School's Roof

John and I climbed up on the roof one warm (30deg) December Day to replace the battery in the weather station...now we can see how cold it is.  Currently -14 degF, +50mph wind, -47 degF wind chill.  I thought my camera had broke, hence the absence of pictures.  But, come to find out it is still clinging to life, just have to let it warm up. 

How tough it is.

There are no suitable tree's for many miles.  Here in the Bush we rough it.  Here is my Christmas Log.  Thanks Mom for the lights!

  The top picture is of what I look like when the dog and I go out and it is storming.  That is not even my cold gear.  It was -5 deg F and +50mph winds and we went out.  Near white out conditions and a cheap thrill.

Savoonga

Last weekend the Volleyball team and I took a trip to St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea.  It is closer to Russia than Alaska.  Here are the pictures.  I can no longer upload video, but I have a few to show how windy it was when we took off from Savoonga and headed home.  Let's just say that the windsock was ineffective because it was completely horizontal.  Speaking of wind, the dog and I had planned on taking a walk and watching the sun rise over the sea this morning.  We did take a walk but only got about 30min down the beach.  the wind is blowing so hard that even I thought we were crazy to go any further.  The wind was not the problem, it was the snow in the wind.  Near white out conditions just outside of town...the flashlight I brought did little to nothing.  Happy Thanksgiving from the far North.

The Ride Home and Snow

The top picture is of Golovin from the air...it is hard to see.  The next few are of the ride home.  The last one is of the snow.  I will try to get a daylight picture up but the hours are limited.  We now only have light from 10am till about 5pm.

Golovin

We had volleyball games in Golovin, Ak.  These are a few picture of the town and tournament.

Around Town

Here are a few pictures of around town.  The top one we are finishing up working on the welding shop.  The next one is of the beach while on a walk with the dog.  The bottom one is now inaccurate.  We have a lot more snow on the ground now.

The Beginning of November

November has started up here in Alaska too.  The top picture is of our volleyball tournament.  We won every match, thus winning every game.  The third picture from the top is of one of our runways.  The next two are of the sea ice starting to form (ask for more details).  By Thanksgiving it should be frozen solid. 

It is getting stormy up here, although most has stayed south of Brevig and pounded Nome, a little unusual.  The next two weekends I will be on the 'road' with volleyball.  We have tournaments in Gulivan and Savoonga.  Then it is back in Brevig for Thanksgiving then on the 'road' again in St. Michaels for Regional's.

The End of October

October has ended up here in Alaska too.  The top picture is of the Halloween Parade we have at the school.  Most of the kids dress up and parade around the gym for the village people.  The next one is of our new tank farm for fuel.  The last is of my dog eating.

Correction

Lots to write about here! The bottom pic is in the kennel. The second to bottom is of a 'walk'. Mooney does not yet grasp the concept of walking.  She thinks I pull her while she locks her legs and drags her butt on the ground. It looks like sled tracks. The one above that is of an official walk...Mooney did much better on this one (ask for the complete story, too much to type). The top two are of the day here. We got about an inch of snow. Beautiful sky though. We also worked on the second half of the welding shop.

St. Michael

Here are a few pictures of St. Michael. (Once a year the district flies everybody in to be together for a week long in-service) St. Michael was formerly occupied by the military. It was also a fairly big port. The big pieces of metal are boilers from old steam ships. They are everywhere. The beach also has lots of beach glass. Beach glass is glass that has been warn down by the waves so it is smooth. The top picture is of the school. Overall a really interesting village.

Meet Mooney

Here is my dog. It's the one with the blue collar on. Her name is 'Mooney'.  I am flying to St. Michael (another village in our district) tomorrow and will be back Friday.  Mooney will meet her new home then.

A few pictures from walks

With no gyms, movie theaters, or 'other' entertainment I take lots of walks. Here are a few pictures from them. The first three were taken about the same time on the same walk. The bottom one was taken on Sunday, October 18, 2009