Coversations with Jesus

We had a meeting to explain the Alaska Teacher Retirement system so we got a paid trip out of the village this weekend.  The workshop was very informational, the speakers were very good, and the subject was very depressing - Alaska teacher retirement may once have been number 1 in the United States but that is most definitely no longer the case.  Despite the unpleasant news, our trip was still very enjoyable.  We got to check out a couple new restaurants and add Fat Olives to our list of favorites.  Moose were along the roads everywhere munching away at the grass - I think we saw a total of 10 this weekend.  The trip also gave us a chance to get studded tires on our truck (and miss Missouri prices at the register) and not a moment too soon because we had our first snow this morning!!!!  Loving winter and snow as we do, this was a very exciting sight to wake up to.  How awesome is that - snow in October!!

The weather decided to bring excitement into our lives in a couple ways today, actually.  When we arrived at the airport in Homer they weren't sure if we would be able to fly back to Nanwalek because the winds were so strong.  There was a very slight reduction in wind speeds, however, so they decided to take us.  Now I always start each flight with a small conversation with Jesus which begins with "Please, God, don't let me die today."  but considering the increased risk with high winds, I had a much longer conversation than usual.  I  continued with, "Wait, I can't die today.  We don't have a will yet.  I knew we should have gotten one written out before we came to Alaska.  Why didn't I get that done?  I need to get that taken care of as soon as possible.  I wonder if they have a notary public in the village?  I wonder if they'll laugh at me if I ask if there's a notary public?"  And so the conversation continued.  I'll not lie and say the flight was smooth when it wasn't and I really did not enjoy the extra landing and take-off we had to make to drop off a guy in Seldovia, but we survived so I'll also not complain.  Our pilot did his job very well so I'll have another opportunity to start out a conversation with Jesus by saying "Please, God, don't let me die today."

We're Blown Away

I'm not speaking figuratively either.  The weather for the last several days has been rain, wind, rain, rain, and more rain followed by wind, wind, wind, wind, and maybe a little more wind.  We can't really get an accurate gauge of our wind gusts because all of the weather sites actually report Homer's weather instead of Nanwalek's so we're just giving it our best guess.  Since Mike enjoys storm spotting in his spare time, I'm sure he's pretty accurate with his estimate of 60/70 mile per hour gusts.  We came home from visiting friends to find our new "garage" - it's metal-framed and covered in a tarp material - missing in action.  After a little investigation we discovered it took a small 30 yard stroll to visit the creek behind our house.  Fortunately, a tree decided traveling wasn't safe in such bad weather and kept the shelter there until we returned.  After much wrestling with the shelter, the tree, and the still gusting wind, we were able to get the shelter repositioned and the Ranger happily parked out of the elements - and tied to the shelter.  I don't think it will be going anywhere again tonight, but I think a very serious conversation about the dangers of wandering around late at night may be necessary.

We were a little disappointed when we moved here to find out Nanwalek doesn't get thunderstorms, but tonight it's really very hard to tell the difference between the sound of real thunder and the sound of the wind gusts.  Back home such wind would send Mike out in the late hours to spot tornadoes and cut trees off of roads and houses.  I, on the other hand, would be moving my shoes from the bottom of my closet so that I could curl up in the floor under the bottom shelf and sleep comfortably knowing I was surrounded by 8 inches of concrete and several feet of earth.  I'm sure its an unusual approach to the situation, but that's where I would go if I knew a tornado was coming so it seems to make sense to just go ahead and get there and get a full night's rest.

First Kill Down



Snow!  How lucky are we to get to see this off
our front porch!



This weekend has been a mixture of work and play.  Since our professor discovered the button that adds us onto blackboard we are now able to begin the college course we enrolled in over a month ago and have been playing catch up this weekend.  It's been a bit time consuming, but the work isn't hard and the information is interesting so we won't complain.  The fact the course is also saving us $1000 helps us to see things positively as well.  First quarter has also finished so we are wrapping up the last grades before they are due tomorrow.  This is the point where I begin to question why I insist on giving writing assignments - it's like I teach Language Arts or something.  Ah, well.  Such is the price of living in such an amazing sample of God's creation.



