Only in Alaska....

Last week was all work after Jon returned from Chicago.  The temps have slowly warmed and the snow is disappearing, even the big piles of it.  Days are getting longer and we had to add dark towels to cover our small window in the bedroom.....sun rises earlier than we want to!  Some student nurses and physician assistants have arrived for various lengths of time, so Jon includes them in the call schedule as well as their daily assignments.  He was up most of Sunday night, teaching Kathryn as they tended to the emergencies. We also ate out together at the local Thai place.....excellent food and picnic tables in the back.

Despite the loss of sleep, Jon rallied and we went ahead with our last excursion away from Glennallen on Monday.  TOK was our destination....about the only place left that we haven't seen in this southeastern corner of the state.  Tok is on the main highway from Canada and the USA, the only 'port' that you have to exit from as well as enter.....unless you ferry home.  So Tok is a bit bigger and a bit spiffier than Glennallen....not much, but a bit.  It is the 'mushing' capital of Alaska.....so seeing these types of sleds displayed made a bit of sense.  

We even saw green grass, not just on the roof os this gift shop!  The sprinkler was running, so we had to time our entrance to avoid the shower from above. 

The vehicles may have been on display, but I don't know.  About any type of vehicle is seen on the roads, or off.  We did not have time to venture further up the road to Chicken, Alaska.  It leads to Eagle and was part of the original gold rush highway to the Yukon River.  From the guidebook, we would 


have had to have a hardier vehicle and nerves of steel.  Another time?

 We ate at FAST EDDY'S, a very nice restaurant in these parts.
We even ordered milkshakes to go....something we haven't seen for some time.

 The Wrangell Mts. seem closeby in Glennallen, but this cutoff to Tok took us around them to the east and we saw a totally different side of them.  I'm not sure which river this is as the Slana joins the Gakona, which joins the Copper River, which dumps into Prince Edward Sound.  The rivers tend to be broad and meandering as the glacial silt settles along the way.

 Trumpeter Swans begin to migrate north from Central America and 80 % of them nest in this area of Alaska.  Many of the waterways are still partly frozen, so some were roosting on the ice.  These had found open water and were 'fishing' for food.

Mr. Moose, and his friends, were most unhappy about posing for pictures!  They seemed to always turn around and give us the rear view by the time we stopped and got the camera out.  We have seen a lot of them this time of year as they are migrating also.

Jon has one more day of work and he is on his last overnight call.  Thursday we'll clean the apartment and pack.  Maybe we'll have time to drive to Willow Lake and stop at the Princess Lodge for lunch.  He treated a young employee from the lodge so they may be open for business.  The cruise lines built it for their benefit.....tourist excursions.  Friday we catch a ride to Anchorage with Donna and Cleve, the chaplain at the clinic and his wife.  Right now I need to start dinner as they are our guests this evening.  Thank you for coming along on our trip and we bid farewell until the next one.

I am back in Glennallen arriving near midnight on Sunday after a four hour drive from the Anchorage airport, all of which could have been driven without headlights given the late setting sun in these parts (but for safety, I did turn them on, if for no other reason than to alert the bull moose along the roadside that I was headed his way).

The weekend in Chicago to remember and honor my friend and colleague who died in Afghanistan in April was a busy and meaningful experience.  I not only met his family but also some of the immediate family of the young couple who also involved in the tragedy.  I continue to be amazed and blessed by the over 150 expressions of support Marita and I have received from our friends who share their concern for us and also the families involved, even though they have never met them.    Thank You for your love and support!

Jerry was the first pediatrician to join the Lawndale Christian Health Center, a thriving facility with many services to care for one of the most challenging communities in South Chicago.  The love for him was hugely evident in the assembly of hundreds at the memorial, the overwhelming provision of food, transportation and housing for the weekend activities (enough so that the coordinator had to say “no more” to those offering), and the re-gathering of coworkers over the years.

My hosts, Karen and Bill had worked with Jerry in the past, were most gracious and fun to be with.  Karen actually has given tours for folks through some of the neighborhoods in the area so gave me a look at some of the unique architecture in the communities.  Over the weekend, I travelled in the steps of some famous folks:  past the home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, viewed some other homes he and his contemporaries had designed, past the apartment that the MLK, Jr. family lived in when they moved to Chicago to protest the unequal housing rights.  Jerry and Jan live just a couple of blocks from the Obama’s home, and the gymnasium where we had the memorial was dug out by shovel and wheelbarrow from the Cadillac agency where Al Capone purchased his cars.

