Week 3

Before the rains started in earnest, we had a trip northeast to Grizzly Lake.  We have made the trip every time we've come to Glennallen.  The proprietors, Jim and Kathy, are involved with the board of Crossroad Medical Clinic.  When gassing up at the Hub, Jon talked to some hunters who were sporting their moose antlers.  Notice the muddy ATVs and ice-chests containing the parts of the huge moose.  These antlers were 55" across, which is nearing the huge category.  I dare say they were pleased with themselves!

 Crossroad has a country clinic at Grizzly Lake, where a Nurse Practitioner has held forth for many years.  One drives hours to get medical help in this part of Alaska, as in most parts.

Jim and Kathy own the lake as well, catering to the hunting crowd in the summer and fall.  Moose season closes this weekend.  Then the big guys can come out of hiding again:)

 Kathy is the one that helped me pick the wild blueberries on their property two years ago.  It is cranberry season this time....I passed. 

On the opposite side of the lake they have a dirt runway which serves quite a few pilots.  They have a floatplane as well.  Plane is really the best way to get anywhere fast.  Their Pyranees 'puppy' (3 yrs. old) is name Sweetness.  HE followed us everywhere.  

  

Fall is at it's peak and snow is creeping down the mts. and will be on the ground soon.  The warm season is short here.  

Across the lake we viewed the Trumpeter Swan couple and their five signets.  Eventually they moved closer to us and Jon could get a better shot of them.  Kathy said the parents have been trying to get them to fly, but they are resistant.  Guess it takes the parents leaving them to get the message across!

 We say good-bye to Sweetness and head out for home.  We intended (on Labor Day) to stop at the Grizzley for pizza, but they had sawhorses across the road....not open.  We returned a day or two later with Joel, Karen and their daughter who was visiting from the 'lower 48.'  Had reindeer sausage pizza.....spicy!  But good.

This will probably be the last entry for this trip.  Jon has been on call often here, laying his clothes on the floor, in order of dressing, so he can slip them on without putting on the light and waking me!  Isn't that nice?

We're trying to eat up the odds and ends in the fridge and starting to pack.  We arrive Sat. night.    Jon flies Wed. to Arizona to be doc to the Havisupai Indians in the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  I will post here if he sends me the info.  Or maybe he will learn how to blog!!

Week Two

This is a beautiful time of year in Central Alaska!  Fall is well underway.  Colors are abating, the yellow of aspens backdropped with the black spruce and the orange and rusts of the shrubs, among them the low-lying blueberries.  The other vibrant red color is the last mutation of the state flower, the Fireweed....it starts out in the spring as a lovely maroonish leaf with a pink flower, lining the highways and anywhere the wind blows it.  As summer wears on the flowers vanish and the 'fluff' left fades until in the fall you see here the bright red leaves.

The Wrangell Mountains are visible from Glennallen to the east.  They lie on the edge of  the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the  third, and latest of the national parks in Alaska. Mt. Drum on the left is actually the shortest of the four, but it is closest, so looks taller.  This photo is taken from Willow Lake to the south of us, so Mt. Sanford, the one covered by clouds a bit, is 4,000 ft taller, but farther away.  The one on the right, Mt. Wrangell is 3rd tallest, at 14,163 Ft(still an active volcano)A.  And the tallest one is out of view to the right......16,390 ft.  Whether we travel north or south on the Richardson Hwy., these mts. are our touchstone, though changing appearance as we go.  We are told this lake is shallow enough for a moose to stand in the middle.  I keep looking for the moose.
      Entertainment is in the eye of the beholder here.  With no TV, sports teams, concert venues, etc.
we make our own 'fun.'  Jon is on call most of the time he's here as that is what helps the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant who do all the doctoring.  They need time off to do their own appointments (usually in Anchorage) and R&R.  So, the other night after work, Jon and I drove west and parked facing the highway and watched the traffic.....hunters and fishermen pulling their  trailers and some moose, local folks.....all kinds of dirty cars and trucks.  Then Jon found a photo op. (top picture) and here.....
      
