Midnight Madness

The night began quiet enough with a full moon gleaming down on rooftops covered in sleepy, silent snow. A coziness seemed to blanket the village on this eve of our fresh new year.

At least, that's how it looked from my window.

But 'round about midnight, the madness began. How else might one explain the willing pilgrimage of young and young-at-heart toward the southern end of town despite a frigid windchill of -41 F?

Madness! There's no other word for it!



Well, except maybe..."ooooh."



And, "aaaaah!"



Whether by hoof or Honda or half-ton pick-up...all moved toward the mesmerizing light.



Was it worth the cold fingers, chapped cheeks, and runny nose?



Absolutely!

It's madness, I tell you! Madness!

And...a big "thank you" goes out to the two brothers who generously orchestrate this grand fireworks display each year. What a gift to our community!

Happy New Year to all of you on the Buggy Side...and beyond!

Big Night

So what do you do on Halloween night when temperatures are hovering around zero and you live hundreds of miles off the road system?

You make your own fun. That's what you do!

Puuqtaluk is an annual Halloween event that involves costumed dancers and a full night of silliness and laughter. For a more detailed explanation, click here.

It's difficult to appreciate the craziness of Puuqtaluk unless you experience it for yourself. The costumes can be a bit...er...off-putting if viewed out of context.



If you're not a local, it's hard to imagine just what might be lurking behind the gruesome grins.



The whole idea is to remain anonymous.



See what I mean?

But Atqasuk residents know that it's all in fun. No one relishes frightening anyone. The costumes are meant to conceal and distract from the dancer's identity and sometimes they actually pull it off.

Take this guy, for instance.



You'd never know it by looking at him, but there is a stand-up comic buried beneath all that ugly. (A very creative dancer as well). This year he won first place in his age group and then went on to compete against all age groups, including adults, to win the grand prize!

Here he is after winning for the second time that night. Awesome!



So here's the drill...

#1...a space is cleared for dancing...dancers on one side and the audience on the other.



#2...loud music is played in two-three minute segments allowing participants to dance individually as well as alongside competitors.



#3...judges judge.



#4...spectators spectate.



#5...the winner reveals his/her identity and collects a prize.



#6...everyone repeatedly watches videos of students and friends dancing their crazy dances (or am I the only one that does that?).

What a Sweet Day!

This has been an exceptionally nice day.

It began quite uncharacteristically. I woke up early and still felt great! I can't explain it. There was no good reason for it. It just happened. In spite of staying up late and not feeling well for the past week, there it was. I was awake at 6:25 a.m., without the aid of an alarm clock and didn't feel like I'd been hit by a truck or was being sucked down a gigantic drain.

Amazing!

Is this how morning people feel every day?

My dog wasn't prepared for the early start (he's not a morning person either) and continued to snooze on his bed while I made my favorite scrambled omelet, read, checked my email, and had time to do a leisurely catch-up on almost every blog that I enjoy, including a few new ones that I had never seen before.

That was huge!

It was still dark outside. Only a house or two showed signs of life. No snow machines or four-wheelers buzzing here or there. No dogs barking or kids yelling. Nothing. Just quiet and stillness and the soft glow of streetlights on freshly fallen snow.

Not long after lunch, there came an intermittent pounding on the doors of the four-plex where I live.

Trick-or-Treaters? Already? In the middle of the day?

Yep.





One after another, they kept on coming, some unknown force drawing them away from the warmth of their homes toward hands full of chocolate and Sweet Tarts and bubble gum and toys.





Eventually, I realized that this is the first Halloween that I've spent in this village that didn't fall on a school day. Even when Halloween fell on Saturday, we had Saturday school, so most of our kids are accustomed to trick-or-treating almost immediately after school. Without the confinement of school, they were free to get an early start.

And they did!

One after another, they showed up on my door step with faces sweeter than the candy in their bags.




And tonight is Puuqtaluk!

But that's another story.

Potential

Potential: existing possibility, not yet evident or realized.

What will this new year bring?

What will I bring to this new year?

From My House to Yours

The fog has pushed on for the time being and everything outside is soft and quiet. I want to take a moment to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. May your hours overflow with laughter and love. And may the truest miracle of the season move beyond the rooftop into the welcoming mangers of our hearts.

Quyyatigiga...

I've been taking a Conversational Inupiaq course this fall...via teleconference. Yeah. Learning a new language is challenging enough. Learning a new language over the telephone is downright amusing. Although I don't see myself emerging from the course a fluent speaker by any estimation, it has definitely been a good experience and I've picked up a great deal that I hope to build on in the future.

