Tales From The Bush

Ian and I had an eventful trip to Anchorage last weekend. Among the highlights were a trip to the dentist, an unsuccessful attempt to get an Alaskan driver license (that would be me), and a nearly broken but epoxied rental car. I won't go into too much detail about the latter, only mention that on a cold winter night in an apartment parking garage we found ourselves mixing epoxy, blowing a hairdryer, and keeping steady hands......papa John would have been proud of our auto body work!


As usual we stocked up on food and supplies to mail back to Aniak. Our plastic bins have seen better days and unfortunately one of them was leaking when we picked it up. The anticipation was mounting as I carefully carried it through the airport leaving a trail of something white behind me.  Thankfully it was only a box of almond milk and the rest of the bins contents could be wiped clean and used (not that we would waste anything out here anyway). Our cupboards are now stocked with the essentials: twizzlers, pringles, dark chocolate acai berries...you know, just in case the power goes out we want to be covered. 


Before we left we had a friend over. Well, we had him over but didn't let him inside. 

This little calf decided to stop by for a while and grab some lunch on our nearby tree. We got pretty close but he didn't seem to interested in us. Thankfully his mother never showed up because she might have had a thing or two to say....

I was recently in Holy Cross on a village trip and saw almost 50 patients, close to 1/3 of the village. While there I had a wonderful talk with an elder. He is in his late 80's and has been proudly married for over 60 years. He met his wife in the mission orphanage where they were raised by nuns. When I get the chance I try to hear some of their stories, they are beautiful tales of a culture slowly fading away. 

He told me of a particularly difficult winter in 1940 which left the area sparse for moose. Knowing that without enough meat for the winter he and his family would not survive he traveled 30 miles up river by dogsled to look for one. He said that as he traveled he kept praying that God would bring his family a moose and as he came upon an opening in the tundra, he found a bull and two calves grazing.  

However, as his dog sled team pulled him closer, the bull suddenly turned and began charging after him. Quickly he had to maneuver around the angry moose and while his team speed away, he twisted backward, shot, and landed himself a years worth of dinner. But, the glory was short lived as the other two moose began to charge, and so began another chase. 

In the end he was left with not one, but three moose, enough to not only feed his family, but help out others as well. By the time he was done quartering all three it was late in the day which meant that he would have to build a fire and stay the night. So, to survive the -40 temperatures he cut off the bull's ears and used them as slippers and wrapped himself in the moose hide to stay warm. 

Although he was toasty warm inside, when he woke in the morning the moose blanket had completely frozen solid on his back like a straight jacket. He had to roll around in the snow to break up the ice and free himself enough to wiggle out. 

None of the moose went to waste that winter (or ever). He talked about older natives using the tendons of the moose as thread and porcupine quills as needles to sew their clothes. The bones would be sculpted into kitchen utensils and the hides had multiple uses as well. 

Unfortunately my time was limited and he had to go, but I encouraged him to record these stories. I am looking forward to next time as he said he would share with me his story about spending the night with wolves.

  
Here is the Russion Orthodox church in Holy Cross. In view are two fishing boats and a snow machine, all are important items for this culture today. 

Um Honey, have you seen the car? This picture made me laugh. I came upon it while going for a walk. I am not sure that the car even works, but it gives you a good idea of the amount of snow we have had this year. 

This picture was taken as I flew over of the Russion Mountains headed home to Aniak. It was such a beautiful sight and being that I was on a little bush plane, I got a pretty close view. 


Ian was in Bethel all week for more training. A lot of new things are happening in his department. He remains optimistic about everything (as he usually does about most things anyway) and is viewing the changes as good opportunities for growth.  


I am really blessed to have him as a husband (and have become strangely lonely without him when we are apart). He often has very timely words of encouragement that help me see things in a deeper and more spiritual light. 


Although there remain some struggles with work, I am refusing to give myself over to the circumstances, rather to keep my mind on the things that build up and edify my faith. I have become aware the these next two months could be the most fruitful of my entire time here and that gives me hope.


So, I would say that both Ian and I are going quite well. We are both looking forward to going home in a few weeks and to seeing those that we love. It has been over a year since we have been back so we have a lot of catching up to do. 


Also, Happy Birthday to Bri and my dad! Love you both so much!!!


Blessings
-Sarah

A New Sled For A Deserving Friend

It has been very cold (surprise) and windy! As a result, many people have had to make daily runs to gather firewood for their homes. And, this is no easy job! 

One such person is our friend, Travis. After work he often heads out to gather, cut, and hand carry his wood back home for his family. Yes, hand carry his logs. Most people use these special plastic sleds to pull their logs and gather several cords at once, but until yesterday he wasn't able to purchase one. 

Being that he is a very special person in our lives,  Ian and I decided to collect funds and hire someone to make him his very own sled. As it turned out several people from our clinic felt the same way and were able to pitch in to help us with this purchase. 


And, my boss's fiancé, a veteran wood collector, was also able to make him a replica of the one that he uses.  We ordered the plastic from a distributor in Anchorage and our gift ready in less than 3 days. The entire clinic huddled outside during lunch and surprised with him with a new sled. 

He was so happy, surprised, and grateful that it made the moment even more tender.  

This last weekend I had the great idea of skiing to the post office. It is only about 1.5 miles away and I thought the exercise would be good.  So we bundled up and headed out to what we would later find was truly the great beyond. 

As I said earlier, it has been very windy here.  

Even though he looks like he might be ready to hold up a bank, Ian is indeed still happy with his day job. He has had the wonderful opportunity to use the knowledge that he has been given to help others.

 In addition to doing more inter-village traveling, leading anger management classes, hosting elders gatherings, and seeing a steady flow of regular clients,  he has also started training to become a certified chemical dependency counselor.  Counseling seems so natural to him, and I am really proud of all that he is doing at work and in the community. 

It feels good to see the community further welcome us and at times even notice our absence. I believe that Ian has had a big part in this, quite possibly because of his basketball skills.......

It has taken some time, though, to really feel like this is home,  but I think we are both beginning to feel a new closeness with the people.  

I think we have both learning to transition away from holding unto expectations and are moving to a position of openness, where our worth, value, and happiness is not tied to any particular outcome. 

Especially out here in rural Alaska, we are learning that we have little control over anything in our lives other than our attitude and interpretation of events. This has not only been very freeing, but also very wonderful to know that we can continue to love no matter what happens.

For us, we know that a wisdom beyond ourselves is operating and working things out for the greater benefit.  This is both humbling and exciting to know that in remaining in love I have the potential to play a main role in carrying out a divine plan.  

In the words of Albert Camus, " In the depth of winter, I have finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer."

May you come to know the awesomeness that walks beside you at all times on this path that you have chosen so that you may never fear again. 

Blessings 

-Sarah