     Sometimes we eat out, just us, or with others from the clinic. The touristy place, the Fireweed Cafe, is just across Hwy 1 in full view from our kitchen window. There your order is always in doubt. They may advertise what's available on their menu, but we have found that it depends.....try Copper River salmon, or if they are out of that, reindeer sausage pizza, or if they are out of that spaghetti, or if they are out of that, hamburgers, or if they are out of that, salad.  Our favorite place is the Tok Thai van on the Hub of Alaska parking lot at the Glenn/Richardson junction with fine view of Mt Drum. Then we can sit down for dessert at the Freeze just south on the Glenn Hwy from the Old Paths Baptist Church (hopefully they will still be open-the owner needs to go bring her husband home, but says the kids will keep it going another 2 weeks before closing for the season- the Freeze, that is, not the church)   If Jon is on call, pizza at the Grizzly Road House  at mile post 92.8 near Willow Lake on the way to the Worthington Glacier and Valdez is too far away for an adequate response at the clinic.  It’s moose season, could get some fresh moose burgers if we are lucky.
We were blessed with two meals of Copper River Salmon last week as a new couple here invited us over for dinner, then gave us some to take home.  It's so common here (salmon) and free from the fish wheel that it loses it's intrigue to locals.  They'd prefer beef!






     Jon has been busy, as I mentioned.  He medivac-ed two patients to Anchorage last weekend...one of the leaders of the Ahtna Athabascan people.  He attends the Gulkana Village church we attend when we're here and always closes the service in prayer.

     Monday was the first of Jon's two days off so we drove to Valdez.  The day was a blue-sky day and perfect for photos.  Beginning in October the snow will start to fall and these colorful mts. will turn white.  Valdez is a little port town surrounded by the tallest coastal mountains in N. America, rising from sea level to an elevation of 7,000 feet.   The Chugach Mountains here get the most snow of any in Alaska......record of 560.7 inches in Valdez in 1989-90. The average annual is 325.6 inches. Thompson Pass boasts between 600-900 inches.   

  We stopped at two glaciers that one can 'touch.'  Worthington Glacier and Valdez Glacier both head into lakes created by their runoff.  Jon even retrieved a chunk of glacial ice.....

How clear it is!

Then it was back home to Glennallen.  Couldn't stop at the Grizzly for Pizza as they were having a special function.....sawhorses in the entry.  Shucks.

Back to Central Alaska

Back in Alaska.......Glennallen sits at the crossroads of the Glenn Highway (first highway built in Alaska) and the Richardson Hwy.  The Wrangell Mts. loom large ahead of us and the Copper River courses it's winding way thru the lower plain.  Scrubby black spruce trees thickly cover most of the land.  

Jon and I arrived here Saturday night, Aug. 29th.  We had, previous to that, been touring with two of our granddaughters, Ava (14) and Emma (11).  One day we cruised in Prince William Sound to view glaciers and sea life. 

The next day we boarded The Alaska Train and leisurely made our way up to Denali National Park.  The girls enjoyed the freedom of roaming between about three cars.....the diner shown here, our assigned railcar and the dome car.  Since it took 6 hours to arrive, we all managed to rotate around.  We did manage to see one moose standing in a lake....at a distance.

Thursday was our big day to take a shuttle bus 53 miles into the park to look for animals.

The big mountain itself was covered with clouds and we knew we had scant chance of seeing it (only visible 30% of the year).  But, rain turned to snow and wind .....Rodney, our driver (of the green park bus shown in photo) kept wiping the exterior of the windows at every rest stop....otherwise we could not even attempt to see.

Lo, the animals were scarce.  Caribou were the hardy souls who ventured out, for which we were glad.  Saw a couple of herds. A lonely red tail fox meandered toward us on the road and a grizzly was sighted high on a far away hill....I couldn't see it.  Then a few Dall Sheep on a high hill.  That was it....

We enjoyed our little log cabin and the meals in their PREY restaurant.  Then it was back to Anchorage and the airport the next morning for the girls.  I teased the girls about coming on an old-folks trip.....riding on planes, trains, automobile, buses and boat.  We covered the gamut.  They were both so appreciative and co-operative.  We enjoyed our time with them....miss them.

Joel and Karen from Crossroads Medical Center picked us up at the airport and we decided to DO the Alaska state fair in Palmer!  This fair majors in large vegetables....how do they manage in a short growing season a 138 lb. cabbage?  This one is only 40+.  And pumpkins that are 1200 lbs.?  The BIG ones had not arrived yet this year.

