Anchorage Trip with Susan

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.