The Bender family with the village of Chevak in the background.



Sunset in Chevak.

Our children flew out this morning. Elizabeth called from Anchorage to say how much they liked the Dimond Hotel. I chose it because it is literal in the middle of a huge shopping and entertainment area. Since the truck can no longer travel on the snow and ice safely, they had to go out to the airport on the snow machine pulling a trailer. Charlie sat down in the sled and Liz rode behind Leo on the snow machine. It was pretty cold but they bundled up. I watched the plane take off in the dark (10:45 am) and hoped there was heat on board.

A teacher friend took Charlie out on the snow machine and I think Charlie had a pretty good time. He was able to get away from the village area and really see nothingness for miles and miles. They also went down to the fish camps - which of course are frozen solid right now.

I just hope they had a good time. It was expensive getting them up here and three days is usually about all the togetherness we as a family can take.


Charlie took this one way out in the tundra. I like it.


You can see a couple of the drying racks for the fish. The river of course is frozen.




That is Charlie sitting in the back.


The use this trailer to haul people back and forth and to deliver boxes to folks.


Elizabeth was the lucky one.

We attended the Eskimo Dancing last night. Finally the weather was good enough so people could get outside. Still it was very cold. Tom first drove over with Liz, and Charlie and I started out walking. I would say the distance is maybe three football fields - however, the temperature was extremely low. One gets cold quickly. So Tom came back to pick up Charlie and then returned to get me - maybe halfway there. It was so cold.

So much attention - the Chevak kids kept coming up wanting to compare our looks with Elizabeth and Charlie - comparing eyes and chins and noses. Everyone wanted to know how old they were and their names. It was a lot of fun introducing them to all the folks. Many were amazed that they spent their Christmas up here. Right now Tom has taken Liz for a trip to the dump and the store and some other places - like a tourist view of the village. Today I am posting a few photos we have taken this week. The first few are of the Eskimo Dancing last night.


The first part of the evening the kids dance by grade level. The males use feathers in their fans and the females use fur.



Drumming is serious business. That is John Pingayak in the center - he is well known throughout Alaska for his knowledge of Cupi'k native culture. The older man on the other side of him is David Boyscout - one of our village elders.



Virgil is a great kid and a great reader!



This child was just too beautiful - her headdress is a real heirloom.



This last photo is interesting - the one girl has on high tech reflective boots while the other has on hand made boots - of seal skin, fur, etc.




Here are the Benders - relaxing.


Charlie took this just outside the village. Pretty lonely looking.


Another view of the tundra.


The way the wind blows the snow makes for some interesting architecture.

Tom has Charlie shoveling snow so we can get off the porch. I am not sure the kids will ever come up here again. The weather has just been so windy and that makes the cold even colder. It is just too bad to even go outside. Of course we do, we went to school yesterday and they were both certainly impressed with the school facilities and especially all of the computers in the library.

The Eskimo Dancing celebration has been canceled twice now due to the blowing snow and cold temperatures. I do hope it transpires before the children leave - I will be so disappointed if they don't get to witness this event first hand.

This photo shows how working in a small kitchen with three dogs running around can be difficult.


Charlie and Elizabeth are trudging to school during a clearing of weather that lasted about an hour.


Here's Charlie returning later - you can barely see him.

We've been watching lots of movies and playing with the dogs.

After four separate flights and 24 hours - Charlie and Elizabeth arrived in Chevak. They were almost speechless - but glad to see us. We sat and talked and made pizza and Tom and Charlie watched a movie. Liz and I sat side by side at my desk using our individual computers - had a great time comparing notes about our libaries.

They just missed going with the fisherman teachers to check some nets - arranged time was 2pm and they did not arrive till later. You can't just wait for a plane to arrive around here - you might be waiting hours - so they had to go. However, there is another trip planned for Saturday and I am hoping the kids can go. It will be very cold - we are getting lots and lots of snow.

Charlie looks great with his haircut and shave. Liz is even smaller than she was this summer. Both seem healthy and happy.

Here are a few photos...
The Digital Comets had a great time decorating the gingerbread cookies.

This is Destiny, who has vision issues - but she did a great job with her cookies.

If you look carefully you will be able to count three dogs - not counting ole' Tom.

Here are Liz and Charles when they arrived. Their first words were "I want to go home." and "What are ya'll doing here?" They will both love this place by the end of the week.

Roxie and Blondie are extremely jealous of each other although great friends. Anyway, You can't pet one without the other demanding attention also.

Charlie and Tom took a ride on the 4-wheeler to the grocery store a little later.

We enjoyed seeing some small trees in Bethel when we were there for weather hold for two nights.


Lots of Ravens in the parking lot at Home Depot - on every mound of snow.


My Digital Comet graduates in their sweatshirts.


We always had refreshments - like tootsie-roll pops!

We are staying at the WhiteHouse in Bethel Alaska. We flew back to Chevak yesterday afternoon from Bethel but the weather was pretty bad - well foggy, and the power was off in Chevak so there were no lights at the airport to guide the pilot. We flew in a couple of different ways - but in the end flew back to Bethel because we could not land. Very disappointing for several reasons - the first of which is the cost of staying overnight in Bethel. We stayed at the LongHouse once before when we were weathered in. It was okay - well for Bethel it was okay, but it was $179 a night. When we got back to Chevak and I told a friend where we ended up staying, she said, "Oh no, you want to stay at the WhiteHouse. It's cozy, there's a fire and you can make tea. And it is not that much more." So this time we called the WhiteHouse and got a room. Well, it is really, really nice. Cozy, there's a fire and we can make tea. We are also the only ones staying here, so we have this four bedroom, two story bed and breakfast to ourselves. It is a log cabin, beautifully furnished in Alaskan decor. I have never slept in a more luxuriant, warm, cozy bed. A man comes in periodically to poke the fire and the owner came by last night to catch up on life in Chevak - where he was stationed with the BIA in the late 70's. He knows everyone in Chevak. He actually pulled all the logs for this log cabin (two story log house rather) from about 500 miles away and built it himself years ago. The kids grew up and moved away and it was too big for just him - hence the bed and breakfast. We are actually on the river - fishermen must come in season. We have not gotten the bill yet - but I know that if ever I am stranded in Bethel again, this is where I will stay. In fact, this is the kind of place I dream about when I think (dream) that I might like to stay in Alaska. Then I start thinking of the extra work involved in home ownership up here and quickly wake up from my dream. The fire poker has been working outside most of the morning, shoveling snow, moving firewood, and more. Hopefully we will get back to Chevak this afternoon.

We were in Anchorage for my surgery! Making a long story short, I had to have my gall bladder removed. We had flown in to
Anchorage in November to get it done, and about ten minutes before they were to roll me into the surgery, the anetheseist came in and said sorry, no surgery today, that my EKG was definitive for problems. I spent the rest of the week at the Alaska Heart Institute getting tests. Bottom line, I am fine. I have two blood pressure medications now and this past Tuesday got the gall bladder removed. So everything is cool. May I just state that I am taking this blood pressure thing seriously now. The doc told me that if my blood pressure averaged 20 points above normal that I had a 50% higher chance of a heart attack. Ouch!

My Digital Comets had a very successful run. We had about ten Monday afternoon meetings - and there were six kids who attended regularly. I will post photos of them tomorrow I hope - I do not have my camera cable with me to download them. We enjoyed doing a lot of fun projects. The digital storytelling project was a bit over ambitious - so we backed off and explored other projects such as logo designing, stitching together landscape photos, learning all about the operation of the digital camera, some trick photography, making illustrated timelines and learning to use Photoshop Elements. Lots of fun.

Photos coming, promise.