Keeping it Real at 66 Degrees North Latitude

The Day After Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T18:02:00.004-09:00

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The day after dawned much better for me. I am pretty much recovered from my stomach flu, except that I still feel like someone kicked me in the ribs. As bad as it was it was mercifully short.

It was a nice day today, not too cold.

The sun was out low on the horizon.

Things are still frosty looking.

I took the dogs out for a run. Poor things have been cooped up for a while and were ready to go.

Kaija has a new collar on. This is the second one in a week that I have had to buy for her. Rush has decided that is is great fun to chew them off her while they are outside in their pen. She lets him.

I thought about getting her a metal choke collar. He can't chew that up. But they always stain the pretty white fur on her kneck and pulls at the hair and makes her look raggedy.

So I guess I'll just have to take her collar off when I put her in the pen.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T19:28:00.002-09:00

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I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Me? I spent most of the night in the bathroom with the worst case of stomach flu I've had in years. I recovered enough to cook this afternoon and then took a three hour nap. I never did eat turkey and all the fixings...I had apple juice and some ice cream instead.

This too shall pass. I have much to be thankful for in my life for I am truly blessed. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Playin' Around

2009-11-23T23:24:00.001-09:00

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Aana's Hands

2009-11-22T20:20:00.002-09:00

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I have a warm fox hat that I have had for a few years. The fur was starting to rip but the rest of it was still good so I asked Uyaana's Aana (grandmother) Lena to help me replace the fur.

Aana had me rip the seams to take off the old fur. I can sew skins but I'm not so good at using patterns. I have made a few pairs of mukluks, but never a hat.

Then she cut pieces out of a new fox skin and started the sewing for me. Once she had it in place she let me stitch the rest. If I had more time I would have had her let me do it all myself so I could learn how but we were leaving that day and we needed to finish it quickly.

Aana has been sewing since she was a little girl. We were talking tonight, wondering how many mukluks she has made over the years? How many parkies? Her hands show years of hard work living off the land in the arctic. Working on seal and beluga, cutting fish and meat, drying and scraping skins. Washing clothes and scrubbing socks by hand. Sewing skins, knitting socks. 76 years of hard work in those hands.

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Frosty Day

2009-11-19T22:21:00.004-09:00

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The days are getting shorter and shorter. I go to work in the dark, I go home in the dark. Pretty soon I will be eating lunch in the dark and picking up Uyaana from school in the dark. This also means there will not be much picture taking in the dark. Most of my free time will be in the dark. So enters the photographic lean season.

I figured I would take some photos while I was running work errands today. Gotta take photos while the sun shines, right? It was a cold and frosty day with a bit of ice fog. In the first photo you can see how low on the horizon the sun was at it's highest point today.

The ice fog in the air settles on anything that is still long enough. This is the fence across the street from my office.

Even the ravens are frosty.

Ice fog caused by vehicle exhaust.

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The Great Motivator

2009-11-16T21:13:00.003-09:00

After I posted the photos I took of Denali the other day Ish from Kodiak Konfidential left me a comment saying "You need to turn the top one into a postcard and the bottom one into one of those inspirational/motivational posters. Maybe... "Even in the darkest time, remember that the sun is still shining somewhere." or something like that."

And so he made one for me!

Cool, ah?

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Denali

2009-11-15T12:06:00.002-09:00

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Mt. McKinley in the background and I think Mt. Foraker in the foreground. Taken from the jet on the way to Anchorage.

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2009-11-13T09:59:00.002-09:00

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I'm off to Los Anchorage for a few days to eat Thai, waste many mindless hours in Barnes and Nobles and renew my covenants with Target.

Veteran's Day Potluck

2009-11-12T22:24:00.002-09:00

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There was a potluck lunch today at the Kotzebue Senior Citizen's Cultural Center in Honor of Veteran's Day. It was originally scheduled for yesterday but it was postponed due to the blizzard.

The kids from Nikaitchuat Ilisagviat, the Inupiaq immersion school here in Kotzebue,sang some songs for everyone.

And Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski stopped by and had a donut.

I'm not sure what her official business here in Kotzebue was but she was nice enough to say a few words in honor of the Veterans and shake some hands.

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Dear Campmor.com......

2009-11-11T15:45:00.003-09:00

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You suck. Yeah you heard me. I used to love your site. I used to waste many an hour looking through your pages and pages of jackets, mittens, hats, and camping gear. I used to spend hundreds of dollars a year there on winter boots and gloves and face masks.....but no more I tell you. No more! You have now joined the ranks of places that give Alaskan's the shaft.

