The Time Just Gets Away...

It's already Wednesday, and I thought I was keeping on top of this thing. We had a couple of days without internet. We have our own network in the building, and we were generously (if I must brag on us) sharing with some visitors that we have had lately. Unfortunately, the high school teacher that was visiting from Fairbanks, apparently used to unlimited service, shared our password with his four students. Needless to say, we reached our limit before the end of the billing cycle. So, we shut off the wi-fi for a couple of days.

I am actually blogging at school, just killing a little time while my kids have some after-school free time on their computers. I can do this here as well, but I lost track of the days.

We are in the midst of more mandated testing, this time computer-based. It tends to work best with machines that are updated frequently. Ours are a little behind. For that, and other reasons, we had some issues with applications that crashed in the middle of a test. It got a little hectic there for a while. I will not miss juggling some of the tech issues.

In other news, the weather is warm again, and the slough had moving ice in it last night. That has come to a halt as of this morning. A check of the ice condition information available doesn't shed much light on the overall condition of the river. It is interesting that less than three weeks ago, I was able to drive my car on the river, albeit for the last time. The vehicle is now for sale...

Three weeks from today, my teaching career is done out here, at least for now. Both of us are excited about returning to friends and family, but we have friends and family here, too. I sense some reluctance, and I suspect that we have been a little lax about getting things organized for our departure. There is no avoidance, however, and we shall have to begin preparations in earnest. The big push will come this weekend...

Sunday Updates...

The baby got a trip to church and a walk, and is now napping. I got my lesson plans finished in my chilly classroom, and I am now sitting in the sunshine warming up. My father-in-law is packing for his epic overnight return voyage. My wife is making a cake for the vigil for our elder who has passed on. Just a spring Sunday. It's warm, and has been pretty consistently lately.

We found a hidden note that our wonderful babysitter had left for us in the junk drawer from back in March. She thanked us for our confidence in letting her watch Alice, and in opening our home to her. Very sweet, and it choked both of us up a little bit. We will miss her very much.

Rest and Recovery...

Yesterday was a day of much sleep and rest. Cultural week, with the dance festival every night, was exhausting. I didn't get home from work until 11 PM or so each night, and I walked in the last night at 11:57. I could barely keep my eyes open Friday afternoon while attempting to write lesson plans. My wife was busting it in the kitchen, working on a feast of staggering proportions for the community. All in a good effort. I thought the week went wonderfully, and that the event was enjoyed by all.

Yesterday was time to catch up on a number of fronts. I did laundry all day. I lost track of the number of loads. We usually wash twice a week. It did get done, and I just have a little bit to put away.

Speaking of Little Bit, as we call her, she did not want to go down for a nap for some reason yesterday. It took one trip to the play deck and the gym, and then a walk, before she finally fell asleep, at three in the afternoon. We obligingly joined her. There were sleeping bodies scattered around the house.

The long-term effect of this was that we ended up walking the same baby around the village at 11 PM last night. My wife went off to steam with one of the Matushkas (priest's wife), and I put Miss Bit to sleep after her bath at about midnight. Craziness. It is hard to get to bed when it is still light out.

We all slept soundly, and are preparing for a walk, and perhaps a visit to church, with my wife's dad. One of our village elders passed on last evening, and I suspect that we will visit the vigil at his house some time later. We need to do lesson plans, but they just seem like less of a priority today...

Pure Crazy Today...

We have had a couple of hours of time between the end of the official school day and the beginning of dancing in the evenings. Not today...there is a big community feast scheduled to begin at about 5 pm. The school day goes until 4:30. Figure set-up time, and there goes that bit of respite. Dancing has been going until about 11.  I suspect that it might be later tonight.

Having said that, this is a lot of fun. Lots of high spirits and fun, especially in the evenings. So far, I would call it a success. One more grind day, and we will be through to the weekend. I look around the room and see one or two sleepy faces. Who has more endurance, the old man, or the young kids? Stay tuned...

Hanging With The Ladies...

Today, I am in my wife's classroom again, only now some of the girls are in here. The boys had been here, getting set up for the photo part of their storytelling project, but they have departed for the great outdoors. Some girls have mover out of the adjacent classroom, because it was oppressively warm in there.

