Teaching in Alaska

2010-11-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

2010-11-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

We got a little close to the ground on this flight trying to get out of the fog.
The ice has almost claimed this stream that runs through Emmonak.
Snow covers the Yukon River, but the ice is not thick enough for snow-do's yet.
We are ready for winter whiteness in my classroom with some caladiums and marigolds.
The kids check the caladium plants out often to see what pattern of colors will appear next. I wonder if the plants, Susan, and I will last all winter.

2010-10-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

First real snow fall, Oct 27, 2010. A person told Susan that the storm is blowing so hard flooding may occur in the villages near the mouth of the Yukon, us???

2010-10-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

2010-10-23T22:35:00.000-07:00

Find the sun.

This looks like the island where they found King Kong

While in Anchorage taking pictures, a bald eagle happen to fly by and I was lucky enough to get a pic.

Sunset over the sound at Woronzof Point just at the end of one of the runways at the ariport in Anchorage. At my feet was a 200 foot drop, watch that last step!

I was trying to get the image of the mountain in the background. I can't believe the little camera I have did it! I had to go to Anchorage Oct. 15 for a checkup. It was nice to be in civilization again. I did get a little anxious in Walmart a couple of times when people pressed too close in the check out line. Maybe, it is how a deer feels before it bolts away.

2010-10-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

Leaves with snow

Porch with snow

Old man thinking about 7 months of snow, Ha Ha, yes, my grey hair is standing up as far as it can.

Dog getting a snoot full of snow

Some of the flakes were as big as a half dollar!

First Snow 2010

2010-10-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Sharkey, Susan and I woke up to the first snow fall that was enough to cover the ground this morning of Oct. 11, 2010. I could tell Sharkey was not thrilled. Usually this starts around the end of October. Susan and I are having fun with the kids; not too many with behavior problems:) as in past years.

2010-09-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

2010-09-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

These loaded in reverse, so don't look at the last one first go down to the fifth picture and scroll and watch the sunset over the Bering Sea. It took about twenty minutes.
She is going to burn. see top picture.

As you know, the sand here is a pencil lead color.

We flew in this duck taped deluxe plane. The trip was 45 minutes to get the Hooper Bay for the third year.

Sea Shell Collectors

People Susan and I work with at Emmonak. Teachers make great friends.

Pretty as a Picture, as usual!

Not too pretty, but not bad considering I did not sleep well on the floor of the school without an air mattress!! The story is that they (airbags) are stuck in Anchorage. People in this village use honey buckets instead of stools, because there is no sewer system. I don't know why they couldn't use some of the dynamite some use for fishing to dig some holes and put a little outhouse over it. I guess it is the permafrost is really, really hard. I learned some good things to try on my students when I get back to Emmonak. Our students are doing very well with their behavior this year. It makes teaching really fun.

Back for Year Three, 2010-2011

2010-09-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

Yes We're Back

Here is a student walking and texting out my classroom window moving toward the wooden deck, where we used to play basketball, when it still had a goal. I think during the short time we have been here the weather has been in the 50's night and day. It has been cloudy. I think I saw the sun on two days in two weeks. Not good for teachers trying not to miss their loved ones who had to be left behind.
Sharkie came with us again. He seemed at home from the second we got here, or just glad to get out of his carrying case. Here is the new road going to the airport. It had been washed away in places and they raised it so maybe it won't happen again. I am fairly sure it is not an Obama resurfacing! There was no sign.
Susan went with Sharkie and I to the airport to see the new road. She looks good in red, doesn't she?
I painted my classroom last year while waiting for my flight out for the summer. It is the only colored room in the school. The whole school made AYP this year. There are 11 little village schools in the district and four of us made AYP. Emmonak is the second largest school, so we had to have a lot of students increase their scores. Susan teaches middle school math and they made it for the second year in a row. I taught writing and my students made an increase of 270 percent over last year, way above AYP, which is a 10% increase. Reading in the middle school, which I taught the first year, did not make AYP. I guess because of that they have me doing both Reading and Writing this year. Susan and I teach only 6th and 7th grades this year, unlike the last two years when we taught 6th, 7th, and 8th. That cuts our student load down by 1/3, which is a good deal for the students. We already know all of our students which means we both could hit the ground running. My students seem calmed down from last year and more responsive to my questions. In case you don't already know, teachers love to have questions answered, right or wrong.

This was 11:00 at night. It has been rainy and cloudy all summer. The vegetation is lush and tall. The trees along the board walk have gone from bushes to trees. There isn't too much light at 8:00 in the morning.

2010-05-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

Marigolds we grew in my room planted in October.
Dog gets dirty quickly.
Snow melt pouring onto the frozen river.
The ice breakup is days away, hopefully after we leave. I don't want the torrent washing away the road to the airport.
Most of the snow has vanished leaving the piles of river life everywhere. Some of us teachers would like to rent a boat for a few months at the first of the year, but we are hoping for one larger than this one.

2010-05-01T16:36:00.000-07:00

Some of our middle school girls ready for senior prom.
This was taken from the island in the river across from Emmonak. I finally walked there!
Big earthmoving equipment was being used to dig up road base for the new road to the airport. They were driving right across the river ice. That is why I decided it might be time for me to walk to the island, myself.
Hare is what I found on the island bushes just like we have in Emonak in places. There is Arctic hare somewhere in the picture. Can you find it? No wonder the kids shoot them all the time. If you double click on the picture it will enlarge so you can find the bunny easier.
Hare it is again.
I could stand in this hole and not reach the top. I thought the island, being in the middle of the river. would have filled with water.
The trees have been stripped here with just the roots left on to of the soil.
I waited across this to get to the island. Yes, it was semi-stupid, but exciting in a morbid way.
Here is some of the island dirt. The kids love playing on it. I can just see the kids running their 4-wheeled Hondas up and over.
... more dirt... more boats.
If you look back you can see how the boat owners had to dig their boats out of the snow in May. This May look! No digging! This boar is ready to go, right now. The snow machine ridders run their snow machines through this water like they do on you tube. If the machine flounders it will probably ruin the extremely hot engines.
This looks like the same boat that was dug out at the last of last winter.
This is a hole in the ice I found while walking along. I got down close and could hear the river running down there somewhere. I did the quick-step to solid ground after that and will not go back.
See the open water in the middle of the icy area. I wonder if the water is not coming from the river below, because we have not had run off for a few days.
I wonder if this machine floundered in the water yesterday.

Anchorage Trip with Susan

2010-04-28T22:22:00.001-07:00

Here is a woodland buffalo. He did not move that much, but did a lot of grunting. We saw him at an animal shelter for hurt or sick animals waiting to go back to the wild.
Here is his brother. No, really see his beard is longer.
Yes, there were two black bears out and about. I think it makes a difference when they are getting fed every day. Keeps them awake. They are not too big, but very handy with their claws I hear.
Baldy, the Bald Eagle.
This brown bear was really tall and dead.
Sleepy, sleepy reindeer. I do not know who was related to whom.
"Man these antlers are so heavy!"
"When I have a headache, it helps to close my eyes!"
Two geese just walking around in the mud near where I walked by the sound near the hotel.

We go to New Orleans to meet our two daughters, then on to Blytheville. Only two more weeks left after this week. This has been an eternity without seeing our daughters and son-in-law.
Another mountain picture, you're kidding? No, growing up in flat Oklahoma I am always in awe of mountains and trees. This is around Anchorage. Emmonak is flatter than Oklahoma; colder and whiter, too. It is staying cold longer than I remember last year. We had a little thaw about ten days ago then went right back to the teens. It looks like toward the end of the week we may see some 32 plus degree highs. I am up at the school with Susan. She is doing some grade entries in her room and I am playing in my room. We can't get reliable Internet in our house, so if there is something that has to be done we have to come back to school.

