Wood and the "Apple Restaurant"

We bought a load of overpriced logs from upriver for our wood stove. We felt it would be worth it to use our wood stove on weekends. Kolin wanted to wait until the logs were frozen solid before cutting and chopping them up. I think he feels they split easier when they're frozen? He tuned up his father's old chainsaw and got to work. The boys gathered at the window. Watching Daddy saw up logs was pretty interesting, but when he got to the chopping, the boys, Owen especially, were blown away. Every time the axe came down, Owen had something to say, "Wow... Pow... Ka Bam!" Then he durned his comments to his dad shouting, "He's the strongest man there ever was!" My personal favorite, "He's like a Super Hero!" I have to say I was pretty impressed as well. When the only wood-chopping you've ever seen was by teenage girls at Camp Arcadia, the ease with which a 190 pound man with a big axe can go through a pile of wood is pretty striking. The boys couldn't take it at the window, and suited up to go help. They helped organize the wood into a wood pile. Kolin says they were actually very helpful. The thing about kids is they actually like being helpful sometimes; it's nice.
And just an aside about Apple Restaurants, because this is something I want to remember. I think someone gave this apple cutter to my mom when I was a little girl. We didn't used it much growing up, but somehow I ended up with it. The boys insist on "Apple Restaurants," a term phrased by Spencer, about once a week. If you take the apple out of the cutter, it's not an apple restaurant anymore. You have to keep it in the cutter until only the core is standing.

Hoar Frost Addendum: Daylight

Willow Branch

Marsh Grasses

Raspberry Leaves

Embracing the Hoar Frost

It is 8AM on Saturday. I just let the dog out. Kolin's snoozing. Owen if flapping his arms in a bird costume on the Wii.
It is 7 degrees outside. The humidity is 92%. Thus the weather is "Freezing fog." So One of the pleasures of cold livin' is having to unfreeze the dog tether clasp with your warm hand on a cold day so it will thaw/open. I will never miss this. This is a picture of me letting the dog out. Just wanted to catch how happy I look. November was not a good month for me last year, nor this year it seems. We are losing 5+ minutes of daylight per day and just over 6 weeks to go until the winter solstice. As far as I'm concerned, once December 21 gets here, it IS summer. I can't wait.
A truly positive aspect of living here is Hoar frost. I don't remember hoar frost growing up in New England. The closest thing we seemed to have was an ice storm that would cover the trees, also beautiful. Hoarfrost likewise covers the trees and exposed surfaces, but with little crystals, rather than cakes of ice. I truly is beautiful. I'm not sure what the white mist is in the above picture. I couldn't see it; the flash picked it up. I think it might be the condensation from by breath, lingering and rising in the air. Alternatively, it could be a ghost. The moon, the same one that you look at - I like to remind myself of that sometimes, is likewise beautiful this morning. It doesn't come out well with the camera, but it surrounded by a halo of ice fog.

