Icy

.

Rough Housing

.

If It Sits Still Long Enough, Shoot It.

.

Getting Chilly

It's starting to get cold out. The ponds on the tundra are glazing over and there is some ice on the edges of the lagoon. At this rate it won't be long before we are hooking tomcod on new thin ice. I hear they got some snow in Fairbanks. No snow in Kotzebue yet.

I had some pics that I was going to post today but I can't seem to find my USB cord. I have a spare at work so maybe I can get them posted tomorrow.

.

The Debate Is On

Well I guess today's debate will take place as scheduled. As George Carlin said, "When you’re born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you’re born in America, you get a front row seat."

.

Yesterdays Pics

Well, here arethe pics that I was trying to post yesterday. There have been studies done that say that the United States has dismally slow internet in comparision to other developed nations and that Alaska, in particular, is the worst. Kotzebue's internet is quite pathetic.

There was a beautiful sunset last night. These were taken at approximately 8:55pm.

*#$@*%*$ Arctic Internet!

I had some pics to post today but my lousy good for nothing internet is running like 1990's era dial up tonight. I'll try to upload them tomorrow.

.

I Don't Think Obama Approves This Message

My dad sent me this. He thinks he's a funny guy.

.

This Place Cracks Me Up

Check out Passive Aggressive Notes.com. I can't stop reading them.

.

Kotzebue, Alaska

.

Happy Autumnal Equinox Quoth the Raven

.

It Stinks to have a Bum Leg....

On a day like this. I went back to work today. Lets just say that it was a loooong day. By 4:30pm my knee was singing Ave Maria. By 5pm I was ready to go to bed, strap on the ice cuff and stay there until morning. When I got home I felt guilty for my poor neglected dogs so I took Kaija dog for a short run on the 4 wheeler (my motorized wheelchair). After that I got distracted by the dishes and cooking dinner. And then I got distracted by the barge order. Then a friend of mine stopped by and gave me part of a moose foreleg. I looked at that leg with at least 15 lbs of meat left on it and I just couldn't do it, I didn't have anything left in me so I passed it on to another friend. So finally I am in bed with the ice cuff strapped to my knee digesting 800 mgs of ibuprofen.




As I was saying, it was a beautiful day today. A crisp cool fall day. It's the kind of day that is perfect for picking cranberries. Unfortunately I don't think that walking over tundra is an approved activity 12 days post-op.




The days are getting shorter. After spending 9 days in Anchorage and then sleeping in since I got home, this morning was the first time I have been awake at 7:30 am in Kotzebue for about 2 weeks and boy was it dark. Not completely dark, but a heck of a lot darker than it was just a couple of weeks ago. It doesn't take long when we are losing over 7 minutes of light per day.




It was nice to be outside. I may not have been able to run around out in the country, but at least I got to enjoy a little bit of this beautiful day.

.

Fashionista!

Second runner up in the Mrs. Bush Alaska Haute Couture and Cammo Contest. First place in the Camp Casual Competition. Work it Katak, work it!

.

Regional Cross Country Meet

Today was the Northwest Arctic Borough School District's Regional Cross Country meet for elementary and middle schools. There were teams representing Kotzebue, Ambler, Kobuk, Shungnak, Kiana, Noorvik, and I think Noatak. I'm not sure if there were any kids from Deering, Kivalina, or Selawik.




The girls took off first. For the elementary kids the race started at the first bridge and went to the beginning of the hill where the kids turned around and headed back for the finish. It was a one mile course.





Next it was the boy's turn to race the same course.




Can you see Uyaana? He's wearing a green cammo John Deer sweatshirt that is one size too small (note to self, get rid of that sweatshirt). Just before the races started I noticed that all his other team mates had team shirts. I asked him where his was and he just said "oh I forgot". *Sigh*




Here he is plugging away.




The final stretch.




And the finish line.

.

Ho Hum

This cripple stuff is for the birds. In the last three days I have been home I have used 6 bags of ice, watched hours of 80's music videos, done 800 straight leg lifts, 200 passive heal slides, and popped umpteen advil and various other pills. I haven't touched my camera for eleven days. I'm gonna strap my brace on and leave the house tomorrow come hell or high water.

Home Again

I made it home yesterday. I'm still hanging in there. My leg is still swollen more than I think it should be and it hurts like a bugger. I keep it iced most of the time, even while sleeping. I have a Donjoy Iceman that circulates ice water into a cuff around my knee. It's great because each time you add ice it lasts for about 7 hours.

After the surgery they give you a list of exercises to do at home. The surgeon that I see does not refer you to professional physical therapy. Instead he has developed a series of exercises to do on your own at your own pace...which is a good thing because there are no physical therapists in Kotzebue.

I will be out of work until at least Monday. I'll see how I feel on Sunday and decide if I need to take more time off. I have definitely been catching up on a lot of tv watching. Kotzebue recently switched to digital cable and we have a bunch of new (mostly useless) channels. One of those Channels is VH1CR. It have been showing 80's videos for a couple hours now. I think this is going to be my new favorite channel.