Waiting for the calander to catch up with my

2010-03-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this one. Taken right here at Emmonak, AK USA.

He is one of my happiest students. His all-smile-picture really reflects his happy demeanor. He and I trade pens with me getting the short end of the deal most of the time.
This paper laid on the snow for so long I thought I was supposed to take a picture. It is so cold that all the moisture is taken out of the air and the paper looks like the day it was dropped.
Snow mobiles at the end of the year down river junior high tournament. I can't believe how may models and brands of the things there are.
Near New Orleans, this is the work site of one of my daughters who works on the computer and does some field inspections to be sure things are level and spaced correctly. We are going there around May 18, Yeah!

Some of the nicest middle school students a person would want to meet.

2010-03-27T21:13:00.001-07:00

Icicles on our house that are bent by the wind. The snow isn't deep enough for the kids to be able to knock the icicles off the edge of the roof.
We have skinny icicles this year. The temperature was moderating, but now it is cold again. Susan and I could not take a five minute walk with the dog without much discomfort from the sharp fingers of icy cold wind invading our hopeful spring clothing. Sorry, I've been teaching more descriptive writing over and over again. Well, I learned it, anyway.
Worlds longest icicle? It is around 48 inches.
It is close to April 1st and do I have the cabin fever. I have been trying to walk to the airport and back, but it is still very cold.
Well, are you cold? I still don't know how the dogs that are kept outside 24-7 and given a fish to eat once a week (or so I hear that is how often) live. I guess plenty of them don't. A student confided to me that he shot a dog the other day when they went rabbit hunting. I guess that is another way to not make it through the winter. Oh, I read in a book that the Alaska Natives boil rabbit. Is that how they do it in Arkansas? I told the kids about a cotton tail I once shot with worms between the skin and flesh. They asked me, did I pick them off or eat it with the worms on. I told them I didn't eat the rabbit at all and don't think I am eating any of your rabbits, either. They really laughed at that one.

2010-02-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

Myself at -27 degrees, Believe me you're seeing all the skin that was exposed. By the time I took two pictures my fingers were very numb.

Snow machine with a fancy sled.

Dry Dock.

Yes, the windows are covered with plywood. No, not for a hurricane. Kids and Rocks.

The trees that floated down in the flood last spring. An enterprising man or family got all they could and are making different cuts of lumber to sell. The odd pieces are sold for heat in the village houses.

2010-02-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

Bigger than life snow people.
Yes, this is oil on the wing of the plane I flew to Anchorage at the end of January to a state union delegate conference. We made it. Hope the next load did.
This is a character Susan and I have in our classes. He is quiet volume wise, but very intelligent and funny. This is a picture he gave me one day in class. Just for the record this is the first day I took pictures in my class. We planned to send friendly letters and pictures to go with the authors to my mom in Enid, Oklahoma, so she could match the letters with the people who wrote the letters.
While in Anchorage I caught the moon dancing with the mountains.
More dancing. It is March 1st and I am thinking a lot about the summer and home. We are flying to New Orleans via Memphis on a fair that is cheaper than if we flew to Memphis. Both our daughters will be there to meet us. Teaching in Alaska is very rewarding.

2009-12-31T21:48:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Anchorage.
On the flight home I saw the sunrise between two layers of clouds.
There is gold in them thar hills!!
Susan and Sharkie are having fun on the dog trail, I think Sharkie spies some dogs down the trail

Sun rise? Sun set? I think it was sun rise on the dog trail. We had lots of fun and relaxation in Anchorage during the break. Our dog sure like the place we found where people went to walk their dogs. We saw all breeds of dogs, I think. We are back in Emmonak. Some of the teachers could not get back today because of fog.

2009-12-31T21:40:00.000-08:00

2009-12-26T17:12:00.000-08:00

Pictures of mountains I took with Susan's camera when I got Sharkey to stand still while on a dog walk near the hotel. The temperature is averaging around 30 degrees so far, summer for us!

Sharkey giving us the "Hurry up" look as we walk on the trail in Earthquake Park.
This is the bay by Earthquake Park.
The bay is only partially clogged with ice. Early explorers liked this so they could have longer trading seasons.

2009-12-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

Here is Susan in Anchorage at Earthquake Park on one of the many trails.
I was with Susan at the park and she took my picture. Sharkey is running around somewhere.
Here we are seeing a plane take off over a bay at Earthquake park, not sure which bay. I did not notice the wavy clouds until I got ready to post pictures. Susan's camera has the date function turned on while my camera does not.
A man and his reindeer in down town Anchorage. We got a shot from the rental car.
Some scenery from the plane as we felt Emmonak shows the crazy flow of water in the area.

One school week till Christmas break.

2009-12-13T19:14:00.001-08:00

Here are some students who attended the Native Youth Organization academic and sport contest at Scammon Bay. I hadn't been out of the village of Emmonak for months, so I when I was asked to go as a chaperone, I jumped at it. I had a good time with the kids as I always do when out of the classroom. In the classroom is work time for students and myself, so we don't always have time to visit and get to know each other better. These are good kids with good hearts.

Here is the frozen Bering Sea. On the upper left is open water. Scammon Bay is much more interesting geographically than Emmonak. Scammon is on the sea with low mountains behind it. Some of Scammon is on the side of a high hill or low mountain. To someone from Emmonak it is a mountain! I heard they have the same type of discipline problems that we have in Emmonak.

People down on the Yukon River messing around with the sun setting. Yes, I think it was 4:44 p.m. I looked at my watch. Notice the trees are flocked again. Remember for a bigger picture double click on the picture and when finished hit the back button. There isn't as much snow as last year's fifty year record snow fall, course it is only December.
This should be a painting. The tiny fluorescent colored cloud in the bottom left was much more noticeable to us.
Susan with flocked bushes (almost pink again). We got word that our church is sending Christmas gives to our middle school students. Christian love is incredible to me. People caring when they don't have to. We have received over 60 hand netted caps for the children. Hope I spelled netting right, if not Susan will advise, which is why I am still alive. We are thinking they should wear them when they sing in the school Christmas program. The caps are only one of the gifts the people doing good works for God are sending. I didn't have my hat on this walk and my ears were about to fall off from the cold especially when there was nothing blocking the wind. I am homesick for my daughters.

2009-11-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

THIS IS ONE OF THE NICE GIRLS WE HAVE HAD FOR TWO YEARS.
SUN UP? SUN DOWN? SOMETIMES, I WONDER MYSELF.
SUSAN WITH A BUNCH OF OUR KIDS AT A PIZZA FAMILY NIGHT, COURSE ALL THE KIDS WANTED ON THE COMPUTERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. WE HAVE TWO DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARES THAT THE STUDENTS USE WHEN WE HAVE AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM. I AM SURE THE TIME SPENT ON THESE PROGRAMS HELPED SUSAN AND MY GRADES MAKE AYP THIS LAST YEAR IN MATH AND READING.
TODAY, IT IS A SNOWY DAY, JUST RIGHT TO READ A GOOD BOOK, STAY IN BED, OR MESS WITH PICTURES. I AM GOING TO HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE TO GET SOME MORE PICTURES! WE ARE GOING TO ANCHORAGE DURING PART OF CHRISTMAS BREAK, SO WE WILL BE ABLE TO GET SOME THEN. THERE IS NOT MUCH TO TAKE PICTURES OF HERE THAT IS NEW.
PINK FLOCKED TREES? WELL YES, IN SOME REALITY, I GUESS. I TOOK THIS AT NIGHT WITH A WIERD OUTSIDE LIGHT SHINNING ON THE SNOW COVERED BUSHES. I NEVER SAW PINK TILL I LOOKED AT THE PICTURE ON THE COMPUTER. AT LEAST IT IS NOT ANOTHER WHITE PICTURE.

