In Like a Lamb...

You know the old saying, "If March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion."  I don't recall the weather here in Shishmaref at the beginning of the month.  I know that my hometown of East Jordan, Michigan took a major hit early in the month after having a rather easy winter season.  They were dumped on by several inches of wet, heavy snow which led to thousands of folks throughout Northern Michigan losing power for several days.  Then just a few short days later, they were basking in temperatures reaching into the 80s.  Go figure!

I think I'd be safe in saying it was cold here in the frozen tundra.  But I want to share how this month is ending....in another arena.....my classroom.

Our classroom is in a building that was built in 1975.  Keep in mind that putting up a structure here on the island is not quite the same as somewhere down in the Lower 48 where the ground is most likely a lot more stable.  This is a sandy island resting on permafrost.  Thus, our building has been experiencing some....shifting....settling....call it what you will.  As a result, our ceiling has been hinting at the stress it was under even as early as last fall.  Well, this is the end of March....and we're going out in style.  We had to close our ECE/Head Start program until further notice as of today.  The "elongated opening" (21 feet) has been noticeably widening this week.  Gravity is taking a toll on the sheetrock above our classroom.  The decision to close the building was finally made when some rather ominous cracks were discovered along the support beams in the far end of the building.

Consequently, we will be searching for a place next week to relocate at least our four year olds so they can finish out the last seven weeks of school.  We're hoping for the best.

Thus ends my March postings!

Let's see....I've come back to "edit" this posting.....hope I don't screw it up!  I want to add a picture taken of Mickey, Matt and me on Friday.  We still had to report to work so we "borrowed" some dress-up hats from the kids' play area.....

Mickey, Donna, Matt...in the "safest" part of the building!  We feel so safe with our "hard hats" on!

40 Years Ago Tonight

On March 30, 1972, David C. Tisron was a gunner on an AC-130 gunship and, along with 14 other crew members, was shot down over Laos.  They all bailed out....and they all survived.  The crew members on a gunship the night before were not so fortunate which was something not lost on the minds of the men of Spectre 22.

We were engaged at the time and married in November of the same year.  Dave hobbled down the aisle in a full-length cast which he would be in and out of for the next three years from the broken leg he received in the parachute landing through the jungle canopy.  We later had two children, Dan and Jessica.  Dave chose to leave this world on April 26, 1991.  He's not forgotten.

Here's a recount of that fateful night forty years ago...

http://www.jollygreen.org/Stories/DavidPreston/loss_of_specter_22.htm

My Uncle's Poem

First, some background...

My Uncle Bob (my Dad's brother) is, I believe, 92 years old....soon to be 93.  He has an incredible gift for poetic endeavors.  He has also had a life-long dream of traveling to the Last Frontier.  Fostering that yearning has been his ability to memorize and recite many of Robert Service's poems.

Uncle Bob recently sent the following poem to me and I wanted to share it on my blog.  I do so with some reservation, however, because there's a "bit of history" of not copying things as he meant them to be...and we'll leave it at that....and hope for the best.  I do appreciate my uncle taking the time to create this for me.

Thank you, Uncle Bob!


"Donna's Shang-ri-la"


There's a place of God's creation
That can shape imagination
And I feel it has a subject in its clutch.
It promotes the odd sensation
Of an intimate relation
I have witnessed creativity of such.


I've a niece that's independent
A devil-may-care descendant
But the rustic beauty took her by surprise.
As she ventured way up yonder
To that land of scenic wonder
Where Aurora Borealis paints the sky.


Though as a clan we're not nomadic
Her decision was emphatic
And she let her intuition take command.
Providence stood there beside her
As she let her conscience guide her
To that place that she would christen fairyland.


Though the action seemed quite forceful
She was known to be resourceful
So we didn't wish to challenge her desire.
And she sailed off like a Viking
To that island of her liking
That is said to lie within the ring of fire.


Threat of family division
Did not dampen her decision
She possessed a strong desire to sally forth.
She declared the bit of knowledge
She had garnered while in college
She would spread extensively throughout the north.


When she set her feet in motion
To explore the Arctic ocean
She was drawn to the allure of Shishmaref.
Twas a place of rustic glamour
That was touted to enamor
It was nestled on the isle of Sarichef.


Shishmaref offered location
To a few of her vocation
So they chose to share the knowledge they'd acquired.
They disposed of their estrangement
By a mutual arrangement
An exchange of camaraderie transpired.


Need arose for the cessation
Of extensive navigation
So her sights she set on one specific spot.
Her resolve will not diminish
She'll be stalwart to the finish
She'll be there when time expires....like as not.

Go Backwards!

I am realizing that it's best to read my posts for March starting at the bottom one first.  My commentary will seem rather awkward if you try to start at the top and read down the list!

Thank you!

San Antonio Pix

You don't see these plants in Alaska, that's for sure.  Well, not in Michigan either!

Picture from our room on the 34th floor looking down at the boat on the river that winds through San Antonio.

