Savoring the Good Life

 

This semester I am taking a positive psychology class. It is a relatively new field of psychology that has only been an official field of study since 1998. Up until recently most psychologists took a more grim outlook on the human species and focused much of their attention more on what goes wrong than celebrating and enhancing what goes right. It has been really interesting to see that most of what it teaches are things that I have been taught since I was little. In the primer textbook, written by Christopher Peterson, it suggests that good character and strong values are what will bring us the most lasting happiness. Although these are ideas that are common to some, the field of study takes it to the next level with experimentation and documentation.

This past week we have been talking about learning to savor the good things in life. The following is a part of the assignment that we did in connection with the idea of savoring:

"I love taking pictures of my daughters! I want to keep each smile forever. I relish in each hug they give, and every made-up song they sing. I enjoy getting them dressed in the morning and doing their hair and even when they are hanging around in their footsie pajamas with crazy-crazy hair, I love to adore them.

"Throughout each day I make mental notes of each of the silly, clever or cute things that each of my daughters does and anticipate sharing these moments with my husband. I am so glad to be blessed to stay home with them during the day.

"Yesterday we took our girls for a walk out on the tundra and I just loved to watch Chalyse pick up the old wild flowers. She would hold it up and say “Look a flower,” then she would pick off each piece of fluff and watch as it floated away in the wind. Ellora and I pulled some moss off the ground. I let her feel how soft it was and she excitedly squealed and held it up to show Dad."


I have to add that yesterday we had the opportinity to go out and pick blueberries. They are not quite the same as the blueberries we have down in the states but, similar. They are just a little blacker, smaller and a little more bitter. One of the ladies that works at the school told us where to find some, so we took a short walk down 7 Mile Road, about half a mile, and there they were just off to the right of the road. Tons of them growing very close to the ground. It had been a beautiful, sunny and warm day but just as we were heading out of the village a cold fog set in. The girls were getting cold and kept stepping on the berries so we didn't stay long but I hope to go out again before they are all gone. We were going to maybe go out today but it was very windy and cold, so maybe we will try sometime next week.


Here are some pictures of our walk on Thursday and our berry picking yesterday.

North to Alaska

Here are some pictures of Beautiful Alaska that I took as we flew over

A Warm Sunny Afternoon at the Beach

Our most recent trip to the beach

Last week we went to see the sea ice. It was probably about -5 but the wind was blowing pretty hard across the ice and it was stinging cold. We didn't stay long. Just long enough to take a few pictures. Here they are:












In other news Ellora is proficiently scooting and often gets up on her hands and knees. She also is clapping...or rather likes to hit her fist together but sometimes she gets her palms.

Chalyse still can't say Ellora which is funny because she can say everyone else names. She struggles with her L's (she calls her self Meese).She was calling her "Coke" the other day. I'm not really sure why.

Chalyse is getting ready to have a birthday and let me tell you I'm a little nervous for her party. We wanted to have small party but you know how it goes. If you invite this person you have to invite that person and it is the custom here to have huge birthday parties. We ended up inviting all the teachers (about 20 people) and a few other of our good friends. It seems that everyone in the village knows and loves Chalyse so I am worried they will all find out and show up which would be fine but our apartment isn't that big. I'm sure it will be fun no matter.

Ancient Native Homes

These are the homes the natives used to live in. Some as little as 30 or 40 years ago. They are mostly underground with thatched roofs. They are supported by whale bones and a few pieces of drift wood. They have a hole cut in the center of the roof to let smoke escape. This particular one has one small room just inside and a narrow hall to another room. The other room had collapsed so it is only a hole in the ground now. These homes are a little ways away from the current village. About 30 years ago they moved the entire village to make it easier to bring in electricity and plumbing. They still use some of the old thatch homes to store their game meat.

Picture Tour of Point Hope

This is a whaling boat next to some houses. They'll cover the hull of the boat with bearded seal skins that have been painted white. Yes, they still use them.



John Denver wrote a songs entitled "Whale Bones and Crosses." Evidently, he actually paid a visit to Point Hope back in the day, and it was this cemetery he wrote about. The one thing that surprised us about it, though, was the size of the crosses. They're all over 6 1/2 feet tall. It's between 1 and 2 miles from our home and we can see it from our window.





One thing that the Tundra is known for is the many colorful mosses and lichens that blanket the ground. We don't get these colors in town, though. The feet and four-wheelers take care of that.



The tundra has large cracks that form in it in geometric patterns. There have been people that actually come up here just to study the cracks and the patterns they make.



Point Hope, from a distance, is a very colorful little village.



Here is our hotel. In the back, much of it is made out of converted barge containers. Each one is a different room.



This is our general store. It's called the "Native Store."





And finally, this is our (only) gas station.