...and then it will be time for vacation. We are all getting itchy, kids and staff alike. I am still trying to get some good stuff across to the kiddies, but it isn't getting any easier. We will just keep plugging.
Breakup sounds as if it is near, and there are reports of flooding upriver. It remains to be seen how the situation will eventually sort itself out around here. A lot of the ice seems to just be deteriorating in place. I would like to see the kind of spectacular breakup of which I have heard, but I am not an especial fan of ice dams and flooding, on the other hand.
There is no other real big news at the moment. We just have a lot of stuff to get done, and we just have to get it done. Nothing fancy.
Eight more days with students. Two work days for me after that. I hear it calling....
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Sound That I Hear Every Morning and Evening...
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Snipe/sounds
Misnomer...
The "short nap" turned out to be two hours...that is not my afternoon nap profile as a rule. It suggests the end-of-the-year tiredness may be more significant than I thought. My regular tendency is toward short, twenty-minute catnaps that are refreshing. This was more akin to a drugged state. Even an hour after I got up, I am feeling kind of groggy. We are approaching that time of year where it will be possible to get some real rest. I am starting to think seriously about what summer feels like...
The Luxury of a Quiet Sunday...
This is the first day in a number of them that we did not have to be somewhere or do something first thing in the morning. This is not to say that they have not been pleasant days. It is to say that it was a pleasant change this morning to luxuriate over a morning cup of coffee and know that I was on no particular schedule.
We have attended to some business. There were the Mother's day calls, and I got real energetic and put away the snowmachine for the season. I also brought over a bunch of totes (yep, totes!) from the storage building, and we have embarked on the task of filling them up with the contents of the house. We have a little less than two weeks before the school year is over, and the teachers will all have to move their belongings into the gym for summer storage. My understanding is that the piles will ultimately be moved into the new housing when it is ready.
The apartments seem to be coming along nicely. I am hoping to get one with a view of the mountains in the distance. They have two actual bedrooms in them, which means that we are going to be in a position to host visitors for the first time in the two years that I have been out here. We will likely be starting to put subtle pressure on a few people.
Breakup seems to be slow and steady this year. We got word that the river is breaking up around Kwethluk, which is about twenty-five miles upstream. The slough is mostly open, with the ice having sort of melted in place. No spectacular ice jams or anything. My guess is that the main river will be open in the next week or so.
It strikes me at this point in the day that the perfect thing to do now is to take a short nap, and I think that I will do just that.
We have attended to some business. There were the Mother's day calls, and I got real energetic and put away the snowmachine for the season. I also brought over a bunch of totes (yep, totes!) from the storage building, and we have embarked on the task of filling them up with the contents of the house. We have a little less than two weeks before the school year is over, and the teachers will all have to move their belongings into the gym for summer storage. My understanding is that the piles will ultimately be moved into the new housing when it is ready.
The apartments seem to be coming along nicely. I am hoping to get one with a view of the mountains in the distance. They have two actual bedrooms in them, which means that we are going to be in a position to host visitors for the first time in the two years that I have been out here. We will likely be starting to put subtle pressure on a few people.
Breakup seems to be slow and steady this year. We got word that the river is breaking up around Kwethluk, which is about twenty-five miles upstream. The slough is mostly open, with the ice having sort of melted in place. No spectacular ice jams or anything. My guess is that the main river will be open in the next week or so.
It strikes me at this point in the day that the perfect thing to do now is to take a short nap, and I think that I will do just that.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
The Year Winds Down...
A very busy time it has been. We managed to get back from Bethel a little early last Sunday, which was advantageous, as we had lesson plans to complete. Of course, our lesson plans are getting much simpler as time goes on, because a lot of what we are doing at this point in the year consists of catching up and completion.
Monday marked the beginning of prom preparation week, with a different set of projects nightly. There was a lot to do, but the crew was pretty reliable and worked together well. We actually got some of the more complex tasks done a lot earlier than we had been dreading. Of course, there were some last minute complications, but they seemed to be few and easily dealt with. It was tiring to be sure, but it got done, and that was the goal.
