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

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.

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.

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

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.