We had our favorite fair food, strolled the quaint booths, and all the rest before shopping at Fred Meyer for 3 weeks of groceries(cheaper to get than in Glennallen).  Then the 3+ hours left to travel.

We are living in a large house this time, which has lots of sunshine and windows for Jon.  He felt a bit claustrophobic with the basement apt. we've had before.  I liked my cave and it was fully furnished and homey....and we could use the neighbors internet!  Here we have not much of anything....bare bones on furniture and little in kitchen utensils.  My only seasoning is salt and pepper.  I need a traveling spice box.   I'm reminded to look at what we DO have, not what we don't have.
And folks here' don't see the need for all the conveniences I'm used to.

Jon is resurrecting the memory needed for this particular medical record system as the days go by.  Some people we recognize and some are new to the clinic since we were here 16 months ago.  Fall is definitely in the air and won't last long....winter is close behind.
We may see snow before we leave Sept. 19.

Suddenly, spring is coming.

Although the temperatures are rarely above freezing and in spite of several days of persistent snowing, the fine crystals of dehydrated snow that have survived the frigid winter quickly vanish in the face of the intensity of the artic sun.  Literally by the hour we can see the dwindling of the snow pack, the accumulation of standing water puddled in the streets and forming shallow but wide collections of water on the surface of the still frozen lagoons we view out of our windows.  With subsurface still frozen, there is little place for the water to go, much to the delight of booted children challenging the depths and four wheelers intent on setting a splash record.

 And with the vanishing of winter’s grace, the skeletons of summers past are exposed.

Presently, we have less than 90 minutes between sunset and sunrise. With that interval dwindling like the snow, by week’s end -  even before we return to Snohomish, we will experience the fulfillment of John the Revelator’s vision:  “There will be no more night.” (Revelation 22:5)

 This weekend we took  to the outdoors.  Some coiled ‘creepers’ added to the soles of my boots made walking on water (frozen) safer.  With the warming trend (up to 32F at times), snow is turning to slush and mud season is around the corner.

Below you have a view of our housing complex.
It’s the one on the hill....ha,ha.  We are left of middle about three windows on ground floor.  Nothing between us and the bright, white, frozen sea.  These abandoned fishing boats are part of the town’s landscaping we fear will not be pretty as the snow melts.

Saturday we explored the gift shop and had lunch at the Top of the World Hotel, then stopped by Frieda’s bake shop and mexican food.  Sweets went home with us, but Jon decided to wait til later in the day for his Mexican meal.  BUT, after the graduation he attended they were not open, even tho they said they would be until 8 pm.  We are learning to not count on posted info.  So, he ate some more of the cabbage patch soup we’ve been eating all week.  Of course, he eats most meals at the hospital, so I’ve been eating the soup.

AND NOW FOR THE ‘F’’ THEMES:

FEATHERS

This little bird, and probably some buddies, has
been singing around our street.  Word has it from
facebook that it is the McKay Snow Bunting.
Pretty song it sings, and Jon was patient, or
lucky, to get such a good picture of it singing.
The only other bird we’ve seen is the gull.
I’d love to see a snowy owl, but have to go
prowling for their hiding places, I hear.



FUR  (shucks, it’s hair on a dog!)

Sunday we came across a Husky relaxing on
another carcass of a boat...but, I shouldn’t be
too hasty....these boats are probably used when
the right time comes!











This Fur/Fabric/Floral shop was really a variety store.  We bought stamps to send the postcards because she said the PO in town did not have stamps currently.  Jon passed up the out of date carton of Diet Pepsi.

    MORE FUR.......beautiful furs, for beautiful prices.  My favorite is the Arctic fox.  In the winter it’s brown fur turns white for camouflage purposes.  This small head of white fur, the size of my hand was $215.  This full-body furs, are upwards of $1,000.

The people here wear the furs as collars, trim around the bottom of their coats, sleeves, and in their mukluks. A pair of polar bear gloves can be $500.  

This is a sign of their wealth and prestige, to have these furs.  Only in Alaska, I believe.  Someone reminded me it wouldn’t go over well in the south 48.

 FABRIC

was everywhere...about 4 of these cubbies, then in the aisless as well as zippers of all sizes, threads of all kinds, even yarn.   It was all I could do to not buy some!

FLORAL?