2009-11-22T14:44:00.000-08:00

I GOT TIRED OF SEEING NOTHING BUT WHITE LAST YEAR, SO I GOT SOME PLANTS STARTED AT MY HOUSE THEN BROUGHT THEM OVER HERE TO MY CLASSROOM. I WAS SURPRISED HOW THE KIDS LEAN UP AGAINST THE COUNTER AND LOOK CLOSELY AT THE PLANTS. THE GROW LIGHT WAS IN MY SCHOOL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT NOT BEING USED SO I ASKED TO USE IT IN MY ROOM.

2009-11-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

I think I missed putting this on because our Internet was so slow it would never load. We'll see what it does today.

2009-11-19T21:03:00.000-08:00

I tried to get Sharkie messing around on the snow, but he must be used to it by now. I have not seen any foxes hanging around this year, or bears, which is a great deal for both Sharkie and myself because he would come running to me for help, and that leaves no one to help me if Susan isn't handy! Oh, if you click on the flocked tree at the top it will enlarge the picture and they you can see the diamonds! Press the back button on your browser to go back to the blog. BYE

Another year of flocked trees

2009-11-19T20:42:00.000-08:00

It has been in the teen's and with no wind so the snow has just froze where it fell making for beautifully flocked trees.
I have been trying to get a shot that shows how the snow sparkles in the light, but to no avail.
We are staying in Emmonak for the Thanksgiving for the second year.
Tomorrow, at five in the afternoon Susan, another teacher, and myself are going to have family night for the after school program participants and their families. Last year we cooked the frozen kind of pizzas, but this year we are having them made locally at $25 per pizza. We ordered 2o pizzas. With cookies and Tang for all, the total will be close to our budget of $700.
I was going to stay up till 10 p.m. to watch the OSU- Colorado game, but a fellow teacher told me the score with 3 minutes left which turned out to be the final score. That was at 7 p.m. and it was advertised to be on at 10. It is a wacky life up here sometimes. Not even ESPN can figure out how to list game times for Alaska. Writing class has been slow for the teacher and hard for the students, but I will have a lot of them writing well by state tests. I ordered pencil pads for the pencils and the students did not get the hint that they would will be writing, writing, writing just like last year with their reading, reading, reading. I am glad I never had a teacher like me!!

Halloween

2009-11-01T12:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Halloween Day, I walked to the store and took a detour along the river to see how the ice was doing and found a frozen river. I guess I've been too busy to notice the temperature which is -16 degrees today.
We have transitioned form motor boats to fire wood. Plenty of wood floated into the village on the river during the flood. Villagers have plenty of wood close-by. The town is white and clean looking now.
Susan and the Mendenhall Glacier. She took a video of a mama bear and a cub who was climbing a tree, but our Internet will not work long enough for the action clip to load.
I kept trying to get the sun light to show you the thin layers of ice that are pushed up over other layers, but this is the best visual I could get. There are drifts like snow drifts completely across the river.
They painted the church, even its roof. Looks good, today. All our trick-0r-treaters were really nice and polite last night, if not scary. Maybe, the teachings of the church are helping more of the students show kindness and respect. The teachers are going to play volleyball today, Sunday. I can't believe it is November. My list of things missed at home is getting extremely long; it seems. I would be too lonesome up here without Susan. The students are nice and fun to work with. My days go fast, but I show the wear and tear by the time we get home. I am doing two 30-minute PE classes in addition to the same amount of academic classes I had last year. It is fun, but takes double the supervision that the classroom does. At nine thirty this morning it was still completely dark.

Snow is here!

2009-10-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

Students measuring in Susan's class these students are 12 to 14 years old.
Looks like winter is here. We had about 6 inches over the weekend. The teachers got together and played volleyball Saturday night. It was really fun. Down side is our principal tore his Achilles tendon at about the calf. He had to go to Anchorage on Sunday for an operation.
Shot out of Susan's classroom window a few minutes ago. This is Monday night, Oct 26.

Susan's Juneau In-service

2009-10-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is a glacier near Juneau called the Mendenhall Glacier.
You can see where the glacier pours into the sea.
Nice pond for a beaver.
Oh, here is one now.
Baby and Momma bear. Momma gotta itch.

Just a regular day.

2009-10-18T12:39:00.001-07:00

Raven hunting, Sharkey was trying to catch a raven or share whatever they were eating.
Daily sight on the Yukon River. We saw this walking to the post office.
Kids playing in front of their house. I bet they will be glad when it gets really cold so their play ground will not be so wet.
This play ground is full of snow machines.
They are rebuilding a road that goes to the airport, but it will not be finished until next year.

2009-10-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

The dog was on his leash pulling to go. This raven was on the ground eating something no doubt delicious, at least for a dog. It flew to the top of the building and I thought why not record the sound it makes. I had the leash around my wrist and the dog was ready to go. This takes a long time to load up here. The school put security all over the school and the video is sent via our Internet hook-up to Anchorage where they keep the files. Our Internet is much slower now and this may be one of the reasons. I am trying to get Susan to let me get the Internet at our house because we have to do so much for the school on the Internet and it would be much nicer to do the work at home.

2009-10-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Abby, is the survey design person working on this project at New Orleans. This is going to be a dike door and a big pump that pumps water out if the dike fails next time.
This is my Abby's latest horse, Dezi, who traveled to Abby's new job in New Orleans. Dezi is stabled an hour north of where Abby lives in the River Ridge addition. We are so proud of both of our daughters. Both are hard workers who rarely miss work, just like their mom and dad.

Dog Fight

2009-10-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

2009-10-12T14:54:00.000-07:00

2009-10-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

2009-10-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for group picture

2009-10-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Look below to see how this happened.

Bering Sea Pics

2009-10-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

2009-10-03T16:16:00.000-07:00

Listen to this for some Bering wave sound!

Here are some more. The sea looked very dirty as the sand there is black.

Leaving Bering Sea (Hooper Bay)

2009-10-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

I took this on the way to Emmonak from Hooper Bay. Last year we got grounded at Hooper Bay for about 24 hours because of bad weather. I am using the Internet at my house in Emmonak and it takes so long to load one picture that I gave up and will do more tomorrow.

2009-10-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

We made a trip to the beach at Hooper Bay again this year. Susan did not have to go bare footed since she wore her knee-high boots.

2009-09-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

This is the gate to some bright place beneath the sea. The sun was burning through some of the sleety clouds. Kinda neat. It was about a mile from the plane as we landed or was it plopped? These pictures went on the blog in the opposite order I placed them. Go to the last and progress to the first. Then you should be able to follow my comments better.
Looks like the sea shore of the Bering Sea. I can't wait to walk there tomorrow. I had to ride in the back of the truck from the airport and got sleeted part of the way. It is much colder than Emmonak.
Is this the other gate? Looks like an infected spear wound on a seal that is smoking a little.
Is this the Gate to Heaven? If this rattle trap plane goes down, I sure hope so!! We flew through clouds most of the way and I kept thinking will I survive the 5,000 fall after we hit a goose or bigger? Will it hurt? How can I get Susan out before the plane sinks? Will my broken leg flop around and embarrass me at the in-service?
On the way to a teacher in-service at Hooper Bay on the Bering Sea one hour by air south of

Emmonak. I am glad to get out of the village. I am bored this year. Oh no, that is what the kids are always saying!!

