Hello folks,
I haven't written for a bit due to first, training for my new job, and second, because our computer crashed and we lost almost everything. I have been scrambling in my spare time to get this machine back up and running. I know, I know, back everything up on disc. Don't you realize there's always tomorrow? So if you sent something that would not go through or did not get a reply, I may not have gotten it. I also lost access to the web site but I think I have that solved.
It's now September 22 and I believe most of you thank goodness fared well during the hurricanes of late. I shouldn't speak so soon as the season isn't over with but we do have our fingers crossed.
Fall is here with winter rapidly approaching. How do I know? Of course there are the subtle little hints that with my education I can deduce. Things such as the brown tundra, the seals in abundance in front of town heading north (I think), the multitude of ducks passing through, the decline in the seagull presence, the ripe cranberries, the 4 wheeler passing the window as I type being pulled by eight eager sled dogs....... Oh, and the fact that the temps are gradually going down with the daytime temps in the low 40's with nightly frosts and the low last night of 28 degrees. The good news is it's easier to clean the dew off the seats of our 4 wheelers because it's frozen. The northern lights have been out most clear nights and although the display's are pretty no matter the intensity, they are either not bright enough to get good photos or they dim by time I get the camera set up. (The truth is the best occur around 3-4am and I look at them for a moment telling my self to get the camera, but I usually go back to bed.) Darkness comes about 9:30pm with daylight around 8am. Not everyone can interpret these tiny hints, smart guy huh?
Cathy flew to Noatak Sunday with her significant other Gary, his sister, and his Mother who chartered the plane. They went to the village to attend the wedding of one of their family members and although I did not get to talk much with Cathy about it, she said it was wonderful. More on that as I get the latest news (or gossip).
The kids are back in school and it is a common sight on some evenings and on Saturday to see a bunch of them jogging past the apartment on their way to cemetery hill and back. They had a competition two Saturdays ago and the folks coming back after a run on the loop road behind town all had rides. Now all the literature on 4 wheelers warns that these machines are only designed to carry one person and that two is not only dangerous but illegal. Naturally I had to chuckle to myself as the coach road by with six kids on his machine. That's right, six teens and an adult on one machine.
Saturday Patty and I went about ten miles down the beach to get out for a bit. We picked a spot at random and climbed up an incline to the tundra and got into enough cranberries to pick a half gallon in about an hour. There were plenty of what they call blackberries but they are not like those down south. These are the size of a small pea, black in color, and are full of seeds. They are officially called crowberries. They are now overripe and we were picking cranberries amongst them and crawling through them. Both of our pants looked like modern art when we were finished and when we got home Patty's once white underwear were now pink and purple polka dot. It was a bit cool but the wind was low, the surf was gently lapping at the shore, the sun was warm against our backs, and the light pine like smell of the tundra all combined to foster much needed serenity. Gotta get out and do that more before the snows come!
Cathy did offer us some moose when we saw her yesterday. Seems Aucha, a friend of ours got a huge male yesterday with a huge set of antlers. (Wonder how that made the hunters who spend thousands to come up here feel when they saw that.) Cathy and Gary helped her clean it and got a share. I spoke with one of the Docs here that is a close friend of Aucha's and was there when she shot the moose. The two of them who are about as tall as Cathy, (5 foot nothing) couldn't get the moose into the boat she said. They had to get help as moose can get a bit large (understatement).
Well I'll quit now as Patty is calling me to eat the dinner I cooked. She is good at watching it though.
Jeez, she can cook! Sorry! (A baseball bat being aimed at the back of the head can make you say almost anything huh?)
I have attached a copy of an email that was sent to all Maniilaq employees that you might find interesting. It kind of gives a bit more insight into the fact that many here hunt for a good portion of their food and their lives revolve around the seasons and the different bounty's they bring.
Take care all,
The Sam's
PS Taikku means thank you in Inupiat.
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 2:52 PM
> To: All Maniilaq Employees
> Subject: For all our great duck hunters AND our skilled duck pluckers !!
>
> If you are successful and get EXTRA ducks while hunting, please give
them to the Family Crisis Center ( Women's Shelter). If you don't have a
special someone to pluck the ducks, the shelter staff will do it!!! No
problem!!
>
> We would need them between now and Sept. 27th. It's for a very special and
tasty purpose!!! ( something to do with a big meeting on the 29 and 30)
>
> The shelter number is 3724 house number 669 on Caribou.. Or you can drop
them off to me in the FRF Build, room 112.
>
> The whole shelter staff hopes our hunters do well!!!!
>
> Taikku
> Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 12:37 PM
All Maniilaq Employees
> Subject: RE: For all our great duck hunters AND our skilled duck pluckers
!!
>
> We have no ducks yet! : - ( We'll take geese, too, if you have
them!
> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 9:01 AM
> To: Susan Jones; All Maniilaq Employees
> Subject: RE: For all our great duck hunters AND our skilled duck pluckers
!!
>
> My goodness! The shelter staff want to thank the kind people who
dropped off birds!
>
> Now, they are getting excited and asked for CARIBOU, too!! We'll make 2
big soups if we can get caribou! Maybe it's this nice fall weather that is
making people hungry ha ha ha!
> Taikku
For problems or questions regarding this web contact
carlo@samsicles.net
Last updated:
08/29/05