Our last class focused on words and phrases associated with Quyyavik, or Thanksgiving. Our instructor asked us to share what we were most thankful for. One by one, participants shared their blessings. Quyyatigiga iglukput...I'm thankful for my home. Quyyatigiga savagviga...I'm thankful for my job. Quyyatigiga avilaitqatiga...I'm thankful for my closest friend. I can't write "I'm thankful for my family" in Inupiaq because it requires a letter that is impossible to type with this program (a combination of n and g), but you get the idea. We all shared our thoughts and the sources of our gratitude.

All week long, I listened to people around me naturally talking about the things in their lives that they cherish. Prayers were given, feasts were eaten. Dishes were washed, dried, and put away. Yet, there was something in the back of my mind that I just couldn't express, something for which I'm grateful that wouldn't lend itself to words, much less an Inupiaq translation.

Then I looked back through some photos that I downloaded a while ago and it hit me. This is what I'm most grateful for.



About a week ago I made some soup using one of those packages that boasts 16 different beans. Somewhere in the process of washing the beans, one of the tiniest ended up stuck to the side of the strainer in the sink. I'm not sure what it says about my housekeeping practices, but that bean must have remained there for several days being doused by the occasional flow of water from the faucet. I never even noticed it until the strainer happened to shift a little, exposing the seedling that you see in the photo.

At first, I laughed right out loud. Then amazement set in. Those of you who know me are painfully aware, I'm sure, that I make mountains out of molehills on a regular basis. I know it sounds crazy, but I don't care. Seeing this little plant was an encouragement and it illustrates something that I'm grateful for, but haven't been able to describe.



Too often, I complain when my life feels hard or dry. I complain when I feel insignificant, lacking purpose. I complain when an unexpected splash sends my good intentions down the drain. I grow weary; I grow sad and I complain.

Homes, jobs, friends, even family...almost anything can be lost or out of reach.

But the tiny bean clinging to my sink strainer reminded me of something important that I often forget. I am overwhelmingly thankful for life's tenacious potential. The tenacity that prompts me to reach up and dig deep even when...especially when...light and soil seem far away.

So, to the One who has endowed even the most insignificant beans with that tenacious potential, with all my heart...

Quyyatigiga.

I Know How He Feels

It seemed simple enough.

Fly across the road...wheels spinning on packed snow, slide sideways to a full (and very cool-looking) stop at the porch, score some serious candy.

That was the not-so-well-thought-out plan.

Unfortunately, Halloween had one more trick up its sleeve.
In his enthusiasm, this trick-or-treater drove confidently off the road into snow that was
a little too deep,
a little too slick,
a little too...much for his four-wheeler.

While there may be nothing embarrassing about trick-or-treating when you're fifteen,
getting stuck is something else altogether (hence the nervous looking around).



Eventually, a helping hand arrives to save the day...
and maybe a little face.



There appear to be no other witnesses...
except for that irritating shutterbug on the porch!



But getting un-stuck is substantially more difficult than it looks.



Pulling backward doesn't help.
The only way out is
forward.



I can relate.

I know how it feels to be
stuck,
unsure of what to do about it,
and embarrassed that others see me
spinning...my...wheels.

As I press forward,
I’m thankful...for friends
with good timing.

And I'm hopeful that no one around me…
carries a camera.

Different Strokes...

There's more than one way to bag some Halloween candy!



But it may require a little more effort than you think.



With faces as sweet as the candy...there's no way to lose.



The school carnival is always good for a treat or two.



You might even receive a ring from a handsome knight!



But watch out for those ferocious animals!



They're almost as frightening as the dancing!

A Few Good Eggs

I did a little reading about Easter eggs and learned some things that I hadn't known before (click here for Wikipedia's entry). Although decorated eggs are clearly associated with the celebration of Easter, they aren't directly tied to any authentically Christian observance. There may be a connection with early Christianity's roots in Judaism, but it's more likely that Easter eggs are one of those traditions that came to be accepted after-the-fact, an add-on that became popular and simply "stuck." None of that was really a surprise to me. But what I hadn't heard before is that one of the possible reasons for eating eggs at Easter time is that eggs, like meat, were not eaten during lent. Since chickens didn't stop producing there was quite an overstock by the time Easter rolled around! What a mundane beginning for such a playful tradition!

There is even a tradition associated with the beginning of lent called Pancake Day which served to use up eggs by mixing them into crepe-like pancakes a few days before the season began! This practice is still popular in many countries around the world. That sounds like fun and given Americans' fondness for food I have to wonder why it never caught on here. Maybe it's not too late!

