Sunrise this Morning

Well it's finally above zero here and the winds haven't been so bad.  I'm actually kind of hot.  Anyways, I got to see the sunrise this morning when I went out on a walk chasing Ruffian.

Yesterday there was a ground blizzard so there were huge drifts of snow in the road and every where.  It made driving pretty interesting.

Bigfoot

According to an anonymous submission to the Delta Discovery, there have been several Bigfoot sightings near Chevak (which, by the way, is about 15 miles away from Hooper Bay).

You can read the article here:  Bigfoot in the Delta

"What about the satellites in space? Is there snow in outer space?"

Many of you might have been subject to my ranting about how the phones etc haven't been working because of the sun.  I know it sounds like I'm making it up, but I swear I'm not and as proof this is part of an email I received today:

"We are at that time of year again!

During the noon hour there may be a loss of satellite service caused by the angle of the sun interfering with the satellite signals.
This only lasts a for a few weeks but it may effect phones, tv, internet, e-live and audio conference courses."


Just another normal day.  Of course there is other things that affect satellite reception.  Calling Hooper Bay or anywhere long distance gets a little dodgy if either one of us is experiencing 60 mph gusts of wind.

(The quote in the title is from "Groundhog Day" when an operator explains to Bill Murray's character that long distance phone calls can't go through because of the snow storm.)

Gone mushing

Qaspeq

I made my own qaspeq at the new fabric store here. I had bought fabric when I was in Connecticut and washed and dried it on hot so it would shrink. My stitches aren't all straight and technically I still have to handsew the seems in the cuffs, but I'm pretty proud of myself! This is the first wearable thing I've sewn since the pajama pants I made in 8th grade.

The sun has mittens Today

While walking to the school we saw a rainbow ring around the sun. At first we thought it was just on the sides, but in the picture it looks like it goes all the way around. Steven and Christine Stone told us that when it's on the side, it's said that the sun "has mittens", and Christine told me that today that the sun has a "raelic" (sp? don't have a red book handy) or a ruff. There are traditional stories that explain the "mittens", and weather wise it means that it's going to be REALLY COLD. Makes sense if even the sun has her mittens on and ruff up!

Fashion in Alaska

Saw this on KNOM's (Nome's public radio station) page this morning:  A Cheechako's Guide to Looking Cool   (reminds me of a sign in Talkeetna:  "re-defining sexiness in the most bundled up state").


A Cheechako is a person who is new to Alaska.  The opposite of a Cheechako is a Sourdough.  I haven't heard those terms used around this part of the state, but elsewhere they seem to be well used.

Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart

From our neighbors to the east, eh.

The Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart

50° Fahrenheit (10° C)
· Californians shiver uncontrollably.
· Canadians plant gardens.

35° Fahrenheit (1.6° C)
· Italian Cars won't start
· Canadians drive with the windows down

32° Fahrenheit (0° C)
· American water freezes
· Canadian water gets thicker.

0° Fahrenheit (-17.9° C)
· New York City landlords finally turn on the heat.
· Canadians have the last cookout of the season.

-60° Fahrenheit (-51° C)
· Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
· Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door.

-109.9° Fahrenheit (-78.5° C)
· Carbon dioxide freezes makes dry ice.
· Canadians pull down their earflaps.

-173° Fahrenheit (-114° C)
· Ethyl alcohol freezes.
· Canadians get frustrated when they can't thaw the keg

-459.67° Fahrenheit (-273.15° C)
· Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops.
· Canadians start saying "cold, eh?"

-500° Fahrenheit (-295° C)
· Hell freezes over.
· The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup

Born to Run?

I guess my life wasn't interesting enough, so I signed up for this:  Running of the Reindeer

View from across the airport

It is freezing today, about -41 with the windchill, but it is gorgeous. We've been blessed with many gorgeous days.

The instructors plan was on a mechanical delay for a couple o hours but she should be here any minute! Just in time for the workshop!

Windchill Advisory

I'll give you a hint: that's not mascara! Gotta love it when mucous membranes and your eyes start to freeze.

Happy Valentine's Day

-30 here with windchill.  The JV's and I scored two avocados and a gallon of milk so we are feasting tonight!  Prepping for workshops tomorrow and then this weekend in Hooper!

Just a picture from this afternoon. It's gorgeous out!

Delta Robot Rumble

There is a robot competition going on in the Cultural Center today! Teams from all over the delta are competing.

Upcoming Workshop

Guess who is going to be in Hooper Bay again?  The Native Arts Coordinator from the Alaska State Council on the Arts and I are headed to Hooper Bay in a week to present a workshop on "Building an Arts and Crafts Business" to some people there.  I am so excited!  This is one of the workshops that people asked to have when we went there.  I got word last night that it was being broadcasted on Chevak's radio station too! 

The Partners in Growth program is the program that I work for.  Here is what Reyne wrote about it:


"The Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center has a new program to help artists and rural communities build successful art businesses. The Partners in Growth program will be offering a series of professional development workshops for artists."

Some random facts

...about the Ted Stevens/ANC airport (from their website).  You can thank me when you win Trivial Pursuit or something :)

• Less than 9.5 hours from 90% of the industrial world.
• #2 in the US for landed weight of cargo aircraft. (Memphis, TN is #1)
• #4 in the world for cargo throughput (#1 Hong Kong, #2 Memphis, TN, #3 Shanghai)
• Nearly 5 million passengers served in 2011
• World's largest and busiest floatplane base
• Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is responsible for approximately 15,577 airport & community jobs, earning $1 billion. That's 1 in 10 jobs in Anchorage!

Norton Sound 450

This is no where near where I am (it's on the next "bump" above us in Western Alaska), but local musher (from Bethel) Pete Kaiser is running the 2013 Norton Sound 450.  It's a 450 mile dog sled race from Unalakleet to Kaltag, back to Unalakleet and then off to Nome.  Right now it looks like Pete is in the top 3 or 4, with DeeDee Jonrowe (the only female musher in this race) in the lead!

You can obsessively hit "refresh" and follow the GPS tracking of the race here:  http://kaiserracing.com/norton-sound-450-tracker/

That's also Kaiser Racing Kennels blog, so you can click around the site and see blog updates of the race, pictures of dogs, etc.

Exhausted but I finally made it into Bethel.  I spent the entire day (18 hours) traveling, with about 13 of those hours actually in the air.