Oh Holidays

Now that the Nutcracker is over, its time to get serious about the holidays...getting boxes off to long distance family, finishing up Christmas cards, and making cookies for neighbors. I"m taking 4 days off both Christmas and New Years weekend, which I"m looking forward to. On Thanksgiving, I had a 4 day weekend and it was so rejuvenating...
This time of year is always incredibly busy. Its easy to feel slightly overwhelmed inside, but I try to push it aside and remember that the thing that matters the most during the holidays is to be thankful for friends, family, health and the other details (boxes, gifts, etc) is all trivial. Sometimes during these two weeks of the year, it feels like time and holiday pressures are a snowball, going down hill, picking up speed and size...

Pictures are from the past week...of our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (we got it off our Cliff in the backyard), Stuey mouse and Nora in her holiday dress that grandma gave her.

Zoya

Winter in Kodiak

Buskin Lake is frozen and there is snow in the yard - whooo hooo. And it is supposed to stay cold for the next 5 days at least. Life is good. But it is funny - I checked the weather in Fairbanks and Anchorage, and they are in for some seriously frigid weather. Day time highs of negative 20 degrees type chill. Believe it or not, but that would be too cold for me. It is no fun to go skiing when it is that cold, and I doubt the kids would enjoy sledding much. When these arctic blasts push down from the North I am glad I live on Kodiak surrounded and buffered by the warm waters of the Gulf of Alaska. It is seriously cold on the mainland. Patrick

Nutcracker

We survived the Nutcracker. Sigh of relief.

Last night Patrick and I watched the show from start to finish while Sara F. was with the kids backstage. I was glad to go to the whole thing with Patrick, and both the kids were in the performance. This was Patrick's first time watching Nora and Stuey on the big stage, as during Peter Pan, Patrick was out of town.

Stuey loves the stage. He ate up every moment as a mouse...doing the exact motions the big mouse did and smiling. I think he has a knack for performing.
Nora enjoyed it also, and was more comfortable with her routine at the final performance. I asked her what she liked about being in the Nutcracker and she said, "everything".I think she liked being around friends back stage and getting into her costume the best.

I have some things to learn as a "dancer mom"...such as how to properly fasten Nora's hair back in a meticulous bun--as the other girls had. And on one of her performances, Nora was the only reindeer in pink tights...I forget to get her brown tights out of the closet. It is all those seemingly small details which make a big difference when you get the whole batch of kids together. With time, I'll learn. Nora and Stuey are excited about continuing dance classes next semester, which is good. Seems like the whole Nutcracker experience has only increased their love for dancing.

On a final note, I love community productions as the Nutcracker. It is so fun to see the local talent! What incredible choreographers and teachers there are for dance here. We have a good arts program and auditorium here on Kodiak!

Zoya

Have Americans Lost the Art of Conversation?

Yesterday I went to an English as a Second Language (ESL) event at Kodiak College. The organizers wanted a few english speakers for the students to talk to and help them become more proficient at speaking English. So they asked me to come - I like to talk.

I went with low expectations anticipating an hour of painful 'my name is . .. .' and "I am from .. .' type conversations. Instead I spent an hour of delightful conversation with people from China, Japan, the Philippines, and even El Salvador. We talked about Imelda Marcos' shoes, dictators in developing nations, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, tuna fishing practices, bicameral vs parliamentary governments, the Ainu of Hokkaido Island, and even why the United States needs more viable political parties. All conversations were even keeled and all participants seemed to realize that nothing is simply 'black or white', but that there are always shades of grey.

I was shocked. Here I was talking to people who are just learning to speak English and I was having conversations at a level I would be hard pressed to equal if I gathered a random group of Americans together. What really amazed me was that the students already knew about each other's countries. I find your average American only knows about America. Try talking about the pros and cons of bicameral vs parliamentary systems of government to a random guy off of the street. He'd probably tell you that we just need less government, and how about how Sarah whacked that caribou. If you tried having a conversation about anything meaningful it would probably get polarized pretty quickly.