I mean come on Campmor, I live in the United States of America, not Bangladesh! Is it really so hard to ship something to me USPS Priority Mail? Nooooo...you had to sell out to the UPS God and relegate me and my fellow Alaskans to USPS Parcel Post. Come on, PARCEL POST????? Do you know that it takes USPS Parcel Post anywhere from 4-5 weeks to get to Alaska??? Seriously.

And you know what really sucks, Campmor?? You didn't even have the DECENCY to tell us that it is Parcel Post. Nooo....you call it "Standard Shipping" just like you always have so we don't even know our stuff is on the slow boat from China until it happens!!! That's what happened to my friend. Her Daughter broke the zipper on her coat so she ordered from Campmor, like always for a new jacket. 3 weeks later IT'S STILL NOT HERE! Thank goodness I found this out BEFORE I spent several hundred dollars on Christmas stuff and winter gear from your site.

So Campmor, I'm sorry to say that you have lost me as a customer....not that you really care about this Alaskan, or any of the rest of us, anyway.

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Hardcore

2009-11-11T10:48:00.002-09:00

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The guys at Kotzebue Electric Association are hardcore. 11am on a holiday, half dark, 60mph winds in a blizzard with near zero visibility and they are up in the bucket truck fixing the electric wires.

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Snow Day!

2009-11-11T08:40:00.002-09:00

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Well, a miracle has occurred in Kotzebue. The Northwest Arctic Borough School District canceled school today. I guess they learned from last Spring's Debacle of kids getting stuck at school in a blizzard until midnight. I have the day off from work for Veteran's Day, so I had already decided if it was ugly out I wasn't bringing Uyaana to school whether they canceled or not.

When I woke up this morning there was a pile of snow on the living room floor by the back door . While sitting at the computer 5 feet away I could feel the wind blowing through the room from the door. So I set out to try and keep the wind and the snow outside.

Here is my new and improved weather stripping.

It didn't stop snowing in the house until I took some kleenex and shoved it into the crack on top of the door with a pencil.

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Uyaana's Snogo

2009-11-10T20:20:00.004-09:00

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Last weekend we went to camp to see Uyaana's Ahna (grandmother). She lives out at her camp year round. We went with snowmachine along the edge of Kotzebue sound to Lockard Point and crossed the Noatak River mouth on the way to her camp. Later in the winter when the ice is thicker we will travel straight across the sound to get to her camp.

While we were there Uyaana got to ride around on his snogo by himself.

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First Blow of the Season

2009-11-09T16:30:00.002-09:00

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This one is just a little one but I guess I better go tie down all the loose stuff in my yard. While I'm at it I better pick up the other odds and ends laying around or they will be lost for the next 6 months. Let 'er rip!

AKZ209-102015-
BALDWIN PENINSULA AND SELAWIK VALLEY-
INCLUDING...KOTZEBUE...SELAWIK...NOORVIK
402 PM AKST MON NOV 9 2009

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH LATE
WEDNESDAY NIGHT...
.TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. FLURRIES IN THE EVENING. LOWS
5 BELOW TO ZERO. EAST WINDS 20 MPH DIMINISHING LATE.
.TUESDAY...INCREASING CLOUDS. BLOWING SNOW DEVELOPING. HIGHS NEAR
5 ABOVE. EAST WINDS INCREASING TO 30 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...SNOW DEVELOPING LATE. BLOWING SNOW. VISIBILITY
ONE QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. SNOW ACCUMULATION AROUND 4
INCHES. LOWS ZERO TO 5 ABOVE ZERO. EAST WINDS 30 TO 40 MPH.
.VETERANS DAY...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. VISIBILITY ONE QUARTER
MILE OR LESS AT TIMES. HIGHS AROUND 20. EAST WINDS 30 TO 40 MPH.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. LOWS
10 TO 15. SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 25 MPH.
.THURSDAY...CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW. HIGHS NEAR 20.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS NEAR 5 ABOVE.
.FRIDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS NEAR 10 ABOVE.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS NEAR ZERO.
.SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS NEAR 10 ABOVE.
.SATURDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS NEAR ZERO.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS NEAR 10 ABOVE.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS NEAR 5 ABOVE.
.MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS NEAR 15.

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Another Doggy Play Date

2009-11-06T07:14:00.003-09:00

Here are some photos from another doggy play date.

