Damon's Data & Heidi's Highlights

Blog finally got fixed! - Fall time:

2010-01-17T09:35:00.000-09:00

Here are just a few pictures that highlight some fall activities:

Cooking beans on the campfire

Picnicking up river

Campfires up river

Tundra

Damon rafting

Unalakleet river and tundra

Working

Boating

Silver salmon on the line

Fishing from the boat

Beautiful day for fishing

Damon and I took a trip to Anchorage in October. We were able to see the Broadway production of Lion King. It was wonderful! This was the trip where we also found out we were having a boy!

20 weeks

Our son

27 weeks or so

Summer Recap

2009-08-02T17:14:00.015-08:00

We've had a great summer, spending part of our time in Alaska and part of our time in Missouri. We've played with friends and family, worked on the house, and vacationed.

Vacation to South Carolina

Working in the backyard - things were a little out of hand

Celebrating Damon's birthday on our new dining room furniture!

Kayaking at the family reunion in Branson

Cheering on the Springfield Cardinals

Studying at the kitchen table - Damon spent lots of time here

Feasting on crab and shrimp in Wasilla

Now we'll start shopping, packing, and shipping, and soon head north to Unalakleet.

More Winter Fun

2009-04-19T08:58:00.019-08:00

Yes, it's still winter in Unalakleet, Alaska. Snow isn't melting, but we're enjoying the sunny days.

We spent a weekend camping with some friends at a cabin that's along the Iditarod trail, about 35 miles outside of town.

Damon and Ryan gathered firewood

We all spent time cutting it.

The cozy cabin

A beautiful sunset ski

Back country skiing

The 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes spent a day of celebration at Ayuu's Hill. A spot about 8 miles up river.

Sledding

Picnicking

Ice fishing

Towing

Darroll and Savanah came over Easter, we had a great visit.

They brought the Easter ham along with other exciting groceries.

Damon and I participated in the community ski picnic. We skied a few miles outside of town, grilled hot dogs, drank hot chocolate, and then skied home.

Unalakleet Blizzard

2009-02-27T14:25:00.002-09:00

The weather in Unalakleet is a little crazy right now.

Christmas 2008

2009-02-07T17:25:00.021-09:00

Our Christmas break was busy as usual. We spent the first week in Wasilla, enjoying time with family.

Christmas Eve at Darin and Julie's:

Christmas morning:

We flew to Missouri the day after Christmas for more family fun time:

The ultimate Christmas: a princess dress, and a new tricycle

Big Smith Concert in Springfield on New Year's Eve

We got the things in our storage unit moved into our house, and we were able to spend one night camped out in the floor.

Recent Celebrations

2008-11-28T13:29:00.012-09:00

We had a progressive dinner for Thanksgiving this year. Appetizers at our house, dinner at the Nasset's, dessert at the Woodhead's, and games at the Howard's...a fun day.

Damon and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on November 22nd. We fixed a nice dinner and dessert for ourselves.

Notice my present - the crystal candlesticks!!

Adrianna's 'black and white' birthday party

Pizza party

And our Halloween celebration...

Our superintendent being himself with Damon being him

Winter is Here

2008-11-22T12:20:00.005-09:00

Temperatures have already been as low as 30 below zero, the ocean is frozen, we have around 6 hours of sunlight, and we won't see the ground again until May.

Winter-Time
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two; and then,
A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,
At morning in the dark I rise;
And shivering in my nakedness,
By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit
To warm my frozen bones a bit;
Or with a reindeer-sled, explore
The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap
Me in my comforter and cap;
The cold wind burns my face, and blows
Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;
Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;
And tree and house, and hill and lake,
Are frosted like a wedding-cake.

Darin's Visit

2008-10-26T13:20:00.007-08:00

Damon's brother, Darin, came for a visit last weekend to refinish the Covenant Church gym floor. He worked hard for 4 days, and what a difference he made. Thanks Darin!

Mom and Memackie's Visit to Alaska

2008-10-04T09:56:00.012-08:00

Damon and I were fortunate to have my mom and grandma come visit at the beginning of September. We treated them to some true Alaskan adventure.

Boating up the Unalakleet River

These were the fish Memackie caught with her first 2 casts.

These were the fish that my mom and Damon caught with their first casts.

We hiked up to the top of Army Hill for a nice view of the village and some berry picking.

Getting around town on the four-wheeler

Picnicing up river on a sand bar. We enjoyed looking at bear and moose tracks.

Mom, Memackie, and I flew into Anchorage and took a tour down to Seward. We went on a day cruise where we were able to see this glacier calving.

More pretty Seward scenery

It was a wonderful visit, and I don't think it could have been more perfect. Damon and I were so thankful that they came.

Snow in Unalakleet

2008-10-02T13:09:00.001-08:00

Goodbye ground, see you in the Spring.

Back in Unalakleet

2008-09-10T21:17:00.010-08:00

We've been enjoying the beautiful fall weather on the tundra:

Good fishing

Colors changing

Beautiful sky

Damon went on a bear hunt. He didn't shoot a bear, but he shot some nice pictures.

Summertime

2008-08-17T09:38:00.023-08:00

The best way to sum up the past 2 months is through pictures:

First stop Wasilla, AK, where we spent time with Damon's family.

Picnicing and hiking with friends at Hatcher's Pass.

We kept ourselves busy. Damon built a tool shed for his dad, and took a trip to Kodiak. I took a knitting class, and made a scarf and dish cloth.

Kodiak, AK

A highlight of the summer was our trip to Hong Kong and Japan.

View of Hong Kong

Incense burners in a temple

Gates to a Shinto temple in Kyoto, Japan

Golden temple in Kyoto

Dinner in our ryokan in Kanazawa, Japan

Bamboo forest in Kyoto

Taking a drink from a fountain of wisdom in Kyoto

Kanazawa Garden

Japanese lantern in Kanazawa Garden

Sake kegs outside the gates of a buddhist temple

A highlight of the trip was visiting the family that Damon stayed with when he was an exchange student to Kanayama, Japan. We stayed with Tony (far left), from Ketchikan, AK, and his family.

After we returned to the states, we headed down to Missouri to visit family and friends. While we were down there we decided to buy this house!

Needless to say, it was a productive (and expensive) summer! We're back in Unalakleet now where fall is in full swing. Upon our return we moved in to new teacher housing - brand new buildings, furniture, and appliances! It's fabulous! I'll post pictures soon.

Hank & Mike Visit Unalakleet

2008-05-31T22:32:00.001-08:00

Heidi and I were happy to host some more family this week. Heidi's dad Mike and grandpa Henry came up with the serious goal of trout fishing. All the river ice is gone now and most of the snow is melted; school is out so I guess we can officially say summer is here. We all leave tomorrow for Anchorage, and we have had a wonderful time these last few days.

Here I am baking some fresh trout and grayling for an afternoon snack. Henry thought I was a pretty good guide.

Henry, Mike, and Heidi all pulled in trout at the same time several times today. This happened quite a bit actually. The trout were really biting today.

Along with boating on the river, we also had a chance to ride with our friends Jeff and Talon Erickson out on the ocean on a seal hunt. We have had some absolutely gorgeous weather, and on this trip we saw lots of seals, but didn't get any. It would have been Talon's first seal, sorry Talon better luck next time.

We also had the opportunity to see the results of a successful hunt. A family that we know down the street worked together to process the meat.

Here are some more pictures for earlier in the week.

It really looks like something interesting is happening in this last picture, just not sure what.

Darin and Slayton visit Unalakleet

2008-05-31T22:09:00.001-08:00

My brother Darin and nephew Slayton came to visit just a few weeks ago. It was great to have them here, and they were celebrated as our first family members to visit us in Unalakleet.

Even though it's winter, we of course did some serious fishing. Ice fishing for trout on the river proved to be just as successful for them as it was for Heidi and I last Spring. My friend Henry took us up the river to his secret spot.

As well as fishing, we also did a bit of hunting. We were on the lookout for bear and grouse, but Slayton's sharp eye found a rabbit hiding in the willows.

With permission from our church, we stayed at the Covenant Church Bible Camp. While there, we chopped wood and helped out in other ways to prepare the camp for summer. We were very impressed with the camp and Slayton thinks he might like to come back in for the summer camp.