It also made me realize that perhaps America needs more and not less immigrants. Maybe they could teach us something.

Patrick

Mosquitoes and Archaeology

Archaeology on the Alaska Peninsula this past summer....for 3+ weeks. I wasn't there but....
I LOVED LOVED LOVED editing this movie. It looks like it was such a great group of people with good times...despite the killer number of mosquitos and remote location of the dig. This movie was definitely a joint effort of Patrick and I--he did the initial cut of footage down to 9 minutes then I took it from there...including picking the music (my favorite part!!). Music on this one was challenging as the initial song I picked "The Outsiders" was rejected by You Tube. BUMMER!!

Zoya

Two Hours with Lili

Last weekend I went to Anchorage for a VERY quick trip for a cross country ski lesson and to see friends and family. The trip in to Anchorage had some extreme turbulence--I was thankful the plane safely landed! And I"m not normally a powder puff about flying conditions...

On Saturday morning I woke up and met with Lili, a cross country ski coach in Anchorage. I found her name on the Nordic Ski Association Website under the "lessons" category. For the past several years, I have felt STUCK with my classic ski form. Patrick hasn't ever been able to articulate to me what I should do to change my form, so I go the same pace. I must admit--I was a little intimidated meeting Lili, as she used to be on the French National Ski team...but from her first warm smile, I knew things would be A-OK.

3/4 of the lesson was without poles. The whole lesson was in the stadium area at kincaid park--we didn't go on the trails at all. She took cross country skiing right down to the basics of kicking, balancing, arm swing timing, weight shifting, etc...I found that I got the feel of it then once I added the poles back in, my good form got lost.

By the end of the two hours, I was having so much fun cross country skiing! A smile formed across my face. Don't get me wrong..I've always enjoyed skiing, as its outdoors, with Patrick and a good workout. But have I always enjoyed it? Maybe not so much. This weekend helped add some spring to my form and I really started having a good time with it! Every time I fell, Lili would say, "good,good! That means you're really testing your balance and going over your ski enough!"

Can't wait for some snow in Kodiak to try my new skills on!

Zoya

Snow and then Rain

Yesterday we woke up to 2 inches of glorious powder snow. Best of all it cleared off and got sunny and the powder stayed powder and did not turn to slush. After work I went skate skiing on a local pond (4rth photo down). And then when I got home I took the kiddos sledding. This is one of their favorite activities. We were hoping to do it some more of it today, but. .. ...

And this leads us to the second photo. In typical Kodiak fashion while it was clear and 20 degrees out when I went to bed it was 36 degrees and raining when I woke up. We've been socked with a rapidly developing storm. The wind is supposed to blow 50 mph today! The good thing is that at least we are getting snow on the mountains, but I do fear the sledding and skate skiing is done for the immediate future. Patrick

No Roses=Neglectful Parenting???

The Nutcracker is coming up soon. At the Dance Studio, there is a box with flyers next to it to BUY YOUR DANCER A DOZEN ROSES. The drop box for the forms is quite large, and there are huge stacks of forms next to the box. So every time I walk by it, I think to myself, "Am I being a neglectful parent by not buying roses for Nora when she is in the Nutcracker?".

Several people have asked me if I'm going to buy roses and the answer is no.

Roses need to be saved for very, very special star performances. For instance, if Nora is 9 or 10 and has a solo performance, then roses would be appropriate.

Sometimes I think these gifts to kids at such a young age does a disservice. I think the same of having preschool graduations with pomp and circumstance. Something about doing graduation 3 times before high school takes the special-ness out of the high school one. One would think, right? I know high school graduation felt darn special....for myself and my family. Do preschoolers or kindergarteners really appreciate the depth of a dozen roses? And do preschoolers really understand the depth of a graduation ceremony?
I tend to think no. But then, who am I to judge? I just know that Nora wouldn't know what to do with a dozen roses. I think I"ll take her for some ice cream instead-something that I know WILL bring a smile to her face.

Zoya

Photo is an archive one...taken from an old memory card we just found!

