Last Day

Here is a little collection of photos from my last two days in Alaska. The kids learned Gordan's "newspaper" trick and it was my finale-they totally loved it! I built the ultimate snow-cave with my cousin Miles the evening before I left. It was amazing! Well, I am home now...what a trip. Thank you to everyone who read this and loved me while I was away. Can't wait to see you all again! Love Kellie

Polaris K-12

Today I did something very different. I decided to go check out one of the local "choice" schools in the Anchorage SD. Both of my cousins attended Polaris k-12 and one of them currently is an 11th grader there. This particular school operates on an "open option" system where the majority of student learning comes from self-direction. It looks different than a "normal" school. The young students don't tend to walk in lines. The high school students appreciate discussion and work on self-directed projects. All parent-teacher confrences are student led and so forth. It was amazing to see students going about their business in the hall. At this school, there is no fear of loosing control of the kids-they are there because it is valuable and they want to be. The school does not admit on merit alone, only the learning styles and drive that make self-directed and group study work an adventageous way for students to learn.
The students call their teachers by their first names at Polaris K-12. I went to Mark's biology class. It also just so happens that my cousin was in that class. He was introducing a unit on sex ed...that was interesting. He decided to let the kids come up with the topics that they would really like to cover, and then they took an opinion poll about issues involving the topics they may study in sex ed. It was great to see how Mark used the survey and the anonymous class results to open the discussion about differences of opinion and morality. This will set the stage for an open and (for the most part) mature conversation about these private issues. The students handled it with care and ernest, but also had their moments to giggle. My cousin threw a book across the room at his friend in jest...and I had to admonish him to everyone's delight from my perch at the back of the class!
This particular teacher keeps 5 birds in his room, two of which are a baby cockatoo and a green amazon who sings opera. Also, he keeps mealworms, crickets, a bearded lizard, several gerbils, some sort of frogs and another lizard in his room. What a menagarie! It inspires me to propose bringing Phin to school (my bird) to be with my class this spring. I am sure that he would love it, and due to the fact that I have two cages it would be quite easy!
Tomorrow is my last day here. I am headed to Muldoon to say goodbye to the kids in the morning, and then off on a plane with me. I will try to post up the inevitable photos in case anyone is still reading this silly little blog!

Photos from the weekend and ice sculptures in the park

That last post is depressing and long. Sorry.

Saturday was my aunt's birthday, and since I am living here with her and my uncle and cousin, I got to join in on the festivities! For two hours in the morning we went for a "walk" with the dog. We live close to acres and acres of military land for the army base up here in Anchorage. Just up the street there is an opening in the gate. We took Dexter the dog and went in search of some moose. Of course, just because we were looking for them, we didn't find ONE. They are usually so prolific in this particular area of town that it was almost a comedy as we trudged along. 2 hours later, and my legs had almost fallen off. Hiking in the snow is nothing like hiking. It needs it's own word. It probably has it's own word in Inuit or Yupik...I will have to look into that.