FORGOT TO TAKE A PHOTO OF THE
many fresh and fake flowers...to keep with the ‘f’ theme :)

Well, that’s all for today, folks.  Because of the dreadfully slow internet, it’s taken all day to do this.
Until next time.......

Graduation on the North Slope

I (Jon) went to the graduation of Ilisagvik College Saturday afternoon, Alaska’s only native tribal college.  This was their 20th graduating class, having awarded 127 associate degrees in that time, 14 today, including one grandmother.  It is primarily a technical college giving degrees in Allied Health, Accounting, Construction Technology and Business Management, but also four graduated in liberal arts and plan to move on to a four year school.  Rightly so, they are proud that this is an accredited community college administered by, and especially for, the Inupiat peole of the Arctic North Slope.  No more do they have to leave their communities to go to boarding schools administered by persons outside of, or historically often unappreciative of, their culture.

The graduates pass under the arch from the baleen of a whale while accompanied by a native chant and drumming.










On the platform from left to right:
the Chairperson of the College Board,
the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Alaska
the North Slope Representative to the State Legislature.

What do they have in common?
All are graduates of Sheldon Jackson school in Sitka, a Presbyterian school, now closed.






The first person to be awarded an honorary Associate of Arts Degree? an elder in the community that has taught the culture to many students.






“I finished my schooling in 1943....but I got my degree in 2015.”






After the ceremony, they served dinner to everyone and native drumming and dancing.

On to Alaska

It's been a year since the last entry.  That doesn't mean we haven't travelled or served anywhere. Jon's visits to Kabul have escalated in his new role as interim director with trips in June, October and March of this year, 2015.  Security issues worsened and most of our friends there have left.  He will continue to make short trips until the new director is ready to go into the country.



Barrow, Alaska from the air...........

Meanwhile, we are currently in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost town on the continent of North America...330 mi. above the Arctic Circle and 1200 miles from the North Pole.  Inhabited by the Inupiat people for centuries, there are eight villages dotting the frozen tundra.  Barrow is the seat of government for the North Slope Borough, the largest municipality in the world, covering 89,000 sq. Miles of arctic territory.  With a total population of app. 7,500, app. 4,700 live in Barrow. People of many ethnic backgrounds live and work here.  The Inupiat population is around 65%.  

Jon is working in their new hospital as a clinic physician.  A van picks him up from our hospital housing in the morning and brings him home in the evening.  He eats all his meals at the hospital so I am left on my own to find sustinance.  With the price of food at the grocery, I've decided to shrink my stomach!  Bananas are $3. a lb.  Milk around $8. per half-gallon, gr. beef $7. a lb, Tillamook cheese $18. a 2-lb. loaf.  Needless to say, I brought a loaf from home....and a few other smaller items I knew I would use. 

   

 Jon works with a couple other new docs:  Rebekah from Wisconsin and Greg from Seattle.  They will stay longer than we and family will also join them later.  More permanent, contracted employees are blessed with good vacation packages and leave when 'subs' arrive.

Jon is enjoying all the employees he works with, and hasn't complained too much about the computer work.












Our apartment has a great view out toward the Chukchi Sea.  Since Barrow lies at the meeting point of the Chukchi and the Beaufort Seas, there is almost always a breeze.  Bowhead whaling is 'in season' in April and May before the miles of frozen sea hugging the shore breaks up.
Teams of men (selected by the tribe?) have completed chopping a trail over the 6 miles of uneven ice and have made camp on the ice floes.  They have 26 strikes for the year to kill their whales.  Unfortunately the first two were lost to the sea because of ice conditions that were too dangerous to finish the kill.  They travel out on their skidoos and complete the butchering out there.  In the Fall, when they will have another chance, they bring them into shore for the villagers to assist.  The whales are not around in the brief summer months.

  A word about the frozen ice.  Even though it is completely frozen, it is constantly moving, changing, and is very dangerous.  The pressure caused large waves and chunks to uplift.  As the temperature rises in the coming weeks, it will begin to thaw.
This view of the sunset from our window was taken a bit before midnight.  The days lengthen 10 minutes a day, Jon says.  Pretty soon the sun will not set, just keep moving along the horizon.  The main road is out where the poles are, but the lagoon immediately in front of us is frozen and used by cars, snowmobiles, people, etc.  A couple more weeks and it will be too dangerous to use, also.