Bright colors and creative designs are always a visual delight, but the real value of an egg is found beneath the painted veneer. Each egg is endowed with potential for sustenance or new life and that is the treasure worth protecting.

Sound familiar?

*******************

Here are a few of the "eggs" in my basket...aren't they beautiful?

Heart Day

Arctic cotton is white,
Forget-me-nots are blue,
Akpiks are sweet,
And so are you.

(Written by a very adorable fourth grader for his mother on Valentine’s Day.)
_______________________________________________________________

It was a sweet day full of all those typical activities that Valentine’s Day inspires….well, at least those activities enjoyed by fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. We made construction paper valentines and semi-homemade experimental peanut butter-oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. The cards were really sweet. The cookies were…not so much.

Although I prefer the personal touch of child-crafted valentines, kids are always excited by the commercial variety. But this year, for one reason or another, there were no prepackaged valentines to be had in this village. So we pulled out the red, white, and pink construction paper, hefty bottles of Elmer’s, brightly colored tissue paper, and gathered poetic inspiration from the internet compliments of Google Search…an interesting experience!

The initial plan for sugar cookies was thwarted earlier in the week when I realized that several key ingredients were missing from my pantry. We improvised with four packages of peanut butter cookie mix and comforted ourselves with the idea of adding other ingredients to put our own unique stamp on the confection. Unfortunately, what we ended up with had more in common with peanut butter flavored baseballs, than actual cookies. But we learned from the experience and had a good laugh along the way. And that seemed like an acceptable trade off. Kids never complain about wasting time making cookies…even bad ones.

Throughout the hours that we busied ourselves with Valentine’s Day activities, I don’t think romance was ever mentioned. And, the truth is, I really liked that. Cards were made by girls and boys…for family members, friends, and even a teacher or two. One girl drew a picture of a cigarette in the middle of the card for her grandmother. I have no idea what the cigarette was supposed to represent and she couldn’t (or wouldn’t) explain it, but I have no doubt that, whatever it meant, it came straight from her heart. Was it romantic? Not in the least. Was it a genuine expression of love? Absolutely!

On this holiday that our media-driven society has narrowly defined as a day for lovers, I am happy to report that my classroom is full of them…real lovers. Most of them are little more than four feet tall, but they all have hearts as willing to love as any I’ve seen. And that makes me hopeful and thankful on a day that could easily seem lacking in so many ways. It reminds me that love comes in lots of different packages...not always wrapped in a heart-shaped box with a tidy bow. Sometimes it comes wearing an old tee shirt with ketchup stains left over from yesterday’s lunch.

Around Midnight...

As some of you are aware, we're already gaining sunlight again! With every passing day the twilight in the southern sky noticeably increases in both duration and intensity. Toward the end of this month the sun will venture above the horizon for the first time in approximately sixty days. But, until then, the dark sky provides a perfect backdrop for any type of illumination.

Around midnight on New Year's Eve I heard the familiar percussion of fireworks "thunking" against my window. I left my two extremely irritated dogs yapping wildly inside the house and ventured out into the -20 degree air for a better view of the show staged on the southern bank of the pond directly in front of my house.

The stiff breeze of 15 to 20 mph made outdoor viewing rather uncomfortable, but that didn't deter the community from coming out in full force. Snow machines were darting and zooming from every direction. A few slowed up and parked right in the middle of the frozen pond as if arriving at an arctic drive-in! My photos don't do justice to the impressive scale or variety of the display, but I thought the vibrant colors and feathering effect of the wind made for some interesting (if not high quality) images.

For about forty minutes, this could have been Anytown, USA...each explosion reflected in the sparkling eyes and delighted cheers of the crowd. It's a touching thing when a community comes together. People who have been somewhat hidden from each other, huddled in their respective houses, quietly shake off their winter mantle just long enough to wave and call out to each other, "Happy New Year!" before moving on.

I really have to hand it to the Ivanoff brothers. Being the fire chief and first assistant, it's a little ironic that they are so good at setting fires! For several years now they have put on a New Year's Eve extravaganza at their own expense. I, for one, sincerely appreciate their generous efforts.

**********

(To see more photos...click on any image.)






This is the preferred mode of transportation in the winter here. Apparently, it comes in handy for fireworks viewing as well. Although the wind caused -20 to feel like negative 50's that night, I think Stephen was plenty warm in his camouflage parka. I can't be sure about his poor face, though.