First snow machine ride.

One Sunday, January 9, 2011 I went my first snow machine ride. I went out for a walk and I stop by the shed where the school’s snow machine is kept. I have never been on a snow machine before so I decided to see if I could crank it up. It started very easily, I read the directions on how to shift, got on and backed out. I followed paths across the lake, the tundra, and between houses. The hardest place to ride was on the boardwalks because they are icy not snowy. I rode out to the airstrip then back across the village to the old airstrip. At the old airstrip I decided see how fast the snow machine would go. When I got up to 55 miles an hour I decided that was fast enough without a helmet. I rode back across the village out onto more tundra and came to a big icy patch. I found out the brake does not work very well on ice. I hit the brakes and the snow machine started spinning to the right, I guess I leaned too far to the left and over I went sliding on my butt. I got the snow machine rolled back onto its track and skis, dusted the snow off and away I went. I had a great time just tooling around the village. I also found out that snow machines, or at least this one, have heated handgrips and foot rest. The handgrips got so hot I could hardly hold on. I sure was glad when I figured out how to turn the heat off. I made it back of the shed, parked the snow machine and went home. I wonder if I'll be sore tomorrow after sliding across the ice. I had a good time today; I will be going back out tomorrow.

Christmas Break

I left the Tuntutuliak on December 23, 2010. I flew to Anchorage where I spent the night and then flew out at 6 AM December 24, 2010. I found it very comfortable couch in the observation deck and actually had a fairly good night sleep. I flew from Anchorage to Minneapolis-St. Paul and then for Minneapolis-St. Paul to Atlanta. The Minneapolis-St. Paul to Atlanta leg was very long and uncomfortable. My tall, fat body is just not made for flying coach.

When I got off the plane in Atlanta and entered the concourse I had the strangest feeling. There were more people waiting at the gate then in my entire village. For six months I had not been in a situation where I was surrounded by people, it was a very strange and unnerving feeling to be in such close proximity with that many people. I thought people were supposed to walk on the right side of the terminal but I must be mistaken, because as I walked down the right side, people coming at me literally ran into me. When I got on the people mover, it was even worse. I did not realize I am claustrophobic. I guess living in the village with only a few hundred people and wide-open spaces has given me a case of claustrophobia. Every place I went, malls, parking lots, restaurants, and on the freeway I couldn't help but think that I was surrounded by more people than in my entire village.

I took silver and king salmon, moose, and dried fish with me to Georgia. I cooked salmon for one dinner and the girls really enjoyed it. I made moose ribs one night but they were not a big hit. The girls enjoyed the moose roast I made better than the ribs; I guess it tasted more like beef. All three of the girls tried dried salmon but they didn't seem to really enjoy it. I guess dried salmon is an acquired taste.

School in Georgia was back in session before I left so I had an opportunity to visit Kristina's fourth grade classroom. It was a great opportunity to share my experiences so far in the village. The kids listened very well and asked lots of good questions. They enjoyed seeing some of the artifacts but I brought with me for show and tell. After I finished talking with them I gave each of them the opportunity to try some dry salmon and/or moose. Kristina had e-mailed parents the night before to let them know that their children would be able to sample dried salmon at school. None of the parents objected to letting their children try it. Some of the students did not try the dried salmon but I think most of them tried the moose. Most of them like the moose, because it is more like food there used to, more than the dried salmon. They were such timid eaters when it came to trying the dried salmon. Three parents e-mailed Kristina and said they would like to sample the salmon. I packed up sample bags of moose and dried salmon and sent it home with several students. I wonder what the dinner conversations were like as a parent sampled the moose and the dried salmon? I am glad the students had the opportunity to try something different.

Time flew by and I had no opportunity the to visit with anyone other than family. One of the things I have learned since coming to the village is how to make bread. I enjoy making bread and have spoken my sister several times about bread making. When we visited her on New Year's Day she conducted a bread making class. She had purchased Kristina, Tiffany, and me a bucket to make dough in. She walked each of us through how to make dough that is good for two weeks and requires no kneading. We used two packets of yeast, 6 ½ cups of flour, kosher salt, and warm water. After I mixed all ingredients together we just let it sit in the bucket for couple of hours. It doubled in size and looked a lot like sourdough starter. We grabbed about a quarter of the dough and rolled the edges under to make a nice loaf. We let the loaves rise for an hour and a half and then baked it. Later that evening we took another small portion of the dough and formed it into a pizza crust. We put sauce and toppings on it and cooked it without allowing the dough to rise. It made a great crust and bread. We all took our buckets and leftover dough home that night. The next day I took small portions of the dough and made flatbread. Again, as with the pizza dough, there was no need to let the flat bread rise, just flatten it out and brush with olive oil and bake. This is going to be a nice bread dough to have around. I can see making hotdog buns, hamburger buns, rolls, bread sticks, and just about any other type of bread out of this dough.