Blessed Sunshine!

I was debating whether or not to go to the school today to eat lunch with Tom. It is our only place to go to get out of the house and we try to go at least once a week. It had been over a week sense the girls and I had left the apartment BUT there have been several polar bear sightings near the village. One in particular was last night by the lagoon which is not too far from the school.

You know how every thing seems worse at night. I started to worry. I had all the scenarios running through my mind. Pregnant and with a toddler on my back and one on a sled running for our lives...or I guess backing away slowly because that is what you are supposed to do and of course I had more polar bear nightmares after going to bed. I was feeling like I would never be able to leave the apartment again and could not handle the idea. Then the sun came up and I began to feel a lot better about the situation. The sun makes everything better. It had been a more than a month since we had seen last but a few days ago it started rising again and already it is staying up for a couple of hours.

I began to think more rationally about things. The sunshine makes it a lot easier to see your surroundings so you are able to detect early on if there is danger. Also, bears don't like to come around during the day when there is a lot of noise from ATV and snow machines. Another comforting thought is that the dogs will go crazy if a bear is around and there are several homes that have dogs between here and the school. In fact the Eskimo people first started keeping dogs around for that exact reason. (They didn't use them to pull sleds until after contact.) Anyway, we decided to head over and I am so glad we did. The weather was so nice today with basically no wind so the walk over was enjoyable and fairly easy. At the school the girls had a lot of fun playing with their friends Emily and Emily. I am feeling a lot better about things after getting away from the apartment for a little while and I think I can face my apartment again. At least for the time being.

Northern Lights

Mandy is going to be leaving at the end of this week, and she hadn't had a chance to see the aurora, yet. I had seen a couple of fading displays in the morning on my way to school, but nothing spectacular. Although, when I say "nothing spectacular," I mean that relatively. The first time I saw the aurora, it took my breath away.

We kept an eye on the auroral forecasts, but nothing ever worked out. Either the weather would be good and there would be no aurora, or there would be a huge aurora and be completely overcast. A couple of nights ago, however, it finally worked out. We set the alarm for 3:00 a.m. (our local midnight). When we looked out the window in the early hours of the morning, I could plainly see the aurora despite the streetlights near our house. We got dressed and went outside. The display wasn't as big as some that you see on tv, but it was beautiful.

The pale-green river of light flowed from the northeast, splitting here, rejoining there as it occasionally overflowed and dripped its light into space.

I refuse to pay that much!

All the teachers used to get two milks for lunch and Tom would bring one home but they have decided to only let them have one milk. So today i finally gave Chalyse some powdered milk to drink. I have been hesitant because i have a hard time making her eat or drink something that i would not. Of course i don't really like milk like Chalyse does and i can't drink it anyway because it bothers Ellora. Anyway, she complained about it a little but she drank it. The thing that finally pushed me to give Chalyse powdered milk though, is that the store was continuously out of fresh milk. If we were lucky they would have boxed milk that is ultra pasteurized and air tight so it can sit on the shelf. This boxed milk is...are you ready for this...$17 a gallon. Tom and i have a theory that the prices on milk are so ridiculously high is because the store has a monopoly on it here in the village and it is something that is in high demand. (Even fresh fruit and vegetables are not that ridiculous.)

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.