Seward Camp and Other Musings

Whew! Survived the first day.

As promised, here are a few pictures from the Seward camp.

The girls cored trees with help from one of the camp
directors. This tree was diseased and was only about
38 years old or so.

I think this is the perfect picture for capturing the phrase, "can't see the
forest for the trees." We cut our own trail this day, and of course I
tripped trying to take a photo of  this endeavor. Kinda cool, though, eh?

Cottonwoods and Devil's Claw and brush,
oh my! 

Serving as a desk for my student, Ms. Hunger Games, as she marks her map.

Waiting for the boat to take us to Tonsina Point, where we would use
our GPS systems to take data points. In the meantime, we suffered
with this view and this awful weather. 

My roommate for the week, a chemistry teacher
in Anchorage. She's a doll, and she's already
helped me with new resources for this year! It
must have been meant to be - we have the same
exact raincoat.

I  must say that this camp was not only beautiful, but, getting to focus on only two students, I was able to learn so much more about their train of thought and their prior knowledge. Ms. Hunger Games was mumbling answers all day long to the camp guide's questions, things that we never got to in the curriculum last year. Both girls blew me away with their skill sets and knowledge of the outside world. I don't know why I continue to be surprised at these things. Maybe one of these days I'll learn. These two will be key in teaching their peers this year as we try to include the whole class in the online course.

So at this point I was just taking pictures of our
beautiful hike back to Seward. It was maybe
two miles or so.

View from the bridge.

I sorta look Oompa-Loompa-ish and my eyes resemble possessed Marlena's
from Days of Our Lives, but the light is different here. That, and I might still
 be trying to figure out my new camera. So nice to have some color!
It was such a gorgeous day.

Moss growing on the Dr. Seuss branches, as I've termed them. 

Another poor picture of the perfect reflections in the water. 

Exit Glacier. We used our GPS handheld units to find the rendezvous point below.

This geologist showed us how they mark spots for
aerial photography to be taken. Apparently bears
often tear apart these X markers,  costing
much time and money for these researchers as
 they track the movement of glaciers and landforms
over time.

My two girls really bonded with a few girls from the bigger cities. This
was so sad to watch them say goodbye!

The following shots are from the train that took us from Seward back to Anchorage. It was absolutely beautiful, and should be on your to-do list if you ever visit this huge state. They serve refreshments and everything, and the scenery of the Chugach Mountains is unreal. I did my best to capture a few of the best views, but it's tricky when you're on a moving train:

Upon my return to the village, it was 75 degrees, so I went canoeing with the new teachers and Michael the Medicine Man, who cured me with chaithluck last fall.

At the Bethel airport, I bumped into Colleen, the public health nurse who visited us in the spring, and her husband Rob. They are moving to California and I thought I'd missed them, but I got to see them one last time and meet their new little addition, baby Robert!

After just one week in the village, my color is
nearly gone! So pale I will be soon. I apologize
ahead of time for the ghostly version of me that
will return at Christmas.

As I said, we survived the first day and I think this will be a good year, or at least an improvement on last year. I'm hoping, anyway. It's no fun to get one's hopes up only to get them dashed to pieces, and I have plenty of experience with that, but what else can you do? Toiling towards something with hope is obviously preferential to just plodding through from day to day without even a sliver of it.

It reminds me of Dad's Zig Ziglar spiel, that your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. It's funny how we need reminding of that from time to time, or at least I do. I know it factually but fail in the implementation here and there.

And that's a huge reason behind my posting these pictures and stories. They serve as a reminder to me of past good experiences but also to focus on their creation for the future. Plans are usually quite loose around here, and that leads to some of the best stories, but intention is also crucial.

I might be posting more frequently, as I have recently cut ties with the all-seeing Facebook. (Really, it's kinda creepy how all-seeing it is.) The last time I signed in I was congratulated that I now have Timeline! Or, as I see it, that I have no choice in the matter. Now, I'm stubborn with a German heritage, so this change was just never going to go over well for me. I don't like such things being decided on my behalf, trivial though it may be. (Can you tell I was a bit of a pill growing up? Sorry Mom and Dad!)

After avoiding their guilt-trip (they posted pictures of friends, saying "Julie will miss you! TJ will miss you!") I cut it off. Here's what I discovered: FREEDOM! I no longer am inundated with ridiculous statements about one's Diet Coke consumption, bad haircut, crappy job, or traffic situation. Seeing such comments while living out here and seeing that many do not live even close to the American dream (or even have their own dream) just angers me to no end. This is not to say that I won't miss pictures of my beautiful niece and nephew and friends, or the many hilarious and thoughtful things that some people do post, but I don't have time or energy to be annoyed by the inane.

Another bonus: I'm not as judgmental. In terms of karma, this has to be a good move.

We'll see how long it lasts.

Ciao!