We also had some visitors this week, and despite the intense nature of the week's activity, it was great to have them here. Stephen Blanchett, one of the founding members of the group Pamyua, and Jack Dalton, an actor and storyteller, came to spend the week with the kids performing, telling stories, and even writing a song or two based on the work of a couple of our students. They performed one of the numbers live on Wednesday. It was funny, and it was sweet, and it brought me a smile and a tear at the same time. They visited with my class for four mornings, and we had a great time listening to stories, doing some acting warm-ups, and even a little Yup'ik dancing. Even me. We hope to see them back again, and I hope that they can figure out a way to put their little ditty into a recorded form somehow.
Prom was last night, and it was busy and hectic and tiring. The kids were cute and the girls were pretty and the boys were handsome and dressed in their ties and tuxes. My bride and I managed to get through it and still stay married. This morning there was a big mess in the gym that the kids came in and eliminated in a couple of hours. I spent the day at the office, because I apparently have time to make up (due to district inservices). I will spend the next two Saturdays there. When the last Saturday is over, so is my school year. Time grows very short-less than two weeks until the end. We will have some more adventures after the end of the year, but summer vacation is nigh.
And now, as the work week ends, I think that it is time for a cuddle and some sleep. This is going to feel nice....
Monday marked the beginning of prom preparation week, with a different set of projects nightly. There was a lot to do, but the crew was pretty reliable and worked together well. We actually got some of the more complex tasks done a lot earlier than we had been dreading. Of course, there were some last minute complications, but they seemed to be few and easily dealt with. It was tiring to be sure, but it got done, and that was the goal.
We also had some visitors this week, and despite the intense nature of the week's activity, it was great to have them here. Stephen Blanchett, one of the founding members of the group Pamyua, and Jack Dalton, an actor and storyteller, came to spend the week with the kids performing, telling stories, and even writing a song or two based on the work of a couple of our students. They performed one of the numbers live on Wednesday. It was funny, and it was sweet, and it brought me a smile and a tear at the same time. They visited with my class for four mornings, and we had a great time listening to stories, doing some acting warm-ups, and even a little Yup'ik dancing. Even me. We hope to see them back again, and I hope that they can figure out a way to put their little ditty into a recorded form somehow.
Prom was last night, and it was busy and hectic and tiring. The kids were cute and the girls were pretty and the boys were handsome and dressed in their ties and tuxes. My bride and I managed to get through it and still stay married. This morning there was a big mess in the gym that the kids came in and eliminated in a couple of hours. I spent the day at the office, because I apparently have time to make up (due to district inservices). I will spend the next two Saturdays there. When the last Saturday is over, so is my school year. Time grows very short-less than two weeks until the end. We will have some more adventures after the end of the year, but summer vacation is nigh.
And now, as the work week ends, I think that it is time for a cuddle and some sleep. This is going to feel nice....
Thursday, May 5, 2011
That Was Quick...
It is almost Friday, and the week has gone by quickly. We have been spending lots of hours getting ready for prom, and we have had some cool guests at the school this week. More details to follow once the craziness has slowed down a notch...
Monday, May 2, 2011
Hello...
It's been a while. Today is the first Monday that we have had to work with for some time. The kids are appropriately scattered-it was a beautiful Sunday, and the light stays ever later. We have visitors in the school, and there is some question and excitement about that as well. Stories will be told and danced in the next several days. I am going to try to get the kiddies to take a look at doing some poetry this afternoon, and we will see how that goes. I suspect that excitement and focus on studies will continue to battle for the next two weeks, with excitement winning more and more often as the end of the year draws closer.
We spent the weekend off in Anchorage, and it was a pleasant change from day-to-day reality. Now, we will deal with the reality of prom preparation, and visitors galore. It will be an interesting week...
We spent the weekend off in Anchorage, and it was a pleasant change from day-to-day reality. Now, we will deal with the reality of prom preparation, and visitors galore. It will be an interesting week...
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