Nov 1: What's Happening Today

Not much is happening today in our little home in Bethel, the first of many such lazy Sundays for the new winter season. It's 12 degrees outside currently at 1 PM. We rose early (forgot about daylight savings) and Owen got right to running on Wii Fit while Kolin made breakfast. (I decided to buy a Wii to help blow off Owen's steam in the winter. (I'm generally anti-video game, but another winter of 20 below days and Owen bouncing off the wall made me reconsider) We only have Wii Fit plus and Wii sports and are trying to keep it to "exercise games" only.)
This morning we had, as Owen call it, "An Olden Days Breakfast," inspired by my other guilty purchase, the Little House on the Prairie Cookbook. I experimented with cornmeal yesterday and made cornmeal mush on our wood stove. Chilled it in the fridge, and Kolin fried it up this morning for breakfast, a tasty gluten-free alternative to French toast. Served with eggs and bacon -- Kolin's not into skimping on breakfast.
We then bundled up and headed outside. Luckily the boys' parkas from last year still fit. Spence had a near-maiming experience on the steps. Dunkin decided not to wait for his leash and pushed past the boys, knocking Spence head-over-heals down our corrugated steel steps. Since our house is on stilts, we have about 10 of them. These steel steps are popular in Bethel. They do a pretty good job of ensuring good traction through the icy months, but they can cause some pretty serious gouges if anything but your feet lands on them. Spencer fell like a plank and came to a rest about 3 steps from a bottom--with his head on the step and his feet almost straight up in the air, leaning against the hand rail. I don't know if it was the fear or the winter-weather packaging that kept him so stiff. I ran down the stairs, grabbed his feet and righted him back up. I turned him over to see his face expecting to see blood and jagged wounds that would scar him for life. Lucky kid; he landed such that his head was guarded by his hat and hood. The only evidence of the fall is a small bruise on his forehead with some small scratches in it. Like a true Alaskan, he dried his eyes, asked for some kisses, and went on to play with Owen by the wood pile. No pictures of the boys and trick-or-treating, though we did adventure into the cold for the occasion and were out almost 2 hours (making stops at the Lion's Club and Cultural center to warm up a bit). Owen was very upset because he didn't want to be a "fat" Dracula. I guess he didn't think Dracula should wear snow pants and a parka under his cape. Spence was lucky enough that his snow pants fit under his engineer's overalls. We did have a small costume party at our house earlier in the day - only one little redheaded guest was invited. Kolin made homemade mac&cheese and the kids and I made mummy cupcakes. I am so happy for Owen. He has a friend from his after-school program who fully appreciates his zaniness, energy, and creativity - and she's a girl. Most girls, it seems, think Owen is too ... something. This is the best friend Owen has ever had, and it seems to be mutual. Owen told me other day that some of the kids were telling him that he likes girls. He didn't seem to know whether to be offended or not. I think we convinced him that it's OK to be a "girl-liker." You've got to like a girl to who arrives for a play date on a snow machine and lets Owen wear her Spiderman costume while she plays as "his leopard."

Octobering

I fell into a bit of a funk, and as a result things that might seem interesting, like the lint from our dryer, did not. Anyway, Kolin tells me that I should just write something so that my blog "doesn't start to look like Anne's blog." (JOKE, LOVE YOU ANNE). Here goes... looks like this is going to be about the kids, so if you don't like reading posts about people's kids, go no further.
October is nearly over. October, of course, means Halloween. Now that we a have a "Big five Years Old," we know about such things Mikelnguut Elitnaurviat (M.E.) School's annual Halloween Carnival. We were apparently clueless about this one last year. They transform the elementary school into a grand Halloween party where kids play silly games to win silly toys. (And parents get to run after plastic golf balls while volunteering to help kids ages 1 - 2nd grade put through the witches legs - my quads are tired today). Here are some pictures of the boys prepping for their Halloween shenanigans. We opted against creativity this year and did store-bought costumes, or rather internet-bought costumes. We recently did a cardboard box burning at the house,-- there were just too many "robot parts," "fireman boats" and various other "silly machines" littering our little dome, so no robots for Halloween this year. But lest you think I'm getting too frivolous on you, the costumes can be reused as regular clothes (or super hero clothes in the case of Owen's cape). In case you were wondering, if you ask Spence what he is allergic to, you will find he is "allergic to Super Heroes."Owen opted for the ever-popular vampire. He was really excited about the make-up, but once on, the tears began flowing. He didn't look enough like Owen for his liking, so we washed it off. As you can tell, Owen seems to have a theatrical flare. He is going to be a "bird" in the Bethel Actor's Gild children's play come December. He sings in the chorus and even has a line, "Right on!" (As an aside, it is the ninth or so week of school, and Owen got *Student of the Week* for Mrs. Lieb's kindergarten class. In the weekly "News from Mrs. Lieb's Room" she writes, "Owen loves to draw colorful pictures in his journal. He has great stories that he writes on his own to tell about the pictures. Owen loves to sing and enjoys sharing his songs with everyone around. Keep up the great work Owen!")
Spencer had trouble deciding on a costume, so his overbearing mother made up his mind and opted for cuteness -he's only gong to be 3 once. Being a lover of trains, he was pretty excited to be a "Train Guy."October in Bethel also means the coming of winter, and by winter I mean snow. Winter has arrived, a full 3 weeks later than last year. It has been cold for several weeks, but no snow. I have to say that summer (all season's without snow) was pretty long for our first year, and I am actually not that sad to see the return of the whiteness. Plus walking to work in blowing snow greatly beats walking to work in blowing dust.

