Since I can remember, I have been a subscriber of The Magazine for Practical Outdoorsmen: Fur – Fish – Game. In that magazine there is a section called “I Knew That!” In the September 2007 edition of Fur – Fish – Game (page 2) a reader named Randy Zink offered a suggestion that you can use the bottom of a ceramic cup – you know, a coffee cup—as a knife sharpening stone. Since I foolishly did not bring any of my own stones to Alaska with me, I tried it. Guess what, Randy was right, it works. It will take a little getting used to but I sharpened my favorite kitchen knife (the knife that gets abused) on it and I am pleased with the resulting edge. Thanks Randy and thanks Fur – Fish – Game magazine!
14 September 2007
Staying Busy
It has been quite a while since I last wrote anything. Between planning lessons and coaching cross country, I have not had time to do much of anything.
My recent trip to Goodnews Bay was very nice. They don’t have trees either, but the mountains and the Bering Sea were wonderful. I would love to live and teach there but the people who go there, stay there. Across the bay is the small village of Platinum. We have a school there but it’s closed. There was once a Platinum Mine there but it has been closed for quite a while. When the mine closed all but the heartiest of the citizens left too. Someone is building a fish processing plant there that will operate in the summer. If that brings in enough full time residents to warrant the reopening of the school, I’ll be first in line with my resume’ in hand.
Our mode of transportation to and from Goodnews Bay was in Cessna 207s. The weather was extremely rough. So rough that there was talk about us being “weathered – in” and staying until the storm passed. After seeing the first plane I was a little nervous anyhow. The ceiling panel was being help up by duct tape. I thought to myself “There’s no duct tape on the outside so we are going to be fine.” The thirty year old planes performed flawlessly and I decided that I want one of my own.
Our next trip is to Bethel for the Regional Cross Country Meet. The scenery will not be as pretty but at least it’ll be new.
I have been practicing with my team so that I can get into better physical condition and maybe even lose some weight. At yesterday’s practice we were in the gym because of the weather and part of the workout involved balls. Somehow, I twisted wrong and pulled a muscle in my lower back so today I’m gimping around like an old man. On the bright side, I hurt my back in Alaska and I’ll heal in Alaska and that’s all I need. If I had a few trees to look at, I would be in sore-back heaven.
This is interesting… There was a community feast last night. It was to celebrate someone’s birthday. They invite the whole community without exception. One of my runners invited me personally so I would be sure to show up. She remembered that I did not go to one last month because I am shy and I didn’t want to impose on folks that I did not know. (Yes, I am shy!)
When I arrived the house was packed full of people from two other villages and every kid in town. I was welcomed warmly by the family, many of whom I had met before at school functions. And a couple of my neighbors were there too. On the offering was swan (the turkey of the north), duck, and moose ribs; akutaq and other stuff that I had never seen before. I, somehow, ended up with a kid’s plate of Rice-A-Roni, jello, and cake. The lady who served me likes to kid around with me so I think she played on my ignorance of their etiquette so she could have a chuckle. I’m fine with that, because I got to spend some time with nice people outside of the school and I didn’t have to cook or wash dishes. Besides, the food she gave me tasted very good.
I couldn’t help but to notice how many religious icons and family photographs were on display. It seemed like certain walls were devoted to one subject or the other. It is well known that I don’t know much about the Yup’ik people so it shouldn’t be a shock that was amazed at some of the pictures. There were kids and grandkids and grandmas and so on. That’s not the shocking part. I saw pictures of people that I thought were from other families on the walls. Then it hit me. Grandparents, aunts and uncle, and distant relatives will adopt kids for various reasons and raise them as their own. In these small communities of a few hundred, most people are related somehow anyway, so why not take in kids if needed? However, it has changed the way I see my students.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Monday, September 3, 2007
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Berry Picking
So now I’m confused. I have a couple of kids that are down right bad in the classroom but, when we are out of the classroom they are my best buddies. What gives? It is like a Jekyll and Hyde thing. When I spoke to their parents, no one mentioned multiple personalities. As I reflect on the week over all, I think this week was slightly better than last. If the weeks continue to get better, they might become tolerable, and I may even begin to like being a teacher. It will never be as good as working for Jackie at Ball State, but I can always hope.
