I thought spring had arrived. The snow was melting more each day. There were large spots of open ground and we did not need gloves for several days. The kids in teacher housing were out in tee shirts and shorts and tall rubber boots punching big holes in the snow to find little rivers below. People were sitting on porches taking in the sun. It was wonderful. But now the snow has come again – although after a cold night and a couple of inches of snow it is now melting again. Oh, spring!

We are now having daylight starting around 8am and going till 11pm at night. The days will get even longer. It seems like yesterday we couldn’t wake up because it was dark till late morning and now we are having trouble going to bed in broad daylight. In the photo it is 10:45pm.
Not much to say of importance – I am ready to get outta Dodge! I want to see some green grass and trees. We have very little of our pre-purchased food left. Tom had to pay $5.49 for a box of 18 eggs this week, and I think the pound of margarine was $2.49. We are so fortunate to be able to use the commissary in Anchorage. It is much cheaper to purchase our groceries in bulk and then mail them here at $11.00 for a 70 pound box than to purchase them on the economy here. We will be eating a lot of rice, cereal and tuna the next 21 days. In the photo one of the Cup'ik men has ptarmigan and seal meat drying outside his house. Once it is dried - they just eat it,


Summer is shaping up nicely. We fly into Anchorage and have doctor appointments that first several days. We will also buy a trailer – hopefully a short lightweight cheap one. However, things never work out for us like that, we are not deal makers. At least we will have time to look around for a couple of weeks. We still have our tent and that will be fun. Then our friends Terry and Dee get here. We are looking forward to camping with them at Denali and then traveling around the Kenai Peninsula. We will have a few days to ourselves before our friend Mary arrives from Georgia. The first part of her visit with us will be spent in the Pribilof Islands looking at birds and northern fur seals. Then we will do the Kenai Peninsula and drive up to Denali. The day Mary leaves, our son Charlie will arrive – in fact he may fly up on the plane that Mary flies back on. I’m hoping Charlie will stay with us for a whole month. He will travel North with us to Denali, Fairbanks and we may end up taking a tour to Prudoe Bay. Then back down to Glenallen and then McCarthy to see our good friend Carmen. On the 24th we catch the ferry at Homer and travel out to Unalaska and back. That will be seven days on the ferry. We will have most of the day at Dutch Harbor to look around but then come right back on the boat. Elizabeth is planning to come the day that we arrive back in Anchorage. If Charlie is not sick of us, I hope he will stay a few days more and fly back with her. Then we will commissary shop and pack and mail food back to Chevak for the fall. It is going to be a really busy summer. We will be dead tired and pretty much broke but we will have seen some of Alaska. The plan is to see the southeastern part of Alaska next summer on the way home. Hope everything works out.

Hardly anyone is left at school – last week on one day we had 24 staff members out. Twenty four. Met our new superintendent on Thursday – from Bismark North Dakota. We have around 15+ teachers leaving so the school will be a different place next year.

It is a very sad day today.Yesterday afternoon, Bonnie went to let out the Great Danes since their owner Kim was out of town. She let the dogs out, and a minute later Bomber fell over dead. Seth's kids were out there and saw him fall. Then of course the info spread quickly and all the men, Tom, Seth, Stewart and others were there trying to revive the dog. Someone even tried mouth to mouth respiration. Tom tried to see if the dog had choked on something, someone else tried - well you get the picture. Kim is a single girl, just graduated from college and this is her first job and she loved those dogs like they were her kids. Bomber was a 3 year old Great Dane and probably the biggest dog I have ever seen. He was a therapeutic dog and she used him working with her special education kids. He was even spotlighted in our school Christmas program. So - he was like beloved by staff and students alike. Well, I would say Bomber was the King Dog around here. Eveytime she brought him out, people just stopped what they were doing to watch him and pet him and talk to him. He was really special. Tom was pretty down about it last night - it was just so unexpected. Kim flew back in this morning to pick up the dog's body and take it to Anchorage to have it (dog) autopsied and then he will be cremated. She is devastated - so sad. Everyone is helping with the plane arrangements (they are shipping a corpse) and building the box to carry and tending to Kim. Well, I suppose you are thinking why is Ann going on about this dog's sudden death. It is because we are all so far away from home and friends and family. The group here - no matter if we are different ages or if our personalities are compatible or not - is close and we care about each other like family. And the dogs are so very special - because when we get a little out of shape about other "stuff" going on - well those adorable animals will take our minds off of all other problems so quickly. It's like we all lost our dog, and it's like a family member lost their beloved pet.

Celebrating Cultural Heritage at Chevak!

Stan Atchak takes a class for a hike. He does this every thirty minutes most of the day during cultural heritage week. They walk out on the tundra and have a nice little hike.

These boys are carving ivory. They made these little heart shapes. Vernon came over from Hooper Bay, I believe, to work with them.

One of the Cup'ik ladies is showing the girls how to make baskets.

We are involved in cultural heritage week here in Chevak. It is sort of like field day without the warm sunny weather. Our cultural heritage week started off with the blanket toss. The blanket is actually a big skin - forgot to find out what kind. The children had to have permission slips since this blanket toss thing is pretty dangerous. Only one sweet little kindergarten girl hit the ground - I mean hit the ground. There's so much sloshy snow she wasn't injured though. It was scary there for a mintue. Later during the day we had Elders and other folks from surrounding villages come in and have classes and cultural activities with the children. It is great fun and lasts for three days - so I figure this is Field Day Eskimo style. Only four more weeks of school!!! I snowed again today - and was the most beautiful snow we have had so far - huge flakes floating softly through the air.

Carmen's husband took Tom up in his plane. I mean what could he say - No thank you! So he went. They flew southwest towards the sea and then followed the shoreline up to Hooper Bay and then flew back the Chevak. Took them maybe 30 minutes at most. I made John a little iMovie of the plane taking off and landing and put the music of Top Gun to the soundtrack. He was impressed. He left on Wednesday. We hated to see him leave since Tom so enjoyed talking to someone who wasn't interested in education and was his age. It was quite exciting to have him here and we just kept looking out at the plane every minute we could to make sure it was still there and okay. The kids all thought the police had come. John also worked on our snow machine - twice. First time cause it just wouldn't start. And then the second time was because once he got it started Tom took it for a spin and then crashed. He came upon some ice, he went one way and the machine went the other out on the lake. I guess about 20 people came to his rescue and another 150 saw the accident - including all the teachers in the front row of the housing.They up righted it and he drove it back home where John had to stop working on Carmen's machine to help Tom again. This time it was serious business - by the time I knew what had happened and was coming out to see the damage, John was stitching up the front with a drill and some wire. We are going to miss him. Tom's okay. We're selling that thing.....

They took the dog on the plane ride with them so she could get used to flying. Then John took her back with him on the plane, not tied or anything. He will just land when she needs to go potty. He can land anywhere. Amazing. In the photo Tom and Roxie are seeing John off as his plane flies away.

I finished writing my grant and submitted it on Friday. Today was the deadline. I keep expecting a call any minute from someone telling me how wonderful the grant is and how it is so good they won't even wait until August to give the me the money - I can just go ahead and have it.

Testing this week - it will be quiet in the media center.
It is snowing.