Thanksgiving 2010 Family Video

Thanksgiving week was lovely--a four day weekend combined with good weather and friends visiting from Anchorage. I made a short 4 minute video of some highlights set to Stevie Nicks. Enjoy! video by zoya.

(the photo is of Patrick and Charlotte W. with a slice of Yorkshire pudding that Patrick made the day after Thanksgiving. Charlotte and her husband Lance were visiting from Kotzebue.) Zoya

Jewel beach

This holiday weekend our dear friends Bruce and Meghan flew over from Anchorage for a visit. Its been so fun hanging out with them--yesterday we went to the Buskin Beach and collected beach glass. I discovered this is a very favorite activity of Meghans...as we had to peel her off the beach when it was time to go. She got a very cool piece of red weathered beach glass! A very rare find.

The beach is well known for finding glass--much of it is from World War II when lots of old parts and lights were disposed of on that beach. For 60+ years the surf has churned the glass into little soft gum drop looking pieces.

Zoya

Turkey Day

Yesterday was a lovely thanksgiving spent with close friends. Meghan and Bruce flew in from Anchorage and we enjoyed dinner with local friends too.

My Thanksgiving morning started at 12:05 AM with a phone call from a doula client--a first time mom who's water had just broken. Within an hour, I was at the hospital with them and an hour later they had their baby. it was a VERY fast delivery. I was home in bed by 3AM! I was pretty sure that I would spend a large part of thanksgiving day in the hospital, but that didn't happen! Needless to say, the mom was very thrilled with how her fast labor went!

Later in the morning, I made stuffing with Nora and Meghan made her green bean casserole. Later in the afternoon, I took a short nap, we set the house for dinner and at 4:30 people arrived. Mike and Patrick each cooked a turkey-it was a turkey cook off!
The lovely part of the evening was how well the 6 kids in attendance for dinner did so well playing together. They ran from room to room, like a little mini-mob. A whirlwind of fun and laughter.
I am so thankful for my family, friends and wonderful husband Patrick.

Zoya

Rock Skiing With Bruce

Megan and Bruce are visiting Kodiak for Thanksgiving, and this morning Bruce and I went up Pyramid for some pre Thanksgiving dinner exercise. We figure we'd be entitled to more food if we got the old blood pumping in the morning. So on up the mountain we headed.

The light was glorious and the skiing terrible. I don't think we would have climbed the mountain for just the skiing. Boilerplate and not much of it either. We had to climb to 1600 feet just to get to the snow. But the views and exercise made it all worth the trip. Bruce remarked that coming to Kodiak from Anchorage and getting out in the sun - it is like 'someone turned the lights on'. I gather that at this time of the year the light in Anchorage is a bit flat. Patrick

Cape Alitak Petroglyph Videos

Here are the links to some Cape Alitak Petroglyph videos - and these are NOT our usual homemade imovie jobbies shot using a point and shoot camera. These short videos (called vodcasts) were made by professional videographers with a REAL video camera AND camera person to run it as part of a grant through the National Park Service. They document the Alutiiq Museum's petroglyph survey down at Cape Alitak last May. The videos were created by the video production company WonderVisions. It was quite the scene down at Alitak last May when they showed up at our remote and VERY simple camp, miked us up, and starting filming. They came with boom mikes, huge cameras, and all the works. The sound guy even had Sean Penn stories. Needless to say, but they did a good job, but I do have a hard time watching myself on video. Do I really sound like that? And I am way too hyper. But Sven, Mark, Marnie and Jill are GREAT. These videos shows what it is like when I go into the field on Archaeological Survey every May.

Anyway the link to the WonderVision Youtube channel is on top. If you go there you can get to all seven of the videos that they made. The two links below that will take you to individual videos that I particularly liked. Patrick

http://www.youtube.com/user/WonderVisions



Marnie on Labrets

Winter is Here

"I can skate on my own" Stuey said yesterday as we put on his ice skates.
Nora was smart enough to remember that ice skating does take help from the 'rents. It was Stuey's first time on ice skates and it went ok. Patrick and I reflected on how hard it is to learn ice skating and made us wonder if a lesson or two might help the kids. Patrick is a big "do-it-and-you'll -learn" mentality towards learning new things....and I discoverd it was definitely true with swimming for the kids.
But there are so many brutal falls with ice skating. It gets hard to watch. Their little bodies bonking so hard on the ice. Ouch.
As we walked back to the car yesterday, the kids were all smiles and Nora said, "We need to do that every day so then we'll get better and better." Alls well that ends well!

