Wednesday was an embarrassing day, but at least I was able to laugh at myself, somewhat. It also had its high points.

7/28/2010


For the most part the day went very well; I walked around the lower village and introduced myself to families. I had a good meeting with the president of the Advisory School Board (ASB). Each school because of the remoteness and Native Alaskan population has its own school board that acts in an advisory capacity. My ASB is made up of five people. It is my understanding they are the reason the principal from last year is not here this year. The ASB president told me they wanted discipline in the school and a principal that was visible in the school. He liked my military background, said the best principal they have had here was prior military. Additionally, a mentor from the district office (DO) came to visit and shared a lot of useful information about the district and school with me.

I was up early today and walked over to the school around 7:30 a.m. to borrow a vacuum cleaner and I intended to come right back home and clean a little more and then go back to work. I forgot the mentor was coming. While I was at school the radio announced the arrival of a plane with a passenger for the school. Oh crap I thought. When I came to school I had showered and put on my jeans and a shirt but I just stepped into my nice knee high rubber boots without putting on socks. So instead of five minutes at school and return home and removing my boots it turned into 4.5 hours before I came home. I invited the mentor to my house for a bowl of soup. When I got in the house I sat down and took off my left boot, I then went to pull off the right boot. It formed suction between my sweaty foot and the rubber (the boots fit tight around the ankle). I could not get it off, I pulled, I used my other foot to push it off, but it was not budging. As I continued to try and force it off the mentor asked would you like me to pull it off? Yes please, I said sheepishly. He pulled it off and said this is kind of like the Wild West I guess. I think this was his attempt to set me at ease. It did not work. I can only image the story at the DO now; what kind of principal did you hire he cannot even take his own boots off. I will make sure I wear sock with my boots from now on.

The second embarrassing/funny thing that happened today was falling off the boardwalk. This has been a fear of mine since I arrived. Before I left Delta Junction the assistant superintendent told me about her daughter falling off the boardwalk, it was a story that stuck in my mind. With all the rain we have had the boardwalk is very slippery. As I walked around the lower village I was very careful where I stepped. As I was returning to the teacher housing area I stopped and talked to two students. As I walked back towards my house they followed me on their bikes. I left the main boardwalk and entered the smaller and older boardwalk. I was walking towards two girls with the two boys behind me when I heard a loud crack and something grabbed my foot. Before I could do anything I was plunging head first off the boardwalk onto the tundra. A rotten board had cracked under my dainty (not) frame. As my foot went through the board it caught my toe and I tripped. Luckily, where I fell was just tundra and not standing water. My knees, hands, and feet were wet but a least I was not soaked. When you walk on tundra it is like walking on a big sponge. You sink and rock around; water fills the hole created by your foot or hands or head. It is not a steady footing. As I jumped up I expected to see four students rolling on the boardwalk laughing the butts off, but no, the first thing they did was ask if I was hurt. When I told them no, I was okay and I bet that looked very funny they did start to laugh. I laughed with them to hide my total embarrassment. I walked on home dried off, took care of my sore ankle, leg, and shoulder before I retired for the night. As I lay in bed I had to laugh at everything that had happened today. I slept till 9:00 a.m.

I have been spoiled for a long time:

 I am accustom to going down to the store, maybe on a daily basis, to get what I want to eat; now I go to the pantry and hope I have food in there. Sure, I know it has only been two days but one box of food did not show up, lost in the USPS system somewhere, and my bush order will not arrive till next week. Believe me, I am not starving it is just a change. I could stand to go on reduced rations.

Unpacking is more work than I remember; why because unpacking always fell to Nina when we moved. Nina is not here so I get to do it all. Miss you Nina.

The garbage man does not stop by here, really no garbage man, can you believe it. I have not been into recycling and sorting trash until now. If you can burn it, put it in one box and save it till you have enough to make a burn worthwhile. I did my first burn last night, it was real exciting. If you cannot burn it, then it goes to the dump. I have not made it to the dump yet but I heard it is a real nasty place. I am being forced to go somewhat green.

Thankfully, I don’t have many dishes to do because I do not have a dishwasher. I am going to have dishpan hands, can you believe it? A drying rack is a must. I used a dishtowel yesterday to dry the dishes and it is still wet today. Hum, do you think it could be the rain, rain, rain and the 100% humidity? I guess high humidity and dampness is a hazard of living in a marsh.