We are in the second day of the cultural week/district dance festival. Things seem to be running fairly smoothly, thanks to the effort of a lot of different people. We had dancing last night until 11 pm, and I judge it to have been a hit. More of the same tonight, with a different order among the groups. The weather is wonderful for wandering the village, and I know that my father-in-law has been taking Alice for walks in the afternoons. Although I am extremely tired by the end of the evening, this has been fun so far. Tomorrow will be the challenging day, as my experience suggests that kids begin to get a little ragged with their projects at about that point. Then again, it may be no problem at all.

A check of the calendar shows that our school and work year comes to an end four weeks from today. We both continue to react to the reality of our departure. I am just a little concerned that we may be avoiding some of the packing-related activities that we need to complete, because of our reluctance to acknowledge the end of our time out here, at least for now. We still have a lot to get done.

But now, we are enjoying this short burst of crazy for as long as it lasts, and I think that is the way that it should happen. A slow and pleasant farewell seems like an excellent idea...

Back To The Grind...

I am sitting with a fairly large group of 7th-12th grade boys in my wife's classroom. Jack Dalton, who helped us make a lovely little movie two years ago, is running a writing exercise about Yup'ik dance. I just went down to fetch a large cup of coffee when I realized that I was falling asleep in this chair. This session will last until 4:30, but my check of the evening's schedule revealed that we will be going until 10:30 tonight. I hope to get home for a couple of hours of rest and maybe a bite of dinner, and a kiss from the baby. The next three nights promise to be the same.

This would be an exercise in endurance in any case. The baby got the two of us up at 3:00 am, for reasons best known to her. So, I am definitely running on fumes here. Ergo, the coffee. It is not my usual beverage at 3:55 in the afternoon.

We have been invaded for the district dance festival, which will run through Thursday night. Things have run smoothly enough for the first day. It has consisted, in large part, of groups of students coming into our building in waves. I am helping in the carving room, in which groups of boys are making something out of antler and bone. The task has been relatively simple thus far, but the logistics will get more complex tomorrow with larger groups of boys to shepherd.

I will be interested to watch the performances tonight and on the following evenings.  And now, that the coffee is beginning to revive me, I might just make it. This might be fun...

A Perfect Sunday...And A Day Off!

Yesterday morning began late, and sleepy, at least for me. I was awakened by a smiling 13-month old, who is very happy to be walking. She loves to walk everywhere, and can get fussy in the stroller, even if we want her there for some reason or another.

My father-in-law spent the evening in Bethel, because we believed that we needed to fly him across the river. As it turns out, there were people taking trips back and forth from here on snow machines or four-wheelers. It appears that the ice has lifted, and that some of the water that had been previously present was not an issue, at least not on Saturday.

I think that it was likely for the best, as he got the chance to sleep off part of his jet lag instead of getting hauled off to midnight church services. We set it up for him to fly across on Sunday, on a chartered flight from one of the local air services. He got a chance to meet some friends of ours, and to take a stroll around the AC store and marvel at Bethel grocery prices.

We spent the Sunday taking a stroll around the village, and having a very nice Easter dinner. As a bonus, we had today off from school.

Because of this, the first thing that we did after breakfast was to take Alice to the school, so that she could play in the gym. She loves to walk around and kick a ball. We then took my father-in-law on a tour of the village store, and a walk down to the river. We also ran into Joe on the way, and he invited the two of us to steam tonight. Time to prepare the steam bag!

Pascha...

It is just after 2 am. We have taken some time to celebrate Pascha, the feast of Easter, with our neighbors. I suspect that I have described the church services before. I will probably look to see later in the day. The service makes a dramatic transition from the dimly lit and somber church before midnight. As Easter Sunday begins, the congregation leaves and makes a processional around the church three times. After a ceremony in the vestibule, we are re admitted to a brightly lit and decorated church, full of smiling, happy people in their best Easter outfits.

I could see my wife from a distance. She was in the vestibule with Alice. I was outside on the porch. I tend to let people in front of me. She was crying. One of my former students who now has her as a teacher in high school asked me if she was ok. I told the student that she was just kind of sad.