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Casting Call for "On Ice", the Movie

2009-11-05T08:25:00.003-09:00

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Ok all you Qikiqtagrukmiut, the casting call for "On Ice", the movie, starts today. It will be held at the Boys and Girls Club here in Kotzebue...

Thursday, November 5th -- 6-9pm
Friday, November 6th -- 6-9pm
Saturday, November 7th -- 1-4pm

They are looking for Inupiaq natives between he ages of 17 to 70, especially young men between the ages of 17 and 25 and older men between 34 and 45.

Now's the time all you Drama Queens (and Kings) can put your good talents to work! It would be great to see some OTZ faces in this movie.

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Thirteen Ways to Eat Sailor Boy Pilot Crackers

2009-11-05T07:28:00.000-09:00

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This is a re-post from a couple of years ago. This post is one that generates many of the hits I get from Google searches. Because of it's popularity I thought I would re-post it for the new folks who may not have seen it yet.

Today's Thursday Thirteen will honor Sailor Boy Pilot Bread crackers! These crunchy rounds of true Alaskana attract at least 5 hits a day from google to my blog Who are you people???? Are you Alaskans far from home craving our favorite snack? Are you survivalists looking for a food guaranteed to survive any disaster? Come on, speak up, I know your there.

13. Sailor Boy and Goober PBJ. Never mind Powerbars. It is the perfect Alaskan bush sustenance and a boating necessity. It's fast, it's easy, it doesn't take up much room.

12. Sailor Boy and akutaq (eskimo ice cream) Akutaq is a mix of caribou fat, seal oil, sugar and Berries. It is high powered Eskimo fuel guaranteed to keep you going sitting out on the ice jigging for sheefish.

11. Sailor Boy Pizza. I wrote about that a while back. It's fast and easy and keeps kids happy.

10. Sailor Boy and cheese. Another kid favorite. It's a fast snack they can get themselves. My boy has a particular way he eats it. He must nibble the cheese around the edges until it fits the round cracker and then eats the rest of it.

9. Sailor Boy and tuna salad.....I guess you also include in this ham salad, egg salad, potato salad, macaroni salad....basically anything that has mayonnaise in it.....which brings me to ....

8. Sailor Boy and Mayo. This is a Kotzebue staple. I know people who cannot possibly eat their supper without this.

7. Toasted Sailor Boy and butter. Take your crackers, throw them in the toaster, butter them up and then try and eat it without the butter dripping through the holes all over your shirt.

6. Sailor boy and SPAM....which of course includes mayonnaise. This is another essential because, as we know, SPAM is one of the food groups.

5. Sailor Boy with crisco and sugar. I'm not kidding. My son's Ahna (grandmother) used to love this when she was a kid she said it's delicious. I'll take her word for it. She usually tells that story as an accompaniment to the story of walking 15 miles to town to buy sugar.

4. Sailor Boy crackers crumbled up in your caribou soup....or moose soup, or rabbit soup, or musk ox soup or fish soup, or duck soup, or goose soup or moose nose soup..........

3. Sailor Boy crackers and fermented salmon eggs........Absolutely vile, but I know plenty of people who love it.

2. These are the best teething biscuits around.

1. And my personal favorite.....Sailor boy and smoked oysters. Another perfect combination to take when hunting. One can of oysters and 5 pilot crackers is a meal. There has been more than one time that I have eaten this while shivering under a blue tarp in a boat, in the middle of nowhere, hunting caribou on a cold, raining, fall day. Aaaahhh....memories.

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Waxing Gibbous

2009-11-04T09:25:00.001-09:00

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Frosty

2009-11-01T09:00:00.000-09:00

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These photos were taken 10/31/09 after the ice fog had cleared up.

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Trick or Treat

2009-10-31T20:28:00.001-08:00

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Halloween Parade

2009-10-31T15:47:00.004-08:00

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Every Year the elementary school here in Kotzebue has a costume parade. All the kids can dress up in their costumes and parade around the gym for everyone to see.

Even some of the teachers join in.

Uyaana didn't want to wear his costume at school.

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Snow Witch

2009-10-31T14:26:00.001-08:00

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Taken outside the Alaska Airlines building in Kotzebue.

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Seal Hunter

2009-10-30T07:09:00.001-08:00

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Sunset This Evening

2009-10-29T21:47:00.001-08:00

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High Honor Roll

2009-10-28T08:20:00.001-08:00

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This photo looks like a mug shot...YIKES!

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