One of the high points of the week was going berry picking on Thursday afternoon during Yup’ik time. Since we live on the tundra, we only had to go a little way to find berries. We picked Blueberries, Low-bush Cranberries, and Blackberries. I think the English name for the Blackberries is Crowberries, but I can’t swear to it. None of these berries grow on much of a bush. They sprawl out through the Lichens and seldom get more than a few inches above the ground, so you have to good at squatting or kneeling. I also picked some herbs that they use in tea. The herbs, I carried in my shirt pocket instead of my pail.
Anytime you get kids, big and small, outdoors picking berries, berries will get thrown. As usual, I was the target. Not me as much as the pocket of my white shirt in which I stored the herbs for my tea. I didn’t notice any going in my pocket when we picking or when we go back. Upon returning from berry picking we went directly to the gym for P.E. We played a feisty game of Dodge ball and worked up quite a sweat. One of the kids alerted me to a suspicious color change in my shirt pocket. It was a Blueberry!
I washed the white shirt that had the berry stain on the pocket and the stain didn’t come out. I have decided to go out and pick more berries and make the whole shirt one color; Blueberry. I know this is extreme, but the shirt is ruined anyhow so what the heck… I might as well go for broke. Wish me luck.
On the way back to school, Olinka showed me a root that they used to eat. It is some kind of grass that looks like dwarf cattails but with no fuzzy end. I had a heck of a time getting them out of the ground at first. You have to root your fingers around in the peat kind of deep and grab it tight so you can wrestle the whole thing out without breaking the good part off. The flavor was kind of like potato, which is another reason I thought of cattails. Olinka said there is another plant that looks like this one but isn’t good to eat. The mention of that plant made me think of Iris; because they look like cattails but are not edible.
Last night, Olinka made berry muffins and berry jam from the berries that the kids picked and gave it to them for their morning snack. [Yes, just like Kindergarten in your schools, our 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders get a morning snack.] I don’t know if all three varieties of berry were in the muffins, but they were good and the same goes for the jam. Inspired by Olinka’s selfless and tasty act, I separated my berries and put the Blueberries in pancake mix and made pancakes for supper. It was simple, yet just a little naughty. Not quite a masterpiece but, darn good.
I volunteered to be the Cross Country coach. I have 11 athletes which range from 6th Grade through 10th Grade. The girls greatly outnumber the boy 8 to 3, but the boys are way faster than the girls. My three boys are solid runners. They are long, lean, live right, and they love to run. I have three girls who like to run and they are fast. The rest of the team needed something to do so they joined Cross Country. I’m okay with joining because you are bored. They are getting some good exercise, learning about themselves, and they get to travel a little. If we win something, great! If we try our best and don’t quit; best! We do not get to travel this weekend but, we will be going to Goodnews Bay, on the coast, next weekend. The kids and I are really looking forward to the trip. I am told that Goodnews Bay is mountainous and beautiful. This will be especially nice because all I have seen for a solid month is tundra.
As you all know, I am fat and out of shape. So, I have been running with the team during practice. It feels good to get some exercise and burn some calories. When I look in the mirror now, my gut is in the same picture as the rest of my body. On the first day I hurt myself though. I was determined to beat this little girl during sprints and I felt my leg muscle tear. I babied it for a couple of days and I’m running on it again. I know, I know, stretch more because you’re getting older. I heard it all from the kids and the teachers and the villagers. That’s the trouble with being in a small town; everybody knows when you do something dumb.
We were without water again yesterday. It was only 24 hours this time but, it was the 4th time this month. I am really curious to see the machines that process our water to learn what the weak link is in the system. I signed my lease yesterday and for the price that I am paying for my apartment, I can’t complain. My rent is very cheap and since it is forced housing I can deduct it from my taxes. SWEET!!!
