Snow and Feast
It’s a comfortable, trudging snow today. Definitely lots of trudging going on around Anchorage. It wasn’t snowing when I arrived at work at 7am this morning. Thankfully. As I had to make 3 trips into the building with supplies for today’s Messenger Feast.
I was up until almost 1am last night preparing for today’s festivities. I baked two batches of yummy chocolate shortbread. (Sent one tin to Stephen’s office.) I finished making a little birchbark canoe for the gift exchange and wrapped that. I wrapped several “prizes” to be awarded for the “feats of strength”. And, I whipped up another batch of royal icing to do repair work on a crumbling gingerbread cabin. Of course I had to work at JCPenney’s last night, so I didn’t get to start any of these tasks till after 8:00pm….
At any rate, it’s snowing pretty good now. Just what you think of when you envision a snowy urban landscape. White flecks falling almost sideways beneath a grey-white dusky sky. Thick wading snow just over your shoe tops, easy to brush aside with your boots. Heads ducked to avoid snow in the eyes and swaddled in hoods, hats, and high-zipping coat fronts. A pleasant, trudging snow day.
I experienced the trudging firsthand as I made 3 reverse trips to reload my supplies in the van after a very well-received holiday potluck. A good time was had by all. There was plenty of good food and drink, fun gifts, and spectacular feats of strength. We
chose to demonstrate 4 tradition native games which are actually events at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics held in Fairbanks (although in July 2007 they will be in Anchorage). The games we played were the Stick Pull, the One-Foot High Kick, the Toe Kick, and the One Hand Reach. The Stick Pull requires two people to sit facing one another with their feet pushing against the other’s feet. They grasp a stick between them and attempt to either pull the stick away from their opponent or unseat their opponent. This is supposed to replicate the strength involved in pulling a seal through a hole in the ice. It was a little difficult to determine a winner for this because the stick was snapped in two during the 2nd round! But to the victor we presented a little stuffed seal. A pair of toy mukluks (boots) were given to the best One-foot high kicker, etc….
I can see why a Messenger Feast would be a great way to break up the winter darkness and boredom! It was a lot of fun!
I was up until almost 1am last night preparing for today’s festivities. I baked two batches of yummy chocolate shortbread. (Sent one tin to Stephen’s office.) I finished making a little birchbark canoe for the gift exchange and wrapped that. I wrapped several “prizes” to be awarded for the “feats of strength”. And, I whipped up another batch of royal icing to do repair work on a crumbling gingerbread cabin. Of course I had to work at JCPenney’s last night, so I didn’t get to start any of these tasks till after 8:00pm….
At any rate, it’s snowing pretty good now. Just what you think of when you envision a snowy urban landscape. White flecks falling almost sideways beneath a grey-white dusky sky. Thick wading snow just over your shoe tops, easy to brush aside with your boots. Heads ducked to avoid snow in the eyes and swaddled in hoods, hats, and high-zipping coat fronts. A pleasant, trudging snow day.
I experienced the trudging firsthand as I made 3 reverse trips to reload my supplies in the van after a very well-received holiday potluck. A good time was had by all. There was plenty of good food and drink, fun gifts, and spectacular feats of strength. We
chose to demonstrate 4 tradition native games which are actually events at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics held in Fairbanks (although in July 2007 they will be in Anchorage). The games we played were the Stick Pull, the One-Foot High Kick, the Toe Kick, and the One Hand Reach. The Stick Pull requires two people to sit facing one another with their feet pushing against the other’s feet. They grasp a stick between them and attempt to either pull the stick away from their opponent or unseat their opponent. This is supposed to replicate the strength involved in pulling a seal through a hole in the ice. It was a little difficult to determine a winner for this because the stick was snapped in two during the 2nd round! But to the victor we presented a little stuffed seal. A pair of toy mukluks (boots) were given to the best One-foot high kicker, etc….I can see why a Messenger Feast would be a great way to break up the winter darkness and boredom! It was a lot of fun!
posted by Tricia @ 12:48 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I love the little mtn sheep in the background. Looks like you guys had quite a spread. :o)
I'll tell Chuck you said so. He's the fella sitting in the photo to
your left. He added the dall sheep to my landscape... There's also a little log cabin I drew behind Chester, who's standing.
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