Here's a picture of Slayton riding an old John Deere, which was rusting away at an abandoned potato farm near Bible Camp. I'm sure he's making is Granddad proud.

Heidi and I were happy to have them visit and I hope they had as much fun as we did. I think they did, and we are already planning their next visit. Fall silver salmon fishing?

Caribou Hunt

2008-04-24T14:26:00.011-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Damon's recent Caribou Hunt. He rode up to Koyuk with an elder from Unalakleet, and in Koyuk he met up with friends, Dave and Patty. They spent a couple of cold nights out on the trail, but the caribou meat and the stories he can now tell made it well worth it.

Moose sighting.

Living it up in a snow shelter.

An old abandoned gold mine.

Success.

Old Woman Cabin

2008-04-16T21:58:00.011-08:00

Recently, we took a snow machine trip about 35 miles up river with some friends - Dan and Adrianna, Conrad, Jasmine, and baby Carter. Our destination was Old Woman Cabin, a government owned cabin on the Iditarod Trail.

We stayed for the afternoon, and had a picnic lunch of chili and musk ox hot dogs.

Winter Activities

2008-03-15T09:58:00.011-08:00

In mid February Damon went to the ASTE conference in Anchorage, and I was able to go in with him for the weekend. It was the week before the Iditarod started so the Fur Rendezvous was just beginning. We were able to see the parade and the winner of the Running of the Reindeer (similar to the running of the bulls in Spain).

Damon has also been busy covering the Iditarod with student broadcasters. He broadcasted at the start in Anchorage, half-way through the race in Unalakleet, and at the end of the race in Nome.

Below is a picture of the student broadcast team watching for the first musher to come into Unalakleet, Jeff King. They have a live link to internet out on the river thanks to the satellite on skis.

Jeff King coming into town

About 30 minutes later, Lance Mackey, winner of Iditarod 2008, came into Unalakleet.

Damon has been busy traveling around the state following Iditarod, so I've been finding things to keep myself occupied - like sledding with teacher friends, Karis and Adrianna.

My Birthday

2008-02-20T20:11:00.007-09:00

It's such a treat to receive fresh flowers out in the bush! Thanks Dad, they are beautiful! Damon had the school choir serenade me in class, and we had all of our neighbors over to share cake. It was a very happy birthday.

We've had some gorgeous winter days lately so we've been able to spend quite a bit of time outside. We took a snow machine ride up part of the Iditarod trail. We stopped about 20 miles out and had cocoa.

We've also been skiing quite a bit. Damon is trying out a new sport with our friend's dog, Aipaq (pronounced iPuck)...skijoring. Yes, it looks as though it could be dangerous, but fortunately for Damon, Aipaq is not afraid to take frequent breaks.

Christmas Cruise

2008-02-09T15:01:00.000-09:00

Heidi's family had a reunion this Christmas on a cruise ship. We were able to visit with family, relax by the pool, snorkel, dive, and soak up the much needed sunshine. Here are a few pictures.

Trip to Diomede

2007-11-26T00:52:00.000-09:00

The pictures have been up for a few days, but just in case you haven't seen them yet GO HERE FOR PICTURES.

The pictures were taken during my trip to Diomede. Diomede is a tiny island out in the Bering Sea. Below is an interactive map for you to play with. Zooming out will give you more of an idea of where I was exactly. Notice that there are actually two islands. The bigger island "Big Diomede" is part of Russia. The international dateline runs between the two islands. From Little Diomede I could literally see into the future by looking across the dateline. Pretty cool.

View Larger Map

Life on a River (winter version)

2007-11-25T23:45:00.000-09:00

Alright, so it's been a little while since I last posted. Make me feel guilty, geez. In my own defense, it's been difficult to update because of extremely slow internet. Unalakleet has direct flights to Anchorage, the BSSD district office, and a grocery store with fresh produce, but somehow decent internet speeds aren't exactly a village forte. We had much faster internet in Stebbins. All complaining aside, Heidi and I are having a lot of fun. Our Thanksgiving break was relaxing, filled with lots of fun with friends, and we even managed a few outings.

Heidi and I went snowshoeing through a tunnel of willows.

I went icefishing with a friend, Henry, from church. I caught several trout, a grayling, and a whitefish (that's what they call it). I ate some pan fried trout for dinner tonight. You can't beat fresh trout and cornmeal. Yum!

Life on a river

2007-09-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

One of the great benefits to being in Unalakleet is the proximity to the Unalakleet river. Off-shoots of the river run about a block and a half away from our apartment, so we have very easy access. Good thing too, because we just purchased a boat. It's a flat bottom Lund, with a Yamaha 40hp Jet. A perfect setup for this area.

The boat was very clean, when we got it, but someone left a Henry Weinhard's cream soda root beer in the back next too the motor. Heidi and I had a little ceremony before our first ride and I christened the boat with the bottle of cream soda.

Roughing it in Unalakleet

2007-09-03T15:20:00.001-08:00

If you didn't already know, Heidi and I have moved from Stebbins toUnalakleet. We are still in the Bering Strait School District, and justabout 70 miles up the coast from Stebbins. Practically neighbors.

Heidiand I miss Stebbins a lot, but are really enjoying life here inUnalakleet. There have been lots of opportunities to go fishing, berrypicking, and exploring. For some reason there are a lot more roadsaround Unalakleet, which makes it easier to get around right now. Lateron, when it snows, it won't matter because we'll have a snowmachine.Right now though, we are enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

Above: Heidi catching her first salmon of the season.

Above: A picture of Unalakleet from a nearby mountain.
Below: Heidi's class picking berries during the first week of school. They picked berries and then made jam to take home to their families.

Above: Heidi and I have been babysitting a friend's dog. His name is Aipaq, which means "friend."
Below: Unalakleet silhouetted against a sunset. I took this pic returning from a fishing trip.

Southeast Missouri Technology Conference

2007-07-31T06:05:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I will be in Cape Girardeau for just a few more days, and then we will be heading back to Alaska. We are here in Cape because I will be presenting a session on blogging in the classroom tomorrow at the Southeast Regional Professional Development Center's third annual Southeast Missouri Technology Conference, Educating Educators Electronically. What a fun way to end the summer. It's been a very busy summer to say the least. Here are some pictures that highlight some of what we've been up to over the last few months.

Success!!!

2007-07-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

My friend Luc and I successfully ran the Joker's Wild Half Marathon in St. Louis. It was a good event, but really hot with temperatures reaching over 90 degrees. My time was 2:22.

Above: My buddy Luc and I looking excited before the race.

Below: This picture was taken right before I crossed the finish line 13.1 miles later. It felt great to cross that line. What a sense of accomplishment.

I'm already starting to look for my next race, but want something a little cooler. Suggestions anyone?

Walk on Beach Around Bluff

2007-05-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

Run to St. Michael

2007-05-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I ran the ten miles from Stebbins to St. Michael with three of my students. It was a great run beautiful views. Many of the pictures that are on this blog were taken along the route that we ran. It was overcast, rained a little, and was about 42 degrees. I don't know what I'm going to do about the heat when I start running down in Missouri. Anybody have any tips?

Below is a picture showing the road that we ran on. It's a dirt road with lots of hills.

Summer's Almost Here

2007-05-06T00:36:00.000-08:00

I just signed up for the Joker's Wild Half Marathon in St. Louis, Missouri (July 7). Should prove to be a fun time. Only $60, anyone want to run it with me? Heidi and I are also planning on buying a canoe and taking several river trips. Anyone interested in canoeing, give us some dates so we can start planning.

As you can see, Heidi and I are very excited about summer. It has been beautiful here the past few weeks. The sun is taking up more and more of the day, and the temperature is warming. The blankets of white are wearing thin. Summer is right around the corner. Today we went out on a ride and saw the first green of the new year. Come to think of it, I probably haven't seen any green since last October. It was very exciting, and photo worthy (see below).

Below is a picture that was taken about a week or so ago. Heidi and I drove out to the cliffs above North Beach to enjoy the beautiful day and a hot cup of chocolate (Heidi's favorite).

Above & below: These pictures were taken more recently. Notice the complete lack of snow. The Honda washers are back (we call four wheelers Hondas around here), so summer must be close. For only six pieces of pilot bread, a can of Vienna sausages, a can of peaches, and a can of pears you can get a complete wash. That's the best deal in town.