No TV, yes I admit it I am addicted to certain TV shows. I normally watch FOX news in the morning and the at least two to three shows a night. Teacher housing has Dish Network, but if you do not have a receiver box you cannot use it, go figure. I am looking on ebay for a good buy and I will check in Bethel when I am there next week. I do get internet, in certain rooms, so I currently have Neal Boortz playing followed by Rush, then Sean Hannity, life is not too bad. I guess if it came down to it, I could watch the shows I like on the internet.

I made it to Tuntutuliak 7/26/2010

Left Anchorage on a rainy overcast day in route to Tuntutuliak. I flew ERA Aviation and when I went to check in they told me I would have to check my carry-on bag because it was too large for their plane. I had purchased this bag specifically as a carry-on because it met the guidelines established by the airlines. Well, that told me a lot about the plane I was going to be on. When it came time to board I walked out onto the tarmac and up the steps, no security checkpoints, no concern about what you packed, just get on the plane. I sat in the first seat on the right hand side. There were eight seats on each side and one in the middle back. The co-pilot came on last, closed and locks the door and said the safety briefing will start in a minute. As we were taxiing out a recorded safety briefing played, of course no one could hear it over the engines. I need to remember to take ear plugs along when I fly. We took off, I watch the whole thing threw the cockpit since there is no door to close between the cockpit and passenger compartment. As we climbed to 39,000 feet I watched the pilot read a magazine and then tell a very animated story to the co-pilot. The flight in reality was very smooth and uneventful. It took 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to Bethel.

When I arrived in Bethel someone from the district office was to pick me up. I called when no one was there and got voice mail. I figure they must be at lunch since it was noon. I took a taxi to the district office and sure enough everybody was at lunch. So I waited around until Carol P. showed up and told me she could not help me right then because she was going to a funeral along with most of the people in the district office. She said the assistant superintendent should be back shortly and he was not going to the funeral. When the assistant superintendent came back he told me that a member of a prominent family had died in a construction accident the week before and they were having the funeral service in the high school gym today. He showed me around the DO and introduced me to the people that were not at the funeral. I got me the key to my school and then he gave me the keys to his truck and said go eat and drive around Bethel because I have some phone calls to make. I went and ate at Subways and got one to go for diner since I did not know what I would find to fix in Tunt. The heavy equipment operators had put together a salute to the man that had died. They park there dump-trucks down both side of the road and raised their beds; it was really a neat tribute. I went back into the DO visited with the assistant superintended for a while and then he took me back to the airport to catch my flight to Tunt. While we were talking the facility director came in and I asked what problems I had in Tunt? He said about the only problem I had is the one house that flooded when a pipe burst under the sink. I asked him which house it was and he said unit 10, oh good I said that is mine. He explained the problems, mold, flooded carpet, damaged floors, and the unit is sinking. Now I really can’t wait to get there and see how bad my house was.

I got to the airport, checked in and waited for my flight to be called. The plane arrived; it held five passengers and one pilot. I am not sure what type of maintenance record it has but it started and took off. We flew at 110 knots and 800 feet for the 25 minutes to Tunt. When we land the tail hit the ground as he sat it down, it was not a tail dragger, and then we taxied to the drop off point. When he stopped the plane fell back onto the tail. They had to lift it up after they unload my luggage and some mail. I was picked up by a four wheeler with a trailer. They took me to my house it was not as bad as I feared or expected. The flood had happened in January and they had removed the carpet, dried everything out and painted. All in all it will be livable. Nina would have gotten back on the plane; well no, she would not have gotten on the second plane to start with. The house is not up to her standards but I will make it home. I have a lot of cleaning to do and a lot of unpacking.

Mark, the maintenance man took me to the school and showed me around. He told me that one of the villagers had gotten two mukluk seals today and that the silvers were starting to run. I asked him where they would be cleaning the seal and if they would mind if I watched. He said they would not mind at all and told me how to get there. I unpacked for a while and then walked over and watched them butcher the seal. They are called mukluk seal because you use their skin for the soles of mukluks since the fur falls off when they are dried. After I watched them butcher the seals I walked in to a fish smoke house where they were smoke King Salmon, it looked really good.

Well off to bed after a full day, I just had three little girls stop by and want to see the house at 10:30 p.m. now an alarm is going off; I wonder if it is the school? Alarm is off 11:00 p.m. time to turn in.

