Let's Rondy!

Stephen and I went to the Jim Beam Jam last night at the Egan Center. It was a last minute plan as I got a ticket to it at work yesterday afternoon. We bought the second ticket online for $25. The JBJ is the kickoff party for the Fur Rendezvous festivities which began yesterday.

Fur Rondy is one of the landmarks on our family calendar. It's one of the few times where you can potentially get frostbite on a ferris wheel. In addition to the carnival rides and games, there's a lot of live entertainment and some not so live, like the fur auction. There's a blanket toss which is the traditional method of scouting out game by the arctic hunters. The hunters stand in a circle holding the edges of a blanket. Someone gets in the middle of the blanket, stands up, and those holding the edges work together to toss him into the air. He spins around to check all the horizons for game. It's a lot like a labor intensive trampoline.

They have a snow sculpture competition and this year will mark the second annual Running of the Reindeer, which is modeled after the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. Apparently, reindeer are considerably less temperamental than a herd of angry bulls. But it's still pretty fun to watch. We're heading back down to Anchorage on Sunday to partake in the festivities.

Oh, I should mention that the World Championship Sled Dog Races are held during Fur Rondy. These are timed, sprint races. The dogs which run this race are not stamina runners like those who'll be running in the Iditarod starting next weekend.

Rebecca arrives Tuesday night. We'll try to get her to as much chilly fun as we can during the course of her stay. We're laying out a fresh draping of snow this weekend so everything looks nice and white and tidy. Big fluffy flakes are falling outside the window right now.

Before the Jim Beam Jam last night, we went to Tess's 2nd to last game. They beat South by quite a bit. And the girls played a pretty good game. Tess wasn't happy with her performance, but I thought she played well. The refs kept giving her fouls which rightfully belonged to other players, so she came close to fouling out. But I'd told her ahead of time if the game looked like it was going to go late to try and foul out by the 3rd quarter so she could go home and babysit Alicia while her dad and I went to the Jam. :o) As it was, the game got over around 9pm and she drove Alicia home in the van while Stephen and I took the truck into Anchorage.

The Jam drew an interesting group of participants. You had folks of all ages (over 21), ethnicities, sizes, shapes, and walks of life. The one thing they all seemed to have in common was their enjoyment of alcoholic imbibement and the level of behavioral freedom that provides. This, of course, holds almost no enjoyment value for me. So I settled for a pleasant night of good music and people watching while trying to avoid getting corraled by drunken strangers.

Busy Day

We hauled firewood today. Someone Stephen works with had some firewood stacked in his yard that he had no use for. So we drove both trucks up to Big Lake this morning and filled the beds with firewood. It was about a 45 minute drive each way. Thankfully, it was a lovely day for a drive. The sky was bright blue and the temperatures were in the low-20's.

I was only able to help with one load. But Stephen went back for a second trip. There is still another 3 truckloads out there, so we'll go back tomorrow after church.

But after that first load, I took Alicia to Anchorage with me to pick up Tess from the airport. While we were waiting for her plane to land, I drove around the Lake Hood airport which is adjacent to the main international airport. Lake Hood is a float plane airport as well as a land airstrip for wheeled small planes. I believe it's the busiest float plane airport in the world.

Alicia was napping in her car seat and I didn't want to pay to park in the short term parking lot while I waited for Tess. So I told her to text me when she landed, which she did. And I just drove over to the baggage claim area and picked her up.

I had her basketball gear in the van with me. She changed in the back seat and we drove straight to the high school where her game was scheduled to begin in an hour. She played a good game. They won by a lot, which was expected. I was glad they let her play since she'd been out of town for the previous day's practice.

When I arrived home, I made some chili for dinner and helped Stephen empty the wood out of the truck so we could go refill them tomorrow. We got a lot of it stacked, but then it got too dark to see and our backs were starting to hurt. We'll have to fire up the hot tub so it's ready for us after tomorrow's firewood escapades.

Tess decided she was a little worn out and not feeling all that great, so she didn't go to the cotillion dance tonight. But she swears she'll wear the newly altered black dress to the next one so my efforts weren't all for naught.

What's Happening Around Here...

Tess is on her Spring Choir Trip. They're doing a tour of southeast Alaska. They flew from Anchorage to Juneau this morning. They're staying in Juneau tonight. Every time I texted her today, they seemed to be eating something... Hmmmm.

Tomorrow they'll take a ferry to Sitka, Alaska, which is on an island. They'll stay in Sitka for a night and on Friday they'll fly further south to Ketchikan. They'll stay there a night and then fly back to Anchorage from Ketchikan on Saturday. She's hoping to arrive home in time to go to her basketball game against Eagle River late Saturday afternoon (4:45) and then to the February cotillion dance that evening at 8pm in Anchorage. Which reminds me... I still need to reconcile the super long slit in the black dress she has for that dance.

I had a doctor's appointment for me today. My first one since the post-childbirth checkup with Alicia 4 years ago. I tend to get so caught up in kid and husband health care that I forget to schedule checkups for myself. According to the doctor, since I'll be turning 40 this year, it's time to start getting mammograms. Oh joy. But better safe than sorry, I suppose. I'll be going back in late March to have some blood work done.

Stephen took Donald to an orientation/informational session at the Alaska Military Youth Academy today. It's a 5 month, residential program that gets you back on track, graduates you from high school and trains you in some vocation. The next session begins in April. I really hope he decides to apply for that session. It has to be voluntary on the part of the participant. Our pastor has volunteered to be his mentor during the program. The alumni of the program have a very high success rate. I think this is a really good opportunity for him and I hope he figures that out.

