Springing Forward...

In the next hour or so, cutting a precious hour from our weekend. Daylight saving time is clearly an invention of the bosses, trying to cut down on that "non-productive" time that makes life bearable for the rest of us...just kiddin'.

We had a busy day yesterday, running errands to Bethel to pick up pop for Student Council (the seniors sold it all at the basketball games), and supplies for my lovely bride's cooking class. It was a nice day for a ride on the little machine, although a tad on the cold side. One of the reasons why winter is so much more bearable out here is the fact that we have so many glorious, sunny days as it goes on. This is especially true when it is cold, as the air tends to be dry on those days. We are gaining daylight at nearly six minutes per day, which makes the fact even more noticeable now.

My seniors put on a movie matinee, and managed to pick up a few bucks in a short time, and also give my boss's wife a chance to park their youngster and pick up an hour or so of sleep to help her with her bronchitis. My lovely is laboring under a cold herself, and was feeling noticeably worse at every stop yesterday, so I took her back here, sent her in with our box of groceries, and dispatched her off to nap land while I hauled cases of pop into the school. Lest I be thought of as too heroic, she has kept me in the game for the first two often difficult years of this endeavor, and took very conscientious care of me during my bout with pneumonia. Turnabout is clearly fair play in this instance. She showed up at school a short while after our movie ended, feeling better, and ready to do a little exercise. She is in training for sleeveless blouse season, which means lots of weight lifting.

I am back on fish feeding detail, while Sara heads off to Kotlik for her grandma's funeral. I hope that all is as well as it can be under the circumstances, and will keep the little salmon healthy until her return. Of course, her kids will do the honors during the day.

We will be giving our kids some preliminary testing in advance of the dreaded SBAs this week. We spent a chunk of our Friday meeting devising tests in a program called Skills Alaska that we hope will measure some of their necessary skills, and determine what we need to supplement them with as Test Week approaches. We will give these to them this week, and will hope to learn some useful information.

The third quarter ends this week, and there are only nine weeks to go from this Thursday. Signs of spring and summer are approaching quickly, and Lent is in the beginning of its second week under the Orthodox calendar. The new teacher housing is moving along, with roofs and windows appearing. It would be great if we were able to move our stores in at the end of the school year. Otherwise, August will be very busy when we return. I will get some updated photos here in the next day or so.

All is well, and it is time to get back to sleep and enjoy some pleasant dreams of sunshine and warm days to come...

Here We Are...

Midweek, and cruising along towards Friday...the day went fast, the week is going fast, and the weather is bright and sunny. Next week, it will be light even later...spring may not be here, but you can sure hear it tiptoe-ing around, if you listen.

I am still trying to get my head around some Delphic pronouncements from my keepers at AKT2. If any of them can shed any light on the most recent, it would be more than welcome. Otherwise, I will stay confused for a while.

A family member of another friend has died, and it is very sad. My partner in junior high crime should be back tomorrow from her leave. Too much of that kind of thing recently. Maybe it makes me feel vulnerable somehow. I am not sure...

Midweek is Coming...

I told one of my kids yesterday that the school year is over ten weeks from Thursday, and she nearly screamed in delight. Who says that today's kids are jaded and have seen it all?

This week seems to be going by very quickly, too. The quarter will be finished next week, and we will be in the home stretch. Of course, there will be testing and culture week, and Camai festival, and lots to do between now and then. There is even a little more school for me after the end of our term. But I know that summer is coming, and there is a white and black bike sitting in a basement in Cadillac, Michigan, waiting for me to come and ride it. And, I know that I have signed my contract to come back and do this all over again next year. The new housing should be ready by that time, and I will have a new batch of seventh graders, and my eighth graders will be off in high school.

Ah, the turning of the seasons. It seems to have taken place so much more quickly this year.

A Beautiful Day...

Truly gorgeous...sunny and clear. So we decided to go for a ride, and took the back way to Bethel, through Oscarville. It was a great day for it, and it was a nice change of pace. We both agreed that this is something that needs to happen more often. It is important to get away from the cloistered confinement of school and realize that there is an alternative universe.

In Bethel, we stopped to do some grocery shopping. Many broken eggs occurred on the way home, which made for some delicious doggie treats later. We hit the church, where they were commemorating the beginning of Lent. The theme of the sermon and the blessing was forgiveness, with the priests asking our forgiveness as we were blessed. There is nothing wrong with admitting one's faults from time to time.

Now it is Monday, and we are back at it, for a full official week. Only four to go until the big testing regimen, the SBAs. We have cultural week the following week, and there will be only a month to go after that. We will be into the 4th quarter of the school year next week, and Daylight Saving time comes into effect next Sunday. The year is moving by...

It's Been Kinda Busy, For Vacation...

We have been off for a couple of days, but it is also district basketball time, which means that it is crazy. Three trips back and forth to Bethel, not counting the two that my bride will take ferrying players back and forth (it's a high school thing). Hanging out for hours at the Bethel Regional High School gym. Watching more basketball than I do for the rest of the year.