SBT in Anchorage for NYO

2007-04-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

I'm in Anchorage right now with the BSSD Student Broadcasting Team. Follow our live coverage of the Native Youth Olympics by clicking on one of the links below. You can also read about what we are doing if you visit the Stebbins School Blog.

DSL QuickTime Stream rtsp://qtss.bssd.org/nyo
Dial Up QuickTime Stream rtsp://qtss.bssd.org/nyo_small
Windows Media Steam http://media.connectmd.com/starbak/default.html

Mom & Dad's Visit

2007-04-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

Guspuk for Damon

2007-03-25T21:19:00.000-08:00

Last year Heidi made herself a couple of guspuks (also pronounced quspuk or kuspuk depending on where you are). Lately, she's been working on one for me.

She was able to make a pattern from an old guspuk of my dad's.

She finished it today and it fits great.

We are having a spirit week at school to help get everyone psyched for the state testing in a couple weeks. Friday is guspuk day, so guess what I'm wearing.

Student Broadcasting Team & Damon/Heidi go to Unalakleet

2007-03-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I are in Unalakleet with the Stebbins Student Broadcasting Team covering the Iditarod checkpoint. Check out our websites:

http://stebbins.bssd.org/
http://mushing.bssd.org/

First Basketball Game & First Trip to the Steamboats

2007-01-14T20:09:00.000-09:00

The Stebbins boys and girls basketball teams played in St. Michael on Friday. Although they were just scrimmages, the games provided some excitement for the weekend. These were the first games of the season, and both the girls and boys played well.

And if you didn't already know, Heidi is the Stebbins Knights girls basketball coach this year. Woohoo!!!

Notice the scoreboard below. Yes, we were the home team. It was a successful night for the the Stebbins girls. Final score: 81-24. We played Savoonga.

The weather has warmed up substantially since last weekend, and so Heidi and I thought we would take another group out to attempt to find the steamboats once again (our first attempt proved unsuccessful). With the added snow from the last few weeks, the ten mile trip across the tundra was now possible.

P.S. Here's a rare behind the scenes look at how our blog is written. Heidi snapped this shot while I was writing last week's post. Neffy usually dictates the first draft, and I just edit from there. She would write it all herself, but she doesn't have any thumbs.

Moose Hunting

2007-01-09T20:24:00.000-09:00

Heidi and I went moose hunting with our friends Drew and Candy last weekend, at least that's what we're calling it. We never saw a moose, and we didn't really try to look for one. Sometimes you just need a reason to get out.

Here's our rig. That's a borrowed sled in the back to carry our gear. It's a twenty-five mile trip out to the cabin, so we needed to make sure that we had plenty of gear (yes Mom & Dad, I brought the pack shovel you gave me for Christmas so we could make a survival igloo if we needed).

It was an absolutely beautiful drive, but at -30 degrees Fahrenheit we were glad to find the cabin when we did. Yes that's right, -30 flat cold, without windchill. And yes, that can get a little cold crossing the tundra mile after mile on a snowmachine. I'll have to say that it can't be done unless you have the right gear. Heidi and I have been building up our gear for awhile now and so we can do this sort of thing.

A large fox scampered across the tundra right in front of us as we pulled up to our destination. It was really exciting to see the fox after going so long without seeing much of anything.

The cabin that we stayed in was built by Candy's uppa (grandfather) and is a typical remote Alaskan cabin with no amenities except a wood stove. As is also typical of remote Alaskan cabins, we were extremely well insulated and sealed off from the elements. This little rusty stove kept us toasty warm all night.

The next morning our friend Drew fixed some Spam and cheese bagels for breakfast. Careful observers will notice that the stove pipe has changed from a rusty old one to a new silver one. Late the night before, we realized the the old rusted stove pipe was not going to make it through the night. It was literally collapsing onto itself. Drew and I searched around for materials to remedy our problem and found this new section of pipe under the cabin. Everyone was a bit nervous while we fixed our only source of heat for the night, and we were relieved when the exchange was made without a hitch.

We're already planning our next hunt. Maybe next time we'll actually do some hunting.

Another ride on the Tundra

2006-12-10T15:51:00.000-09:00

Here are some more pictures of Heidi and me out on the tundra. We are receiving a little more snow each night, but we still can't quite make it to the steamboats yet.

When you are out here and there isn't another living thing in sight you really feel like you are on another planet. Our parkas are our spacesuits and the snowmachine is our moon buggy.

This is what it looks like in every direction.

Stebbins Carnival

2006-12-09T12:21:00.000-09:00

We had a carnival in Stebbins a few weeks ago. It is really nice to have a community activity that is family oriented. People of all ages, including whole families, come to the carnival.

A group of students helped me take some pictures and then we put them together to make this video.

Video of the Stebbins Carnival

Also, click here to look at a few pictures.

First Snowmachine Trip of the Year

2006-12-08T23:29:00.000-09:00

I've been holding out for some real snow. It's been slow (with snow) this year. Finally though, Heidi and I took our first snowmachine trip of the year. We headed out to the old steamboats, but couldn't quite make it. Without the heavy snows the terrain is still very rough and some of the streams are still impassable.

It's a pretty amazing feeling to have our back yard be such a remote area. In the time it takes for most people to get to the video store and back, we can be out and in the middle of some of the most remote country left in the United States.

Thanks to Barb for the pictures.

I've been blogging, just not here...

2006-11-01T21:47:00.000-09:00

Notice the new links to the right. The Stebbins School link is for our school site. Not a lot there, but go check it out.

Damon's Student Writing Blog is just what it sounds like, a collection of writing from all of my students, throughout all of my classes. There are over forty posts, covering all sorts of topics. Each post is a paper written by one of my students. Go browse around and be sure to leave comments.

Fresh Fruit & Veggies

2006-10-23T21:48:00.000-08:00

THANK YOU DAD!!!

Having taught and worked in the Bush for many years, my dad knows what's important. So far this year my dad has sent four shipments of produce, and as anyone who has spent any time in the Bush knows, produce is worth its weight in gold. Without my dad the only produce that we see is a little too soft, or a little oddly colored.

Below is a picture of just some of what he has sent.

If you have been following the blog for awhile, you may remember the blog post about his shipments from last year. He used to send huge boxes of stuff, and inevitably some of it got smashed. This year I think he has improved his technique by sending smaller boxes. Below you'll see a box that barely survived the Bush shipping process, and it should be noted that all the goodies inside survived.

This has been an ongoing project for my dad and we are extremely grateful.

Car Wash Stebbins Style

2006-10-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

My Honda needed cleaning, and these girls needed something to do. They did an excellent job, very thorough. Even cleaned the tread on the tires.

Return of the Moose

2006-10-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

The moose struck again, and this time I have a picture of the vandal. Luckily the tryst with my truck seems to be over and he left it alone. He did, however, attack a sign in my parent's yard. Not sure what the deal is with this guy...lovesick?

Warmer Times

2006-10-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

It is starting to get a little colder here in Stebbins. No snow yet, but I think there will be some in the next few weeks as last year at this time we had lots of snow. Right now it's just raining a lot, so until the snow comes we probably won't be doing much outside.

Here are some pictures from warmer times.

_________________

We put the net out the first week that we were back in Stebbins and caught a lot of fish...a LOT of fish.

With a little help we were able to fillet them all.

We froze some, and then later vacuum-sealed them later.

The rest we smoked...yum!

Trail of Destruction

2006-09-24T18:39:00.000-08:00

Recently, tornados have hit Missouri and wildfires have wreaked havoc in Napa Valley. This last week an Alaskan form of devastation hit my parents' back yard. A moose in rut left its own trail of destruction. Here's an excerpt from my dad's email:

Damon,

Some bad news. A young, love sick, bull moose has been hanging around the house here. He came in the other night and worked on the swing set. He was back this morning and finished making fire wood out of the swing. He attacked a few other items in the yard and then he went out to your truck and started on it.

I think he has been after the truck before. I could not run him off. He destroyed the canvas covering on the truck, left several scrapes and some dents in the truck. Then he broke the plastic strip between the front bumper and the grill. That will be expensive to repair. Our insurance paid $850 for a repair on a car that your mother hit and broke the same piece.