It is now September 1st and we are supposed to enjoy the long weekend. For me it means it to work on getting my reading program working properly and getting my writing program working period. So, that’s what I’m going to do. Good bye for now.
One of the high points of the week was going berry picking on Thursday afternoon during Yup’ik time. Since we live on the tundra, we only had to go a little way to find berries. We picked Blueberries, Low-bush Cranberries, and Blackberries. I think the English name for the Blackberries is Crowberries, but I can’t swear to it. None of these berries grow on much of a bush. They sprawl out through the Lichens and seldom get more than a few inches above the ground, so you have to good at squatting or kneeling. I also picked some herbs that they use in tea. The herbs, I carried in my shirt pocket instead of my pail.
Anytime you get kids, big and small, outdoors picking berries, berries will get thrown. As usual, I was the target. Not me as much as the pocket of my white shirt in which I stored the herbs for my tea. I didn’t notice any going in my pocket when we picking or when we go back. Upon returning from berry picking we went directly to the gym for P.E. We played a feisty game of Dodge ball and worked up quite a sweat. One of the kids alerted me to a suspicious color change in my shirt pocket. It was a Blueberry!
I washed the white shirt that had the berry stain on the pocket and the stain didn’t come out. I have decided to go out and pick more berries and make the whole shirt one color; Blueberry. I know this is extreme, but the shirt is ruined anyhow so what the heck… I might as well go for broke. Wish me luck.
On the way back to school, Olinka showed me a root that they used to eat. It is some kind of grass that looks like dwarf cattails but with no fuzzy end. I had a heck of a time getting them out of the ground at first. You have to root your fingers around in the peat kind of deep and grab it tight so you can wrestle the whole thing out without breaking the good part off. The flavor was kind of like potato, which is another reason I thought of cattails. Olinka said there is another plant that looks like this one but isn’t good to eat. The mention of that plant made me think of Iris; because they look like cattails but are not edible.
Last night, Olinka made berry muffins and berry jam from the berries that the kids picked and gave it to them for their morning snack. [Yes, just like Kindergarten in your schools, our 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders get a morning snack.] I don’t know if all three varieties of berry were in the muffins, but they were good and the same goes for the jam. Inspired by Olinka’s selfless and tasty act, I separated my berries and put the Blueberries in pancake mix and made pancakes for supper. It was simple, yet just a little naughty. Not quite a masterpiece but, darn good.
I volunteered to be the Cross Country coach. I have 11 athletes which range from 6th Grade through 10th Grade. The girls greatly outnumber the boy 8 to 3, but the boys are way faster than the girls. My three boys are solid runners. They are long, lean, live right, and they love to run. I have three girls who like to run and they are fast. The rest of the team needed something to do so they joined Cross Country. I’m okay with joining because you are bored. They are getting some good exercise, learning about themselves, and they get to travel a little. If we win something, great! If we try our best and don’t quit; best! We do not get to travel this weekend but, we will be going to Goodnews Bay, on the coast, next weekend. The kids and I are really looking forward to the trip. I am told that Goodnews Bay is mountainous and beautiful. This will be especially nice because all I have seen for a solid month is tundra.
As you all know, I am fat and out of shape. So, I have been running with the team during practice. It feels good to get some exercise and burn some calories. When I look in the mirror now, my gut is in the same picture as the rest of my body. On the first day I hurt myself though. I was determined to beat this little girl during sprints and I felt my leg muscle tear. I babied it for a couple of days and I’m running on it again. I know, I know, stretch more because you’re getting older. I heard it all from the kids and the teachers and the villagers. That’s the trouble with being in a small town; everybody knows when you do something dumb.
We were without water again yesterday. It was only 24 hours this time but, it was the 4th time this month. I am really curious to see the machines that process our water to learn what the weak link is in the system. I signed my lease yesterday and for the price that I am paying for my apartment, I can’t complain. My rent is very cheap and since it is forced housing I can deduct it from my taxes. SWEET!!!
It is now September 1st and we are supposed to enjoy the long weekend. For me it means it to work on getting my reading program working properly and getting my writing program working period. So, that’s what I’m going to do. Good bye for now.
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