Our last hint of a sunset - the sun is now
setting behind the mountain and
moves further south with each day.



Despite the work we were able to sneak a little bit of fun into the weekend.  We hiked up to Horseshoe Lake yesterday, but I didn't think to take my camera so I missed an opportunity for some amazing scenery photos.  The lake appears to have a grass sidewalk along the edge that one would assume is solid ground, but it sank a little with our footsteps and we could watch it move around us if we jumped on it.  What appears to be solid ground is actually the edge of the lake where the grasses are so thick they can be walked across.  We also snuck away today for a short excursion to the lakes and managed to bring home a couple spruce grouse for supper.  So we have our first Alaskan kill!  (fish apparently do not count)   We are looking forward to frying up some tasty tidbits - well, hoping they're tasty anyway.  We've never eaten grouse so we'll just have to hope we do not regret our afternoon's activities.

Rednecks

So, I never thought I would say this but I really miss rednecks!  We're not complaining about our location - it's beautiful and God has brought some wonderful people into our lives.  However, it's a very different culture, and we sometimes find ourselves longing for some good ol' boys from back home who understand farm analogies, say things like "Jeet yet?" and "Y'ant too?", and know what it is to go floatin'.  I often find myself explaining something I've said in class in further detail because the kids aren't familiar with the same type of country living we've experienced growing up in Missouri.  So we've come up with some things we miss (besides family and friends of course):

1. DEER SEASON!!!

2. 4 wheelers being for farm work and weekend fun

3. the river

4. living in a place where Mike can pee off the front porch

5. living around people who appreciate #4
6. pickin' and grinnin' (and singing too)

7. everyone showing up to family functions like Christmas & Thanksgiving wearing camo

8. camo being it's own "color"

9. cool breezes on hot, sticky summer nights

10.living in a place where my hair is considered brown (who knew you could go blond simply by moving to a new location?)

11.hearing words like "dagummit" and "dernit"
12.people who know the Second Amendment better than the First . . .

13. . . and people who think it's part of the First Amendment

14.oak trees (and maple, hickory, or anything else that branches outward and upward)

15.kids who associate acorns with fall (or even know what they are)

This is really the short list, but I'm sure everyone gets the idea by now.  We might be a little home sick.

Annual Basketball/Volleyball Tournament

Kids lining up to serve

This weekend Nanwalek held their annual Susan Tanape Basketball/Volleyball Tournament.  Mrs. Tanape was clearly very respected and loved by many in the community.  After she lost her battle with breast cancer her family began a foundation in her name to support children's activities in the village.  They begin the events on Thursday with a community banquet in the school gym.  Everything about the banquet was very nice, but to me the most touching part was a poem reading in their native language, Suq'stun.  I enjoyed the opportunity to see the community come together is such a beautiful way to remember one they cherished so dearly and continue on a cause she felt was so important.

It was clear from the number of teams in the tournament and the number of people who came to watch that this community really gets into sports.  The games begin on Friday and continue throughout the day Saturday.  As a reminder of their reason for gathering, the basketball used is pink for breast cancer and they use two volleyballs, one pink for breast cancer and one purple for domestic violence awareness.  Mike played both basketball and volleyball in the tournament and also did a little refereeing in between his games, but this coordinationally challenged girl sat out the games.  I still managed to get clocked in the head with a volleyball and barely dodged several basketballs.  In a small space, I am reminded quickly why I never played team sports (besides the total lack of hand-eye or any other coordination).  Simply put, my head is a ball magnet.

Seasons

 

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Most of the rain has finally passed - and we are finally over our boil water alert.  The kids are very disappointed they can no longer have "office parties" at the water coolers, but we are excited to be rid of little paper cups stuck into every nook and cranny in the classroom.  With the rain gone, we can also see the sunshine and get to view amazing sunsets daily.  Viewing is very convenient since the sun is setting around 7:00 in the evening.  Sunrises, however, cannot be seen during the school week because they aren't happening until 8:30.  Our sunshine hours get noticeably smaller every day and the sun sets a little farther in the south each day.  The seasons are changing quickly.  A month ago it was summer, and now snow is falling on all the mountaintops.  I feel like we can watch as winter quickly creeps in to make Alaska home for a while.