I brought the truck up to the drive way. I don't want him to come back and do more damage. We lost our garden this year to moose.

I heard about a moose in Maine that fell in love with a Volks Wagon Beetle one time.

Dad

First Rangifer Tarandus Sighting of the Year

2006-08-31T17:55:00.000-08:00

Last year we didn't see the herd until October. This year though, we caught a glimpse without snow.

Heidi, Jodi, and I went out for a ride. Nothing special, just wanted to get out while the ground's still soggy. We were headed out to Clear Lakes, which you can see here. Clear Lakes is a string of five lakes located between Stebbins and St. Michael, which provide fresh drinking water to both villages. It's a beautiful area for picnicking and sightseeing. To make a short story even shorter, we never made it. Halfway to the lakes we spotted the reindeer herd.

We drove our four wheelers to the top of a hill to find this great vantage point.

Update: Summer Pictures

2006-08-26T13:04:00.000-08:00

I took and collected 1520 pictures during our summer travels around Alaska, Oregon, Missouri, Arkansas, and Washington D.C. Here are just a few.

(Note: At the time of this posting I am still uploading pictures, so check the time of this post below. If it's close to your current time, check back later for even more pictures.)

Sleep options at teacher inservice

2006-08-22T22:13:00.000-08:00

A few posts ago you might have seen how we slept just a week ago during a teacher training session in Unalakleet. We are blessed to be in a district that provides many opportunities for professional development, however we are lacking in accommodation options. Since there are no hotels, everyone has to either stay at a friend's house or pile into classrooms at the Unalakleet school. The district provides air-mattresses to anyone who wants them. In any case, you are usually somewhat crowded and the air can get a little stale with a dozen people sleeping in the same room.

Luckily, the adventurous types have options. If you don't mind people walking around you while you sleep and if you can handle lots of light, you can sleep out in the hall. If you don't mind getting up early you can even sleep under the insurance salesman's booth table, which is seamlessly shrouded with a tablecloth, limiting the hall light (just wake up early before the salesman himself returns).

Another option is to sleep in the gym on the hard floor. I know of at least one person who does this with the goal of distancing himself from snorers. He doesn't use a mattress. Why? I don't know. His name is Matt, we call him Floor-Mat (his idea for a nickname, not mine).

If none of these above options appeal to you, there is one option left. Heidi and I utilized this alternative option last week during our second week of training. We camped on the beach in a brand-new tent, and it was beautiful. No snoring and nothing but fresh air.

In this picture below, you can see we had a campfire, some teachers from Diomede (hi Ben), and a tricycle that had washed up on the beach to make our camp feel warm and welcoming. I'll have to say, I had a great nights sleep.

Everything was fine and dandy with our new sleep situation until one little oversight. No, we didn't oversleep. We had been careful to bring an alarm clock, and picked a location within one-hundred yards of the school. (And no Robbi, we didn't get attacked by a bear. Bears don't usually eat people at this time of year, they're already full of salmon.)

In close study of this picture above you may notice a few key details. First, there is driftwood holding the tent stakes into the ground. Experienced campers know that this insures a firm grounding, as slender tent stakes by themselves soon loose their grip in beach sand. Second, on the horizon you can see that the ocean is almost placid, which means that there was no wind.

The first morning Heidi and I rose up, packed up everything (including the tent), and returned to the school for our sessions. The second morning we decided to leave our tent set up and recruit a couple local kids to keep an eye on it during the day.

Halfway through that second morning everyone had to meet in the gym for a special special session, which included district staff, principals, para-pros, and of course all the teachers. Now during this large meeting in which everyone was present and able to look at me at once, a message was urgently brought to the speaker at the front, who in-turn announced the following:

"Is there anyone here who is sleeping on the beach in a blue tent?
...Damon...Damon Hargraves...Is Damon here?
Damon, your tent is blowing down the beach.
You are excused from this meeting to go retrieve your tent."

The wind picked up during that second day, and I neglected to leave anything in the tent to keep it weighed down. The driftwood on the stakes alone couldn't keep the wind from sucking the tent up and tossing it down the beach.

It was embarrassing, and I had concerned colleagues asking me about it all day. Luckily though, there was no damage done. Our tent rolled one quarter mile down the beach without a rip or a bent tent pole (I'm very happy with my purchase).

Dogs and Dancing

2006-08-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

The school staff kicked off the new school year with a beach party (we're trying keep the old traditions alive), and the community threw the annual dance to welcome the new staff.

Hotdogs for everyone!

We have so many new staff members this year (twelve out of eighteen are new). This time at the beach proved to be a great time for everyone to get to know each other.

The community threw the annual dance for the new staff. This was especially important because there are so many new people. It got a little crazy, as you can see below we teachers tried our turn at dancing. We still have a lot to learn.

Back to the Bush

2006-08-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

After a busy summer, Heidi and I are back in the Bush. We arrived back to Stebbins last Friday and were happy to be home. When we stepped off the plane I noticed this huge pile of boxes on the runway. I immediately thought that it was a load of boxes from new teachers who were moving up, but upon closer examination I saw that it was supplies for victims of the Hooper Bay fire. These supplies will go a long way in helping families weather the wake of this disaster.

After living out of suitcases all summer, we were happy to be in our own place, with our own bed, surrounded by all of our own stuff. Just two days later though we found ourselves back on a plane on a flight to Unalakleet to attend training from Dr. Langford.

Today we found time after our training to do some geocaching. Heidi and I geocached all summer, and we were happy to see that there was a cache within walking distance of Unalakleet. If you have never geocached, you need to get a GPS and get started, it's a blast. Below is a picture of Desiree, Heidi, and me at the cache location. Overall, we hiked four and a half miles to find this cache.

At training events and inservices in Unalakeet (or any other BSSD site), if you don't have a friend with an open bed, you stay at the school. Below is a picture of Heidi on a district supplied blow-up mattress. We can't let ourselves complain about having to sleep on a blow-up, because we overhead a sourdough teacher talk about the old days when they had to just sleep on the floor. Apparently this is luxury.

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Pics from this Summer

I took and collected from friends 1520 pictures of our travels this summer, here are just a few.

Uncle Damon and Aunt Heidi

2006-06-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I are having a great summer. We've been traveling all over, doing all sorts of cool things, and of course generally neglecting to blog any of it. The last week or so has been a little slower and we've taken the opportunity to rest up. To keep us on our toes we offered to watch Heidi's niece Molly for a few days and play house.

Molly video 1 (46.6MB)
Molly video 2 (44.7MB)

Our work here is done...at least until next year

2006-05-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

Today was the last day of school, and looking back boy have Heidi and I come a long way. This time last year we were going to Cardinals' games and still just starting to prepare for our long drive up. So much has happened since then, but I can hardly believe it's over.

It is because of the people that we work with, and the students that we work for, that Heidi and I both have had a great first year.

Thank you Stebbins

New Ride & Trip to the Pik

2006-04-17T20:06:00.000-08:00

Check out our new ride! It's a Polaris Touring 340, fresh off the plane from Hartley Motors in Palmer. You will notice how it is all in one piece. Thankfully we did not have a repeat of the fourwheeler incident.

I know, I know...the snow is melting, so why are we just now buying a machine. Well, we wanted one for next year, and it turns out that now is the best time to buy. Luckily though, the snow is holding (did I really just say that?). I took an awesome trip with a teacher from St. Michael this weekend, and we are planning another trip with a group (girls included) for next weekend.

My friend Drew and I decided that we needed to break in my new snowmachine with an overnight trip to the Pikmiktalik River. This is the same river where I went fishing last fall.

Below: Here you can see that we are well prepared with Drew's sled to haul all of our gear. I pride myself is being an ultra-light packer, but when you have an entire sled to hold all of your gear it is easy to wander into the mindset of "hey, let's see how much this will hold." Neffy wanted to come, and we almost packed her too, but then I decided that Heidi might need her company while I was away.

Above & Below: About one-third of the way to the Pikmiktalik there is a canal which forms the boundary between St. Michael Island and the mainland. I don't know the whole story, but apparently there are two (possibly three) steam ships that ran aground and got permanently stuck. The remnants are still there. Locals have told me that the first ship ran aground while trying to weather a storm and then the second ran aground while trying to recover the first.

