OFFICIALLY AN ISLAND

A large storm blew in on Friday night, and the water level rose enough to flood some of the village. We woke up on Friday morning and went into the school only to find over a hundred families sleeping in the gym. Many from the village went to St. Michael, another village 12 miles away. School started late and we only had about fifty percent of the kids show up. Some families had water over waist deep in their homes. We went on a short ride Friday morning and the airport was completely covered--it actually looked like a lake.

Below is a "before" photo that shows Stebbins how it was before the storm:
Now, look at it after--It is surrounded by water. If you look closely you can just see the airstrip poking out of the water to the left. It is a true tribute to the bush pilots--planes landed her as usual on Friday. No runway. No problem.
Now--where is FEMA when you need them?

Not singing the blues....

The weather has been a lot like Seattle...a little on the unpredictable side. One minute it will be windy and rainy, the next the sun will be peaking out of the clouds. So, we have been staying busy with a bunch of different things. Nick and Damon are both learning how to play the guitar. There was only one small mishap when Damon broke one of the tuning knobs on his guitar. Not to be waylaid from becoming a rockstar, a guitar was quickly borrowed and the sweet music resumed.

I have been trying to learn how to knit, but the book I bought is beyond comprehension. Learning how to knit by looking at pictures is not an easy feat. I am starting a quilt, however, which I am very excited about. It is really fun because Heidi is also working on a quilt, and is helping me with mine. I am putting together a bunch of squares that my grandma embroidered, so hopefully this will be a masterpiece in honor of her!

Nick's other exciting hobby is growing out his beard. No really. You read it right. Did I ask him to pose while I took this picture. Unfortunately, no. He is actually combing his beard. The other day when he was combing it, a couple of lemmings fell out.

And yes, Betty Crocker, Martha Stewart--they really have nothing on me. I mean, who knew I could make jam. The next step: writing my own cookbook. All right, that is just not going to happen (namely because Nick will beat me to it), but we are having fun trying new things.

The Golden Tundra....and "The Face"

The tundra is turning gorgeous colors of red, yellow, and orange. The blueberries are definately finished--What was our first clue, you ask? Our hands turned purple from the blueberries bursting apart in our hands while trying desperately to shove the last few into our mouths. Surprisingly, even though everything is changing colors, the blackberries and cranberries still cover the ground. The weather has been rainy and WINDY--like so windy that driving anywhere means getting pelted not only with rain, but whatever else happens to be in the air (ie--lemmings, large muskrats, and small children).

Below is a picture of "The Face" which is carved into a rock on the beach. No one knows who carved the picture. It washed up on shore sometime last year. Our friends, Damon and Heidi were told by a kid that if you touch the face your "Anuk" will get hard (yes, my friends, hard poo is what you would have to look forward to).
Always the maverick, Nick not only had to touch the rock, but kissed it as well. All right, Nick didn't touch "The Face" wanting nothing to do with hard anuk any more than any one else. "I am not a rebel," Nick was heard to say, posing next to the picture. Anyway, the face is a pretty cool sight to see. I wonder who carved it.....I am thinking of a new writing project for my students....(lucky them)!!

One Track Mind

We have been spending most of this week on the four wheeler. The weather has suddenly taken a rainy turn, but Nick has insisted that we are running out of time to catch lemmings before the first frost. He has been madly riding around, setting traps, and mumbling incoherently about not letting Dr. Nason down. I have been trying to encourage him that he is a star regardless of the number of lemmings he catches. I can tell by the glazed look in his eyes that I am not getting through. We don't call him Captain Lemming for nothing.

Below are some of the pics we took on our many rides around the village. You can see Stebbins in the background of the picture below.
A lot of the these pictures end up looking the same, but it is so pretty, we can't resist posting just a few more....

We went blueberry picking again today. The tundra is turning beautiful shades of red and yellow. It is hard to believe that the blueberries are still everywhere on the tundra. We thought that they would be finished weeks ago. We are planning on making blueberry jam this week. The cranberries are also getting close to being ripe enough to pick. As you can see from the picture below, Nick was more busy eating the blueberries than picking them. Let the tongue stand alone as the evidence.


Actually, to be fair, he picked more than I did. It was pretty rainy, so our hands were numb, and we picked as many leaves as blueberries in the process. Afterward, we took a ride out to one of the cliffs. There was a dead walrus (the size of a small couch) that had washed up on shore. Very sad :(

On that note.......