Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all you ghosts and goblins!

It's Monday morning and starting to warm up. Last night at 10:00 p.m. it was a chilly 6 degrees. This morning when the alarm went off at 7 a.m. it had warmed up to about 11. By the time I left for work, 7:30, it was already 13 degrees. I'm telling you, a Michigan 7 degrees is much colder than an Alaska 7! I'm not exactly sure what the difference is but it is warmer here!

Last week the Bering Straits School District (BSSD) held it's week long annual In-Service in Unalakleet. All 15 schools attended. We all stay in the classrooms at the school there. That is unless you have friends that you can stay with! Fortunately, Patty and I have friends! We flew home on Thursday and had a teacher workday Friday. It was a long week but lots of training, and of course, lots of memories!

Saturday morning Patty and I headed out on the Hondas. We went down to North Beach to check it out. We collected a bunch of tiny starfish. While we were there we were able to see some seals coming in to play around. Actually, they were probably looking for food. We got some video and photos, I'll try to post later. It was awesome!

Saturday night Patty and I hosted a Mexican dinner and movie night. We had planned to watch scary movies, however, we were treated to entertainment by Bret and JD instead. They had their guitars and played for hours. Our SPED buddy, Jodi, traveled over from Stebbins and stayed with us for the event. It was a great night! next week is Italian night!

Sunday we spent time working at school getting some paperwork done and catching up on some email! Tonight we have trick-or-treaters to satisfy. The teachers have created a Haunted Hallway between Chuck/Drew's and Jeannie's apartment. We are all going to hand out our treats there. That will hopefully keep the kids all in one place... hopefully!

Happy Halloween from the queen witch! 8)

Here's the update...

Back from Unalakleet and all is well. I'll post more after this weekend! Have a good one!

Saturday Patty and I headed out to do some tundra riding. We saw some awesome sights. I have to admit, I had the better viewing, as you will see.

This photo was taken from the beach down from the landing strip. The snow covered mountains are really a beautiful sight.




I really don't know what this is... perhaps coral or a sea urchin... I'm sure I'll find out soon enough!







This is one of the viewings I enjoyed much more than Patty did! We had crossed this "river" the night before and there wasn't any problem. Mark T. told us that it was pretty soft sometimes. The problem was all the silt laying in the sides. She managed to get out... without me having to join her! Well Patty has officially been in the Norton Sound!




Along the way we encountered this friendly little fox. He was a very brave soul. Patty sat on the ground to take some photos and he was not the least bit intimidated by her. It was really quite amazing. Notice that I stayed back a ways!

It was a good weekend in St. Michael! No snow, a bit of rain Sunday evening but all in all... good one!

Beluga Whale

On September 26th we had news reach the school that a beluga had been caught and was down on the beach. Many of us took our students down to watch this experience. It was like nothing I had ever seen.



Belugas are gray when they are young but turn white as they age. I am told the best meat is along the back. Muktuk, the blubber and skin, is a favorite treat for young and old alike. No, I have not tried muktuk yet... but I will eventually! The bearded guy standing to the left of the picture is Drew, our science teacher. Drew wants to be a Native when he grows up... a dog musher, whale slayer, etc. LOL


It really was a smelly affair!




The younger kids were so excited to be able to help. This is Dominick, his mom is my classroom aide.

Well it finally happened...

Snow has come to St. Michael. Now I realize there was some snow here before but I didn't get to experience it! Yesterday when we were getting out of school I noticed a certain chill in the air. I looked up and saw a few little white flakes heading my way. Can you believe it, I was excited to see the snow. You'd think I'd never seen it. About 7:30 p.m. I went out and videotaped the little bit that had fallen. It really started to come down about that time. It managed to snow enough to barely cover the ground.
This morning it is a mere 25 degrees out there. The Honda was a bit slow to start, but then again so was I!



Hope snow holds off for all of my Pickford friends/family at least another month or so! Love to you all!!!

More pictures from around the village.

Patty setting up her camera on the top of St. Michael volcano.

Yesterday afternoon it was really nice here. Heat wave of about 44 degrees or so. Patty and I decided to take advantage of the warmth and headed out on the Hondas. We went down by the canal. These are some baby sand pipers playing in the bay.

This is a picture of the tundra. It is mossy, spongy, and wet most of the time. It has a unique smell to it, or so I think. It kind of reminds me of eucalyptus. The blueberries, blackberries, salmonberries, and cranberries all grow right there on the tundra.

Patty and I at the top of St. Michael volcano. The sun was out and the snow had started melting. It really was a beautiful view.



The scenery around here is beautiful!

And the snow fell....

St. Michael Volcano

Yesterday was a beautiful day in St. Michael. (beautiful for October that is.) After putting in a hard day at school, Patty and I decided to take a ride. We grabbed the cameras, after checking for film, dvds, memory sticks, etc. and headed out. We've passed St. Michael volcano many times and wondered how to get to the top. We decided to find a way!

I am not sure how many different paths we followed but eventually we found one that led us fairly close to the top. We grabbed the cameras and started hiking. The mountain tops are covered in snow and the view is just beautiful! (I'll post some photos after we download them.)

We took a different path home. We did some major tundra riding. Tundra is real spongy ground. The "bumpy" part is where the grass grows in clumps. It kind of reminded me of driving over the hayfields, except the tundra doesn't have that nice headland to ride on. It had certainly started to cool off by the time we got home.

Once we were home, we had a whole new experience waiting for us... plumbing issues! Where are my plumbers, Jake and Randy, when I really need them???

Back to St. Michael... and the snow!

Patty and I flew back in to St. Michael last night about 5:00 p.m. Flying into the island, we could see the tundra covered with a nice crisp blanket of snow! We weren't too surprised but slightly disappointed. I wish we could have been here to experience that first snow, however, there are going to be many more snows in the days to come.

We had a good weekend in Unalakleet. The weather there was beautiful. Hard to believe 40 miles across the Bering Sea there was a snow storm going on.

Special Thanks to my SPED buddy Jodi for the photos. Patty and I were going to take some pictures when we got back... let's just say... it didn't happen the way we thought it would.

Pictures from St. Michael

This is our AC, the one and only grocery store on the island. A 12 pk of Mt. Dew is $10.88, 3 lb. tub of Country Crock cost $6.99, chips are on sale this week 2/$8... This is just a sample of prices, at least we are able to buy almost anything.



This is a picture of our high school. The larger end is the gym. It's pretty interesting. We are on the schedule for a new building. Plans have been made and the ground has been selected and it can't happen soon enough! The elementary school is located to the right of the high school. The two buildings are connected by a boardwalk.



This fancy little building is our gas station! Not much like the BP now is it??? Gas is about $3.50 a gallon. We don't think that is too bad at all. You can get gas Monday - Saturday... but only from 2p.m. to 4p.m.

I am setting up this blog as a way to communicate with family and friends in the Lower 48. I plan to keep it filled with our Alaskan adventures and photos. I have some photos of the village that I'd like to post. Hope it helps keep people posted.