Below: It is possible that at one time there were three ships in this canal. We counted three of these boilers, but only two paddle wheels. Someone once told me that there was a third ship that had run aground which was recovered by leaving the boilers behind. I've only been able to hear bits and pieces from many different people, so I'll have to do more research to find the full story.

Above: We met one of Drew's friends at the river and rode around until bed time. It was nice to be near the mountains and see some real trees.
Below: We saw tracks for moose, lynx, and rabbits, but didn't see any. This morning after a light dusting of snow I spotted some otter tracks which lead to this den. We waited for about ten minutes and then these two otters stuck their heads out of the hole. They looked like sock puppets or muppet characters when their heads popped up. It was really quite comical to watch them move about. Otters are notoriously curious and playful; they really checked us out.

Heidi's Debut Post

2006-04-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

I am entering the world of blogging, and feeling so techy.

I decided that my debut post would be about my guspuk. Throughout the long, cold winter I have been finding hobbies to keep myself busy (we don't have TV). I borrowed a guspuk from one of our cooks, drew a pattern off of it, bought fabric at our store, and started sewing. A guspuk is a light weight parka worn by both men and women. A woman's has a little skirt, a front pocket, and a hood.

Below: Here I am in the process of sewing. It took me about 2 weeks to finish.

Below: The final product.

I enjoyed sewing so much that I've started on a second guspuk. If you would like one, send me fabric and rik rak. It's still winter here, and I'm still looking for ways to keep busy.

Spring Break at the Beach Part II

2006-04-16T19:17:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures to cover the highlights of Mike and Robbi's trip to Alaska.

Above: I had to put this picture up, just so everybody knows that it wasn't all just fun and games. While Mike and Robbi were here we had quite a storm. Snow is one thing, but adding wind can really complicate things and totally change a landscape. You can't tell, but this picture would normally show main street Stebbins. Luckily though, this storm only lasted a couple of days. We passed the time by playing pinochle, watching movies, and preparing/ consuming large meals.

Below: When the wind and snow died down we were actually able to enjoy being outside. We went on a long Honda ride/walk with Nick and Janna. I was able to test out my new snowshoes (notice them strapped to the front of the Honda).

Above: We went to Nome for the Iditarod and had a blast. We had a lot of fun exploring the town and eating at restaurants. We even went to a couple movies at the theater. Heidi and I were living it up in the big city, while Mike and Robbi were still getting used to how small it was.

Below: Our stay in Nome matched with the arrival of the bulk of the mushers. Every time a musher was approaching a siren sounded, and everyone would stop what they were doing and go out to meet them. Mushers came in day or night.

Above: After traveling over 1000 miles these dogs were tired, and they would literally fall asleep as soon as they crossed the finish line. It was funny to watch them try to stay awake. Their eyes would slowly close, their heads would nod, and then they would catch themselves (it reminded me of some of my students during first period).

Above: 23rd Annual Bering Sea Lions Club Eliot Staples Ice Golf Classic on the Bering Sea. Six holes, below freezing, on the frozen ocean; it was one of the highlights of the trip.

Mike and Robbi Pictures

2006-03-21T23:14:00.000-09:00

Heidi and I had a great time visiting with Mike and Robbi. I wanted to get some pictures up of their trip, so I made a "set" with my Flickr account. Click here to see the pictures.

I'll add commentary with a proper blog entry a little later.

Spring Break at the Beach

2006-03-11T14:27:00.000-09:00

Mike and Robbi made it to Alaska! My parents picked them up at the airport on Thursday. Their flight to Stebbins didn't leave until the next day, which gave them plenty of time to see some sights. We're heading to Nome next week for the Iditarod, so they made it a point to go to the Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla.

Above: Heidi's parents, Mike and Robbi.

Below: My mom, Savanah, and Robbi.

Above: There also was time to hang out at my parent's house. My dad Darroll, and Mike checking out my parent's sauna. I don't believe there was time to heat it up though.

Below: Another benefit of the layover was extra time for shopping...specifically, grocery shopping for Heidi and me. Fresh produce is worth its weight in gold out here in the bush. I bought and left a cooler at my parent's house while I was in town during the ASTE conference, and Mike and Robbi brought it to us full of salad, strawberries, bananas, avocados, croissants, real milk (not powdered), and even some real chocolate milk. My parents also mailed some produce, so our fridge is packed full.

Above: We met Heidi's parents at the St. Michael airport yesterday after school on our fourwheelers. I pulled a little trailer for the luggage. They stepped off the plane into -15 degrees plus 20 mph winds. Mike and Robbi were well prepared, with boots and warm clothes, for the ten mile trip back to Stebbins.

Below: This morning was beautiful and it warmed up to 14 degrees. We all took a long walk on the ocean out to the point south of our village. Mike is wearing a beaver pelt hat that my dad loaned him for the trip.

Stuck in Anchorage

2006-03-02T12:08:00.000-09:00

The conference is over, yet I'm still here. Apparently there is some crazy weather going on up in Norton Sound and my flight yesterday was cancelled. I'm waiting patiently for news to arrive about whether we will get out today or not.

One benefit of this extended stay has been that I've had an opportunity to visit with some friends here in Anchorage. Thanks Goose and Ginger for taking time to visit with me!

Here at the ASTE Conference

2006-02-27T10:10:00.000-09:00

I'm here at the Alaska Society for Technology in Education (ASTE) conference geeking out. So far the sessions have been great. It's interesting for me to be here as a teacher, because in high school I came here as a student tech from Tok. I'm meeting lots of people that I know including old teachers and family friends.

I took this picture on one of the new iMac G5's with the built in camera. Pretty cool. The conference is at the Hotel Captain Cook and (as shown in the picture) I am in the room where we had the keynote this morning.

Happy Birthday Heidi!

2006-02-22T21:03:00.000-09:00

Heidi had her 27th birthday over the weekend. As you can see she received cards and even flowers from her dad. The local delivery guy, Bob, picked them up off the runway and delivered them to the school as soon as the mail plane landed. Not a freezer burned petal in the whole bouquet, we were amazed.

Since Heidi's mom is thousands of miles away, the duty of baking Heidi her annual birthday Chicken Kiev fell to me. In case you are not familiar with Chicken Kiev, let me say that it is a fairly complicated recipe. Here is a brief synopses of what has to be done:
-thaw chicken breasts
-beat chicken with a hard object until flat and thin (reminded me of rolling out dough for a pizza)
-mix spices with some butter and freeze into cubes
-use the flattened chicken like a tortilla and make a burrito with the butter cubes inside
-roll in flour, dip in egg, then roll again in bread crumbs
-fry everything
-then finally bake

This recipe is not to be attempted by any amateur. Luckily, I am a culinary master (see picture below).

Heidi's parka makes the news

2006-02-07T17:48:00.000-09:00

After seeing Heidi shiver several times in her inadequatly insulated coat, I suggested that it was time to upgrade. After some extensive research, Heidi chose the CanadaGoose Eclipse Parka. I scoured the internet for the best price and found Bob Mickler's. Their store, which is down in Kentucky, was quite surpised to see a customer from Stebbins, Alaska. The news caught the eye of a reporter for a local newspaper.

Check it out...
........................................................................
Lexington Herald Leader

THE BUZZ by Jim Jordan

No roads? No problem

Bob Mickler's gets lots of orders for riding apparel and clothing through its Web site, www.bobmicklers.com.

But a recent one for a woman's goose-down jacket caught the eye of Julie Mickler, the Lexington company's president. The reason was the destination: Stebbins, Alaska.

"It's almost 900 miles north of Anchorage," Mickler said. "I knew there weren't any roads there and that it might have to be flown in.

"So I called UPS to see if they would deliver," Mickler continued. "They said, 'yes,' but I heard this giggling in the background. 'We'll have to find a musher,' they said."

In the end, the U.S. Postal Service picked up a jacket in Lexington that had been made in Canada and delivered it to a far corner of Alaska.

Did they use a musher and a dog team? Mickler wasn't sure, but "we got an e-mail from the customer (Friday) and she loved the jacket."

Dance Festival 2006

2006-01-30T20:21:00.000-09:00

Last Thursday and Friday was Dance Festival. St. Michael, Golovin, Kotlik, and Wales came to Stebbins to dance and share native arts and crafts.

