Wednesday, November 16, 2011

When it's springtime in Alaska . . .

Okay, so we're not in the springtime, but it definitely feels 40 below.  So I'm beginning to think the title for our blog was very appropriate.  The temperatures have been in the teens and the winds have been terrible making the wind chill below zero - I'm freezing my little tushy off!  The winds also gave me another opportunity to grow close to God as I had to fly out of the village on the last flight they would be taking due to those extreme winds.  I'm sure God had a sense of humor or I wouldn't find myself in these strange predicaments and I'm certain He gets a good laugh out of our conversations on those excruciatingly long plane rides.

The theme of our trip here - the unexpected - still seems to be hovering overhead, gently reminding us of its ever present self.  I planned to fly out at 4:30, but had to throw things together quickly and simply give up on my lesson plans for the last class because the high winds meant the last plane was leaving at 3:15.  About 45 minutes after arriving in Homer I decided to quit fighting with our truck and get a rental (for which I am thankful the district will be reimbursing).  I am also thankful I remembered the GPS as the directions "turn at the big rock" are much less useful in the dark - as it is right now until 9:00 on cloudy days.  A power outage greeted us at our assessment location.  Downed power lines close to the building encouraged us to find a new location, but it wasn't a serious delay as some of our tests arrived late.  The person who had them could not leave her house as she was surrounded by live, downed electric lines so we'll not complain about any inconveniences we suffered.  We worked in the basement of district office until noon, then moved to one of the area's high schools.  We're still waiting to find out where we'll be in the morning as electricity is back up and schools will be in session tomorrow.  Since we don't know what to expect for tomorrow, can the unexpected happen?  We may break this cycle yet.

My recent adventures have offered a few more valuable lessons:
1. High winds and dry snow make it very difficult to see the road well through headlights.

2. Roads covered with packed snow and ice are even more difficult to see any time of day.

3. When all else fails, make it up as you go.

No comments:

Post a Comment