2009-09-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

OUR HOUSE IN ARKANSAS

SEA TOUR

YUKON RIVER
MISS THE MOST

2009-09-26T16:13:00.000-07:00

HERE IS OUR FIRST SNOW FALL

WE HAVE BOTH OF THESE STUDENTS IN OUR CLASSES, BOTH FUN LEARNERS
FROM OUR RIVER TRIP.

WE ARE GOING TO HOOPER BAY NEXT WEEK FOR A TEACHER IN-SERVICE. IT IS RIGHT ON THE BERING SEA. I WONDER IF SUSAN WILL GO IN AGAIN.
SUSAN AND I WENT TO AFTER-SCHOOL TRAINING IN ANCHORAGE LAST WEEKEND. I WONDER WHAT MAKES THE COLOR OF THE FLOWERS IN ANCHORAGE SO VIVID
SOME OF THESE FLAKES WERE HALF-DOLLAR SIZE. BELOW IS A VIDEO OF THE EVENT

2009-09-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

We were cozy in the boat cabin, while the world burned in the background. That is our principal and guide in the foreground. I think up here instead of the world being burned the word is "frozen'". It was cold enough to drive all of us into the cabin. Seems like the boat would go sixty miles an hour. With the flat bottom the boat just skims along driven by a powerful outboard motor not unlike a swamp boat.
Looking for a moose for the principal to shoot with the moon leading the way. I think it was around 10 pm.
Seal hunting. People in another boat looking intently for the seal to surface. Most in our boat were praying for the seal's good luck. If caught, nothing would go to waste, but can't just one get away? This is on the Yukon River.
Here our guiding moon ray from another perspective. The water is as muddy as the Mississippi. Last year it was much clearer. The ray might lead us to food and survival for the winter, if we were in times of old.
Closing in on the seal. The hunters use a spear which is thrown by hand-held piece of carved wood. It was easy to imagine the hunters using the same technique centuries ago.

We are enjoying 4 days off from school. We did, however, have to work on Friday at a teacher in-service. Some of the teachers have a virus and are spending the time trying to get over that

unfortunate virus, like Susan and I. Oh, the seal's stars were in the right position on this day, but if he stays in this part of the Yukon I have little hope for him. The Yupiks are very skilled hunters and have the determination driven by stomachs hungry for a meal. My students say seal is their favorite.

2009-08-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

We are back teaching in Emmonak, Alaska. We took these on a cruise at Homer, Alaska

I am teaching writing this year. I am glad for the change. Susan is still teaching middle school math. We both are going to do the after school tutoring program this year.

2009-05-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-19T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are the two dogs we watched over for a week while the owners went to Anchorage (looking for a new job)!? Susan and I are happy to stay in Emmonak for another year maybe. Our moving expenses would look better if we stayed another year. Our family is not so sure.
In our world icicles are the attraction of spring, unlike the daffodils of Oklahoma and Arkansas. The sun melts by day and the cold sculpts the artwork, when it begins to freeze again. I watched a movie in which the characters were stabbing each other with these pointed daggers. I know; it was only a movie.
The frozen Yukon is not flat, but has high and low places. The low places are what concerned me as Susan and I walked over it. The lower places were probably two to three feet lower than the highs.
The trees still sport some frost even at 1 pm but was all off by 4 pm. This is the island we always wanted to walk over to see. We crossed about half a mile. The wind was out of the north and cold, not surprising but the sun felt warmer than it has lately!
Here is a shot back toward one of the stores in Emmonak.

Susan and I walked across the frozen Yukon to the island across from Emmonak village. We heard the ice was 4 feet thick, but still did not feel completely safe. We have been informed of too many deaths from thin ice.
These outboard motors are all that is showing of the boats that were left on the shore of the river. My dad always put our outboard motor inside the farm shed to keep the metal from cracking because of low temperatures. Maybe, these Alaska motors are made from metal that will take the sub-zero temperatures. I do know they cost thousands of dollars.

2009-04-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

April and still 3 degrees but it warms up and melts in the afternoons! It is Spring but not that you would know it here yet. We are pretty much use to it though. On days when it gets in the 40's it is hot to us - we want to break out the sandals and shorts!
Large overhang - hope I'm not the one under this when it falls off!!
Susan flying from Anchorage to Bethel right by Mt. Redoubt on the way home to Emmonak. She had a meeting in Fairbanks so had to fly on three different planes to get there. Smelled sulpher on the way into Anchorage and the pilot said "I got a little concerned there". That was kinda scary.
Sharkey has gotten use to the snow and cold unless it is blizzard conditions - then he says "get my coat please" and he does not take long outside to get his business done and run back inside.
This was Sunday, April 5th - Mt. Redoubt had a huge explosion on Saturday am - made us think Susan would not get back from Fairbanks. It could keep erupting for months.

2009-04-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

2009-04-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Puppy says,"Now where, the frig!"

This over hang must way a ton. I hope it does not fall on anyone. It is in a place where no one else walks.
It is light, now, until ten thirty p.m., we are waiting for spring. Our principal said the we have spring, summer, and fall in the month of July.
We are doing state testing today. The test had sixty-five questions and was not timed. It is hard to get a quarter of the kids to work for ten minutes at a time. Some of the slow readers went from nine thirty till two o'clock with 30 minutes off for lunch. I don't know of any of the kids that are on ADD drugs. We just teach them when we can get them settled down. The reading test had a big 5 paragraph essay question. Tomorrow is the writing, what will they have to do, write a short story?

2009-03-25T21:39:00.000-07:00

Here are two nice sisters we work with in our after school program. They are the the daughters of our maintenance man and our junior high teacher's aide.
This was taken about 8:30 p. m. so the days are lighter for much longer now.
The dog is going under the neighbor's house to find shelter out of the blizzard.

Some moose in Anchorage.
Susan and a student with their new stick fishing pole.

2009-03-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

To read this picture story start at the bottom and go up. Oh, we did find the other boy in a blizzard of snow created by his shoveling.
There are about six steep stairs. You can see the angle of the railing.
One of our students starting work on the project. There is another boy somewhere below in the snow that is 5' high at the bottom of the stairs.
Susan and dog stood here to give you a scale to measure the snow.
I checked if your back door lock had thawed recently and this is what I found when I opened the door.....

2009-03-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

Enough snow, already. We are having another blizzard today. It started last night and continued off and on today. All the trails through the drifts are filled again. I have to walk through them and get all wet when I go inside. If you happen to step where there is no boardwalk you immediately sink in to your waist. You have to roll to get out and hope no one sees you. Once one of our women teachers went down off the boardwalk and showed up with her nostrils full of snow. We tried to re-enact that and just could not get that to happen again. PS. The lady recovered, but gets inquiries about her nose all the time. Like she is sniffing the wrong white powder.
Sharky in his winter attire. I think it is his paws that get the coldest. Sometimes he has to find a way under our house to get out of the weather before he freezes solid.
Playing kids. All of them are too young to be Susan's and my classes.
Susan made snow ice cream. It was sooo good. She had to go to Anchorage to for some tests. All is well and I am so happy about that. I don't know when she will be able to get back in though. Spring, maybe?
Don't walk under the snow armed with razor sharp ice cycles. Especially when the wind is blowing 60 mph. Course no one is walking around unless they have a little dog who has business outside.

