Tundra Tales

So it's November.  And I have NO IDEA how this has happened.  Somehow, the rest of my summer in New Zealand, the start of my second year in bush Alaska, most of my second season coaching high school volleyball, and an awesome trip to Puerto Rico for good friends' wedding has come and gone.  And it's almost Thanksgiving.  How!?  You tell me, because I don't have any idea how.

There's so much to catch you up on!  Which is my fault for procrastinating for... 4 MONTHS?  Oops.  Let me start with how I spent the first few months back in the village, learning a subsistence way of life.  It has been the most fun few months spent in this wonderfully wild and beautiful state of Alaska yet!

In August and September we picked berries.  I can't even tell you how many, but I can tell you that my hands were permanently stained blue for a solid two months.  Every day after school, and for hours on weekends, we picked berries.  My favorite are blueberries, which are much like huge huckleberries that grow on low bushes.  We also picked lots of "black berries" that I think are actually called Alaskan crow berries... they grow on vines very close to the ground.  The black berries have little seeds in them, which make them hard to use for smoothies or jams, but are still good mixed with other berries.  And, I might add, that I am determined to find a use for since I have a million and a half quarts of them in my freezer.

tundra black berries

Along with chasing berries, we got out to camp quite a few times.  When the days seem endless with sunlight and the weather is gorgeous, getting out to camp keeps me sane in the village!

The most adorable little camping tag-alongs

A few weeks ago, friends decided to make a trip into Nome to get groceries and visit family.  They very generously asked if I wanted to follow them in for the weekend, and I jumped at the chance for an adventure outside the village, to stock up on groceries, and spend some time with my favorite Brevig family. :)  Normally, because I don't own my own four-wheeler, boat, or truck, to get to Nome I would have to fly.  The plane ride to Nome isn't bad, it's only a 20 minute flight, but it does cost $180 one way.  Which, in the grand scheme of Alaskan bush village life, is comparatively pretty accessible, if you feel like dropping $360 for a grocery shopping trip... 

So, when friends offered to let me ride in to Nome with them, of course I said yes!  After school on a Friday afternoon, we packed our overnight bags, and bundled up in our boots, hats, scarfs, mittens, and snow jackets despite it still being September.  We rode the 5 miles down the beach to the Brevig point on four-wheelers, then hopped on the boat to get across the bay to the Teller point.  We all then piled into a few trucks to drive the dirt road, the Nome-Teller highway for 80 miles into Nome!  We stayed with family in Nome, and did as much grocery shopping and eating out at restaurants as we could, before heading back.  Going back home involved the same process as we had come, in reverse, plus many many heavy boxes filled with groceries.  Once we got back to Teller and were getting ready to boat over to our four-wheelers still at Brevig point, I thought to snap a picture of part of the process:

Weekend trip to Nome: four-wheelers, boats, trucks

Now, in November, we're stuck in between as the weather decides to start freezing over some days (down to 5 degrees F), snowing and blowing other days, or give us a random warm sunny day here and there (up to 20 degrees F).  In Brevig, we are down to about 5 and a half hours of sunlight during the day now, which is quickly becoming less and less every day.  

With the colder weather and lack of sunlight, cozying up with a good book, cup of coffee, and (way-to-early-but-oh-well) festive Christmas music seems more and more appealing to me than venturing out into the cold and dark. 

Stay warm, friends and family!