Alaska Tundra and Berries

Above is Snowy Owl which we saw on our river trip. These things are huge, bigger than a barn owl, maybe. Two of them were sitting in trees near the river. When we got too close they would fly a short distance away, but well within gun range. Don't these things know the people use their feathers for hand held decorations during native dances? The feathers at the dance could have been from sand hill cranes which Susan spotted shortly before the picture on the bottom. My students say they have eaten sand hill crane meat. I always ask if whatever they are telling me about tastes like chicken. They said mostly dark meat.
This is an area of tundra that came right up to the bank of the Yukon River. The word lichens, mosses, berries, bears, and reindeer come to mind. The footing is really spongy and with each step clouds of bugs fly up. I don't think I was bitten anything like how often I was bitten during a summer twilight in Blytheville, Arkansas. While the young man from the family who was showing us around was holding onto the boat anchor, he was picking blue berries and eating them right off the river bank. Berries do not grow around Emmonak because of the bad drainage, so close to the sea level and the sea. I am not that smart, the native Alaskans have been teaching me!
Here is shot of some of the flora and fauna of the tundra. The red berry is a cranberry. The moss looks like rose moss we plant in flower gardens. Our tour guides helped us pick some of the moss to make tundra tea. She said it had a calming effect. I havn't tired it, yet.
This place helps everyone take good shots. I gotta tell ya, I am sleeping better and feeling great. I think part of it is that I am doing what I love, working with kids.
Alaska did not help me too much with this shot!! I was down close to the tundra with the bugs in my eyes. I wonder if the bug action bothered the camera, also. I wanted to show the little blue berry.
PS. We got cable tv thanks to our nice neighbor's help and I watched OSU beat Washington State with Susan. We didn't talk about it, but I got homesick for things past. The super nice teachers, students, and their parents are all so nice and encouraging, that I know we will love it here. We are going to eat tacos with fellow teachers at our principal's house tonight. Talked to my sister, mother, grand neice and nephew, their dad, and sister's husband on Skype today. It is so unreal to be able to see them when their what, thousand of miles away. I got e-mails from many of the teachers I spent 5 years teaching with from Blytheville. They are very encouraging and as I have learned years ago, teachers are some of the nicest people around. If I make it to heaven, I know I will see them there sooner or later.