2009-03-03T22:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, we have had plenty of snow this year. This is a walkway to the emergency generator for the school. These are a couple of our Junior High students with Susan. The hoods always remind me of home(Blytheville). Our native children call hooded sweatshirts sweaters.
A road to nowhere. Well, maybe the airport. The days are much longer now. How about some heat, please?
Our principal sent Susan to the airport to take a couple of out-of-town accountants to their ride. We had just gotten another foot of snow which had drifted as high as the pickup hood. It took a loader to get Susan out. Yes, it is a 4-wheeled drive, Ford, and 2008.
I could have been falling off the chair in the hotel room in Anchorage where I was staying for a technology convention or maybe not... double exposure?
The technology conference lasted several days. I found I don't like crowds much anymore. Once at a buffet in convention room too small for the people in it, someone kind of pushed me getting to the cream cheese pie and I was surprised myself with the response that came to my mind. It was a physical response accompanied with a verbal blast. Verbal blast, reminds me of Sonic. I did recover before either and left for some fresh Alaska air. Susan did not get to come with me, but I sure wish she had. It was a nice break from the village, once I got used to the pitiful pace and packed place.

2009-02-20T19:49:00.000-08:00

Here is my honey in pile of snow another blizzard left. They are much like the blizzards we had in Oklahoma, but much, much more snow. The hand rail behind Susan is probably 3 feet high. It was packed down to 6" before this storm. Susan is actually standing on a pile of snow and she is too light to sink in all the way.

Here is a snow mountain from our small school parking lot. A small child is having a lot of fun!
This is the bay near the Captain Hook Hotel were I am attending a technology conference. I am enjoying being out of the village, but it is really a strange feeling. Part of it is that Susan is not with me, and the other part is all the closeness and activity here in Anchorage. I hope they don't think I will be sitting in a room with a lot of people tomorrow. Right now, I would just as soon be in my classroom with my students and Susan right there across the hall from us.

I sure am going to miss all of the students this summer.

Same bay at sunset out my hotel window. I hear there is a swimming pool down stairs; think I will go check it out.
The days are longer, now. This was at 6:30 p. m. The days of extended darkness never really never bothered me. Susan and I were always busy. There were always things we liked to do. Sometimes we would let some of our students into the school gym and let them play basketball. All of us had fun doing that. Our dog loved to romp up and down the long school halls looking for candy a student let fall from their hand.

All work, no play.

2009-01-18T22:24:00.000-08:00

Susan and I have spent the entire weekend working on a required Alaska History course. All the teachers new to Alaska have to take the course. The first lesson I did took 17 typed double- spaced pages. We have essay questions on the lessons and the two tests. I will be so glad to get this out of the way. Some of the courses at other universities let multiple people work on the same lesson and just put all their names on it for credit. Not ours, we have to do the lessons individually. We will probably do better on the tests, though. We plan to do three lessons per weekend finishing the lessons in one month. Our school district is paying for the course after we pass it, of course.

Susan and the Yukon River. We still need to walk over to the island.

It snowed and stormed so much that we could not get out on a plane and missed a teacher in-service in Anchorage. We could have been in Anchorage 3 days at the end of this week. Now we will be here for months, unless another in-service comes up. It snowed a foot then 4o degree temps came in one day and melted a lot of the snow cover. Now, of course, the temp is in the single digits again. Oh, that is negative single digits!

Shark Boy playing with his new Spanish friend. Someone called her a teacup dog.

This was at noon, I think. Heavy clouds were moving in with a brisk breeze. Susan has her winter cough. She went to the clinic and they gave her cough syrup. I think she needs a shot of something strong with a syringe.

Going to another village school for an in-service.

2009-01-10T16:54:00.001-08:00

This was after the in-service trying to get all the snow machines running again after setting in the -20 degree cold.

The school building we traveled to for the in-service. This is the arrival. You see all the clothes this person was wearing.

Sometimes the snow machines stick to the snow and person has to lift their tracks off the ice or the belt will set there and burn on the pulley that drives the tracks. On ice the front skis do not turn the snow machine very well. I guess that is why the don't call them ice machines. You just sit there with the steering wheel turned saying, "OH ____!!!!" (fill in the blank with your personal preference for those times when severe injury accompanied with pain is mili-seconds away). My experience was the machine had to run into some snow or bushes at the edge of the trail before the thing would turn.

On arrival, I think that is Susan!! Anyway whoever gave me an Eskimo kiss. We were cold and frost bitten.

The survival kit my daughter, Sarah, gave me minus the little pliers-knife handy dandy
combo the security person at the airport took from me. They probably needed one for their kit. The knife wasn't long enough to hit anything vital, at least, on me. I should have taken the foil blanket out and put it over my head so I could have avoided a scabby nose and face. Right, I would have hit the only large tree along that part of the iced over Yukon River.

2009-01-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

Frosty trees in Anchorage

Even the wild animals are running away from the cold. I think the temperature has been mostly below -10 since we came back to Alaska.

A village dog may wonder why the humans wear so much clothing that you can't even smell them.

And all this time Shark Boy thought hell was hot. He gets so confused on the bitter cold snow. His movements seem to tell us, "which foot should I save from becoming a block of ice!!"
Shark Boy wondering how can we expect him to do what comes natural in an unnatural place with fox scent everywhere. And what is a fox? Hopefully, not some kind of dog eating, blizzard loving, snow munching monster.

It was nice to come back to so many friendly kids ready to tease us and tell us "Happy New Year." Seems like most teachers are the kind of people who see mostly good in most everything and everyone.

The days are already getting longer. I feel we have made it through some kind of trial like a Praxis II test or something. It stays light till about five thirty, now. It is really like what I commented upon before: we are too busy working with mostly fun, smiling, young people to worry much about the light. The students provide light shinning out from within their spirits with their wonderful responses to our teaching and caring. Our church from Blytheville sent gifts of pencils, socks, lotion, and snacks. Surely the astronauts could see their light shinning that day. I will always remember seeing gifts coming from good caring people back in Blytheville in the middle the world received with thanksgiving by good caring people from Emmonak at the top of the earth.

After the Holidays and Sarah's Wedding

2009-01-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

There is a new dog in town, Emmonak Village that is. It was -22 degrees with a -44 degrees wind chill. Cold has a new meaning for us and our dog can high step it much faster.

Bride and Groom start a new life. We all had a great time at the celebration with relatives old and new.

Bride Sarah with her daddy. All I was thinking of was my memories of all the fun Abby, Sarah, Susan, and I had while we struggled through growing up and learning new things every day.

Sarah and Abby help each other while Susan and I are so far away. That is and always will be a great comfort for Susan and I to know our daughters are making sure each other are doing okay.

As we stepped outside the airport in Fayetteville, Susan and I were greeted by this beautiful sunrise promising what turned out to be a wonderful Christmas vacation with family and friends.

2008-11-30T21:17:00.000-08:00

Susan took this picture. It warmed up some and most of the snow melted from the trees. One day it was -8 with the wind chill it was -20. Hey, cold is cold -8 -20 just means you will freeze faster if you fall down or something.
This is a nice kid that is in both Susan's class and my class. Kids just can't keep off the net!! I will be glad when basketball starts here. Teachers have to do volunteer duty, just one hour shifts.
I think I might have put this on before, like maybe last time. They call it cabin fever. (just kidding)
Susan and I are so excited to be coming home in three weeks. It will be good to see everyone. We can't believe the time has passed so quickly. We decorated for the Christmas season!
I am going to work hard with the kids so the time passes quickly. We have an after school program 2 or 3 afternoons a week for another hour and a half. That really gets Susan and I tired be the end of the week. We do have fun with the kids though. We get to work with some kids we don't have during the day.

2008-11-23T16:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a flocked tree. The snow looks like little thorns. From 50 feet away the trees look like they are blooming.