Pictures of Fall



Homer

 Fall has come to Alaska and, while I missed the best of the colors, we were able to get a few good pictures while out this weekend.

Beautiful sunsets happen daily

Scout lake - discovered on our
backroad adventures

 

Rainbows happen much more in
Alaska - we're hoping it's a sign



Moose family on the side of the road

Running away

We ran away for the weekend!  We got a very nice room in a fairly new hotel for $89 a night - quite a difference from $200 for the same room a month ago.  During the peak of tourist season we couldn't find a smelly room in a dirty hotel for less than $140 a night so we're enjoying a nice room for a decent price.  We've spent most of the weekend being big lazy bums!  We did some back roading, viewing some amazing scenery and finding a couple lakes along the way and, of course, picked up a few necessary items at the local stores while we had the chance.  Every time we leave the village I think we won't have a bunch of stuff to bring back with us, but we always seem to return with right at our limit of 100 pounds.  This weekend was no different, but we'll be set for some serious camping now and will hopefully have a much more comfortable night's sleep with our new memory foam mattress pad.



Jackie, the owner of Crabbie's next to
Pirate Pete

We're still exploring our new surroundings to find all the good places to go and have found a couple new favorite places to eat while out of the village along the way.  Soldotna has a nice little Mexican place, but we're guessing the super yummy white cheese sauce is a southern thing because they had no idea what we were talking about when we requested it.  Kenai has an ice cream place similar to Marble Slab that is fast becoming a favorite for this ice cream junkie.  Homer is home (is that a pun?) to a new favorite special occasions restaurant.  Being mud-puddle ducklings we like our good food to come with a casual atmosphere so we are very happy with Crabbie's.  It's a neat little seafood restaurant, with great decorations, music, and a fantastic little light show.  The owner has been our server both times we've eaten there and is very friendly, down-to-earth, and has a great sense of humor.  I'm not sure eating there would be nearly as much fun without her.  All of the food is amazing, but a single dish may be responsible for my devotion - the Death by Chocolate dessert is to die for! (sorry, I couldn't resist)  It has a brownie base, with a chocolate mousse type layer, followed by chocolate cake.  It is then covered with chocolate icing, fudge, chocolate chips, and chocolate and carmel syrup - mmmm yum!  I'm wondering if they will let me work for food . . .

Shopping in the Village

We had groceries delivered today - woo hoo!!  Grocery shopping in the village is a bit different than other locations.  On Wednesday we fax our orders to the grocery store in Homer, but always call to make sure they receive them.  They don't always make it through the fax and I'm relatively certain they occasionally get misplaced at the store.  On Thursday they will fill our order for a fee of $8 and send it to the airport by taxi for a fee of $10.  The airport then sends it over as they have availability on their hourly flights for a fee based on weight - usually around $30.  There isn't a secure holding place, however, for items they drop off so the pilots simply set the items in a small shed on the landing strip.  Sometimes the groceries get here as early as 12:30 and Mike and I will have to rearrange our classes so that one of us can run down to get them or James, the school janitor, will run down and bring them to the school for us if we need him to.  If the weather is bad or the airport doesn't have available flights, they'll hold our groceries - and refrigerate items if we call and request it - and deliver them whenever they get a chance.

We do have a grocery store in the village, but product availability varies day to day.  Immediately after an order they have pretty decent selection which includes fresh fruits and vegetables.  The fresh stuff goes quickly but you can usually get some basic canned and dry goods and a few items quite difficult to find in Doniphan.  Prices, however, are not always easy to find and usually quite high.  1/2 gallon of milk usually goes for $5.50, a 12 pack of soda usually costs $13.00, and a bag of Lay's potato chips fetches $8.00 - it's enough to make you really evaluate how bad your munchies really are.  The prices out of the village are similar to prices in Missouri.  Milk is about the same, eggs cost about double, but most prices are pretty reasonable.  They're a bit higher, but not enough to make you cringe at your grocery bill.  Seafood prices are pretty good.  We bought 2 pounds of already shelled crab legs today for $14.00 - not too shabby.  Prices at Wal-mart have an unusual twist, though.  Most prices are identical to prices in Missouri except for the Great Value brand, which is often more expensive than the name brands.