Laments from 5th grade

January 18, Thursday
Today was the beginning of the end of my week and my REAL introduction to the culture of 5th grade. When I came into the classroom today, it turns out that Mrs. G had received the lovely gift of intestinal virus from one of her dear students previously this week. She was determined to make it through the first half of the day, having her first evaluation from the principal that morning. She literally was doubled over in her chair in front of the overhead. I knew this was going to be a pretty crummy day for her, and it turned out to be pretty interesting for me too.
Because of the evaluation, I had scheduled myself to go hang out in Mrs. J's kindergarted classroom. Early last week I saw her students in the hall and was struck with their amazingly obedient behavior and adorableness, so I asked if I could visit! Her classroom is amazing. I am learning that you can almost tell a great teacher from an average teacher by what they are able to scam for their classroom. It's a level-of-care thing, I think. This particular teacher had the school computers, plus 4 of her very own computers and 5 more making a total of 14 computers in her classroom. She also had a projector and a free-standing Smart Board, all for kindergarten! When I arrived, the students were very polite and well-behaved, giving me a smile or a wave while continuing on with learning the letter “H”. I think that the most striking moment in the classroom was when she turned to one of a pair of twins and began a fluid stream of steady Spanish! Apparently, the twin students had just moved from the Dominican Republic and were just learning English. It was so encouraging to see a teacher who fostered their acquisition of academic language in American schools while making sure they understood concepts and directions in their native language. What an amazing teacher, and what adorable students!
After my venture into the kindergarten wing, I returned to find a substitute in the 5th grade room. Here is where my observation of life as a substitute teacher in 5th grade begins.
The first substitute was only there for an hour, but in that time she managed to make a fool of herself and embarrass me (as an adult) with her behavior. Now, this account is in no way to say that I am perfect or know how to behave, it is just an observation of how the students took a certain cultural affront. The teacher, in an attempt to somehow “connect” with one of our African American girls, began to speak in some sort of pop-culture rendition of Ebonics...or something. It was appalling. The substitute had no idea that she was being offensive, but the student was offended to a point where she had to go and put her head down. The teacher didn't notice. I was very glad when she left the room finally.
Ms. Graves came back from her meeting and we urged her to go home. If I would have known what 5th-grade-angst-onslaught was to come, I may have thought better of that. The next substitute was a nice girl, around my age. However, the minute she came in, she started into a story about how her mother was dying of liver cirrhosis. I tried to deflect the uncomfortable conversation and shifted instead to the plans: read-aloud, spelling, and then science.
When the students came back from lunch, they all seemed a little bit down, but I started into the read-aloud because usually it is a calming time for them. The lights were off, students were working quietly or napping. The feel in the room was not quite right. To make a long story short, when the lights came on again and behavior problems increased, I addressed the elephant in the room: the lunch duties had “wrongfully” taken away their lunch recess. If you have ever tried to get any real information out of a 5th grader, it would make sense to stop at knowing what the problem was. I soon learned that even if you let students speak, reassure them that the problem is over, it is NOT over. They would not let it go and move on with the lesson.
I have learned that the amount of drama that passes in a normal day of 5th grade is amazing. Having spoken with Tami a 5th grade teacher and also my roommate, it has become apparent that there is something developmentally at this age that prevents students from bouncing back from crises easily. A small argument, a slight look, can turn the student into a bawling mass of child for the school day. It was expected, and almost unavoidable, for a group of wronged students to sit in class and glower for the rest of the afternoon. Instead of having that, we took them out for a 20 minute secret recess.
When they came back, I had a great afternoon of science, even though the teacher was not there and the fact that the substitute was crazy and a little bit depressed. She just sat in the corner the whole time staring off in to space. It was definitely a learning experience.

January 19, Friday

Today happened in two phases, and I will not taint the first phase with the second. Finally, I will attempt to metalevel the experiences for the day.

