November 2006 Archives
Collect the moments one by one.
Sunday, with temperatures rising to a balmy -8, Keith took to dog real estate development, and I blocked and stacked a load of wood, maybe a quarter-cord. Tee-shirt weather really. Entirely a fabulous day.
Saturday on the Rabbit Line, 20 below zero, smoke bilowing from the woodstove, cabin at 71 degrees.
So imagine you are hired as a preschool teacher. You'd probably think it was a fantastic set up to only have morning sessions, for only four days a week, and for only 128 days a year...with a nice corner classroom, two aides and a cook. Nice set up you'd probably think.
Now imagine its November 20, and you haven't started school yet. So no sessions, no days a week, no aides, no cook, no playdough, no cute kid-quotes, no reading of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, no wooden bead stringing, no finger painting. Did I mention full time pay for all this no-thing?
Great, you might think. But no. Its terribly boring and unsatisfying and frustrating. Check out some photos I took when I had some of the students visit last week--just look at what I'm missing each day--
An update on the first day of school: I've set the date for Thursday, November 30. With all my fingers-crossed it might actually happen.
Made by a local woman, these moose skin mitts are lined inside with rabbit fur, and at the cuffs with beaver. All sewing and beadwork done by hand. The skins come from a store in Fairbanks. A few of our aquaintances up here are out on the trapline this winter snaring rabbit, lynx and fox for their furs. "Out on the trapline" means a hundred or so miles up river in a cabin. They moved up by boat before freeze up and use dogsled to check their traps.
Temperatures had been sub-freezing for a couple of weeks by the time it snowed for the first time. This photo, looking at the ice on hospital lake was taken on the same day as the Head of the Charles back East. We weren't jumping in the kayaks up here.
Our driveway after the first night of snow (during the last week of October).
The rancher at the ranch. Now parked for the season. The oil is frozen, so trying to start it would seize (and cease) the engine. But we're happy to be back on the snowgo, a smoother ride with a bigger gas tank.
