Misadventures of a Midlife Married Couple

October 21, 2023 The above pics (scroll please) were captured by Marty yesterday, October 20, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR!!), from 10:07 to 11:00 am. This is Sunrise in the Arctic this time of year.

Marty and I have spent a relaxing morning watching football in front of our faux fireplace (ps… OU Football comes on at 8:00 am our time!) and staring out the window and falling snow. The weather the last two days has waffled between sunny and overcast with random bits of snow interspersed all day. This morning it is very gray and overcast and we think we may actually have some big snow coming… weather reports are all over the place, we could be expecting accumulations anywhere from 3 inches to a foot over the next few days . (One thing I learned living on the East coast is that Oklahoman’s are spoiled by quality weather people… we like to complain about them but let me tell you, they beat what you get elsewhere!).

It has been really interesting to continue to watch the changes to the tundra. We got here at the end of July and so far we have watched the tundra change from fields of lush green knee high grass, sparsely populated with small lakes, scraggly spruce trees, and a variety of berry covered bushes, (blue, salmon, and cranberries) to the browns and golds of what almost resembled aging wheat fields on an abandoned farm. As the snow has continued to fall the last few days we are watching those fields literally fill up with snow. The layer of white is slowly creeping up the grass until it’s takeover is going to be inevitable. The branches of the spruce trees, which I can best describe looking as if sturdy and scraggly had a baby, are starting to wear a fine dusting of snow, they resemble one of the old flocked Christmas trees. The branches tend to be short so I don’t look for any of them to really start sagging under the weight, but we shall see.

It’s interesting to me, I have always loved the snow and have always loved watching it fall. I think almost everything is prettier when it is snow covered. This place, and our views, have taken what I previously thought to be spectacular and said, “Here, hold my beer”. It has been amazing. Not just watching the snow but seeing the changes, plus nothing is more peaceful than an undisturbed field, covered in snow, especially when it is actually pretty quiet normally. Here is footage from our snow this morning.

Which brings me to this interesting departure into our new normal. Our volleyball team had to travel to a tournament yesterday. OK. When I tell you school travel looks a little different, I mean school travel looks a LOT different. We don’t own a school bus, most of our students get to school via 4 wheeler or on the IRA’s (the local native corporation) van. Yesterday we had the van come pick up the coaches and kids to drop them off at our airport, which consists of a packed gravel strip and a gravel loading zone. Before we would let them leave the school they all had to be properly dressed in cold weather gear… snow pants, jackets, boots, mittens, etc.. and they are required to take survival bags (I bet the bags weigh 50 lbs), before they were allowed to board the chartered plane taking them to the tournament. When they arrived they played three games, and then slept in the school, which is 100 percent normal, in fact if large groups of people visit the village they typically are lodged at the schools, and more than one student left with their own personal cot as part of their luggage. Right now said students, and coaches, are “stranded” upriver until the airline decides they want to fly in despite the weather (which has cleared tremendously).

** update… kids and coaches wound up stranded overnight due to the arrival of freezing rain!

Well, I probably have a grocery order coming in on the late flight, I have boatloads of stuff to accomplish at work, and I need to run to the village store. Bout to throw on some layers, pop my butt on the four wheeler, and head to the store for weekend sandwich stuff…and cream for the coffee!