Phase 1:
Today the students have another substitute. He is a middle aged man, possibly African American or something, and a writer. He arrived after the bell had rung. By this time, I had not gotten word if I was to have a substitute at all. In the state of Alaska, substitute teachers need not have a teaching certificate or even any degree at all. Muldoon has a reputation in the community to be a rough school (which it is absolutely not!) and consequently does not attract the most qualified of substitutes. While I could go on and on about the eccentricities of this particular man, I will refrain and keep those stories to lament to my mother about.
I don't yet understand 5th graders. Some are infuriating constantly, others great all of the time, some cry, some yell, some ebb and flow with the tide. Some have no resources but are smarter than everyone in the class. Some have no family but still care about others. What is bigger is the fact that this particular breed of student is unpredictable in all ways except one: all hell will break loose any time after lunch.
The morning went great. The lesson plans that were left came via fax and I coached the substitute through them, finding the books and worksheets needed, writing up the agenda, telling him when to take the students to library, gym and music. I had the privileged of using part of the morning to coach my reading group, the “Weasels” or “my weaselly readers” in the reading of their book Sounder. These particular students have the unique ability to work independently. They are the gifted students. Mrs. Graves is attempting to rescue them from boredom, in order to save them from an academic life of not caring.
I found new Sudoku coach-puzzles for some of my little puzzle wizards. The unlikely group consists of Caroline, Frank and Cody. These are students who normally do not make a real attempt to succeed. They attacked the puzzles with joy and earnest concentration. My prized Caroline approached me before lunchtime to show me her first correct finished Sudoku puzzle. She may be my muse.
After lunch, I was hoping for a day altogether different from the previous. I got it, but not in the way that I expected! I decided to take over the math lesson, since I had been there all week to learn this radical new framework for long division.
The following story warms my heart and reminds me that in my heart, I am mostly a teacher.
I began the lesson using the partial quotient model for long division with a twist. They have seen the framework and have worked with Mrs. G on it for two days now, but have not really soaked it in. Today, I looked at it as a free day to help these students practice their skills. I started going over problems, but allowing students to work in groups instead of at their seats independently. They still followed teacher-directed operations, but could guide each other quietly if confused. I couldn't believe it- as I continued to do problems on the overhead, students who normally did not speak in math class were comprehending the process and getting the right answer. This made my day completely worth it. Some of the quietest and lowest math achievers began to jump out of their seats (literally) with the answers. Mor, my sweet little spaz, was elated when she finally got it. I guided these students to reach out and grasp what they had been taught the past couple of days, and to taste the delectable taste of success.
I truly believe that leading students to a place where they can succeed is the first step into challenging them academically. Students who always struggle begin to believe that they will always struggle. The math story inspires me as a teacher because I was never able to do long division in the 5th grade, or after. I shared this story with Mrs. Grave's 5th grade class before I started math, and I really do think that it opened up some of the struggling students to give it one REAL try. I am so proud of myself and for these students for our work today.

Phase 2:
After math, I decided to turn the reins back over to Mr. H, the substitute, to finish out the time before science. I figured that it was after lunch, the kids had been great, and we hadn't had an after-lunch blowout, so it was bound to not happen, right? Wrong. They were completely turned off by him, and he hit a brick wall. So I decided to break right in to science until the end of school for the day, since they love science.
Science was going great, and then we had a fire drill. At that point, the students were working in groups and the substitute seized the opportunity to take charge of the class in an emergency (we didn't know it was a drill) by running to the door. Right after that, he ran out of the door before all of the students. As a result, all of the kids ran out of the door. It was pandemonium. Since I am not their teacher, nor a teacher in that school at all, I simply found the room key and locked the door and stood with the aides and office staff outside.
I found out later that the emergency plans are the same for every school (minus knowing which exit to go out of) in the Anchorage School District. All substitutes are required to know the emergency plan for the buildings they work in, and running out of the door before the students and letting them run out in a mass is not part of the plan. However, like I said before, this substitute was an exceptional character.
After the drill was over and the students had to walk in 3 feet of snow in their school shoes, I had them line up in front of me before they entered the building. When they were lined up, I walked into the building with the student behind me in a line. When I stopped and looked back, several of the students were jokingly sliding around on the slippery snowy linoleum and pushing each other all over the place. The rest where laughing or talking loudly. It was (again) pandemonium. The substitute was at the back doing nothing.
When the students came in, it became apparent to me again that this particular age group has a real difficulty “coming down” from a crisis or event. Today I was a little bit wiser and allowed them time to relax. Unfortunately to children, this looks like punishment, because I turned the lights off and had them put their heads down. While they rested, I let them know what the procedures are for emergency drills at school. Since they have had drills in the past, I expressed the inappropriateness of their behavior during the drill.
Our last 10 minutes of the day was very glum. Some students had wet socks and shoes and needed to call parents, others were just feeling crummy for not getting away with what they did. I think that I was the person who felt the worst of all, however. Since I am a high school teacher, I don't usually have to deal with mass disobedience. Usually, it is just one or two students acting out, and for the most part the rest are reasonable. I felt that to let them “get away” with things would make them loose all respect and regard for me. Above all, I care about these students and want them to grow into healthy (alive) individuals. Part of this is knowing how to behave in grave situations such as emergency drills.
Why is it, then, that I went home with such a crummy outlook on the day? I have not yet had the joy and struggle of being a parent, but I have heard that being a parent is very difficult, especially when it comes to discipline. Nobody likes to get kids into trouble, let alone other teacher's students!

