Spring Adventures

With spring finally here, I actually have an excuse for my late posts. The weather has been so warm and beautiful that I just have to be outside, moving and doing and going and seeing instead of holed up inside, finagling different ways to devour chocolate, at which I have become quite adept.

Hunting with students a few weeks ago wasn't fruitful, though I did end up going on a lovely three-hour walk carrying a gun, so even though I'm not, I felt like I was a true huntress for a wee bit of time. Mary and I went with two students, a brother-sister duo who are generally joys in the classroom, but are even more so outdoors. Eventually we split up to walk different sides of an open field, and Mary told Goose (yes, the same Goose who brought me birds when my food had yet to arrive last fall) to take care of me, and he did. Every few steps he checked on me to see if I'd sunken into the snow, or, if there was a dip coming up, he'd turn to warn me before he staked out a better route. Despite his best efforts, the trek proved to be a bit too much for my (sadly) poorly aging knees. Crimeny, I'm not even 30 and I'm falling apart!

Goose, his sister, and myself on the easiest part of the trip: the frozen river.

A hoppin' Saturday evening as I soothe my knees.

In the above picture, you can see the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I've been reading a lot lately. I read the first in the Games trilogy in about a day and a half. I tried to restrain myself from plowing through the next two simply because 3rd quarter grades were going to be due. I ended up going ahead and reading the whole series anyway within a week or a week and a half. The only reason it took me that long is because I had to work! Mary mocked me because I would shuffle from the couch to the kitchen and find things to eat without even taking my eyes from the page. So addicting this trilogy is! (In case you are wondering, village speech is very Yoda-like, and I find myself speaking it nearly daily without intention.) Others lately: the Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, and The Kids from Nowhere by George Guthridge. These last two excellently depict some of the struggles these kids face living where they do, and also eerily similar struggles that I've had teaching here so far.


This spring has been a beautiful one and ideal for skiing. Mary and I took full advantage of that fact. There's been no shortage of beautiful days:

This cemetery shot I find quite beautiful. I'm not a great photographer, but it's fairly easy to work with this type of
scenery.

Eventually we ventured past the old airport road and found a shortcut down to the slough that cuts south of town. It took a few falls to get there, but the snow was powdery and perfect:

When the public health nurse, Colleen, came from Bethel for the weekend, she, her husband, Mary, and I took this same route and ended up playing some tundra badminton out on the slough pictured above. We then had a picnic to celebrate Colleen's birthday. We're getting pretty good at creating our own fun here. Our skis served as the net. 

I named this dog Wolfie. He liked to greet me at the school's door at lunch and walk me back and forth between the school and my apartment. The first day, he freaked me out, but he was a sweetheart and only was looking for a friend, I do believe. The poor thing actually had an injured paw and limped as he accompanied me. I haven't seen him in a while. I don't think about it beyond that.

So these are just some of my excuses for not posting more frequently. If you need more, I'll be happy to provide them. Nine days remain in the school year. In under two weeks I will be in Anchorage taking courses for next year. The next week and a half will be a whirlwind - wish me luck!