Here are some pictures of a few things we did.

Above: Ivory soap carving.

Below: Making Akutaq (Eskimo icecream).

Below: Fishing for tomcod.

Above and Below: Of course, lots of dancing.

All in all we had a busy and very fun couple of days.

Heidi's class dance

2006-01-22T17:23:00.000-09:00

I've been trying to get this movie posted for weeks now, and I've FINALLY been able to upload it for your viewing pleasure. This clip is from our school Christmas program back in December, and shows Heidi's class doing an Eskimo dance about hunting geese. The woman in red is one of our school's bilingual teachers who taught them the dance.

A walk on the ocean

2006-01-22T11:46:00.001-09:00

Lately, one of our favorite things to do has been taking walks on the ocean with Neffy. Sounds weird, but it's beautiful and there is plenty of space for Neffy to run.

Above: Here's a shot from the ocean looking back to "bluff" and the village.

Below: Notice the booties Neffy is wearing. My mom sent those. The ice can cut her feet and give her frostbite, so it is important that she wear them. Thanks Mom! The large building in the right of the picture is our school. The tanks just to the left of Heidi's head are the village water tanks.

Bering Strait School District Student Broadcast

2006-01-06T18:06:00.000-09:00

For all of you wanting to see a little broader take on life up here in the Arctic, you might want to take a look at the BSSD Student Broadcast Team's vodcast. Students in Unalakleet do most of the work, but stories from all sites are reported by local team members. New segments are released for download about every three weeks.

To access these vodcasts you will need iTunes. While in iTunes, simply go to the iTunes music store and do a search for BSSD. Subscribe to the student broadcast and you are ready to go.

Also, here are some video clips about each village site in our school district.

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-24T17:21:00.000-09:00

Here we are back in Springfield, Missouri. The little one is Molly Cate, Heidi's new niece. We hope everyone is having a great time.

Pizza & Pinochle

2005-12-10T14:37:00.000-09:00

Every week (at least once a week) Heidi and I make pizza with our friends. It's really quite a production. Sometimes there will be five people or more working in the kitchen rolling out dough, putting on the sauce, and applying the toppings.

Last night we made pizza over at Nick and Janna's apartment. We had "Pizza & Pinochle Night" and invited several other pinochle players over. We made six large pizzas with a variety of toppings, including pork sausage, pepperoni, sauteed onions, black olives, sun dried tomatoes, and reindeer burger.

Above: Heidi grating cheese.
Below: Heidi and me rolling out the dough.

There was plenty of pizza to go around, and others brought dessert. Yum!

Below: After the pizza, we split up into groups for pinochle, girls at one table and guys at the other. We never established an overall champion, but we sure had a lot of fun!

Frozen Dishes

2005-11-20T20:53:00.000-09:00

Heidi and I had our Sunday dinner and a movie tonight, which consisted of burgers and "Lost Season 1: Disc 7: The Essential Lost: Bonus Features." It has been a restful weekend and we are looking forward to the short school week and then the trip down to be with my parents in Wasilla for Thanksgiving. The last time I had Thanksgiving with my parents and Alaskan family was when I was a senior in highschool, back in fall 1997. I am really pumped. My mom is an incredible cook, and Thanksgiving has always been one of the most important holidays of the year. I can't wait.

An interesting thing happened tonight. The burgers I cooked made the house a little smoky, so we opened the kitchen window which is directly above the sink. Of course, we forgot about it and left it open while we ate and watched our movie. When we returned to the kitchen to do the dishes we found the area around the window completely frozen.

Below: The water in this glass was frozen solid.

Above: utensils froze together.

Below: Even the plant froze solid. It looked fine until Heidi watered it, and after she did we couldn't do anything to save it. We helplessly watched it melt.

Tomcod Fishing

2005-11-13T11:35:00.000-09:00

It's tomcod season! The cod are running up river to spawn, just like the salmon earlier this year. However, tomcod fishing is a little different than salmon fishing. Read below for directions.

Above: First you must take an ax and chop a hole in the ice. Keep a pot nearby to scoop out ice as the hole refreezes.

Below: All you need is a hook with some meat on it, some string, and two sticks. Lower the hook into the water, and use the sticks to adjust the height of the hook above the riverbed.

Above: When you feel a tug, pull your line in.

Above: Remove the tomcod from the hook.

Below: Tomcod are usually eight to twelve inches. Eat raw and frozen solid.

The night the ocean froze

2005-11-06T16:13:00.000-09:00

This past week an amazing thing happened. The ocean froze. The metamorphosis started with the beach rocks. You can see below that the rocks are glazed with ice.

During the night it snowed heavily, and the ocean winds changed, blowing arctic ice into our shores. When we awoke the ocean was frozen. The change happened over night, we couldn't believe it!

Testing the new parka

2005-10-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's snowing again. Is this stereotypical or what?

We're now prepared for the coming cold.

2005-10-22T23:49:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I received our parkas in the mail today. Saturdays are turning into mail day. It seems like all the good stuff comes on Saturdays.

Heidi purchased a North Face Varius Guide parka shell and a separate North Face Nuptse down insulator, while I went with the full on Canada Goose Heli-Arctic Parka. Both of our new parkas are insanely warm.

I noticed this tag on the inside of my parka. I presumed that it was a place for me to write down my name in case the parka was lost, but then I saw the fourth line. You know that it is serious survival gear when it has a specific place for you to write down your blood type.

Video, Video, and More Video

2005-10-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I keep getting subtle hints from our most dedicated blog readers (Mom & Dad) for some more video of Stebbins. Thus, I've provided three quality clips below!

Honda Ride Through Stebbins

Walking Tour of School

Fun on the Flats

New load of goodies from the parents

2005-10-15T17:29:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I had one of the best mail days yet. Four packages from both our parents came in, and they were all crammed full with great stuff.

Thanks so much Mom & Dad, and Mom & Dad.

Above: Fresh produce is worth its weight in gold up here. This should hold us over for a few weeks.

Below: There are some things that you don't really need, but it sure is nice when you have them. Tea, Halloween decorations, newspapers & magazines, candles, TV show recordings, and jiffy pop are just a few.

Ride in the snow

2005-10-02T00:45:00.000-08:00

With a fresh blanket of snow on the ground, what better thing is there to do than to take a Honda ride?

It's important to dress appropriately. Thanks Robbi for making Neffy's coat.

It was a beautiful day, the sun was warm and a air was cool.

Neffy had fun mountain climbing.

We saw our first herd of reindeer. They were pretty far off, but it looked like there were quite a few of them. The reindeer is simply a domesticated caribou. The locals maintain this herd for meat, rounding them up once a year.

It has begun...

2005-09-30T21:43:00.002-08:00

It started with a few flecks on Linda's (another teacher) coat.

Then it started collecting on the Honda seat.

Soon it was piling up.

Winter is just around the corner.

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Updated: October 1, 9:20 am
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October is here, and it brought snow. I woke up to the sound of Heidi yelling "It's a winter wonderland!" Winter is here, at least for a little while.

Back from The Big City

2005-09-25T19:58:00.000-08:00

Heidi made it back! She's tired, has a cold, and is glad to be back. Neffy and I are glad too.

Among other things, Heidi traveled on the plane with curtain rods, my shotgun, and goldfish for the school.

Flooding in Stebbins

2005-09-23T22:32:00.000-08:00

This isn't going to make national news (barely state news), but here in our own corner of the country we are having our own flooding. It all started a couple days ago when the radio stations out of Nome started reporting that a huge weather front was on its way. I noticed some extra activity around town, but didn't really think too much about it until someone said that some of the old people were being evacuated to St. Michael. After school I decided to take a walk.

Above: I immediately noticed the coastal road had been built up at least two feet, and lots of rocks had been placed to break waves. It was to act kind of like a levy.

Below: I also noticed the wind. It was incredible. Below is a shot of a breaking wave. Look at how far the spray is being blown. The wind was blowing hard enough to knock you over if you weren't careful.

Above: At some point during the night, the wind blew the water high enough to break the levy in several places on the south side of town. This picture is one of those holes. That water is on the town side of the levy, and all the water you see is not normally there.