Talking about a winter wonder land. We have it!! Now, I know what fake flocked trees are supposed to look like.
It is like large crystals. The snow has crystal like projections.
Road to the Bering Sea You can see the clouds that seem to hang over the sea about 14 miles away. It is about 4 pm and -9 degrees. My fingers get cold quickly even with gloves. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving Break.

2008-11-19T08:25:00.000-08:00

We had a parent night for the after school program. The program paid for $700 worth of Subway sandwiches to be flown in from Bethel, Alaska. Grant Airlines brought the sandwiches in free. That was really nice for the kids. Yes, we had mostly kids show for the night. The teacher's had to do an hour and a half tutoring session, then do the parent night without any pay. Susan and I were really tired after 12 hours of teaching work.

The snow just sits on the bushes where it lands. The sunlight does not melt it and we have not had strong winds to blow it off (an 0 degrees, that is good news!!).

Not much going on here. The temperature is staying around 0 degrees at night. Susan and I do after school program about three afternoons a week and/or sometimes a double session on Saturday. We get warn out by Saturday evening. The kids are great and love getting the snacks the after school program provides. They are required to work on the educational program the program supplies for at least 45 minutes of the hour and a half long session. At the very least this may help the student to develop the ability to stay focused for longer periods of time. We are doing popcorn reading in my classes. I have been doing research on reading development and trying different approaches. We need to work on comprehension if we are going to see any improvement in the Alaska State test. Here are some pictures I tried to get of a beautiful sunset. I even ran out in the snow to get around some brush that is close to the school buildings. The snow was a foot deep. It is not packed, but held up by high grass. The snow does not melt much because of the temp. When it does frees water drips through cracks above our back door and freezes solid during the night. It is very hard to open, if fact, I don't think Susan can bust it open. Also, the key hole gets water in it and won't let me get the key into it without hot water which only freezes back again. I am going to get the stuff a person can spray into car key holes when I go home for Christmas. We have a front door, course I spent an hour shoveling the steps and walk to the back door last Saturday. I am spend a lot of time on the school's computers. It is definitely more of a hobby.

2008-11-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

Now the pickup berg is on the right. We traveled about 45 minutes by snow machine to get to the spot where one can forget all the political speeches and media bias. Who cares if the stock market crashes, who cares if rich men become poor, who cares if poor men become rich; it is hard to worry about all of that out here so close to nowhere so far from everywhere. I am just glad Susan is here with me and my family is safe at home in the other world.
You see, it is a lot lighter in this shot. The sun sets very fast around this part of the world. Francine said someone caught (shot) a polar bear near here in 1970.
We went from 15 to 40 mph on the way out here. Susan and I tested the worth of our winter clothes and found out what we might need later on in the really cold Alaska night. Hooper Bay, where Susan got in the Bering Sea, is far from here. Today, my older students were telling me that the ice is only about 6 to 8 inches deep. They said it will get 4 feet deep. I told them I want to go white fish fishing with them this winter and they said "Good". My students can say a lot in a few words. Maybe, that is better, well, I know it is better that what we have been hearing on TV.

I has so much fun driving the snow machine. It is a lot like driving a motor cycle. They have caterpillar tracks on the back and skis on the front. Raymond said he went slow for us and usually travels at 5o mph. I kept thinking what I would look like with the tip of my noise black with frost bite going only 15 to 30 mph. They lent me some goggles that were definitely necessary!! It was good to get out of Emmonak and out of the school and house.
I told Raymond I would be very happy to help him collect wood on Saturday. Susan and I do have to teach the after school program till noon and I do not know if he can wait for me to go. They find the wood along the shore and either tie the logs behind the snow machines or take plastic-like sleds that require that the wood be cut up some for the trip to Emmonak. I hope I get to go and will wear more clothes next time. Although, Susan and I never got cold at all. The handle bars of the snow machines are heated somehow and get very warm on your hands.

2008-11-06T00:03:00.000-08:00

After traveling 14 miles by snow machine through the snow covered tundra dotted with frozen lakes we arrived at the Bering Sea once again. The forms in the back between the sky and the sea are small ice bergs. I was surprised at how many there were. I just checked the temp and right now it is 5 degrees. It could not have been much more that 10 degrees on our way out.
This picture shows the mounds of ice that build up when the sea is trying to freeze over. How can there be such beautiful places? Why can I see them? It seems that God does love us to let us share in this enormous testament of the universe only he could create.
I was trying to get the larger ice berg at the left of the picture. It looked as large as my poor lonesome Ford truck waiting for me in Arkansas.
Here is Susan and our friend who took us on another once-in-a-lifetime adventure. This is Francine, and also her husband Raymond was there to guide us on the many snowmobile trails to the Bering Sea. Susan could not get in the sea, so she licked a piece of ice. Yep! Salty!
Here is Susan, Francine, a teacher we work with, and one of our students. They look so small. I am a loss for words to describe the vast emptiness we found and which greedily swallowed us for a while. It puts a speck of dust in perspective. We were the dust and God's creation was the rest.

Fox and Snow

2008-10-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is the fox by the river, but here he is up by my house. I was getting ready to take a picture of the snow and the fox jumped up on the walk. He showed no fear even after the flash went off.
This is a picture of the first measurable snow plus an interesting light. Our house is on the left. This is the same walk the fox chose to use.

2008-10-26T18:14:00.000-07:00

Kids on the ice. A teacher told me she walked out on the ice, also.
Looks like a snow river, now.
There is a lot to look at in the picture. Looks like snow in a day or two.
The big white blotches are big flakes that fell on the lens. this is the young man who teaches next to my room. He is from Fayetteville , Arkansas. His parents both graduated from Oklahoma State just like Susan and I. We might meet him and his wife at Tim's Pizza in Fayetteville if Susan and I stay a day or so after Sarah's wedding.

2008-10-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

It was snowing and I tried to get a shot of the snow coming down against the gym. You can see the larger flakes. The students said when it is real cold the snow sometimes comes down like tiny ice balls. This is from the window in my room at school.
Here is Susan in her pretty red coat my sister gave her. I am trying to load some English software on one of the computers in my room while I am doing this. Behind Susan is the frozen Yukon River.
Here is the kid walking through the water on top of the ice on the river. It was in the twenties with no wind. A very nice day to walk around for Susan and I. Hope you like the movie.

The kids were taking advantage of the new snow for some fun on a sunny day. Never mind that they were sledding out on the river ice. If they get caught on the ice before it is judged safe they will be put in jail. The blue edge is ice covered with water. They were walking through the water and out on the ice. Their tracks can be seen far out onto the ice. Susan and I knew them and told them the ice was not safe. They just told us kids did this last year. I said "Well, where are those kids."

2008-10-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Here is the friend I was talking to you about. Susan and I were walking about 5 pm along the river. There he was near where I saw him before. On the camera his form is really small. I was pleasantly surprised to see the actual shot was much better. I hope he is not shot by the native Alaskans!!!!
He wanted us to see both sides! Susan's cold is much better. I was glad she could make the walk this evening. In folk lore foxes are egotists, but our fiery, friendly, fox, friend makes not boasts.
See. She is waving again. Across the way is an island in the Yukon River. We are going over there, maybe in December, to see how big the Yukon is on the other side. I'll take pics.
My sister and mother sent me these pants. They have orange in the plaid with an OSU symbol. Thanks a lot for the thoughtful boxes. I think I would like warm pullovers for Christmas, not sweaters. I will put a picture of one on here so you can see, if you needed a list. I wore these to both stores and the people looked at me like "Oh, Brother."
This picture is of small remnant of the river that is not frozen. The wind was very brisk this evening and we walked quickly about one half mile back to our school. For that matter all too soon we may not get much light. The veterans said we will have about 4 hours of gloomy light per day and that will be while we are at work. Someone is taking care of me because I have 20 feet of windows (it seems) in my room so I will see the meager light. Susan has big windows in her class room, too. I am not afraid, because my students put out a bright inner light that will keep all of us warm and happy. I called my nephew, Ryan who lives in Florida, using Skype at school. My students all wanted to see him and his family. They were so friendly to Ryan asking many questions. My students are truly good people.