Where We Live: The Land

Photo from http://kyukonassignment.wordpress.com/

We've lived on the Delta, the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta for just over a year now, and I've recorded very little about the land or it's inhabitants or history around there. Just seemed like too big of a task. For better or for worse, here I go... Since the land came first, I have decided to start with that. After my first ever trip to Alaska, I was inspired to take a geology course at Yale. I didn't last long. I think it was the only course I dropped during college, finding geology wasn't my strong suit-- should have take "Rocks for Jocks" even though I definitely was never a jock. Anyway, despite the fact that Geology class didn't take for me, I found the following description of the Y-K Delta from the US Forest Service very interesting. It's a bit jargony (an understatement), but describes the land better than I could, so try to read though it.

Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
All credit for the following to the US Forest Service.

Geomorphology. The area is a lake-dotted marshy plain with many low hills of basalt and volcanic cinder cones and craters. Elevation is less than 400 ft (120 m).

Lithology and Stratigraphy. The lowland is underlain by post-accreted Quaternary sands and silts to unknown depth. Basalt flows and cinder cones of Tertiary and Quaternary age exist. Other bedrock consists of Cenozoic sedimentary rocks with inclusions of various other assemblages.

Soil Taxa. Dominant soils are Histic Pergelic Cryaquepts and Pergelic Cryofibrists. Soils are shallow over permafrost and consistently wet.

Potential Natural Vegetation. Wet tundra communities consisting primarily of sedge mats, moss, and low growing shrubs predominate. Alder, willows, and scattered, stunted spruce and birch grow along the major streams.

Fauna. The lakes, streams, and tidal flats interspersed with tundra and sedge flats make this Section exceptional habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, and furbearers. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta supports the highest densities of nesting tundra swans, most of the world's population of emperor swans, and one-half of the total population of black brant. All of North America's cackling Canada geese are produced in these coastal lowlands. Spectacled eiders are common north of the Kuskokwim River. The only known breeding grounds of the very rare bristle-thighed curlew extend through this Section. Although rare, white wagtails are characteristic breeders in open areas along the coast. Dovekies and McKay's buntings are limited in Alaska to off-shore islands included in this Section. River otters are abundant; short-tailed and least weasels are common. Ribbon seals are characteristic of areas off-shore. Large numbers of barren-ground caribou inhabited this Section up until the mid-1800's. Limited numbers of caribou associated with herds from other Sections now occur in this area. The musk ox was introduced to Nunivak Island in 1935 and 1936. Wood frogs have been reported from the eastern portion of this Section. All three forms of Arctic char (anadromous, resident stream, resident lake) occur here. Sheefish are associated with both the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. All five species of North American Pacific salmon are indigenous to this Section; chum salmon are the most abundant.

Climate. Average annual precipitation ranges from 15 to 22 in (380 to 560 mm). Average annual temperature ranges from 25 to 31 oF (-4 to -1 oC). The growing season is approximately from June 1 to September 15.

Surface Water Characteristics. The lowland is crossed by meandering streams of extremely low gradient. Many are tributaries or former channels of the Yukon or Kuskokwim Rivers. Wetlands occupy over 78 percent of the area.

Disturbance Regimes. Occurrence of wildfires is low.

Land Use. Only small permanent and seasonal settlements occur along the rivers and coast. The region is used for subsistence and recreational hunting and fishing.

Cultural Ecology. Yupik Eskimos reside in this Section.