This morning I went to work and was surprised to see people from town sleeping in the school. There were several houses flooded last night, and many families came to the school in the middle of the night for safety.

School was postponed until 10:00, which gave Nick, Janna, and I time to drive around and check out the situation.

Above: This is a bad picture, but shows one of two spots where the main road to St. Michael washed out. When I took this picture I was outside of town looking back into town. The ocean is on the other side of town. There are some marshes in this spot, but never this much water.

Below: This is on the north side of town where buildings received the most water damage. The ocean is to the left. The water had receded quite a bit by the time we arrived, but you can see the pools left behind and imagine what it was like last night.

Above: Yesterday these logs weren't here. This ground is level with much of the town.

Below: I have several students who live here. Notice the pink blob in the middle of the shot, that's a rotting walrus carcass. Kids were laughing about it today at school. They said that it smelled really bad. I would think so.

Below: Town is on the right. The ocean is to the right outside of the picture, and in the upper right far horizon. All the water you see is from the flood. The thin line in the middle of all the water is the airport runway.

By the time school got out, things had really cleared up. The wind had died down, and the sun even came out to help dry us.

Above: Here's a picture of town from on top of "The Bluff." All the water to the left is not normally there. The ocean is to the right in in the far horizon.

Below: The thin line in the middle of the water is the airport runway again. All that water is not normally there.

Heidi off to Anchorage

2005-09-20T22:08:00.000-08:00

I took Heidi to the Stebbins airport today. She's off to Nome where she will rendezvous with some other BSSD folks and then head off to Anchorage tomorrow. She will be attending a conference and won't be back until Sunday night. Along with the conference, Heidi is going to do some shopping, and visit with my family in Wasilla.

Yes, I'm a little jealous, but I made a giant mound of sloppy joe for dinner which made me feel better, and will also provide sustenance for the rest of the week.

She doesn't look sad at all.

Beach Party

2005-09-11T22:59:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I rounded up the troops yesterday for a beach party. Hotdogs, burgers, brownies, an assortment of chips, a thermos of hot chocolate, and we were set to go. We went to North Beach, which is on the north side of the peninsula directly north of Stebbins. Here's a map. It's a short ride by fourwheeler.

Ah jubilance...Yes, it finally came.

2005-09-09T23:55:00.000-08:00

Above: Yesterday

Below: Today

Are you kidding or are you kidding...?

2005-09-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

My cloned Honda has been sitting quietly in a dusty Unalakleet hanger for over a week now, awaiting its final delivery leg. I have been persistent but also patient, calling the freight company no more than three times a day. Last week I was told that it would be here Friday. No dice, I was told that they didn't have enough cargo to warrant a delivery. Then I was told Monday, until I accidentally told the guy that it was a holiday. Next I was told Tuesday, but the plane never flew in from Nome. Yesterday the guy was excited to tell me that it would "almost certainly come in on Wednesday." Well, I'm sitting here and it's Wednesday, and my Honda is still on the other side of the Unalakleet River. Apparently the one plane that they use for large deliveries in this area is broken. Yes, that's right, the plane itself is now broken. I was given no other details, but the guy was happy to promise that my Honda would be in tomorrow. I told him that I would continue to not hold my breath.

One Month and Counting

2005-09-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, so one month and counting. School's going great, our co-workers are awesome, the kids are great, Neffy is packing on the blubber for winter, and my fourwheeler is coming tomorrow.

Life is good.

Stebbins Apartment Tour

2005-09-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

Yeah, this is my first vlog, also known as a videoblog! Click this link to see the video tour of our apartment. If you just don't have the bandwidth, or the patience, I've also taken some pictures.

We've been very happy with our new place. It's roomy, smells good, has lots of windows, and lots of storage. What more could we ask for?

Above: Neffy and me in the kitchen. This is the biggest kitchen that Heidi and I have ever had, which is nice because we do a lot of cooking. The closest restaurant is in Unalakleet, which is a 30 minute plane ride away.

Below: Our fridge is completely stuffed full of salmon, and this is only half of it! Nick and Janna have been nice enough to let us use some space in their freezer chest.
Above: Out lovely living room. No TV or radio, although we do have Netflix and watch as many movies as we can get our hands on. We watch movies, listen to podcasts, as well as internet radio on my trusty Apple iBook. It's been nice not having a TV and we haven't missed it a bit.
Above: Our bedroom...not very interesting.

Below: The office/ guest bedroom. We haven't had any guests yet, but if you want to visit us here's where you will stay. We can probably get a bigger bed if needed. Notice my iBook, this is where I do a lot of my blogging.

Coveting my neighbor's Honda

2005-08-29T18:46:00.000-08:00

About a week and a half ago my friend Nick and I closed a deal on a couple of Honda four wheelers. We have been anxiously awaiting their arrival, and giddily planning all of the adventures that we will soon have with them. Well, they just arrived!...wait...scratch that...Nick's just arrived. They were shipped together out of Anchorage, however I got a call earlier today letting me know of a little problem. Apparently, my Honda was dropped, run over, shredded, and then set on fire. The only way that they were able to identify it as mine was from a scrap of charred bar code melted onto the tarmac. The nice lady on the phone told me not to worry, and that they would not try to fix my machine. Instead, the nice lady went on to explain that there are master mechanics, engineers, and scientists busily working right now to clone my dead four wheeler. I have been assured that they will work night and day until Wednesday to get my new cloned machine back to the freight warehouse, so that it can sit there for another week before they can again attempt to put it onto a plane.

It will be next week before I get my new machine, and that's if I'm lucky. Since I'm not lucky, I expect it to come in the week after next. Until then, I will covet my neighbor's Honda.

Nick & Janna on their fancy new four wheeler:

Eskimo Dancing

2005-08-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

The night before school started the community came together to wish us teachers the best. We were entertained for hours with traditional Eskimo dancing. I have learned that this area is very rich in traditional dancing, and I was impressed with the skill and variety of different dances. Much like other native dances, Eskimo dances always tell a story. Also, it is the tradition in this area that you must have a "First Dance" before you can dance in any sort of group function. When a boy, girl, man, or woman has learned a number of dances and is ready to dance with the group, they must dance by themselves in front of everyone. This is a very special time and the family provides gifts for all who attend. Some spend up to $3000 total on all of the different gifts. Of course the best gifts (handmade gloves and mukluks) go the elders of the village.

Here are some pictures of the dance that we attended:

Fish netting, ulu training, gas delivery

2005-08-19T22:19:00.000-08:00

(Attn Boyd Staff: Hello! and notice Heidi's t-shirt below.)

A couple of days ago I helped set up this elaborate fish netting system. The result has been about twenty-five fish a day. It's great! Every evening at 5:30 a few of us (whoever can make it) meet on the beach, pull in the net, and untangle the fish (as shown below). Today we caught twenty-four. You can see Neffy in the background trying to help.

After we gather all of the fish, we set the net again to catch fish for the next night and day. Usually we use fillet knives, but today we received a special treat from one of our future students, ulu lessons. Below is a picture of the ulu that we used to cut today's haul. This traditional knife is still preferred by all the native peoples in this region.

Most of the our fish preparation so far has been done by men, but it is Yupik tradition that the women do all of the meat preparation. In fact, little Yupik kids always laugh at Nick and me when we are filleting. Heidi has done her fair share of work, but just to help her out with some of the customs, a local offered to give ulu lessons.

Below: Our new friend showing Heidi how to use the ulu.

Above: Heidi dove right in.

Above: That's our school in the background. I'll get more pictures later I promise.

Below: Heidi's first ulu prepared salmon fillet. Looks pretty good. The ulu's curved blade and handle placement, as well as the new way that we learned to cut the meat, really helps save a lot of meat. Ulu prepared fillets are the thickest.

Below: On another note, here is a picture of the tug, barge, and tanker that delivers gas to all the Bush villages on the coast. It showed up yesterday morning. Notice the gas truck parked on the barge. I'm sure that the hull of the barge was holding gas as well, because they filled up several large tanks in town that day.

Went fishing

2005-08-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

Caught a pile of fish yesterday. My principal, a couple other teachers, and I boated out to a nearby river. It was incredible. The river was so thick with salmon that the river would just boil when they made their runs. It wasn't so much a school of fish as a herd of fish stampeding. We caught close to seventy fish in three hours.