I have left the interior

I left Delta Junction today and closed that chapter of my life. I enjoyed living in the interior of Alaska and enjoyed working and knowing several of the people there. I had a good last meal at our favorite restaurant, The Trophy Lodge, last night. The new superintendent, Duncan Ware, and his wife joined Patrick and I. We had good conversation and good food. Good luck to Duncan in his new position and to Delta Greely School District as they try to figure out the direction they are going in.


After six hours of driving I pulled into Diamond Parking at the Anchorage airport and rented a parking space to leave my car in while I am in Tunt. Then I went to Sam’s to make a bush order. This is the last time I will let Sam’s do the shipping for me. They tacked on over 50% for shipping and a service fee. Next time I come to Anchorage I will bring a couple of shipping containers with me, fill them up and take them to the post office and mail them myself. I hope I have shipped enough stables to last me for at least 4.5 months. I have a fear of running out of toilet paper during the winter and since there is no Kroger or IGA around what do you do? I shipped a lot of pasta, Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies, and canned chicken. How do I know what I need when I have never been there before? The school may have a good breakfast and lunch program so all I would need to do is dinner. I will just have to wait and see.

I am going to see a movie in a theater tomorrow. There are no restaurants in Tunt so I am going to figure out which restaurant I want to have dinner at tomorrow night. I wish there was a Taco Mac or a Wild Wings in Anchorage.

The weather has been lousy. It has rained the last couple of days and the rain is projected to continue through Monday. When I was packing up yesterday I realized I shipped all my wet weather gear. If it is raining on Monday the walk from the airstrip to the school housing is going to be a long cold one.

Moose Head Soup

Well I have not made it to the bush yet but I did have a unique cultural experience today. The friend, Pat, that I am staying with right now, brought home some moose head soup that was made by some people up in Fairbanks. It smelled very good and looked fairly appetizing. The person that gave it to Pat said the best meat came from the moose’s head and when the make this soup they use the entire head minus the brain. You could see pieces of tongue, a moose has big taste buds, and the nose in the soup. The tongue was chewy while the nose was very tender. I am sure this is just one of many unique experiences I will have during the next year. I am keeping an open mind and will try anything, I guess.


I have finished mailing all my boxes to Tunt. I mailed my weapons to Tunt also. This is another benefit of living in Alaska; you can mail weapons to yourself through the USPS within Alaska. I am heading to Anchorage on Saturday, 7/24/2010 for a couple of days until I fly to Tunt on Monday 7/26/2010. I decided to wait until I got to Anchorage to do a bush shipment so I will go to the Wal-Mart in Anchorage and ship a bunch of supplies for the upcoming year. I am going to store my car in Anchorage while I am in the bush. There are several places that rent parking spaces by the month. These are secure parking lots with plug-ins for the winter. When I come into Anchorage during the school year for conferences or meeting I will have a car to use.

One step closer to Tuntutuliak

One hurdle down, I cleared my quarters on Fort Greely and moved in with a friend until I head for the bush on July 26, 2010. I have mailed over 30 packages already to Tuntutuliak, and will probably have a few more before I leave. The maintenance man, who picks them up at the post office, is probably ready to kill me.


I have been looking at flights and the choice is better than I expected. There are actually two air services that fly out of Bethel daily into Tuntutuliak during the summer months. The choice seem to be a nine passenger or a six passenger, it does not really matter to me as long as the pilot has some experience. I have checked the aviation cameras in Tunt and it looks like a nice airstrip (from a distance mind you). Well, I am ready to go, looking forward to meeting the people of Tunt and getting down to work. Let the adventure begin.

I meet a 1st grade teacher that is coming to Delta Elementary School from Quinhagak, a village in the same school district I am going to (Lower Kuskokwim School District). He told me that Tunt has great kids and the parents are interested in education. He said the housing was very nice, at least compared to what they had in Quinhagak. Tunt has flush toilets not Honey Buckets, some of life’s simple pleasures. He provided information on shopping for bulk food, air services, hunting, fishing, and mandatory clothing (frog skin). I hope to get some fish and caribou in my freezer, each house has a chest freezer, before winter rolls in. I have already sent some staples, but I am sure I have not sent enough, need to go to Sams and place a bush order. Yesterday, I was told by bush veteran to make sure I ship enough toilet paper; it gets tough in the winter if you run out. This was probably very good advice. Fresh fruit and vegetables are minimal in the village, so I am eating my full now; cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries for breakfast today.