Hi ya’ll,
An addendum to the previous email: There are 3000 people living in Kotzebue, not 1000 as I wrote in my last email. Hey, it was 5am when I wrote it so if that's the worst I did I'm happy.
Not a lot to write about lately but I'll give it a shot, if for no other reason than to keep the fingers nimble.
It's almost the middle of September and while a lot of you southerners are sweltering in the 90 degree heat and your stomachs are tied in knots watching the storms lashing Florida and praying they stay there, we are having mostly sunny days with the highs now barely reaching the low 50's. The last three days there has been frost on the ground and ice on the seats of our 4 wheelers. Today however there is a light rain with the temps in the low 40's. We made our daily rounds of the post office and the grocery wearing our rain gear. At least when it's below freezing and snowing you don't get wet.
The tundra is brown and the winds have been a bit chilly as of late. Old man winter is peeking around the corner and I swear he's leering at us. The local paper reports the Polar Bears have returned to Barrow and are having to be "patiently moved out of town", whatever that means. We are approaching the most trying time of year when the temp cycles above and below freezing making for slick sheet ice on every surface. The ignitions get wet and then freeze causing no small amount of aggravation. I am in the midst of trying to decide when to change the oil in the 4 wheelers to winter grade because if I wait too long, it'll be to darned cold to want to get out there and do it. I am also trying to decide whether or not to take some folks advice and leave the oil filter out of the machines. These folks say the oil gets so thick in the intense cold that the oil can clog at the filter causing the engine to burn up. There are others who say to never run the engine without the filter. When we changed the oil this summer after running zero weight all winter we noted that the filters in both machines were compressed. The only thing I can think of that caused this is that the oil became so thick it could not flow through the filter and the compression of the engine sucked the filters down far enough for the oil to get around them. This is with the engine block heaters we installed kept plugged in every chance we could.
The afternoons for the most part have been pleasant enough to get out on the tundra and pick the now ripe cranberries. The blueberries are gone and we just do not care for the crowberries. The cranberries which last year were tiny and scarce, this year are the size of small green peas and plentiful. We have been doing this in lieu of walking for exercise because believe me, the bending and twisting not to mention the walking on the tundra, provides for three or four Motrin evenings. We have a gallon of them in the freezer and so far have used them in a banana cranberry coffeecake and I combined some with strawberries to make a great jam. We plan to save a bunch for Thanksgiving which we plan to spend with the kids in Anchorage.
The seals are back in the front of town which is another sign of winters return. I hear folks have been catching fish in front of town but I did not go out there because I don't want to spoil it for those fortunate folks. Speaking of seals I forgot to mention something that occurred when we flew to Anchorage last month and were checking in our baggage at the Kotzebue airport. We now have the house the Anchorage and the three of us were each transporting two guns apiece down with us (don't worry; we still have and arsenal here). We told the Transportation and Safety Administration folks checking the luggage about the guns and being Alaska, they did not bat an eye. However, the agent quickly asked us if we were transporting any seal oil while eyeing us critically. Guess they've had experience with that unmistakable smell (one that does not come out of clothes either).
The northern lights have been out most nights although the intensity has been low. The night before last though there was an intense green streak across the sky that was just beautiful. I looked at it for a bit telling myself to get the camera but the bed won out. So sorry, I still do not have any new pictures.
I have started my new job as Infection Control Officer for the region and have been working with the soon to retire man who has held the job for years. I have some big shoes to fill and a lot to learn in a short time and as I have mentioned before it's a bit scary. So far I do like the autonomy the job affords and once I get my feet firmly grounded I think I will like the job. Only time will tell. Patty has settled down in her job now that we have come to a firm decision to stay. In fact the folks in her office applauded when we told them we were staying. So we'll both attempt to make the best of our decision. Christy told Patty the other night that her and her "friend" Mike are more than just friends. He's currently not working but I am informed he is currently in school trying to finish his schooling in X-ray. At least he's male. Cathy approached Patty last week and asked her if she preferred a December or June wedding to which our response was "which year"? Her significant other also is male thank goodness but he also is not currently employed. (He did work as a temporary helper with the post office up until two months ago and he is taking the test for the full time position here in Kotzebue. With his background of a few years with the military he does has a shot.) So Peyton Place of the north continues......or pick just your own sitcom.
Today in the mail I received an invitation to my 30 year high school reunion. I took great pleasure in writing back about our current location and demographics and look forward to their response. As I mentioned once before about when we were digging our machines out of the snow they were buried past their windshields in, and the temp was minus 18 degrees. My neighbor stuck his head out to see how we were doing and I asked him why we lived here to which he replied, "BRAGGING RIGHTS"!
Until next time,
The Sam's
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Last updated:
08/29/05