We started with two games on Thursday. There had been some confusion about the boys' first round game, because we were having a funeral for an elder that afternoon. His family called our coach and told him that they wanted the boys to be able to play at their scheduled 8:45 a.m. starting time, so that they did not forfeit their first round game. As it turned out, alternate arrangements were made, and they played in the evening instead. Our boys and girls played back-to-back games. The boys won, and the girls unfortunately lost. Round one was over, and we were back down the river to PKA.

I also picked up a fish-sitting job. One of our teachers is raising salmon in a science project with her third-graders. She needed to go out of town suddenly, and I volunteered to feed the little guys. I am trying to average four times a day. It is a little more involved than just sprinkling some goldfish food in a tank. The process takes about twenty minutes at a time. No problem.

On Friday, we had the girls' game in the loser's bracket. We also had a batch of uniforms that we had taken back to school and washed Thursday night. After the girls lost their second game, I headed over to the local DMV office to get my official Alaska driver's license and voter registration. I got back in time to watch a little bit of some other ball games before the boys played.

It was a tough game. Our guys looked physically like high school kids. The other team were built more like college guys. The kids from Napaskiak kept it close for three periods, but it was not to be this year. Last year, as readers may know if they have been around for a while, our Hawks won the Alaska State 1A championship, the first ever from our district. That was a great run, but we also lost two great and experienced players to graduation. I am not sure that I would call this a rebuilding year, but it was definitely a year of transition. It is nice to know that we have some young talent on the way that should be fun to watch in the future.

Anyway, our guys lost,which put them into the game for third place in the conference, which took place today. It was another nail-biter, but our guys pulled it out with a spurt in the third quarter to come from behind. Not a bad effort overall. Of course, after three years as conference champions, it is a bit of a letdown. But our kids are great, and it is just nice to watch the way that they perform and the way that they conduct themselves on and off the court. I think that a nice standard is being set for the way in which our athletes behave, which is very important in a small place like this, and I hope that it will continue in the future.

We had good light today for driving, and I enjoyed taking the helm of the snowmachine. I cannot seem to get my glasses to keep from fogging, so until I get prescription lenses for my snow goggles, I am at a definite disadvantage unless the weather is clear and bright. My distance prescription is not especially strong, so I can safely operate, but I find it hard to make out details on gray days, and usually leave the driving to the younger crowd. At night, my vision is even more of a hindrance. I have considered contact lenses, but do not really like getting anything around my eyes, let alone in them. I think that the goggles with some adjustment is the preferable alternative.

After we returned home, we went over to the school for an evening of finishing lesson plans and grading and sorting papers. This was to the accompaniment of the boys' and girls' championship games over the district closed-circuit feed. I capped the evening with a ruthless purge of the top of my very funky desk. I dream that someday I will have a desk big enough to actually accommodate my needs. Until then, I will have to be more careful to avoid clutter on the one that I have. I did my brief workout at nearly 11 p.m., and came home.

Tomorrow will be a little bit busy. We may try to get out for a ride on the tundra. Lesson planning is nearly done, and I will try to finish off my prep for the week while my bride is off to Bethel. We are going to attempt to take Sunday as an actual day of rest and enjoyment. I hope that we succeed.

So This Is What It Will Look Like...

So, this will be the new teacher housing for next year. The builders now have the trusses and stringers set for the roof on the left-hand building in the photo. The right side will be next. For some odd reason, I had to go back over to Internet Explorer to update and upload these pictures. Not sure why it was an issue with Chrome, but there ya have it. The new housing looks exciting already. More to follow...

A Solemn Day...

The father of my teaching partner in the junior high passed away yesterday. He had suffered from a number of health challenges in the recent years, as I understand it. All events were cancelled. I was at the school doing some late catch-up work (there is a ton after I was sick for most of two weeks), and a work out, and the place was absolutely silent and deserted. The same silence prevailed in the village last night. I stepped out at one point with my dog, and was struck by how quiet it was.

We are waiting to see when the funeral will be. The boys and girls are scheduled to play in the district tournament on Thursday, but there is a good chance that the funeral will take place then. The main complication will come with the boys' game, which is scheduled to take place at 8:45 in the morning. If the funeral takes place, it will be in the afternoon. The business of sport will then have to take a back seat to the realities of life. The girls do not play until the last game of the evening on Thursday. My understanding is that there are conversations under way about moving the boys to the penultimate game on the same day. We shall simply have to wait. I am sure that the boys are feeling especially nervous under the circumstances, but the priorities of the village must take priority.

We will likely be taking a cake over to the house where the funeral vigil is taking place later today. The local people will keep the body of the elder company until he is laid to rest. That vigil will last day and night until the funeral. I imagine that the church will be crowded, as this man had lots of relatives here.

There will be other news later, but for now the village of Napaskiak sleeps quietly, bereaved by the passing of an elder.