NOTE: This might be an indication of how this year's blog entries might show up! You will note in just a bit that I had started this YESTERDAY and didn't get it finished/posted. It's now Tuesday, August 13. Let's pretend it's still yesterday....
Good grief! It's now August 12, 2013, and I'm finally writing another entry to my blog. Can you believe it? What is up with that? I am shamed about not writing on a more consistent basis during my second year in Shishmaref, Alaska. Now...I'm headed into my third year....still in Shishmaref and still teaching third grade. Let's see what I can do to bring this blog up to date!
I am currently in Unalakleet, AK, attending teacher inservice trainings. I have been here since August 7th. The remainder of the BSSD (Bering Strait School District) village staffs arrived today. We will all head back to our own villages this coming Wednesday. I came in early in order to get more SFA (Success for All...reading program) training that I missed my first couple of years. It'll be helpful as I head into my third year of teaching.
A most exciting thing happened today just before the conclusion of our session with our new superintendent. We were surprised with an impromptu visit from General Chuck Yeager. Awesome! He said a few words to the gathering and received a standing ovation. Some of the folks here have posted pictures on Facebook....and I did share one of them. So, if you are able to access my Facebook page, you will see a picture of General Yeager. He said he celebrated his 90th birthday in an F-15. Seems appropriate!
I have already been to Shishmaref....arrived on August 3rd. My son, Dan, came up with me. We spent a few days in Anchorage, driving down the Seward Highway, touring parts of the Kenai Peninsula, and going up Mt. Alyeska. We went to Nome for an overnight stay before heading into Shishmaref for a brief stay. Dan had the opportunity to go up one of the rivers with Ken (our science teacher) and saw a herd of musk ox and many different kinds of birds. His toes got very cold on that trip and he declared "the people in Shishmaref are a tough bunch of folks!" He also had the opportunity to try black meat in seal oil....which turned out to be an "surprising" experience.
Let's see....going back a few months....
I last wrote about how sick I got on my trip down home for Christmas. I'm over it now but...whew! That was wicked. I didn't make it back to the village until February 1st, I believe.
At the end of February of this past year, I had the opportunity to travel to Wasilla for a math conference. While there, I stayed at the Best Western on Lake Lucille. I happened to look out my window one evening and saw two trucks out in the parking lot with dogs being fed out beside the trucks. I took pictures and wondered if they there for the upcoming Iditarod. Talk about wanting to kick myself later on! I got back to SHH and upon doing some Internet searching, I found out that one was Josh Cadzow, a rookie, and the other was Ed Stielstra, a musher from my home state of Michigan. I could have met a musher from Michigan. Well....
Skipping WAY ahead to the end of July (just a few weeks ago), that came true! After not meeting Ed in the parking lot in Wasilla, I made a point of contacting him through his business, Nature's Kennel, in McMillan, Michigan. On my way to Wisconsin with my son, we stopped off at the kennel where we got to see some of Ed and Tasha's 150 dogs and, of course, to meet Ed.
OH, MY GOSH! Another side note! DeeDee Jonrowe was outside the Unalakleet School earlier tonight....and I MISSED IT! She signed posters for folks. DeeDee is another Iditarod musher. I saw her the first year I was up here when the Iditarod came through Unalakleet. At that time, I managed to get one of her dogs' pink booties! Gosh darn it! Oh, well....
Another interruption....but a pleasant one....my son caught me on Skype. He's in turmoil about his decision to walk or not walk the Pacific Crest Trail in the spring. As you will remember, he walked the Appalachian Trail last year. He has some valid reasons for hesitating but I believe he will, someday, hike the PCT.
Back to my blog post....
I got through February....and then March, April, and part of May to the end of my second year of school. May was....interesting! I was notified by my daughter that she would, in fact, be graduating on May 11...one week before the end of my school year. This was another one of those "no brainer" decisions....I had to get home for her graduation. It had been such a long haul for her and she finally was going to earn her degree. Consequently, off I flew to Michigan and when I landed in Detroit, we (my daughter, her boyfriend and I) immediately drove to Sterling Heights to see my 97-year-old aunt who had fallen, broken her hip, and ended up in a nursing home. The message I had received while in the Seattle airport was that she wasn't doing well and we should really get up to see her...as in now. I believe she knew we were there but it's hard to tell. The interesting thing is that her only surviving sibling, 95-year-old Uncle Bob, went to see her the next day and she perked right up. My sister, Connie, and I were able to stop by the nursing home after Jessica's graduation in Saginaw....but she was sleeping. Sadly, not long after this visit, Aunt Lue was up out of bed and fell again, breaking her leg. She underwent more surgery and it became a downhill slide.
On May 14, I returned to Shishmaref to finish off the last four days of school. I left the village on May 21 for the summer....with snow still on the ground! I met up with my daughter and her boyfriend (Jessica and Chris) in Anchorage where we did some sightseeing. We then flew to Portland, Oregon. The way my daughter described it was, "Michigan is beautiful....but Oregon is like Michigan on steroids!" Unbelievable....intensely beautiful.....words cannot begin to describe what we saw.
From there, we flew back to Michigan towards the end of May. I spent a night with my daughter and Chris before heading to Coopersville (west of Grand Rapids) for another night's visit with my oldest sister. The next day, Connie drove me to Muskegon in order to board the Lake Express ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was met there by another sister, Shirley and her hubby, Mark. I spent time in Beaver Dam before Shirley and I took off for East Jordan. We took our time driving through the Upper Peninsula checking out the Lake Superior shoreline and waterfalls.
