Hey yall,
Here it is already mid November and back in New Orleans you are probably
getting your first taste of fall with possible light jacket weather. This
morning November 16th, the temp was minus 12 with a wind chill of minus 37.
It's not as bad as most people think because the colder it gets, the lower the
humidity. Don't get me wrong now, it is cold out. It is a new experience to
feel the hairs in your nose freeze on the first breath when going outside. I can
even feel the frost on my mustache and beard as I breath. Another unique
problem for those of us who wear glasses is that when they fog up, the fog
instantly freezes so there is no chance it will clear without removing them and
wiping it off. So far the 4 wheelers continue to run faithfully although we had
to tow Cathy's to the fire hall and leave it overnight to thaw out before it
would start. Now we religiously put HEET into each tank of gas to keep water
condensation from freezing in the fuel lines. We did install engine block
heaters on each but the hospital wants 40 dollars for the plug and 35 dollars a
month for each machine to plug them in. I am probably going to run a line
outside soon to get around this. Another unique thing is when you sit on the
seat it's not a cushion anymore as it is frozen solid too.
We had another tragedy up here last week when a middle aged man and woman
were coming back from camp across the sound in an airboat. They did not arrive
home that evening. The temps at that time were in the teens and the sound was
partially frozen over. Search and Rescue was activated that night. This is a
group of mostly locals who have lived here all their lives and know the area and
climate. They went out in boats, on 4 wheelers, the fire department ARGO (an 8
wheeled vehicle that can also traverse water and has removable snow tracks on
it), and snow machines where it was possible. The next day the airboat was
found upside down with the woman passenger caught in a tarp that was used as a
wind break. She was the mother of one of our security guards and the
mother-in-law of the head volunteer firefighter who is also a member of Search
and Rescue. We know them both and as this is a small community most townsfolk
know them also. When the body was brought into the hospital morgue and after it
was released by the authorities, people started coming in to view the body.
Here the family goes into the morgue and cleans and prepares the body for
viewing and friends and relatives come into the hospital for the viewing. There
are no funeral homes here and there is no embalming, the family does all the
preparation. There were people coming and going for hours. When they bury her,
the grave will be dug by family and volunteers with shovels and picks. Sometimes
they build a fire on top, scrape it off, then remove the melted soil and do it
over again. The radio will sometimes call for volunteers to help. There is no
waiting for the ground to thaw in spring because 12 inches down is permafrost
year round. The male boat operator has not been found. Search and Rescue has
set up headquarters in the fire hall where they are there around the clock and
coordinate the efforts. They have been out in planes when conditions permit, on
4 wheelers, boats, and snow machines everyday looking for a sign without
success. The fire department arctic divers went down where the boat was found
without any success. They have been cutting holes in the ice and using cameras
to search underwater. Another technique is to watch the ravens. If there is a
congregation of them out on the sound, that is usually and indicator of a food
source and since they are black against the white ice and snow and easily seen,
they can sometimes lead searchers to what they are looking for. As the water
temp here is so low the body will usually sink and not come to the surface
because it decays slowly, if at all. Also, since the currents and tides here
are usually pretty dramatic, I don't think they will find him. They will keep
looking as long as the family wants them to though. I have been in the hall a
number of times during the search and there have never been less than 20 people
there. There is food everywhere and most of it is traditional Inupiaq Eskimo
fare. In fact the other day there was a spotted fur seal carcass outside the
hall in the snow (arctic icebox). Ester, our EMS coordinator, was inside the
hall skinning out another one using an ulu-a curved handmade Eskimo knife. The
carcass was put aside and the meat was to be cut up later. She was removing the
fat layer under the hide which is about two inches thick. They cube it up, put
it in five gallon buckets and then store it to allow it to rend naturally. I
asked about it going rancid but I was assured it doesn't. This is what they use
to store fish and berries in. They also use it as a dip for raw fish, caribou,
moose, and anything else they fancy, and as an ingredient in Eskimo ice cream.
We have had Commission Corp nurses up here to help with our
nursing shortage and to allow us to get ob training. They got to
experience some of this first hand. One was from Dallas so this was quite a
change. We were in report the other day and as a nurse was reporting on a
diabetic pt and her diet, imagine the face of these nurses when it was reported
the family had given the patient bear fat for a snack the night before. The one
from Dallas was on line later looking up the nutritional values of caribou. As
I have said before, life is different here.
The other day I went to the store and bought a bag of lettuce. I put it in the box on front of my 4 wheeler and made another stop at the post office. When I got home the lettuce was burned from the cold. You don't have to worry about things getting to warm on the way home-you have to worry about it freezing. Another thing is sunrise is now around 10:30 am. This makes it tough to get out of bed on our off days as it is so comfortable under the covers and still dark outside. The upside however is we get to see a lot more sunrises and some of them are pretty spectacular.
Well, stay warm down there and we will try to do the same.
Take care all,
Carlo, Patty, Christy (big city girl), and Cathy
For problems or questions regarding this web contact
carlo@samsicles.net
Last updated:
08/29/05