No, this is not just another picture of the boat on the river....look closely.  Remember...this was taken from the 34th floor of our hotel.  There's a little "speck" standing by the wall under a tree.  Look at the next picture.

It's Dan!  He had called us up in the hotel room and when we looked out, we could just barely see him.  I zoomed in with my camera....funny!

I love trees...and oh, how I miss them here in the tundra of Alaska!

                           

Alamo archway

The "Alamo Three"....Mom, Dan, Jessica

Trees...any kind!

       

The view of San Antonio, Texas from our 34th floor window!

                   

End of March!

Since we are approaching the end of March and given my history of posting here on my blog, I will probably not be on again until sometime in April.  Here's an update...

I have signed a contract to return next year to Shishmaref.  As of yesterday (March 24....and this will be news to some because it's not officially announced yet until Monday), I will be teaching third grade next year in the "big" school.  I have enjoyed my year in ECE with the four year olds.  What a nice bunch of kids!  But it's time to move on to a new adventure.

Speaking of adventures....my daughter and her boyfriend have adopted an 11-year old kitty from the Human Society back in Michigan.  They have named him Jeepers!  He really is a cute cat and he's lucky to have them as caretakers.  Jessica and Chris are gearing up for another season at Skydive Tecumseh....a parachute drop zone in southern Michigan.  Check out their website if you want to take the plunge...(skydivetecumseh.com).

My son is preparing for his next adventure starting in early April.  He will be walking the Appalachian Trail.  He invites folks to follow his exploits as well:  (http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=370456).

I am so glad that my kids were able to visit with me in San Antonio, Texas back in early February.  Although I will be visiting Jessica this summer when I get back to Michigan (wouldn't miss a chance to meet Jeepers), I won't get to see Dan again until the summer of 2013 because he will be gone before I get home in May and he'll return to Michigan in September or October....after I've already returned to Shishmaref.  Here's a shot of the three of us in Texas at the Alamo...or should I wait to post it on another posting in case it causes this to freeze up again?  I guess I won't take any chances....go to the next posting to see the picture!

TTFN...thanks for checking in on me...I enjoy hearing from you all....through snail mail (OH!  That reminds me....my Uncle Bob sent me one of his poems written just for me....I'll have to post it on another posting!), through email, and through Facebook....oh, and via the phone (Thanks, Mary....I'll get back to you!)...although if you've tried calling me via the phone, you know the connection can be iffy.  By the way, I can't wait for all those Girl Scout cookies to arrive!

Take care....remember, don't give up on your dreams....no matter how farfetched they may seem!

Fingers Crossed...Adding Iditarod Photos!

Whew!  First one worked....keep your fingers crossed because I'm going to try adding more.
This was behind the Unalakleet post office where all the bags of dog food and bales of straw were set out
for the 66 Iditarod teams that would be arriving....if they hadn't already scratched....and some had at that point. 

So far, so good...second photo worked!  This is a close-up of what the dog food bags looked like
for each team about to arrive.

Aliy Zirkle arriving in Unalakleet.....first musher in at that point.

Aliy's dogs.....tuckered out and resting!

  

Aliy Zirkle....attempting to eat breakfast amongst the media and onlookers!

And to think....I ran my hand along this sled handle!  Dallas would go on to win the 2012 Iditarod.
 I'm sure it had nothing to do with my touching this sled....hee!

This is Dallas Seavey....bending over in front getting dog food prepared while the vets in the background check out his dogs.  There were swarms of vets immediately tending to the dogs when they arrived making sure all was well.  If there was any question at all about a dog's well-being, the dog would be pulled from the team and sent back to Anchorage.  It is my understanding that dogs and teams having to be sent home were taken care of by the inmates at a women's prison until the mushers could get back to take over.

I just love this picture!  I hope you can see it as I do.  The dogs' eyes are gleaming in my camera shot as they arrive off the darkened trail in the wee hours of the morning.  Can you imagine what it must be like out on the frozen trails lit up only by the moon and the musher's headlamp around his or her forehead?

Here comes a musher and team from the frozen tundra into Unalakleet.

This is John Baker from Kotzebue, last year's Iditarod champion, arriving!

John Baker giving directions to his team volunteers on what needs to be done for the dogs.
Check out the heavy fur-lined hood of his parka...you can barely see his face.
There's the headlamp, too, around his head.  I just can't imagine how incredibly cold
it must get out on the trail. 

John Baker inside the warming house.  "Could you just give me a chance to eat?"

Dallas Seavey being interviewed inside the warming house at the Unalakleet checkpoint.
This is where he was saying, "I think it's Aliy and me to beat at this point."

DeeDee Jonrowe's dogs arriving....check out those hot pink booties and harnesses!
DeeDee would eventually come in 10th place in Nome.

Not the best shot of DeeDee but I wanted to point out the huge fur mittens hanging off her backside.
Most of the mushers wore huge mitts over their regular gloves.
Fur and animal skins play an important role up here in keeping folks warm.

Frosted dogs!

Another incoming dog team!

Time to rest!

                                                                   

Resting dog...he could care less what's happening around him!