October 18

2008-10-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today, Susan sent me to take pictures of the developing ice on the Yukon River. You can see the ice forming along the river's edge. In the fore ground is some driftwood cut and piled for someone to use in their sweat house. The native Alaskans do not bath they sweat to clean their bodies.
It is cold today. The wind is blowing from I don't know where, certainly not the Sahara. You can see the ice start to pile up. A lot of the boats have been lifted out of the river and put up to be replaced with snow machines. That is what Alaskans call snow mobiles. Many are excited for winter. Safe routes are marked on the river and people go much faster than boats. Sometimes the river breaks through and leaves a couple of feet of water on the top of the ice. I have been told the snow machines just keep going, but the ride can become wet as well as cold.
Here is a fishery boat. The engines are as long as I am tall. Notice it takes three axles. One of my friends went out with a native to get fire wood. He said they would crash into the ice, back up and crash into it again when they go in ice that was thick. He said he has never been so cold.
The river piles up the ice on top of firmer ice making what looks like drifts. It will take a few feet of snow to make travel smooth over this river.
This is about three inches thick. This is a close up of the drifts of ice on the river. They are 2 to 3 feet tall in places. I walk from our house down through the dusty town along the icy river by to beautiful town dump which leads to the cold airport. From the airport I walk across a mile stretch of destroyed road which comes out at the health clinic. I think it might be about a two and one half mile walk. Last night on this walk I saw a pretty big red fox near the junk yard by the river. When I was behind the dump I turned around for some reason and another red fox was following me with ten feet. I talked to him about my dogs at home. He or she stopped to listen until I finished my story. I turned to leave and then turned back and the fox had vanished. Of course, I had no camera. I had my camera tonight in case I saw them again. No fox.

Gulls at the trash dump.

2008-10-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

Bering Sea

2008-10-15T21:29:00.000-07:00

The wind was blowing about 40 mph and the sand was blowing in our eyes.
Can you believe Susan got into the water. I sure did not. It seemed about 40 degrees.
This dog belongs to the math teacher in the picture with me. I think the dog felt sorry for Susan and wanted to help her get warm.
The Bering Sea was blowing in so hard the water was brown with a muddy sand.
This is a shot from the plane as we took off for Emmonak.

2008-10-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

2008-10-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

The is one of the streets in Emmonak. They have a silty gray mud when wet. It hardens on your shoes and comes off later in your house.
This is a nice shot of our house. The red tank is for fuel oil. The trees and grass are strategically placed for beauty and to let you know what season it is. See, we don't have snakes so we can have nice long native grass. We had our first light snow fall on Oct 1st. These boards are really slick with just frost. I am glad Susan and I have spikes that fit onto our shoes.
GHOST FOUR WHEEL RIDERS!!!! GETTNG CLOSE TO HALLOWEN!!!!! Look at the strange clouds in this shot.
A shot of the part of the High School. It is very old and needs replaced. Heard we are fifth one the list of new improvements. The elementary wing is a lot newer.
I still can't get over this blue glacier ice, really wierd. But not as wierd as ghost riders

More Pictures Taken This Week

2008-09-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

A missionary couple and their young son live in the brown painted building. The missionary's wife sings like an angel. I get the point by just listening to her songs. Last time we went the service lasted two and one half hours. Susan and I miss our church and church members form Blytheville Presbyterian Church. We are kinda home sick this weekend. I am sick with a cold.
You dance, No, you dance. Who will join the native Alaskans dance at the dinner to welcome teachers? Not I, maybe, next time.
The vehicle of choice during the months without snow. I have seen 6 people on one of these. They will move at 100 mph when a teenager is driving, I think. I'll have one with mud flaps, please. Almost all of the natives Alaskans will slow way down so on dusty days they don't get us dirty.
Here is a picture of one of the dances. The motions and body language tell stories of berry picking, fishing, and hunting. The males get on the floor and the women stand up. I noticed differences in motions between the men and women. They had a dance, dinner, and gift-giving for us. It really made me want to do my best and help all of their children I can. Susan got some awesome earrings given to her made by one of the ladies. May God Bless these nice People.
Here is a good shot of a boardwalk going to the cemetery. Beside the boardwalk is the city utilities. The sewer has a suction on it to keep the water and stuff flowing in the pipe from freezing. A villager told us the sewer empties into a lagoon which flows into another lagoon then another till the water finally gets to the Bering Sea. The city water is taken from the Yukon River on the other side of town. The water is only filtered. I think I want boiled water, thank you!! I tell myself, don't be a baby, just drink it. I feel better with Tang or Tea added; Clorox? maybe?

Alaska Tundra and Berries

2008-08-31T14:37:00.001-07:00

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.

National Geographic Tour of Lower Yukon

2008-08-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

Hey, we had a fantastic voyage on the Lower Yukon River, around 80 miles worth!!! This a shot of us leaving Emmonak. May be the last time we get a chance to leave the village. We netted salmon, viewed a large area up river from Emmonak, saw a seal hunt,visited the summer fishing camp, met some some Yupiks that were so friendly I could have sworn I was in Oklahoma or Arkansas, saw an expanse of Tundra, and road miles and miles with the fresh Alaska wind in our faces.

Here is our crew three wonderful people from the Watksa family, a Texas teacher, a Phillipino teacher(planned and arranged the trip, a Colorado teacher, and a new teacher mentor who is native of Hawii. Oh! that is me behind the camera with Susan. This boat cost $18,000 with the motor costing $16,000. The right to net fish salmon cost in the neighborhood of $20,oo0. This aluminum boat really moves on the river water. It had a four-stroke engine for fuel economy. I think we purchased $300 of fuel at $5.oo per gallon and used probably three fourths if the total.
Here is the net that was cast into the river. The net has a floater side, which you see and a weight side in the water, of course. We would leave it out for around 30 minutes while drifting down the huge river. Then the net was pulled in with the fish tangled in the net. The net could have no fish or 100 fish. Our first try netted 10 fish and the second got us 7 more salmon. The species were silver and king salmon. If Oklahoma bass from a farm pond they would have been humongus, but as silvers go average, and kings small.

Here are some of our catch. King salmon have kind of a snaggle overbite with dark freckles on their backs. Silver are, right--- silver. We got home at 2 am and had to get the catch up to our houses. We wrapped them in freezer paper and put them in a freezer each of us have in our houses. I baked one of them today. We had a get together for dinner and consumed it. It was very good. Hope I got a lot of omega 3 out of the deal, cause I was sure tired out all day at school. The wonderful trip was worth a little fatigue. We were having meetings and working in our rooms.

Sunset was around 11pm. A person has to watch it or you work too much. Susan and I haven't been watching the clock enough, but operating like a couple of Oklahoma farmers, working from sun to sun. I can only put five pictures on at a time, to I will tell the rest of the story later.

Rigby and me

2008-08-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

My principal likes me. Hope that is true by the last day of school!

Some boats belonging to villagers. Behind the boats is an island. The Yukon is more wide than the Mississippi at Blytheville. Some of these boats cost $10,000 and a motor $6,000. We are eight miles from the Bering Sea as a crow flies.

An old boat that Susan found to photograph. The front of it opens like the ones I rode in during my days as a Marine.

The Catholic Church at Emmonak.