The evening was like that. Smiles and tears. I am not especially religious. But I enjoy our church here. I am sure that there are many reasons that I feel that way. Part of it has to be the sense of community that exists here. We have been taken into the bosom of this place. We have not stood separate from it, as too many Bush teachers have, and we have been told how much that is appreciated. If we find that no one loves us when we return to the Lower 48, we know that there is one place where we are loved. It makes this parting so much harder...

Springtime?

I always hesitate to use the word, especially in Northern climates. The latest accumulating snow that I remember seeing in my life would have come after the first of May. Spring is a season that flirts, and often disappoints, its worshippers.

Having said that, things are looking steadily in that direction here. It is a sunny day, and we have the windows open in my classroom. Things that can melt are doing so rapidly. Bethel Search and Rescue has strongly discouraged any traffic, whether auto or snowmachine, on the river. The superintendent of the district has forbidden river travel using distict vehicles. The Weather Service is issuing spring breakup forecasts. Soon, the peepers will be singing in the ponds. And there are lots of ponds around here.

My father-in-law is to fly in Saturday evening, and it looks as if he is not going to be able to make it here on the river. An evening flight with one of our local air services will be a necessity. The forecast temperatures for next week are in the 50s.

Easter is Sunday, and I have to imagine that we will begin to hear the calls of migrating waterfowl soon. This may be my last spring here, and I want to savor it while it lasts.

Little Bear

I have changed the picture to one from last Halloween. We traditionally dress up on that day. All of the teachers wear costumes. This year, my little family came as the Three Bears. A crowd-pleasing choice, to be sure. I get a kick out of the picture with Alice and me. I will have lots of memories like this sitting in photo files on my computers. It feels lovely...

Sleep Deprived...

Alice is definitely cutting more teeth, which leads to 4 am daddy calls...I love her, but there is not enough coffee in the world today...this could be a long afternoon.

We have a meeting of the district dance festival committee this afternoon. I am one of the two people apparently on said committee. Logistics remain to be worked out, and this is the day on which it must happen.

For now, I have a class full of giggly girls and silly boys. It is funny how quickly one can learn how to command their attention. Where will I use that skill in the future? I am not sure how transferable it is. I can, however, apparently turn students to stone with my gaze-that may come in handy with recalcitrant witnesses in the future.

(From Wednesday's perspective): We managed to make it through the day unscathed. I find that my students get a little better as the week progresses, as routines kick back into place. These kids are a pretty good bunch on the whole, and I find that I am usually satisfied with their behavior as a whole. This is not the same thing as suggesting that they are perfect. But they are pretty darn good...

Wednesday and Sunny...

A good day, so far, on the balance. All hands appear to have slept well last night, a fortunate thing with a teething child. She appears to be getting two more on the top side. She only has two on the bottom, and with these new ones, she will have six on the top. Kind of odd, but she is my kid, after all...

There is not much to report. This week is winding towards its conclusion. The weekend will be long (Monday holiday) and relatively relaxing. Next week, we have the festival, and I have a bunch of essays to read for our union's scholarship committee. Maybe I would be well advised to get a start on that THIS week...

Now For What Happened Today...

Spring is quickly coming upon us here in the Delta. The snow is mostly gone, except in shady spots here and there. There is still ice in the ponds, but it is receding fast. I drove my trusty 2003 Subaru Forester up to Bethel on the river ice road Friday afternoon. I would not have wanted to do that today.

It was a quiet and pleasant day, including lunch at our neighbor's across the hall, some quick lesson planning, and a walk with Alice. A couple of years ago, the village got an extension to its existing boardwalk system. There is now a very nice loop of approximately three miles that goes around the entire village. Because the light goes later daily, and because the weather has been getting nicer, we have been taking more walks with Alice. Alice has recently begun to walk some of the route herself. There is a straight section where it is easy to see oncoming traffic from a distance, and there are high rails that keep her from wandering into the muck. You can see the rails in question on the picture above, which was taken there a couple of years ago. It is the perfect place for a 13-month old with wandering footsteps.