YK Delta from the window of a Cessna Caravan on my way home from Scammon Bay

Rain, Rain Go Away, but Snow Please Don't Come Our Way

I was waiting to post until the big project was done, but I'm not sure when that will be. It will not stop raining and as soon as the temperature drops again, snow is almost certainly in the picture. As part of our quest to make our house more energy efficient, Kolin has undertaken the seemingly impossible (and dangerous) job of installing new windows in our house. Kolin always seems able to make make the impossible happen and he has done it once again. He borrowed something called a "ladder jack" from friend. A ladder jack is an ingenious little device that you put on two ladders so you can suspend a board between them to make a sort of scaffolding. We were not sure where we were going to rent scaffolding in Bethel, and this ended up working perfectly. Kolin also borrowed a friend from work to help with the largest windows (I can hardly lift them 2 inches off the ground when I try to help Kolin). Together, they slid the old windows down the ladder and passed the new windows from the inside of the house out into position. Spencer watches as Kolin screws the windows securely into place. Closer view of the ladder jacks. They can go on the inside or outside of the ladder.Spence wants to help dad with his window. You can see part of the above ground "city water" pumping/piping apparatus in the background. Thank God for Zak. This triple pained window must weigh 200 pounds. Only the 2 small windows up top, and Owen's left to do. Would not take long were it not for the rain....

Owen's Favorites

They are learning about "interviews" in Kindergarten this week. Owen was interviewed yesterday, and I just thought his responses were amusing. An Odd kid I think, especially in his last response.

Favorite color: red
Favorite movie: Wallace & Grommit: Case of the Ware Rabbit
Favorite book: H.A. Ray's White-Black the Penguin
Favorite TV show: PBS' SuperWy
and last of all...
Favorite food: Oatmeal!!

Just Because Potatoes are Neat

So I think I've hit an all time low, because I am now blogging about potatoes. The native corporation here gives away seed potatoes every spring, and I now know why. You throw them in some dirt and end up with a bucket of potatoes, and these are not just any potatoes, but the sweetest most delicious potatoes I've ever had. We missed the seed potato give-away this year, but were fortunate enough to be given some surplus from a friend. Threw them in some old tires, pored some chicken doody/compost on them and there you go. It hit 29 degrees last night, so we figured it was time. Harvested one clump of potatoes, 3 more to go. If we took this seriously, we could have potatoes for a year without that much effort. Rooftop potato gardens. Potatoes a plentyI had no idea potatoes grew like this, fascinating.

5 Star Energy Rating, Here We Come!

As I write this post, our house is shaking a bit more than usual. Our house is on stilts on soft ground, as is every other house in Bethel. This means that every time anyone walks up the stairs onto the porch, it shakes. Spencer is sleeping, Owen is as usual pretending to be some sort of super hero (his current super hero is the "Rain Saber" some sort of mystical creature that eats animals only when it's raining -- I don't know if this is a character from his imagination or not).
Anyway, the house is shaking more than usual, because Kolin borrowed three jacks from a fellow teacher and is leveling our house, not demolishing, but making it level. Duncan, in need of a haircut, watches. One of the unique aspects of living on permafrost is that your house settles like nothing else, and you have to level your house every couple of years. Since we moved in, we have developed a large hump in our entry way floor. However, the main incentive for leveling the house is that our TRIPLE pane windows just arrived, and it's probably best to install them in a leveled house. Through an energy program the state is doing, we have decided to improve our 1970's dome energy rating from 4 to 5 stars. Our house is pretty small and is a dome (so we don't waste money heating high corners), but it is not as efficient as it could be. (You might remember pictures we took last year of the ice on the inside of the windows in the dead of winter). These large crates contain our new windows. I have no idea how Kolin is going to install them -- did I mention our house is on stilts?
In other energy star new, Kolin recently replaced our front door and taught himself how to solder copper pipes so he could install an on-demand oil-fired water heater to replace out old electric one. Here's the man posing with his installation. If anyone's interested, it's a Toyotomi water heater (cousin to the Toyo Stove), and it is fabulous.