The front entrance of Emmonak School and the trusty van.

Church

2008-08-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

Susan and I are going to go to a missionary church tonight at 6:30. I think the denomination is Church of Christ. Last Sunday we attended a Catholic Church and learned from the priest about not giving up on ourselves. One of the teachers said a Presbyterian meeting was somewhere in town according to the Internet. Maybe, we will find out tonight. Monday, we start with in-service meeting again. I think it is over Literacy by Design. Hope they have snacks! Or drawings for teacher supplies!! Susan and I found some boots today in one of the two stores. They stay warm to -43 degrees. I bought them for $22 since Susan had already bought herself a pair. They were in a back room and on sale. The reg. price was $70. Abby said some kids came by our house in Blytheville and asked if the flower man was home. I am going to miss our school kids. All the kids on the streets here in Emmonak say hello and ask if we are teachers. They seem really nice and polite. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I can't wait for the first day to meet all my new students. I hope some of them are gangsta like my brothers and and sistas.

Here are some pictures I just took.

2008-08-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

Anchorage from our hotel room.

The airplane Susan almost puked on.

My principal getting our house ready.

Yu'pik with a spear he wanted to sell us for harpooning stuff.

Our house with a nice porch. Yes, the house is on stilts for spring flooding. The ground is peat and boggy so people do not mow their grass. Another good reason to live here!

Classes Assigned

2008-08-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

Got my assignment for the next year. I will be teaching Reading to students who are in the six, seventh, and eighth grades. Class sizes will be around 16 to 17 students. In Alaska, the students are on certain levels and in certain grades. In a perfect world this is what happens at school. The levels are determined by the students academic progress. The grades (6th, 7th, 8th) are determined by the students' age. So a teacher could have students who are on several levels, like 4 grade, 5 grade, 6 grade, 7 grade, and 9th grade, all in one (age grade) like the 8th grade. The teacher is a facilitator who helps students move up academic levels. When a student takes a test over a certain standard and gets a grade of proficient, then the student moves up to the next standard level. The tests are supposed to be indicators of the student's ability to understand and/or explain a certain standard on a certain grade level. When a grade is given, it is A, B, C, or developing. Experienced teachers told me they really don't know a student's grade until report cards are calculated by the computer program. No percentage grades are given. Student work at a self-paced rate. I think we are on school improvement, so we are giving Aims tests to students with the frequency determined by the students level with respect to their age-grade. The Alaska Department of Ed. monitor(person) will be able to review these test results and child's progress. This data is per student and per teacher. The teacher can lecture/teach students on grade level standards with their lesson plans reflecting the standard having been covered. Tests over the standard are given at the level each child is currently working on. If the child achieves proficiency then that standard is checked off on that child's record which the computer computes into a report card. Simple?

Emmonak, Alaska Here We Are

2008-08-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

After a couple of days staying in an off brand motel in Anchorage, we moved to a Sheridan Hotel in downtown. It was about $300 a night for someone coming off the street, which, of course, we could not afford. Lower Yukon School District was our host for the next two days of intensive, informative sessions of instruction. A good person by the name of Grant took Susan and I shopping around Anchorage and gave us much needed advice about shopping for the Bush. He is like many educators who I have ran across in my teaching career. They have infinite patience, kindness, goodness, and a love for their fellow human beings. I, though, remain a work in progress. With all the good examples I have found in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alaska; someday, I may,at least, be able to act like I have those traits.

After we left Anchorage by air we arrived a Bethel. From there we took a small 10 seater plane to our new home at Emmonak. Susan's stomach did not appreciate the roller coaster ride. I laughed and laughed at her expressions of discomfort when the stuff in her stomach was pressured by the falling plane up to the very back of her tongue. I know I am bad. I admit it. Anyway, when we got there a young man from Arizona, kind of a sufer dude type, said he had the same fluid discomfort. As it turns out, when we had to fly to Mountain Village for more intense new teacher training, we had a very smooth flight and both enjoyed the pleasure of the Alaska scenery.

Get this: The school is run down and in need of paint and eblow greese. It looks like we teachers will have to do the painting and cleaning when we return from Mountain Village. I am okay with that.

We are not sure what we are teaching or were we will be teaching. On the bright side we have recieved a good education about the culture and we have a fellow teacher who grew up in the village. She is very nice and has pledged to help us learn as much about the culture as possible as we are teaching her friend's children and relative's children. As we walked around Emmonak the adult people were very friendly and would shake our hands in welcome. They would thank us for coming to teach their children. Susan and I are going to work very hard for those parents.

This evening we went to an native dance and country western dance. The native dancers were accompined by native crafted drums. Their dances tell stories and confey emotion along with beautifully expressed hand and body movements. I can not wait to learn the stories. Maybe, one was about a crane and another a bear, I think.

We used Skype to talk to my daughter, Sarah. The next day her finance, Ben, helped us to see each other. That was wonderful for Susan and I. We were filled with love so quickly when we saw Sarah we became over whelmed. I hope we can get my other daughter, Abby, hooked up. (To Skype) We appreciate all the people who have the backs of our daughters and will never forget their kindness while Susan and I are working in Alaska. If you do not know what (have the backs of our daughters) means go to Blytheville Middle School or High School and ask one of my brother or sister students I left there. I still have many of their pictures and laugh about the fun times and good things we learned about each other while in school together.

Aug. 5, 2008

2008-08-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

We got to Anchorage after a horrendous 11 hours. Alaska is beautiful, just like so many others have found out. My sister said it was 108 in Enid, Oklahoma and it was around 60 here. We felt the carcinogens lodged in our lungs fleeing into the clean, clear air.

July 29, 2008

2008-07-29T06:53:00.000-07:00

Leaving for Alaska Aug. 3, hope all the prep for this adventure is worth it. I think a person can make good things happen or be negative and ensure the dark side will prevail. Took Lucy, our loyal rat terror, to the vet this morning to get fixed. We are holding on to the adage, she'll live longer. Lucy has chased more than one of my students all the way to convience store (150 feet). She runs back so proud. Yep! students and squirrels are more fun for Lucy than dog food. My students have been very nice about being chased and tell the story at school for a good laugh. I can't believe they can run faster than Lucy.

Teaching In Alaska

2008-07-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

This should be fun for Susan and I. What? Teaching in Alaska. I am going to try to get the news to my past students, church members,and fellow teachers and staff from Blytheville, and my family. I am going to miss seeing my past students around town. They pay me back for trying to teach them by saying nice things about our wild times (not if I could help it, but...) we had together at the middle school. I think some of the teachers and/or parents must have done great work with the students if they can be so kind to a mean old teacher like me.
Most people we know have been very supportive and curious about our new endeavor. Susan will have to do her own blog as she will have another perspective on our adventure, I'm sure! I like doing new things and that glow may cause me to miss some of the unsavory aspects of our journey. Here is how it works:
1. You post some of your career information on the ATP site.
2. You get a bite, then an offer.
3. You get your wife to say she will go with you.
4. You and your wife start filling out pages and pages of career and personal information. (Now, you are going through with this for sure.) When your writing fingers get tired and your brain over heated, you try to take care of some personal matters. It was so much easier when I was young and could just leave home!!
5. Of course, then you get calls from schools where you were always interested in working.
6. You spend the summer doing paper work and waiting for official information to come in so you can send it to the Alaska Department of Education who lets you know if you send in one incorrect document all of the information will be sent back to you. Comforting thought. Not.
7. You say good-bye at your church and the preacher says such nice things about your wife's church work you tear-up, so you might have to lie in church with you-know-who listening (think up, way up). You think if anyone notices you'll say your algeries are giving you fits.
I gotta go watch tv.