot takes off his headset, he says "In my 40 years of flying, I've learned this kind of weather is not safe." We were the last flight to try to get off the ground yesterday. The flying window for small air craft ended at 4 p.m. Alaska Air was still on the tarmack, waiting. Around 5:30, the early afternoon flight from Bethel to Anchorage was finally airbound for the return to Anchorage. Around 5:30, the courier for this airline asks me where i'm headed. I say "home". they ask where. I tell them my address. They tell me to get in the van. They took me home at no charge! The wind has been gusting all night. Intense wind. Keep me awake wind. So, I realize that no flights will be moving this morning and i will not be going to Napaskiak this week. I dress for the office, and attempt to walk down the driveway. BAH! Walk??????!!!!! More like slide. I walk beyond the corner of the house, and the wind is so strong! This is the first time in my life i have ever experienced the wind blowing me off my feet! The wind was pushing me backwards and there was nothing i could do but 'enjoy' the ride! I tried walking, and immediately rolled to the ground. Once i got up, i called a cab to take me to work. The schools in Bethel (Rachel Aside: Not in Quin we don't have enough roads just strap on your winter cleats and press on!) are closed today due to icy roads. But since i work for the District, I still report to the office! Hugs and Love! Ann

"When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders." 2 Timothy 2:4-6

Jim's Ah, Alaska Creation

"Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known."
~Winnie the Pooh
Pooh's Little Instruction Book


Hey everybody Jim's gonna take us on a trip 'up river'! Come on! Don't miss this!

You simply must check out his video that he put together of our beloved Kanektok River!

He has some serious talent here people:)

I promise it will absolutely be worth your while to take a few minutes, let it download and enjoy the ride!

Just push the play button and wait (you may want to pause it for a few minutes to let it get ahead so it doesn't keep stopping to catch up with itself). Make sure your volume is up because the video is set to a great song!

http://jsbarthelman.blogspot.com/2009/11/river-running.html


"Instead, God! God majestic, God himself the place
in a country of broad rivers and streams,
But rivers blocked to invading ships,
off-limits to predatory pirates.
For God makes all the decisions here. God is our king.
God runs this place and he'll keep us safe." Isaiah 33:21-22

"LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!"

"You can't stay in your corner of the forest (even if you sticky tack it up yourself- Rachel aside), waiting for others to come to you; you have to go to them sometimes."
~Winnie the Pooh
Piglet, Pooh's Little Instruction Book

WWF's Got Nothing On Quinhagak WrestlingOur Quinhagak Wrestlers took first in our tournament this weekend. We had 3 other schools brave the weather, fly in and camp out at the school. Of course in Quin we don't skimp and it was nearly 5 star accommodations for the lucky visiting teams. Everyone pitched in and cooked up some great eating. There was a phenomenal fan turn out! The whole village lined the mats to cheer on our local heroes. There was definitely an excitement in the air, it has been 20 some years since Quinhagak hosted a wrestling tournament. Friday night the matches went on until 10pm. They resumed Saturday morning at 9:30 until 1 pm. Every wrestler was able to have at least 3 matches. I'm a wrestling fan now. Absolutely. We have some incredible athletes, several of whom will make the long trek to Anchorage this week to participate in a tournament there. A big deal for our kiddos here. Keep them in your prayers please!

Across the Winter Tundra


Saturday after the tournament ended, Ani and I seized the sun shiny freezing weather and hit the snowmobile trails with our skijoring attire. We weren't alone as you can see some of the kids pulling each other around on snow go. We covered about 4 miles total!











Joring on What's Left of Our Bering Sea Beach

We jored down to the beach as far as we could anyway. The tide has continued to push the massive ice flows further up on the sand. The disintegrating beach made our joring attempt short lived but an adventure nonetheless. What a gorgeous view, eh? Ani was enjoying it too.



A Happy Birthday Party Quinhagak Style!
Pauline invited Steph, Jim and me over for her granddaughter's birthday celebration. Steph and Jim were out buzzing around on their well deserved fancy new snow go so they missed out:) But I joined in the on the fiesta. Here in Quin birthdays are a big deal. Everyone is invited to come feast at the family of the birthday-ee! Pauline and her daughter spent hours preparing a meal fit for royalty complete with salted salmon and herring eggs on sea weed, two firsts for me. Very tasty. They even had a fancy basketball cake shipped in from Swanson's (one of the grocery stores in Bethel). What a fun time and treat!
Tea for Three or Hot Chocolate Rather
This was our little tea party. We had to sing happy birthday and blow out the candles several times. Once for my friend back home, Annika, who called part way through our teatime;) These kids make me smile.