I washed our snow pants this evening, so that they can be packed and shipped back to Michigan. I suspect that they will come in handy. Cadillac has some pretty badass winters itself, and the snow amounts can get to be pretty deep. Ironically enough, they had much colder weather in the whole than we did this year. I think you could convince a few Yup'ik Eskimos about the existence of climate change. Another good reason to keep our winter gear is that we plan to visit here in the future. And if this return to lawyerin' thing doesn't work out...

The baby is still cutting teeth, and not too happy about it, but I suspect that we will all get through it. Tomorrow starts another week. Next weekend, my father-in-law arrives, we get a three-day weekend, and the LKSD district dance festival will be upon us. More about that to come. But this week, it's just teaching and learning. We will see how much of each gets successfully done...

Time to Wrap Things Up

This monstrosity began as an assignment for my alternative certification program. It became a sort of obsession for a while, a place where I could explain and think at greater length than in a Facebook post. It was even a place to vent, although the warnings of friends and family convinced me to delete a few of my more caustic comments. It was even a place to tell the occasional long story, and a few people seemed to enjoy those.

As time went by, I don't know if I had less to say, or whether I figured I had already said what I was thinking before. Many experiences were later versions of the same thing that I had written about previously. And a lot of the things that were central to my daily experience were not things that I felt it proper to write about here.  The number of posts declined in response. By the time that the baby was born, I just had gotten out of the habit.

At this point, it is hard to know what to say anymore. We have the same events yearly. We have the same test-driven obsession that has apparently permeated education. More of our time is spent preparing for, administering, and "interpreting" bubble-based tests. Life outside of work centers on Alice, and time spent with her diminishes our time spent on school-related activities in the evening and on the weekends. There are social activities that we pass up because we don't have the time with a toddler, and there are ones to which we are simply not invited.

We have become kind of isolated on staff here. Our neighbors, and friends, across the hall decided that they needed a change of scenery and left at the end of last year for Bethel. We have seen them from time to time when we get up there, but they have not been able to make it down here, because of their schedule. Our new neighbor is great, but we do miss our friends. We have little dinners with our neighbor and our 5th grade teacher occasionally, but the rest of the staff seems to cluster in a group from which we are excluded. It's kind of childish and annoying, and I hate to give it a lot of thought.

But now, our lives are about to change dramatically. Some friends of mine own a law firm in Cadillac, MI, our old home town. They needed some help, and one thing led to another. I will be starting a new job around the first of June. I am going back to practicing law. I had not considered it, and was sure for a long time that I would never go back. I figured that I would retire from this job. Every year, I would grumble about renewing my lawyer license back in Michigan, and swear that this was the last year for that. I guess I was wrong...

My wife is going to take the next year, and stay home with our daughter. There is some loose talk about another child. She is going to finish working on her Master's degree in Special Education. This means some evening classes that will go on until nearly midnight in the Eastern Time Zone. But it will also mean that Alice can be a Shrimp for swim lessons at the YMCA, and that she can go to the library and go for bike rides in the trailer behind Mommy and Daddy. There will be a lot more activities available to her there. Having a child radically changed our outlook on things.

It took us literally weeks to make the decision. We agonized about it to the extent that we finally agreed to just stop talking about it for a week. After we decided, we hesitated before we told people at work and our students. We hesitated about turning in our resignations from the district. We waited to post it on Facebook. We thought about changing our minds afterward. It has just been a hard process.

But it is time now to quit temporizing. Six weeks from today, we will leave the Delta. Six weeks from tomorrow, we begin to construct our new lives in Cadillac. We have an apartment rented for the next year, which should give us time to make more permanent decisions about long-term housing. We will need furniture, which will keep us busy during that week of Memorial Day. Our car is apparently going to be driven from Alabama to Chicago, so we will be able to take it north after we arrive. Logistics will be a challenge, but they appear to be working out so far.

Until then, we are about the business of preparing to either ship or sell our possessions here. I predict a couple of yard-sale type events. We sold our snow machine yesterday, and we are working on getting the car sold. That may prove to be more challenging.

More on all of this to come. I have come back to this blog to begin to wrap it up. There had been something around 946 entries on it when I logged on to do this one. My plan is to get the number up to an even thousand and call it good. We have six weeks to go, and there will likely be one or two things to write about between now and then. We will see how it goes...