Zoya

Elk Hunt Video

Tonight I finished making the video for our Elk hunt from this past October. Zoya helped with the music. Boy did we do a lot of hiking, and yes we do get elk at the end. So enjoy! Patrick

Snowshoes

This fall I have stuck to my scheduling guns at work and carved out a few afternoons to go up Pyramid with Patrick. One day in the week, I ran almost 6 miles from the intersection of rezanof and anton larson road up to Pyramid trailhead. Yesterday the weather was clear and a balmy 44--with hardly any wind. I went snowshoeing up Pyramid while Patrick went skiing. This is the first time in a few years I've been snowshoeing, and it felt to get up the mountain.

Kodiak has enjoyed at least a week of clear, cold weather...with some high winds as well. In my mind, its ideal winter weather!

Zoya

Grind Party

Last night we had a few people over and turned 150 pounds of deer, elk, goat, pig and cow meat turned into burger and italian sausage. It is a rite of Fall and a big part of filling the freezer. The Annual Grind Party.

When we butcher an animal during hunting season 10 pounds or is saved to be ground into burger later. By the end of the season we usually have a couple hundred pounds or so of meat to grind up. We usually add pork shoulder and fat to the goat to make italian sausage and add beef fat to some of the other meat to make burger with about 12% fat. We also make some burger with no fat added at all (see photo - these packages are labelled 'NF' for no fat). It pays to grind it all at once because that way you only have to clean up the burger grinder once (this is a serious pain).

So every year about this time of the season we have a grind party. Everyone brings semi frozen meat to grind, beer, food and whatever. Then it is cut, grind, eat, talk, wrap, and all the while kids are running around in the background. It is a party with a purpose and afterwards everyone gets to leave with meat for the freezer. Patrick

Photos are low quality because I took them as frames from video.

Snow & Cold

I've been skiing almost every day since we got back from France. There is a surprising amount of snow up on Pyramid. I took this photo on Sunday when I met Gregg up at the top of the South bowl. It was rock hard snow on the skin up from the car and I expected the same in the South bowl. Imagine our surprise when we found that the sun had warmed up the snow and created soft corn snow - Spring skiing conditions!

This morning I woke up to an 1/2 inch or so of new snow at our house. I bet it is 'ocean effect' snow and that there will be barely any snow on the ground in town. This often happens when we get a cold north wind in winter. The North end of town gets snow off of the ocean and the rest of town is just cold.

It is officially winter and my garden is dead - I am sad to report that I did not get all of my potatoes out of the ground. Now it is frozen and they are in there to stay. Patrick

Final European Vacation Post & Movie!

This is it - we swear! But we had so many great pictures and memories that we just had to do another post about the trip. Zoya also made an 11 minute video that documents the trip. She edited it so well (in my opinion) and put it to music so it hardly seems like a family video.

Photos: Top - all of us up on top as we cruise on down the canal. Second - Zoya and Hanna during a quiet moment in Gaudi Park, Barcelona. Third - This was the low moment of the entire trip. When we discovered that our train was on strike. In the photo we are waiting with all our luggage at a sidewalk cafe in the Beziers train station for another 'local' train to take us a bit closer to Barcelona (we ended up linking multiple local trains to make it all the way to Barcelona). Fourth - Sven caught Patrick, Hannah and Zoya acting silly. Zoya was always doing her exercises, and Hannah and Patrick decided to copy her. Bottom - Sven, Balika and Zoya up on top of the canal boat. Sven drove practically the whole way (with only a few five minute shifts from me, Eilidh, Nora, Bella and Stuey). Thank You Sven! Patrick