Nolan is very proud of his first ptarmagin
Monthly Archives: October 2007
Second Snow
It did snow last week for about an hour. But it looks like snow is here to stay.
Tom and I finally got our Alaska drivers license. Let the jury duty begin. It seems that you can plan on serving jury duty 2-3 times a year. They pick the folks that live in Bethel because it’s expensive to fly the other greater population in to serve on the jury. We are just happy we can order booze from Anchorage now. We are down to 3 bottles of wine. Tom hasn’t had a beer in 3 months. This must be a lifetime(adult) record.
The Last Barge
I was in Napaskiak last week when I took this picture of the last barge traveling to the Bethel harbor. Napaskiak is just across the river from Bethel.
I placed a food order in July. Last night we picked up our barge order at the dock. It took them a few days to unpack. There were school buses, trucks, water tanks, lumber and all sorts of supplies on this barge. We saved a couple hundred dollars ordering food this way. Cheaper than air freight. The next barge will come in May or June. Let’s see what the winter brings?
Picture Me!
Can you find me in one of these photos?
This is the crew at Napaskiak that waited with me for my plane to arrive. It was 2 hours late. I had given up and they walked me back to the store to call about a plane for the next day. Just as we got to the store with my bags, the plane came. They ran with my bags to the airstrip and told the pilot to wait for me. We spent two hours taking each others pictures with my camera. The first time I have used all of the 1 GB memory card.
Space Science in Kwigillingok
Originally uploaded by Andrea Pokrzywinski
The Kwig kids are exploring some exciting space science this month. Besides testing straw rockets, the kids are video conferencing with scientist from NASA. They are submitting a proposal to control the THEMIS satellite orbiting Mars. They also conferenced with scientist to share Mars habitats that they had built. Not bad for a small school in Alaska.
The kids also got to hear a Yup’ik star expert talk about survival, navigating and predicting the weather by the stars. He also shared star stories. I only caught bits and pieces because he spoke mainly in Yup’ik. I am waiting to watch a translation soon.
Parking Lot at Kwigillingok
Originally uploaded by Andrea Pokrzywinski
Kwigillingok is on the western edge of the district. When the only way in is a small plane and your village is built in a tidal marsh, you learn to use vehicles that will travel on the board walk. I really enjoyed the staff and the students at “Kwig”. But the highlight for me was visiting the kayak workshop check out the site for info on traditional kayaks. One of the kayaks from Kwig is on it’s way to the Smithsonian. The article linked here is great.
When’s High Tide?
This is what happens when you don’t pay attention to the tide charts. We left the boat in water. It was on dry ground when we woke up. We had to wait until High tide to go home.