One night we joined forces and cranked out eight varieties of pizza for a small gathering. There was a greek pizza with garlic and olive oil for sauce, olives, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and feta cheese. We opened up a can of asiago alfredo sauce for some white sauce pizzas. Chopped fresh green onion, zucchini, basil leaves, green pepper, and lots of awesomeness. Lots of pizza varieties, even some with pepperoni for more carnivorous souls and a hawaiian pizza with Canadian bacon and pineapple. It was loads of fun. We took the leftovers down to the mushers and volunteers at the city office. That and some chili that our counselor's boyfriend from Golovin had made. Everyone was so grateful! I walked over sporting my UNI hoodie and a volunteer recognized the logo, asked if I graduated from the university. I said I had, and lo and behold the gentleman was from Cedar Falls, my college town! He was visiting as a volunteer veterinarian. "It's a small world, after all!" Even in Alaska.
It was eye-opening to see the mushers so close and see how incredibly tiring an effect the race has on people. The winners usually get by with such little sleep. It is highly competitive. I enjoyed listening to the stories of people passing through, keeping tabs on certain mushers and talking about the history behind the races. A lot of people scratched, or dropped out, of the race this year. The trails didn't have nearly enough snow so it was pretty rough riding most of the way. And then some storms hit with wind gusts of 50 plus miles per hour. A lot of racers bunkered down in towns for longer than their required stay if they were lucky enough to make it to a checkpoint. Some of them stayed out along the trail wherever it was that they decided to call it quits for a time. If they were to accept assistance from anyone not assigned as a helper of sorts I was told they get disqualified from the race. So the mushers tend to perform rather independently. It's a shame really, because from what I heard, when the Iditarod first began, it was a gathering of like-minded individuals with a shared goal to make it to Nome by dogsled. They cared about their team of dogs and cared about each other. It was supposedly just for fun, at least that's what someone told me this week. They would travel in groups and experience the trail together. Over the years people began taking the race more seriously and were driven to do some pretty wild things to win. One person told me the author Gary Paulson, the one who wrote Hatchet, rode the Iditarod trail one year and wrote about the experience. He said that he saw a musher beat their dog to death on the trail. Nowadays, mushers AND their dogs check in at all the checkpoints, and veterinarians are around. I choose to believe the people who race today really do care about their dogs. One guy by the last name of King would have been the winner, but he scratched just miles from the finish out of fear for his dogs' lives.
I've learned so much about the Iditarod. This race was kind of intense! The person that was expected to win scratched, and then the next in line stopped for a time because of the storms, so the guy that was more than four hours behind came in first, but he didn't even know he had won when he crossed the finish line in Nome. He had already had a record for the youngest to win in years past and now he set a new record for fastest time. Despite the weather, people still made it into Nome in record time. The last couple days were rough because of snow and winds, but we were all so happy to see the snow, and the last person made it to Nome safely. I met a guy all the way from Sweden racing and there was a Jamaican guy, too! It was a lot more interesting to be around than I expected. I enjoyed it.
I am SO happy it has been snowing for the past few days. Just in time for the regional cross-country ski meet in town. This week is going to be rather busy, as the textnician will be staying with me, and people begin arriving for the meet on Thursday. We have early outs the last two days of the week to encourage everyone to attend the meet. I am excited to get to see the races first-hand and to help out in any way I can.
I am going to take up cross-country skiing next year. :) I would also like to teach a pottery class at the city office and start doing book readings of culturally-relevent stories with the younger kids at the library on the weekends. Then we can do crafts along with the stories, because that would be simply awesome! I am excited for all the plans I am beginning to develop for next year and am stunned by how quickly this year has flown by. Only nine weeks left until summer vacation! I feel so much more confidence in what I am doing and can't wait to start fresh again at the beginning of the next year. We all found out yesterday that our principal is staying around, so we will have all returning staff next year, with the exclusion of our ECE program eliminating a position and our K-1 teacher leaving to accommodate. White Mountain is a great place to be!
As I was perusing Facebook the other day, I stumbled upon a post from a friend who was revisiting some feelings about the passing of a friend some years ago.
"I realized it doesn't matter what job you have or your degree or title. It doesn't matter what car you drive, or your material belongings. It doesn't matter if you are deemed socially acceptable or meet society's standards. That's all [irrelevant stuff] to keep you distracted from the things that truly make life worth living. What matters is the connections you make. The relationships you create. The bridges between people that you build to connect these relationships. The hugs, and the smiles, and the times you laugh until you cry. The conversations, the debates, and mindful interactions with others. The emotions, the love, the highs and the lows. When it all comes down to it and in reflection, these are the things that matter most once your time here is up." ---Shelly Adelmund
This was part of her post that really touched on what I am all about and what I strive for, so I thought I would share it with you all. Hopefully it will inspire you. :) Don't forget it all boils down to human relations! How do I relate to other people? Help them to uplift themselves? Encourage them to tackle their demons and live a life filled with beauty and light? What am I doing each day to contribute to the betterment of others? Helping them to feel more fulfilled? Satisfied? Like they live a life that is meaningful? I meditate on these ideas all the time, and it seems to help me to ground myself and provides a sense of duty and purpose.
Well, I certainly owe you all some photos so here goes nothing!
Here is a view of my house (red, center) and surroundings from a little further up the slope.
A student snapped this shot after some fresh snowfall. What a beautiful picture!
Another student shot. Interesting perspective!
This is one from the balcony of my mentor's home in Chugiak. We stayed there for a night during the Special Education Conference in Anchorage.
Another from my mentor's home.
Isn't that view just spectacular?!
Here's a wide-angle view from the deck. Her husband designed the house when he was still in high school!
Here are the mountains we passed on the way to Chugiak to stay over at my mentor's house during the special education conference.
I had a lot more photos but haven't had much luck with uploading so I think I'll end there and add more to my next post. Thanks for dropping by the blog! :)
Namaste,
Kelly Rae