I enjoyed hearing the stories of folks’ experiences with Jerry, many of whom I heard him speak as we travelled and lived together, now meeting them for the first time.  I am not the only one who considered him a gifted doctor, a warm friend, and enthusiastic adventurer.  Among many stories, he loved to tell of their eight hour zip-line excursion in Thailand, advising Marita and I to not miss it when we travelled there, although we did not heed is recommendation.  They showed a video at the service of his zipping down a line, whooping and hollering along the way.

We had time to meet with those of us connected to the training program and grieve together, share our concerns for the future and begin formation of an interim course of action.  It looks like I will be the point person at this stage, trying to be as available and helpful as Jerry was even when he was in the US.  Likely that will mean many emails, phone calls and Skype encounters to keep communication flowing.  I will have great support from our sending and receiving agencies in Tulsa and Colorado Springs.  

Those of us who spent time with Jerry knew that he was always pondering. I noticed he would often start a conversation with the words, “OK, so...”  Riding with him and some of our faculty with our driver we would hear those words often:

“OK, so,  I need to go to the community clinic at 12:00.”

“OK, so,  who do you think are the leading candidates for president?”

“OK, so, Doctor, what is your brother doing now?”

Actually I think Jesus had the same expression; maybe those "verily, verilies" really should be translated:

“OK, so,  if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed...nothing shall be impossible to you."  (Matthew 17:20)

"OK, so,  if a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it brings forth much fruit."

(John 12:24)

"OK, so,  you shall weep but your sorrow shall be turned to joy."  (John 16:20)

"OK, so,  whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you you."  

(John 16:23)

Well, OK, so...it’s one notion, anyway

In Asian countries, the custom usually is to remove your shoes before entering the home or workplace.  So it’s good to have shoes that are easy to remove and survive the dust and mud of the country.  Jerry introduced me to the L.L. Bean slip on Storm Chaser; so I had to wear my pair for the weekend, even though they never quite meet the high standard of appearance that our housemate, Kelly, would tolerate there.  I will always wear them with joy remembering my gifted friend.

Jon

We took a trip on Monday......up north in Alaska.  Glennallen is at the junction of the Glenn highway coming east from Anchorage and the Richardson highway coming north from Valdez.  We travelled 235 miles, over the Alaska Range and on to North Pole.  Notice I did not say THE north pole.  It is an actual town just south of Fairbanks, with fast-food drive-ins and all!   A bigger town than we live in.                                                                                                      

 Our original destination was Delta, which is the junction between  Highway 4 from Anchorage and the Richardson, and the Tok Highway which goes on into Canada and beyond.  It is not a very big place other than that.  Crossroad Medical Center has just started up a new clinic in Delta, opening in March.  So, Joel and Karen had business to tend to there and made for a fun trip.

Moose were out foraging and we saw quite a few of them.  This is mom and yearling.

These are called the Rainbow Mts.(6,000 ft.) because of the various colors in the volcanic rock (red and green) and siltstone/ sandstone (yellow and pastels) on the talus slopes.  Of course now it's still dusted with snow.

 



Another 'beast' we got a peek at was this baby yak.  The nurse at Delta Junction raises yaks with her husband.  This little one was not doing well after birth, so she brought it to work in the van, to keep an eye on it.  We pestered it until it stood up...
kinda wobbly.  They have 120, or so, yaks and will be able to sell them for meat.  Ugh.


And yet, another beast Jon ran into was this mosquito at The Knotty Shop at Salcha.  The gift shop was closed but we viewed the burled animals on the lawn.  The burled logs come from Thailand.



To think, we're already at North Pole, Ak.!
The reindeer were busy molting their horns.
This one doesn't look like Prancer, or Dancer...... But Santa, poor guy, is stuck up there reading off his list.  After purchasing a Northern Lights Christmas ball for our tree, we found the recommended restaurant and enjoyed ourselves immensely.  I hadn't had chinese food for a long time.

We were surprised at the end of the meal by a phone call from our friends in Kabul.  This was a first and Jon talked to them for a long time, getting more of the details of the last week.  The only problem was hugs don't go over the airwaves.  But, we loved hearing their voices!!

 

WE started for home around 8 pm.  This photo of the Alaska Range was taken a couple hours later.  It takes a looooooong time for the sun to set this time of year.  We arrived in Glennallen at ll:30 and it wasn't really dark yet.  Dusky.

 This bull moose, and a few others we didn't stop for, was alongside the highway.  He lost his horns somewhere.  Hunters get real irked at all the easy sightings of moose and caribou out of season.