Above: Just a few of the fish we caught.
Below: I caught the largest fish of the day, 13 pounds. It was a little red, but it still had sea lice and the filets were perfect. It the background you can see some buildings. They are native fish camps where the Eskimos fish all summer to stock up for the winter. There were other people around, but the entire time that we were there we only saw one other boat on the river and one other person fishing a long way up river.

Below: Here we are working hard cleaning the fish. Those are some Eskimo kids in the foreground and backgrounds. They were excited to see our haul. It took four hours to clean and vacuum seal all the fish. We started smoking some of the fish today.

Stebbins...Home Sweet Home

2005-08-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

We've made it all the way! We've been in Stebbins for a few days now, busily unpacking, organizing, and generally getting settled. When we stepped off of the plane last Friday we were met by our principal and about half a dozen smiling kids. It was almost like Hawaii, but no leis.

Yesterday and today have been beautiful. Here are some pictures that I took while berry picking with some new friends.

Above: That's Stebbins in the background.
Below: It was a lot of hard work, but man are those blueberrys good.
Above: Beach picture of "the cliff" and of Stebbins.
Below: Taken on top of the hill south of Stebbins looking south across the tundra.

Just a thought...

2005-08-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

My high school graduation speaker was retired President Dr. William R. Wood from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The topic of his speech has remained with me to this day. To my graduating class of fifteen students, in Tok, Alaska, he spoke at length about how many great and powerful historical people have come from small towns and villages. I remember him giving many examples.

In my own words, he was saying, "Great people come from the small places."

A Real Alaskan

2005-08-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

It's official, Heidi is now an Alaskan, and here's the proof.

Surprisingly, Heidi had to take a written test to gain her Alaska driver license. No problem though, she passed.

Shopping for the Bush

2005-07-29T19:01:00.000-08:00

When living in the Bush you have to do most of your shopping in Anchorage or Fairbanks. This is substantially better than when my parents taught in the Bush. When my mom and dad were in Barrow they had to order groceries a year at a time, and they were sent all the way from Seattle.

Yesterday, Heidi and I went to a Fred Meyer in Anchorage that specializes in shopping for the Bush. We spent two and a half hours filling up four carts with everything that we will need for the next couple of months. Food, cleaning supplies, shower curtain, and everything else that is needed when moving into a new place. After we found all that we needed, and $1000 later (the receipt was over six feet long), a really nice lady named Tiny took over, and we will have our groceries waiting for us when we arrive in Stebbins. Down the road when we need more groceries, Fred's will take our orders over the phone and mail them out. I already know that we forgot to buy shaving cream.

Above is a picture of Heidi, Mom, and me with our empty carts.

Below is a picture of Heidi and me with four full carts. Some of the carts don't look that full, but that's because they are full of cans and we couldn't push them if we filled them up any more.

We made it!

2005-07-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I made it. We're here in Wasilla. We arrived late last Saturday, after making it across the border, and after saying hi to all our friends in Tok. We had a great trip, saw lots of country, and we managed it without even a flat tire.

The last couple of days have been spent resting up, and eating all of Mom's home cooking. The night we arrived home, Heidi and I had a king crab feast waiting for us, with fresh rhubarb (from the garden) pie for dessert.

This morning my dad, my brother, my nephew, and I went fishing on the Little Susitna River. The river flows very close to my parent's house, but we fished it further down, closer to the ocean. We caught six great size silver salmon. I caught a twelve pounder. Right now my mom is baking one up for dinner.

(Slayton with one of his catches)

(Dad, Slayton, Darin, and me showing off our haul)

On the road to Alaska PART II

2005-07-21T08:43:00.000-08:00

We are still on the road. Heidi and I are in Prince George, B.C. and will be leaving shortly. I just wanted to make a quick update.

We had an awesome time in Oregon with our friends Tay and Jaimie. They will be getting married soon, and it was great to see them, and see that they are doing so well. Below is a picture of us on the Oregon coast.

Neffy and Reilly had fun playing on the beach. Two boxers together was almost out of control, but fun to watch.

Here they are resting, after a long day. Reilly is on the left, and Neffy on the right.

We expect to be in Tok, Alaska on Saturday, and to my parents house in Wasilla, Alaska on Sunday.

On the road to Alaska PART I

2005-07-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

I am currently sitting at an Arby's in Bozeman, Montana (who knew that an Arby's would have wireless?). Heidi and I are treating ourselves to some warm food. Hummus, tortilla, Vienna sausage, and tuna salad can only take you so far. Arby's roast beef with curly fries and special sauce is really tasting good right now.

Today marks one week on the road. Upon leaving Springfield we made a circle through Missouri visiting family and friends. We left the state on HWY 29 North out of Kansas City. We took 29 all the way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We then hopped on HWY 90 are following it all the way to Washington.

Along the way we've taken the liberty to make many stops and see lots of sights. This has included The Corn Palace, Wall Drug, The Bad Lands, Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, The Crazy Horse Monument, Yellowstone, and more. We're having a great trip so far, with no problems yet.

We'll keep you posted and put some more pictures up when possible. This picture is of Heidi and me at Yellowstone. You can see the steam from the hot springs in the background.

Goodbye Springfield Public Schools

2005-07-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

Heidi and I have had a great couple of years working in the Springfield Public School system. There are some really exciting things happening in the district right now, and Heidi and I are sad that we will be missing out. Boyd Elementary, where Heidi taught, is becoming a PYP school, and Glendale, where I was the Site Tech, is putting together some great new labs including a new language lab and a new Apple media lab. Of course, most of all we will be missing the relationships that have developed over the years with the people that we work with.

It has been our pleasure!

No, not the St. Louis Cardinals

2005-05-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

This last weekend Heidi and I went to see the Springfield Cardinals play. We lost, but it was a good game and we had a lot of fun.

The new Hammons Field is fantastic.

Means to get there

2005-05-17T16:14:00.000-08:00

To get to Alaska Heidi and I will be driving my truck. (We're selling her car; anybody want to buy a "93 Corsica? ///SOLD///)

We've been researching many different options on how to get all of our stuff up, and we've settled on this nice new trailer. We'll put everything that we own inside and drive it to Wasilla where my parents live. We can't take everything to Stebbins, so a lot of our belongings will stay at my parent's house. Everything else that we need to bring, we will barge or fly to Stebbins.

It's 6ft X 10ft.

Heidi and I are pretty excited about this trailer. Other possible uses, besides transcontinental voyages, include hauling a snowmachine, or hauling a motorcycle. Granted I do not own either of these items, but if I ever do, man will I be able to haul them around.

Picture of Stebbins

2005-05-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

A teaching couple from Stebbins has been nice enough to introduce themselves to Heidi and me. They emailed us a few days ago and have been great about answering our random questions. We've learned that a big chunk of the teaching staff is from Oregon (GO OSU!!!).

They also sent us a cool picture. Check it out, it's Stebbins from the air.

The big blue roof in the middle of the picture is the school. The tri-plex, where Heidi and I will be living, is to the left of the school. The water out there in front of the village is Norton Sound/Pacific Ocean.

We're going to Stebbins...Where's that you ask???

2005-04-08T20:55:00.000-08:00

It's official! Heidi and I will be teaching at Stebbins, Alaska next year. Heidi will teach third grade and I will teach seventh. I will also be the technology guy for the school.

Wondering where Stebbins is? Click on the link to check out a satellite photo.

In map mode you can get closer, but all you can see is roads.

Notice how Stebbins isn't named on this map.

Click here for a movie clip about Stebbins.

Here is the Bering Straight School District website, where there is a lot of information about the other schools and the area.

Fellow Blogger

2005-04-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

aNN pITTMAN

Here is a link to a friends blog. Ann constantly has stories to tell and it makes for some interesting reading. Her emailings were great, and now I'm glad that the rest of the world can share in her daily adventures.

Way back in the day (college), Ann was my wife's sorority "Mom." I'm not sure if parental sorority relations extend to husbands, but in any case I feel like we have some sort of relation. She has a beautiful voice and sang at our wedding.

Cheers Ann!

First Posting

2004-11-15T18:26:00.000-09:00

Just saw Dave Winer from Harvard on CSPAN talking about blogs. I've decided that it's about time for me to start my own!

Harvard's Blog Site