Sunday, May 17, 2009

Lucy is looking for her Susan. It will be strange to go to Arkansas and 80 degree days. I wonder how Susan and I will tolerate the heat after being up here much closer to the Arctic than Arkansas..
Lucy; still waiting or she could be looking for squirrels. Looks like my daughter is taking good care of the plants.
Flooding up river is working its way down to us. We are at the mouth of the Yukon River, fourteen miles inland, I think. Because of record snow falls, record flooding is predicted especially at the mouth. 
Not Arkansas flooding, but up river from us. A native told me yesterday (SAT.) if we could get on a plane today (SUN) we should do it. Our plane leaves on Monday around noon. It is rainy and I hope we can still get out. Tomorrow, it is supposed to be rainy off and on. More off than on is my preference.

More flooding up river. No concern of alligators here. I hope my Ford truck is in mint condition when I get home with few miles on it. The village gave the teachers a Yupik dance, which was very nice. I just hope I helped their children enough. Susan and I worked very hard to make a difference. Some children are taught prejudice and I hope we gave the children reason to question those teachings. All of the parents and relatives I talked to want their children to learn and improve their education. The dance was a welcomed show of support. I will miss my students this summer and hope they will be careful. Their life style is dangerous and they have to be careful hunting and fishing. Tomorrow, I will try to post pictures of the dance.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

This student is making gloves to wear on a snowmobile going 100 mph in minus 20 degrees weather. One student wanted to sell us some sea otter for $200. I am not sure if the ones in the picture are cow or seal. The students were sewing both.
These students are learning to make a net to catch salmon in their Yupik class. I have read that these students may not be permitted to catch king salmon this year. The salmon get caught in the net and are hauled into the boat. 
Got Ya! These are the oak tree branches downed in my front yard in Arkansas. Some residents were out of electricity for over 3 weeks. We didn't get much sleet here, only 6' of snow (well, maybe not 6', okay 5')
Snow is slowly giving way to mud. Remember the big pile of snow with kids on it. It was much higher than the school pickup.
Doggy dilemma: no trees, no fire hydrants, no person on the end of the leash, no rabbits. only limitless space. We leave for Arkansas in nine days. We are going back next year. I don't know if Sharky wants to or not. He probably won't be asked.