My reading group is progressing through the book nicely. Sounder is a hard book for students at this age to read, due to the content including poverty, sharecropper lifestyle and death. Because I didn't get to choose this book for them, and it is quite dry, I have chosen “How to Eat Fried Worms” for their next project. They will be working on that book after I leave under self-direction.
Today is the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and my day off. Monday was spent shopping for gifts for my family and friends, checking out downtown, and relaxing with my family. Today is also my first day teaching the science unit with the 5th graders. A common known fact about elementary teachers as a whole is that they don't really like to teach science. So here I am, teaching science to 5th graders. It is amazing to see that their level of readiness for scientific thinking is so low. I hear that science is something that the teachers don't really “get to”. This makes a lot of sense as to what students know when they get to me and what they do not know.
In science, we went over the basics of variables and experimental design. The level of chaos and learning both were high in the room. It seemed to go well, but we will see how the lessons progress on Thursday and Friday when I continue.
My reading group has grown from five students to six, with the addition of Carlyle, who is probably one of the most mature and positive 5th graders in the class. He approaches everything with honesty and earnestly, and is a positive role model for the whole class. I am so glad to have him join our group. This brings the group to just about the same ratio of cultural diversity in the school: 1 African American girl, 1 Hmong girl, 1 Russian girl, 2 Caucasian boys and 1 Samoan boy. I am learning a lot about culture, but mostly I am learning a lot about these kids.
It is heartbreaking to see some of the struggles that they go through each day. My group is the top readers and some of the smartest students in the 5th grade. Two of the group participated in the spelling bee last week.

Photos from the drive up north on Saturday

Sudoku smackdown MANIA

Today was a great day at school! This morning I had the pleasure of giving a spelling test. I think that the kids were really disarmed by the fact that I sat on a table to give the test. I am not sure what my mentor teacher thought about that either. After that, school went on as normal and I got to take "my" reading group into the hall to introduce thier special reading. We talked about the assignment-they get to write about their pet. One of my students wants to write a 10-page paper. He can be my guest; I love to read their writing, and they love me to read it. We worked a bit on some other reading assignments on case and pronouns as well. It was kind of hard!
As well as learning more about culture and students, I am really learning a lot of the things that I skipped out on in fifth grade. That grade was not a stellar year for me if I remember correctly. This week I have learned a new way to tackle long division.
My reading group is great. There are three girls and 2 boys-caucasian, Hmong and black. I feel like the ability in this group is very high for the age group, but also the students are very diverse in learning styles. One of the boys is so squirmy that he has to sit at his own table in the classroom just so that he does not disturb the others with his flailings. I told him today that he can feel free to do his work rolling around on the floor...I don't mind that.
This afternoon I finally had some free time to spend with the kids. I offered to teach some kids how to play Sudoku, since it has helped me so much with my number sense. I got Dallas (who will pretty much do anything to be around me. She drew a picture of me today...), Frank (see photo) and Caroline. I have not talked about her yet-What an amazing young lady. She has several hurdles to jump that I won't get into. She dresses like a boy, gets pulled out for anger management groups and special ed, but I have not met a more delightful and loving young lady. She is not used to liking a challenge, since most of school is a challenge for her. Today I feel so amazing to have been able to introduce her to something that she actually ended up liking!
She first just wanted to watch...then started up on a 4X4 puzzle. She experienced sucess with that one and moved on to a 6X6. I think that it really helped that the "smartest girl in the class" was having just as much trouble as her, and together the three of us worked and helped eachother to get to the bottom of the strategy of Sudoku. Frank sat at the end of the table and watched us, all the while working his puzzle. At the end of the day, they all asked for puzzles to take home. Frank rolled them up neatly to go into his pocket, with the one marked "Frank. A+" right on top.
Caroline came up to me at the end of school and told me, "Now I will have something to do this weekend that is not video games." These kids are dying for a challenge, like using thier brains, and thrive on little sucesses. I think that the failing child looses this wonder sometime in their schooling...I hope that I can keep the sense of adventure for learning and challenge alive at the high-school level.
I forgot a though of the day from a few days ago. When the kids were being told a storty about the moon lander "The Eagle" and that famous comment, they really thought they were talking about an Eagle. They were so confused. In Alaska, eagles are everywhere. You can find them in the city, sitting on lamposts etc. It's no wonder they thought that!