 Jon has decided to fly to Chicago tomorrow on the overnight flight and attend the memorial service for Jerry.  In fact, a LOT of people are going.  The cool thing is how Jan and Jerry's friends are hosting so many overnight and others are arranging for gatherings enabling people to visit and get to know each other.  He doesn't even have to rent a car! And, maybe he will be able to visit our wounded friend in the hospital. She should be back in the US by then.  I will stay home and mope..ha.  I'll keep myself busy helping Karen with some projects....and I always have the ones I brought with me.

A tribute to Dr. Jerry Umanos in the song that follows. My Breathe of Aire choir sings this song (the California Baptist Choir here) and it seems to me this is the the way Jerry lived in all aspects of his life.

Give Yourself Away

What do we do when the unthinkable happens?

Thursday morning we learned of the shooting at CURE hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. We immediately looked up world news online and our fears were confirmed.......Dr. Jerry was one of those who died at the hands of an apparently newly hired 'security guard.'  He was greeting guests at the visitors gate, where Jon and Jerry have entered many times.  Two of the guests were also killed and one was injured.  Details are slow in coming to us as everyone there has been preoccupied with the logistics of the fallout.   The Taliban is not responsible for all the violence that goes on in Afghanistan. Sometimes extremist muslims act on their own. 

Dr. Jerry became a dear friend, not only to Jon but to everyone he worked with.  We have been receiving e-mails from Afghan officials and professionals and friends that he befriended and they are all heartbroken, as are we.  

One doctor wrote: "I do not have words for such a big loss.  Last night we were together in [at]  wedding party.  We talked and I will never forget the last time I hugged him.  He was a great man, we will ever never forget him.  He was as close as a brother to us."

Jerry was an unusually gifted physician,God-fearing man and generous Christian. Why him?  All I can say is he lived fearlessly, loved unconditionally, and gave his Lord all he had to give.  I will include the link to the Chicago news

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-doctor-killed-afghanistan-20140424,0,2375219.story

John and his wife had arrived in Kabul about 3 months before we did in 2011.  They were in language school but eager to find how they would contribute to the betterment of Afghanistan.  John was an IT expert and taught at the University.   They were very attentive to us and we enjoyed being with them.  Here is the article that tells more about John.

http://www.suntimes.com/27056815-761/two-more-people-with-chicago-ties-are-
confirmed-dead-in-kabul-hospital-attack.html#.U1uxFVfFn9s

Despite our sorrow, our fear; despite the injustice, the terrors of man.......
we still trust that our Maker, Redeemer and Father/Mother sees beyond our seeing....and we submit.
Both Jerry and John would want God to be praised....

O God beyond all praisings, we worship you today
and sing the love amazing that songs cannot repay.
For we can only wonder at every gift you send,
at blessings without number and mercies without end.

Then hear, O gracious Savior, accept the love we bring...
that we who know your favor may serve you as our King.
And whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill,
we will triumph through our sorrows and rise to praise you still:
to marvel at your beauty and glory in your ways,
and make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise,
                                                                           Michael Perry

The scenery has changed....but still lots of mountains!

We left the beautiful blossoms of spring in the Pacific Northwest yesterday and backtracked to the late winter of Alaska.  Snow is banked around us in Glennallen where it melts by day in 50F highs before the freeze of night returns.  We are ensconced in our basement apartment of last summer where the only two windows are filled with snow up to the top 6".

Joel and Karen Medendorp are the couple we worked with in Redbird, KY. in 2004.  He is the administrator of Crossroads Medical Center,   http://www.crossroadmc.org/.  This mission outpost was a hospital in the beginning but now patients are flown out if hospitalization is necessary.  Their ER capabilities are excellent and the needs of the natives and tourists are well taken care of.  Jon has to get used to the slow pace here again.... not a high patient load in a day.  In fact, I hope there is enough of interest to make this blog interesting!
We walked to the IGA tonight to get a few more groceries....maybe 1 1/2 miles?  For my crippled knee that was an accomplishment.  I hope I can do some everyday as the life is rather sedentary otherwise.

 Daylight is longer here.....the shortest day(Winter Soltice) being between 10am and 2pm, with an hour each for dawn and dusk.  We are headed for the longest day in June which will be the 4 hours of dark, or so.  Right now it's in between.
We may have seen the Northern Lights last night, but we opted to go to bed.  Hopefully another chance will come along.

Jon surprised me, once more, with acknowledgement of our first date.....50 years ago today!  A sweet card from a loving husband.  Guess where our first date was?   To a missionary conference....go figure.


My last picture is of the Metanuska Glacier, which feeds the Metanuska River at the base of the Ghugach Mt. Range, which we followed on the Glen Highway from Anchorage.  Notice the size of the glacier compared to the trees......things are massive here.  Especially the blue sky!