leave room for the holy spirit

what did you do on saturday night?

while i know of at least 3 weddings that i missed a few saturday nights ago, i was having the most fun of anyone, chaperoning a the youth group halloween dance with my housemates. krissy, youth minister extraordinare, worked with the teenagers to plan a dance to end all halloween dances with decorations from everyone's favorite, oriental trading. our jvc costume box yielded enough ridiculous clothing to create excellent costumes for everyone. krissy, rocked out as a tourist, complete with fanny pack and camera around her neck, kaela made an excellent pirate, and courtney rounded them all up as a cowgirl. the other half of our bethel family went the religious route, i was the devil, with costume provided by nancy s. jones, chelsea was my counterpart, as the wo(man) herself, God, and bridget caused quite a stir as eve. our friend, jesse, dj-ed, and matt regulated in the judge's robe he took from his boss at the courthouse. we may have had more fun than the kids- because,



obviously, teenagers are way too cool to rock out, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely. the most popular items of the night were the glow sticks- so much so that we eventually had to ration them- one per customer.

to everything turn, turn, turn

while talking on the phone this weekend with
molly, she mentioned that she had a discussion with a woman at the post
office about whether or notalaska has a fall right now or if they just
go straight from summer to winter. while technically the calendar puts
us in the autumnal season, we did have fall, past tense. it's been
snowing for a few weeks now and yesterday the average low, according to
the weatherforecast on one of the two radio stations (this being the non-christian rock station) announced the low as 0 degrees.

fall would probably best be described as the day when all of the mosquitoes die because it gets too cold, but before the tundra is frozen enough to accumulate snowfall. it lasted 3-4 weeks in september. i did see some turning leaves at the end of september in anchorage, but we plunged into winter on october 6th- our first snow and our first real snow accumulation, on october 16th.

the picture above was taken yesterday by my housemate, krissy.
freeze up has begun so you can see where people have already begun
walking on the ice. this is "honey bucket" lake next to the catholic
church where she works. "hb" lake is so aptly named as it is a man made lake when people can dump their honey buckets when the get filled. not too many honey buckets exist in bethel
anymore, our neighborhood, city sub, now requires running water, but,
not all of the neighborhoods do. i just love the smell of honey buckets
in the morning!

happy alaska day!

today, we, in the largest state in the union, celebrate alaska day. alaska day, observed every year on october 18th, celebrates the transfer of the alaskan territory from russia to the united states in 1867. now, eventhough the treaty was signed on march 30, 1867 (or seward's day) the commissioners didnt arrive in sitka, ak until october. every year, like in 1867 the russian flag is lowered and american flag raised.my housemate kaela, is on a business trip in sitka this week so she is experiencing the ceremonial flag raising and parade. i am celebrating by teaching english, political science, and life skills. gooooo alaska!

Q & A

street art is alive and well in bethel. all of the dumpsters are painted with messages about the dangers of smoking, domestic violence, nutrition and other issues. some residents, including, dario, have taken to using the side of houses and storage containers to make public statements. i see this one at least 4 times a day coming in and out of school.

i've got spirit, yes i do

this month, october, my advisor group at school is in charge of "spirit days." we have spirit fridays to remind kids that they dont need drugs and alcohol to have fun- there are plenty of other ways to have a good time. our team picked today to be "hat day"- make a hat for extra points or simply wear your favorite one. my housemates have taken great interest in "spirit fridays" laughing as i walked through town in bright blue pants during "clown" day, scoured the rummage sale items to find something for "old timer" day and layered 2 pairs of leggings to wear my pink stripped pants for pajama day, and heard tales of getting whipped cream and chocolate fudge all over myself the messiest of them all- "sundae drop" in which you drop fudge covered marshmallows onto a student's whipped cream covered face- aiming for the mouth. needless to say, my team, which has named themselves "the leaders" (apple doesnt fall far from the tree) were the scoreboard leaders for september- earning themselves ice cream sundaes during lunch. the pressure is on to perform this month...i have no fear that "the leaders" will rise to the challenge. preparation for hat day got me thinking about the many hats i have worn in the past couple of months...
k300 hat i am sporting today during hat day, sorting all of our winter hats...it says "race official" on the side- i dont get more legit (adge-notice the jg wentworth shirt)...


pampering night with a mask we found in the cabinet-the walrus is not technically a hat...


when practicing your pizza dough throwing, a chef's hat is must...

strong like bull

our neighbor, myron, went moose hunting a few weeks ago. after we had him over for dinner we went to see his catch and see where he is cleaning and dressing.

bridget, the vegetarian, showing him a little love

a 700 lb moose will feed a family for the whole winter. there is a moratorium on hunting most moose right now, particularly, bull moose- the big boys, because they "help" populate the species.
they also had puppies...

celebrity status

on tuesday, bethel residents took part in one of our countries oldest traditions: election day. well, about 700 of the 3,000 registered voters took part. since we are long time (almost two month) residents of bethel, and the city clerk lives across the street from our house, we were asked to be election officials for the big day. bridget, who joined us about 3 weeks after we arrivved in bethel was asked to be precinct chairperson- in charge of the city hall precinct. clearly, we were qualified for this task.

with what we know of bethel thus far, hilarity was sure to ensue. and this experience, like all others did not disappoint. my favorite alaska election law is that of the "PK" voter. there are 3 ways someone can check in to vote in their precinct on election day: 1- voter registration card, 2- other form of ID- preferably a driver's license or tribal card- but even a piece of mail with your name on it will do. now, if all of that is too official for you- you can rely on the "PK" or being "personally known" at the polls. basically, if you go to vote- and anyone in the room can vouch for you- that you are who you say you are- voila- gimme a ballot and let 'em rip. i felt proud when i could "PK" several people at my precinct, the senior center. and people actually get pretty hot under the collar if they feel that they should be "pk" and they show up and no one at the polls knows them.

oh, and when working at the polls, be sure to display your american flag- stars to the left- as it was the most specific instruction received during the entire election process.