Valentine's Day Hike

Tess had a basketball game Valentine's Day afternoon. I made some pineapple banana smoothie cupcakes to bring for the team.

After Tess's game, we went to Peters Creek Park (about a mile from the house) to do a little exploring and try to find a geocache. We didn't find the cache, but we did get to play Pooh Sticks on the bridge over the creek.

Peters Creek runs along the other side of the property across the street from our house. Of course, it runs at the bottom of a steep bluff. There is a picnic pavilion and scattered picnic tables along the trails. There is also a frisbee golf course amongst the trees. We saw a couple of fellas playing the course while we were there.

We hiked through some snowy trails pulling Alicia's sled and being dragged along by Bit on her leash. The creek was lovely in its snow draped banks. It flows too quickly to freeze completely in the winter. But the icy overhangs break off in chunks to create their own angular landscape.

The temperature yesterday was very warm at about 36 degrees. We were disinclined to sit around inside the house on such a pleasant day. We were equally disinclined to attempt any "date-like" activity on Valentine's Day. There are very limited dining options in Eagle River and the decent ones would surely have been packed to the gills. Tess and her valentine went out to eat after her game for a "late lunch" at around 3:30. So they probably missed the crowds.

We did venture to Cold Stone Creamery after our hike for some tasty ice cream...

The American Dream

On Saturday morning, we awoke early to take care of the last few tax customers in Grayling before flying to the village of Holy Cross as soon as the sun rose. The flights in that region do not fly in the dark. The sun rises at around 10am that far west of Anchorage.

After finishing my work, I had a little time to explore Grayling.



Journal excerpt:
I explored the school halls, cafeteria and gym. There is a chicken house out front which they built last fall. They have 20 chickens which are just starting to lay eggs. Next year they hope to add some goats.
I strolled the streets of Grayling. They are actually a criss-crossing maze of snowmachine tracks. I passed a log church, the log Community Hall, and the 2-story log Tribal Council office. I made my way down to the banks of the Yukon, along which there are snow covered picnic tables and benches. In a little over a month, the racers in the Iditarod will come to Grayling along the frozen Yukon. The Community Hall is a checkpoint in the race. Some of the mushers will rest for a while in Grayling before continuing on toward Nome.

As I wandered around Grayling in the predawn darkness, I was struck by how much it reminded me of the small pioneer towns of the midwest during the late 1800's. This place could have found a place in one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books... Little Town on the Yukon, perhaps. It has all the simple practicality and community comraderie which is necessary to survive in isolated locations. Added to that is the availability of modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and internet access. So there, on the banks of the Yukon, to my way of thinking, exists the true American Dream. All the simplicity of yesteryear coupled with the convenience of today.

But before you all pack up and head to the Bush, I should mention one other thing. The instant after my revelation that I had found the American Dream, I realized it was completely out of reach for the average person. I could not have it. Even if I moved us out there to Grayling or some other pleasant Bush village, the Dream would be out of my reach. There is not a place for me in the millenia of history of those peoples. The Dream there is theirs to have and to keep. Most of them are content to do so. Some of them, usually the youth, escape the village to see what the larger world has to offer. Only to find out they've given up more than they'll gain Outside. I can't imagine the snow is whiter on the other side of the river.



There are some people who can and do find a place for themselves in Alaska Native villages. The schools often hire teachers on one year contracts from the lower-48. But most teachers stay for one year and move on. The pay is not great and the hours are often long. But some land in situations which make it possible to attain the Dream. These, in my opinion, are the lucky ones.

Village Trip Photos

Well, I've returned from my bush visit. It was a great trip. Somewhat exhausting at times, but overall a great experience. I hope to be able to do it again next year.
I'll post a full trip report soon. But for now, here are a few photos. I've uploaded more to the facebook account...

Bound for the Bush

So here's where I'm headed tomorrow morning. I'll be meeting up with two female accounting students from the University of Alaska and we'll board a medium sized plane (16-seater?) out of Anchorage to the village of Aniak. From there, we'll take a puddle jumper (4-6 seater) to the smaller village of Grayling. We'll spend one night there while the accounting girls prepare the taxes for the villagers. Saturday morning we'll take another little plane on a short hop to Holy Cross (pop. 200, 6 people more than Grayling). They'll have their taxes done. Sunday morning we'll return to Anchorage via Aniak, arriving in the mid-afternoon... weather permitting.

I'm excited for the trip. It'll be my first visit to the Alaskan bush. Both villages where we'll be staying are primarily Alaska Native. And although they are only about 40 miles up the Yukon River from one another, they are comprised of different tribes. But they are both varieties of Athabascan people.

Grayling has the added distinction of being on the northern route of the Iditarod Trail. So a month after I'm there, a multitude of dogs pulling sleds will pass through on their way to Nome.

Girl Stuff...

Okay, so this is a random photo. But it's so endearing... don't you think? These furry friends are in one of Tess's friend's family rooms. Stephen would love to have such specimens in our family room. He and a buddy are planning to set up a bait stand this year to use in hunting bear. Of course, even if he does get a bear, it's got to cost a bundle to have a full mount done like this one!

In case you hadn't heard, many parts of Alaska are overrun with bears. So they allow baiting in certain areas to cull down the numbers. Of course, there are those folks who claim the bears were here first and should be allowed to maul as many tourists as they like with no "wildlife management" efforts on our part. I think if we weren't here providing fresh tourist meat and fish scraps to the bear population, they'd probably control their own numbers via natural methods like starvation, etc.

Sometimes Alicia May dozes off in her spiffy new car booster seat with dual cup holders. After all, it's not easy being so cute and spunky all the time. It takes effort and considerable beauty sleep.