Note the tree growing in the corner of my house with the leaves blowing across the room. That was a gift from my mom, gram and aunt helping ease the pain of my treeless fall in Quin. Put it together one day. So proud was I of the forest that had sprouted in my kitchen. Then somewhere between deciding to call my neighbor Sherry to ponder this creation with me and take some pictures to share with you all... it dawned on me, Egad! I AM my mother. I flashed back to my childhood on the farm with my dear ole mum who's idea of interior decorating was to take my unsuspecting friends out on a 'nature hike/bog walk' to the swampy muck just past our horse pasture where they would select, collect and categorize (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species..okay it wasn't that extreme but I had to memorize that in 7th grade and I've finally found a time to use it, just now) any number of plants, trees, shrubs whatever was available. My mum would then proceed to hang these nature treasures around in our house, she brought the outdoors in. I was always embarrassed more often than not would silently boycott the excursions, meeting up with my hostage taken friends upon their return. Surprisingly those friends now recall their travels with my mum with affection and chuckles. There is what seems to be an elite "Bog Walkers of the Skime Farm" club alive and well out there in the world. A moment of slight panic followed. Then laughing and smiling I admired the momish creation sticky tacked to my wall and decided it could be much worse, but for the grace of God. She's my hero. Mostly... even if she did just ask me tonight if she could shorten all my jeans so she can wear them. That means she has claimed them. Evidently she's gone through my closet. O-well. Here's to all the Moms out there!


Miss Domestication- n. a poser, appearing to be what one is not in the area of domestics, an unintentional misrepresentation of knowing what one is doing in the kitchen.
ex. There was a grave miss domestication when the speech pathologist asked her for her recipe. She truly had no idea why the cookies turned out so well.

That would be me. I need you to seriously understand my lack of kitchen sense, maybe God brought me up here to teach me to cook or just to get a few laughs. What came over me, only the Lord knows, but this weekend I think I made salmonberry/blueberry jelly from the berries we picked earlier this fall!! (It's still too early to tell but I'll keep yas posted, cross your fingers;). Thanks to Amy Lou my wonderful friend who sent jelly jars and pectin (I didn't even know that word until two months ago:) to make the sugar filled treat. So here's the proof, my current knitting project and salmon-blueberry jelly. Come visit and I'll let ya try some....real tempting right???? Whipped up some caribou stew today too, lol. Fannie, Emma and family gave it the okay so apparently it turned out. Anyway I consider this stuff nothing short of miraculous so just had to share;) Lots of Miss Domestication going on here;)

Shout Out To: Larry, my neighbor in the village back in Hayward, "Follow your doctor's orders!" And to everyone in Quin (Justin, Milt and company) who made the Wrestling Tournament a smashing success!

"Then he said, "Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all." Mark 16:15

Mush! Pronounced (Moo-sh) in Yup'ik

“Their tails are high and tongues awag-the twin banners of sled dog contentment.”
-Clara Germani

I found this information off www.helium.com in an article by Barb Taliaferro
Mushing vocabulary can be broken into 3 basic categories: Commands, Equipment and Dogs.

That's Sherry and Addy in the sled being manned by Principal Eric, who also built the sled. Steph, Einer and I are zooming along side on the snow go getting some great pics. Einer fell asleep about 3 minutes into the endeavor. Only a child born in Alaska.

Commands

Sled dogs are not guided by reins or other physical means, but rather by the driver's voice commands. To accomplish this the mushers have developed a vocabulary of short words that can easily be easily heard and understood by the dogs even in poor weather conditions.

Gee - right turn
Haw - left turn
Come - tells the dog to do the command that follows, such as Come Gee, meaning to turn right
Line Out - tells the lead dog to straighten out the line of dogs
Mush or Hike - tells the dogs to get started
Whoa or Halt - tells the dogs to stop

Equipment

Dog sled racing has a great deal of specialized equipment that the average person may not know. They have also developed some new terms for more common items.

Runners - the part of the sled that actually makes contact with the snow, they run under the sled and extend back far enough for the drivers to stand on them

Snow Hook - a heavy piece of metal attached to the sled, it is used to anchor the sled during short pauses

Snub Line - rope or chain attached to the sled, used to tie the sled to a tree or stake for long stops

Tug Line - used to attach the dogs harness to the main tow line

Toggles - small pieces of ivory or wood used to attach the tug line to the tow line

Dogs

Mushing obviously could not exist without the dogs that pull the sleds. Dog sled drivers have many different terms to describe their dogs as each dog in the line must have different skills and strengths.

Leader (s)- the first dog in the line he sets the pace and guides all the dogs behind him, a driver will look for a dog that is strong, fast and smart to fill this position. For Eric and Sherry's team that would be Seeker and Quin they are both 7 years old. They are brother and sister.

Swingers - the dogs directly behind the leader, their job is to help swing the other dogs and sled in the desired direction, these dogs must be quick to follow direction and strong. Yesterday that was Chinook- 4yrs old one of Seeker's pups and CT 2 years old (Ani's brother).

Wheelers - the dogs located directly in front of the sled, their job is to help pull the sled out of a snow bank or negotiate around obstacles, they must be very strong. Arolik and Ozone both 4 years old and also litter mates-2 more of Seeker's pups, were wheeling today.

Teamers - any dog in the team that does not have a specific job other than to help pull the sled, drivers look for a willingness to follow the lead of other dogs and stamina in these animals. Today Lefse 4 Years old Seeker's Daugher and Comet 2 years old-one of Martin Buser's pups (Iditarod Champion Musher) were teaming.

Below is Steph and I layered up, ready to head out on snow go, as the pit crew, for the first official Pederson Family Mush Day. Today was Addy's first dog sled ride. It's in her blood:)

"Good people are good to their animals.." Proverbs 12:10

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