What do you mean, "the eagle has landed?"

Today is absolutly HOT. It is 28 degrees outside. If the temp raises a couple of degrees, some of this snow will melt. Even being in Spokane for the winter does not fully get a person ready for winter in Alaska. When you walk across a parking lot, it is amazing to see that the pavement is pristine and white-a sheet of compressed snow blanketing all surfaces. This is the place where the snow has an absence of dirt. It is amazing. The kids go out to recess even up to -9 degrees.
Today I had the experience of giving a 5th grade spelling test. The kids were great, and I repeated the words and sentences over and over. After that, I got to take my first reading group in the hall to explain their special projects for the book "Sounder". I am so lucky to be teaching this book to such a diverse group of learners. Not only do they have their own learning needs, but they are also composed of different cultures. Overtly, these students are white, Hmong and black. They are ladies and gentlemen. I am excited for what will happen next.

Hot Flash

WOW! I am sitting in the classroom this morning and it is 20 degrees outside. I never thought that I would say this, but it felt really warm and comfortable outside. I actually had trouble sleeping last night, and my aunt told me this morning that it was probably since it is so hot out today. The sun is not yet "up" and it is 9:30 am. It almost looks like dusk or dawn all the time in the middle of the day. Alaska is gaining about 3 minutes of light per day.
My Alaska mentor teacher just found out that her husband has to go to Iraq. It was a hard evening for her, but she is holding together very well for school. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be separated from Brett for that amount of time. He is my best friend and the person I have the most fun with...I am guessing things would be pretty drab. It puts my month up here into perspective!!!