On our final leg of the trip home in June, we received a phone call that our dear Aunt Lucille had passed away. We were thinking that we'd be headed to the Detroit area for the funeral but the family decided to have the burial back in East Jordan where she could be laid to rest next to her son and other family members. Rest In Peace, Aunt Lue...one very incredible woman.
http://wujekcalcaterra.tributes.com/show/Edith-Lucille-Nowland-95966776
My sister, Shirley, eventually left to go back to Wisconsin. I immediately got on the phone to start scheduling doctor and dentist appointments. I also started my "bush shopping" which led to lots of packing and shipping. My summer sped by at that point. I am happy to say that I did get to visit some dear friends, including my friend with that crappy cancer issue. She's the reason I went home at Christmas and at that time, I didn't get to see her because of my crappy (literally) C-diff. Anyway, we had a very nice visit.
As for my medical appointments, I was able to get an MRI done on that "knee issue" of mine...and yes, it's a torn meniscus. And no, I did not have time to get anything done about it other than to have it confirmed. I'm going into another year with dealing with the pain and discomfort. What the heck...we bush teachers are tough! The doctor is planning to get me scheduled for surgery as soon as I get back to Michigan next May.
The end of July came quickly. My son, Dan, traveled first to Wisconsin with me. We, too, checked out a number of Upper Peninsula waterfalls on our way to Beaver Dam. On July 30, my sister and her hubby drove us to Chicago O'Hare to catch a plane to Anchorage. We then did some sightseeing north and south of Anchorage, including a drive down the Kenai Peninsula to Soldotna and the City of Kenai. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!! The highlight probably was our trip to the top of Mt. Alyeska in Girdwood. The view was incredible. I need to come up with some different adjectives! Dan had been struggling with the decision whether or not to walk the Pacific Crest Trail beginning next April. After going to the top of Mt. Alyeska, he decided he should do it. OH....FUNNY! I just realized I'm repeating myself because I've had so many disruptions throughout this blog that I've lost track of what I've already written. Ha! Doesn't matter....I have more to add here....from Dan's Skype call tonight. Speaking of Skype, my sister, Connie, kept trying to Skype me right during one of my teacher sessions today....and I had to cut her off twice. There are some interruptions I can't allow!!! Anyway, Dan called and is still in turmoil about his decision to hike the PCT in April or to wait. He does have some financial obligations to deal with right now. He'll make the right decision...whatever it turns out to be.
Continuing, we flew from Anchorage to Nome and stayed overnight before flying into Shishmaref on August 3rd. Not much to say about that short leg of the trip....other than we were delayed in leaving Nome because of the weather. We eventually made it.
Dan's stay in Shishmaref was definitely an eye-opener. He enjoyed meeting the people and seeing what I do and where I live during the school year. He helped me set up my house again and with Warren's help, he hauled our first tankful of water. Ken took him on an evening boat ride (it's still light late) up one of the rivers and he saw a herd of musk ox. He also had the chance to eat Eskimo food (black meat in seal oil). That was "an experience" to be remembered. Warren got quite a kick out of the results....and we'll leave it at that.
Dan flew out on August 6th and I flew to Unalakleet on August 7th. The weather for Dan was questionable. His flight was weather-delayed (again) due to fog. He eventually made it out though and made all his connections to California where he met up with a friend from several years ago living in California. As for my trip on the 7th, it wasn't weather-delayed but there was a bit of a snafu in which plane I was booked on....actually, that happened to Dan the day before, too.....but it all worked out for both of us. My flight was on the District plane...first time. The weather was quite nice for my flight which I appreciated because we did what's called "the milk run" where we stopped in four more villages to pick up folks headed to the inservice. I saw Teller (and Brevig Mission which is right across the bay), Elim, White Mountain, and Golovin before landing in Unalakleet.
We leave tomorrow....and I WILL post this tonight. I may try to come back later to add some pictures for enhancement of my stories! Earlier this summer, I realized I had taken over 7,500 pictures so far. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Given the amount I write and the pictures I have....whew....I could write volumes.
WHICH....brings up another thought....speaking of volumes! When I was in Portland, Oregon in May, one of our stops was to Powell's Books....a four-story bookstore filled with new and used books. I saw a very rare book worth $12,500 or some such price. To think I complain about the $10.00 I sometimes have to pay for a paperback if I want it badly enough not to wait for a resale shop visit!
Another highlight of our Portland trip was a visit to Voodoo Doughnuts. If you are in Portland, it's a must....even though you will encounter long lines that literally wrap around the block...no kidding! (http://voodoodoughnut.com/index.php)
The absolute BEST part of the trip to Portland was visiting both the Chinese Gardens and the Japanese Gardens. Both have some of the most ornamental plants and flowers you could ever hope to view. I think I would have to call the Japanese Gardens my favorite. Put them both on your "must-see" list if you ever get to Portland.
Ok...I have to call it quits. It's pushing 10:50 p.m. Most of you know I tend to stay up rather late but it just so happens that I am "bunked" in a classroom of 13 woman....sleeping on cots and air mattresses. We try to adhere to "lights out" and quiet time rules. We get up relatively early tomorrow morning for packing and one more session before we are all scheduled to fly out to our respective villages throughout the afternoon.
Good night from the land of the midnight sun! I'm sure I'll have many more adventures to share in the days/months ahead.
