April Updates

The end of the school year is coming up fast here. For the past couple of weeks we have had kids and teachers out on trips all over the place. I took a student to Sitka for the AASG conference and we had to take ten flights to get there and back in four days. Sitka is beautiful, tons of trees and the water is very calm there- it was even in the 40s, so that was a good change from the coldness here. Here is a picture of me in Cold Bay, by the huge Coast Guard plane that has a butt that opens up. Next is one of me in Sitka on the bridge and then by the totem poles and then in front of the Pioneer home.

I have decided to stay another year in King Cove before heading back to grad school. This summer I will be a slimer for Peter Pan- the biggest cannery in the world and it is here. So I will have the big knife and stand in rain gear all day long chopping off fish heads. Hopefully the summer is nicer here then it has been so far. The next few weeks will be nuts, I have to run the lock-in and then we have swim trip, sports banquet, graduation and prom. After that I can sleep.

Puttin' On the Hits

The other night Bri, Megan, and I performed the Evolution of Dance at the school show. Basically its like a lip sync contest, but we dressed up and danced too. We spent about a week learning the dance and I think we look like idiots but at least we had fun. Here is a picture and a movie of it. The weather here has been horrendous. It has been blowing 60 and we have had whiteouts all this week. The heat at the school and at my house just can't compete with the wind- so it stays cool indoors no matter what. The kids are going around with jackets and gloves in the classroom and I can't blame them its cold in here. There are no kids in school really right now. The basketball teams did not make it to state but practically all of the boys went to see the state game so they are not here this whole week. I don't think we have had a week since October when all the kids have been in school, for instance my 6th period class has two kids this week and its kind of boring.

Sea Lions on the Rocks

Sorry I haven't written in a while there has been a lot of stuff going on. I took this picture of the sea lions on the rocks the other day. They gather there to get the fish that is off loaded on the Peter Pan docks. They bark at you if you get too close. I got a contract for next year- I am still considering whether or not to sign it.

Roo and Baby Eagles

Here is a baby eagle on the light pole outside of my house. He just sits there watching Roo and she just sits there watching him- a little creepy but it seems to keep them occupied.

I have started to notice that my dog Roo is attached to two things, the light pole outside of my house and the heater in the house, they are her best friends. Here is picture of Roo sitting in front of the heater. She will sit and stare at this for hours, rub up against it and then lay down by it and lick it. I think that she thinks its another dog which doesn't make much sense since we have another dog in the house and he looks nothing like this heater. It is a mystery.

Catch Up

Well, I went to Anchorage from December 26th to the 29th and it was an icy blast. I flew out on a cherokee, but we had to go up to the airport three times before we could get out and even then we landed in a blizzard in Cold Bay- the last plane to get in or out for the next four days. Here is a short video of my flight into Cold Bay- we could actually see it snowing out on the sea, very pretty.


When I got to Anchorage- after waiting in Cold Bay for 7 hours and then flying on the most death defying flight of my life I rented a Ford Focus (it was cheap) and then proceeded to feel like a hockey puck on the roads- they were frozen solid and the city of Anchorage does not put down gravel or salt on their roads- they just let them be icy. I spent a ton of money and got groceries and books, some needed things and actually ate out while I was there. I flew back to Cold Bay on Monday but then got stuck there with the crews of about 5 boats- over 45 guys and me in a tiny airport. The planes were not flying into King Cove so people were trying to get out by boats. I got to take the Bountiful- a 150 foot boat that was going cod fishing. On the Cold Bay dock you have to climb down the emergency ladder, jump onto the boat rail, and then jump down into the boat- all while it is raining ice, the waves are five feet tall and the boat is hitting the dock every 3 to 6 seconds and carrying luggage. I survived which was nice. The ride to King Cove took 2.5 hours and they fed me in the galley and then we all sat around and talked for the trip- it was relatively smooth for such a rough night. In King Cove they didn't put out a gangway so you had to climb the ladder on the boat and then stand on the railings of the boat and propel yourself onto the dock when the boat hits it- you have to jump onto that railing by holding onto a piling and then pull yourself up before the boat hits again. I did it on the first try, but I also had about 6 guys holding my arms. Here is a shot of the guys of the Bountiful on their boat as they are about to pull away.


After I got back I spent hours sleeping and then went to the bar for a birthday party- at emcee's you take a dollar and make your own sign- basically saying that you were there- the bar is covered with them- here is mine. After that I spent alot of time just sitting around- except for New Year's eve when I went to Annette's house and we had a party and finished off the night by drunk lighting fireworks and singing Aude Lang Syne. All in all break was nice- very long days of sleeping in and watching movies and getting myself ready to give finals.

Well, I know that it has been awhile but the weather here has made it hard to go out and take pictures. The snow melted and then came again, and then the road got frost heaves all over it so it was like driving in a mud rally to get to and from work. Then it froze again and now the snow has melted but the rain comes down making my car rattle from all of the pot holes. I did get some interesting shots though. This one is what my neighbor did with her car totally by accident the other day- the two hearts were not intentional. The next photo is of the icicles that formed over my door during a freezing period. The third photo shows how when the snow got too heavy it moved like a snow sheet down my roof and started curling into the doorway. I have to go and get more fuel today for my tank and will soon be heading to Anchorage for a break. Long live holiday break!

Thanksgiving and the Whiteout

Thanksgiving was different around here. I made the pepperoni bread and a cheesecake and we had the feast up at Martys. To get there you have to drive on this road that is more like a dirt pit covered with ice. There are so many divets that its like riding a crazy rollercoaster and keeping control of my car was super fun with the slipping and sliding. On Friday the wind was blowing, or as the locals say -"its blowing today". The wind was up to 100 mph and my toyostove was out of fuel so I had to get in the artic gear (fleece pants and shirt, two pairs of socks, a hoodie, snow pants, boots, parka, two hats, and gloves) and head out to fill up three five gallon gas tanks and then climb the ladder outside of my house and hold them one at a time above my head in the blizzard so that I could have heat. Here is a picture of me in snow gear with the wind blowing the snow all around.