My barge order came in while I was gone. I now have 900 lbs of groceries, laundry soap and bleach piled up all over the house that needs to be dealt with. Oh yeah, my new freezer arrived too. It is awesome. It even has a little digital temperature thingie on the door and an alarm that goes off if someone leaves the door open. I'm so glad that I don't have to dig through that chest freezer anymore. You should see that dates on some of the stuff we found on the bottom. The dogs will be eating well for a while.

Change of Plans

I was supposed to go back home to Kotzebue this evening but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. My knee is not reacting well to it's 5th surgery and the swelling is amazing. I wonder how much a person's leg can swell before something bad happens....I don't even want to think about it. So I am going to give it another 24 hours of ice and elevation here in Anchorage and see if that helps. I will be going home tomorrow for sure....I mean it, really (please).

Fuzz

.

Caboose

Poor Rush....




...no matter how hard he tries....




...he's always bringing up the rear.

.

Camp Robbers

Camp Robbers are one of my favorite birds. They are Gray Jays, also known as Canadian Jays or Whiskeyjacks, and many people consider them a pest. I think they are interesting. The enty on wikipedia states "Gray Jays readily capitalize on novel food sources, including humans living on or passing through their territories. To the frustration of trappers using baits to catch furbearing animals or early travelers trying to protect their winter food supplies, and to the delight of modern campers, many individual Gray Jays quickly learn that we can be an excellent source of food, even coming to the hand for bread, raisins, or cheese."




This Camp Robber was eating pieces of baked salmon that I was throwing to him. Even though he lived way out on the Noatak River he was still quite bold. Once he knew I was throwing food to him he kept coming back for more.

More Portland Roses

Here are a few more pics from my visit to the Portland Rose Garden last month....












.

Birds on the Noatak River

.

We Interrupt Regularly Scheduled Programming For...

....knee surgery. I am leaving for Anchorage today. I will be having knee surgery on Wednesday. It will be my 5th surgery on my left knee. I'm not sure what flavor it will be this time...maybe another partial menisectomy or another acl reconstruction, or perhaps both again. I won't know what they have done to me this time until I wake up. If they just work on the meniscus cartilage then I should be home by Friday, but if they replace the acl as well I won't be home until next Monday. I first injured this knee in 2003 and it has been a major problem ever since. I hope that this will be the last surgery I have to have on it for a long time.

Obviously I will be in no shape for blogging for a few days so I have scheduled some posts to pop up while I am away. Some are from a boat ride up the river we took yesterday and some pics that I took around town. Others will be odds and ends of past stuff that I have pulled from the archives. They will be scheduled to post at 9am Alaska time.

Happy Birthday Uyaana!

On this day my boy turns 9 years old! We had his party yesterday.




Here's his cake, it's actually brownies. I baked him a cake but let it sit too long and it was hopelessly stuck in the pan. Luckily the brownies came right out of their pan so I decorated that instead. He liked it so much he said he wants that kind of cake next year too.




My friend Kathy, Queen of Fried Donuts and All Things Yummy, made these Happy Birthday Donuts which were a big hit with everyone.

This Week's Sounder

Well, National Geographic it ain't, but I'm on the cover of the Arctic Sounder.

.

Long Billed Dowitchers

.

Uncle Ted in the Land of OTZ

Senator Ted Stevens Arrived in Kotzebue today.




There were a lot of people at the airport to welcome him, including the Northwest Arctic Borough School District's Youth Leaders.




Senator Stevens took time to meet the kids and have their pictures taken with him before he headed over to KOTZ Radio





At KOTZ Radio Senator Stevens was interviewed by Dean Westlake. Dean thanked Stevens for his many years of service and dedication to the State of Alaska.




If you live in rural Alaska and can flush your toilet you can pretty much thank Ted Stevens. If you break your arm and the hospital in Kotzebue, Nome or Barrow patches you up you can thank Ted Stevens. Drinking clean water in the bush? Thank Uncle Ted.




Senator Stevens was also welcomed by Suzie Erlich, General Manager of KOTZ Radio, Chester Ballot, Cairman of the KOTZ Radio Board of Directors, and Carl Weisner of OTZ Telephone.

Senator Stevens will be meeting with the public from 3pm to 6pm at OTZ Telephone.

We're in the Money...almost

The Alaska Department of Revenue has announced the amount of the 2008 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend. The dividend amount is $2,069 and the new Alaska Resource Rebate is $1,200, for a grand total of $3,269. Direct deposits begin September 12th.





Thank you State of Alaska for my new 21 cubic foot Frigidaire energy saver freezer, and my electric bill thanks you too.



If you are interested in reading how the Dividend works and it's history you can check it out on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Permanent_Fund

Reflections

Pauls Slough, Noatak River