Moose sighting #2

Today was my second day with the 5th grade class. I arrived today excited and reenergized to get to know some of these students. I am preparing to lead a small group of top-readers in the exploration of the book Sounder starting later this week. Also, I have volunteered myself to teach the Foss science kit that has been waiting around for the “right” time. From an instructional standpoint, it was amazing to see how incredibly excited these students are to do some science! During the language arts portion of the day, Mrs. G was discussing the similarities of fiction and science in relation to science fiction writing, which they will read later this week. The amazing explosion of ideas about science came out after the descriptions of fiction...the students had several scientific terms in their minds but few describing words.
Today I learned a little more about a few of our students. Frank is an Alaska native (turns out we only have 2 in the class). He moved recently from “the village”. I am learning that “the village” is the general term for anywhere that is not a city, and is more respectful and less stigmatizing than “the bush”. He is a very quiet boy who tends to always just want to do math. According to some of the teachers, he is a bit of an anomoly for being so interested in mathematical concepts. I don't know what about the culture would disregard math on the whole, other than the fact that it doesn't relate directly to hunting and fishing. I also learned that Frank loves to hunt whale, and I hope that I can earn his trust enough for him to talk to me about it as time goes on.
There are several teachers that I would like to speak with more to help enrich my experience here. A “cultural advocate” comes into the class every day to sit with our Native kids. I wonder what she does, and why she does it? Later this week I hope to be able to ask her some questions about her job and the Native kids at Muldoon.
Also, the school offers a Hmong class after school and I hope to go check it out. It is to help enrich the Hmong students, almost 100% of which speak fluent English. The idea is to keep their native language alive in an academic setting so that they can grow to be truly bilingual. I think that this is AMAZING! Also, one of the teachers here is realizing her dream in starting a Native Alaskan charter school next year. There are so many opportunities for me to learn at Muldoon-I don't know where to start! Not to mention how much I want to get to know these kids!
At the end of school today I went to watch three of our kids in the school spelling bee. They all did well, but were beat out finally to 6th graders who took the 1st and 2nd spots. It is amazing to see what these kids do just to get to school. Though the school is located in the neighborhood, the current temperatures could give a young child frostbite in minutes. Getting to school this morning (in the dark) was -20 degrees Fahrenheit. As the students left the school, it had risen to a whopping -11. The bitter cold is unlike anything I have ever experienced. The fact that people still go outside, deliver the mail, walk to school, amazes me to no end.
A moose happened by the window of our classroom this morning. The moose is an amazing and powerful animal-lazing about the neighborhood, all the while able to kill any human in one fell swoop. The kids got very excited (probably due to the fact that I was jumping up and down) to show me a part of their Alaska. The could not believe that I have never seen a moose THAT close before. It was a fun moment.

Living with my aunt and uncle is AWESOME. I have never really had anyone cut up carrots for my lunch before-it is SO NICE. They have been driving me to school so far since it has been so amazingly hyper-freezing. The boots Brett picked out for me are in the mail...and they only go down to -40. I am SO GLAD I did not choose the boots rated to -25! I am missing all of you and my family. To those of you in Chile who happen to read this-well...I have nothing to say to you.

Today was my first day in Mrs. G's fifth grade classroom at Muldoon Elementary in Anchorage Alaska. This morning I arrived to be greeted by the principal herself in the office. The office staff of Muldoon consists of two ladies, which is a stark contrast to CVHS where I student teach, with five secretaries, not counting the administrative staff and their aides, student workers and volunteers. I got a quick tour of the K-6 school. Muldoon is a Title 1 school with 100% of the students getting free lunch. It is amazingly diverse, though Anchorage is more diverse than I ever would have thought. The school is about 1/3 white/Caucasian, 1/3 African American and 1/3 Native and Hmong. There are a few other nationalities strung through; a few Hungarians many many Pacific Islanders.
Mrs. G's classroom has 5 African American students, 5 Hmong students, 4 Caucasian students, a Samoan girl and about 4 Native Alaskans. It is a good mix of boys and girls, with slightly more ladies than gentlemen.
My first impressions of the school were that it was tidy, small, and very beautiful inside. Walking down the hall and into the entryway, there are two tall trees growing up to a skylight in the ceiling. The floor has permanent leaf impressions, filled in with colored material to look like fall leaves interspersed with the tiles. In the hall there is an amazing mix of artwork from the students, from “My little book of Kwanzaa” to a large paper mural of Raven stating “Share your treasures like Raven”.
According to yesterday's newspaper, the state of Alaska is second only to the state of Hawaii in diversity in the United States. It is easy to see this from the mix of students in the classroom. I was surprised to see that there were barely any Russian or Ukrainian students in the school, having grown up in Spokane where there was always a Russian-speaking student in class! One of our girls is from a Russian family, but does not speak the language in the home.
Today our students received the first letters back from their pen pals in New Mexico. 99.5% of the students in that school are bilingual, and our students were interested to find out that these students do not speak Spanish at school. The were also confused why the New Mexican students asked about Igloos and Eskimos and snow. Mrs. G (being from Texas and New Mexico herself and experiencing her first Alaskan winter) let them in on the fact that the “lower 48” does not know anything, in fact, about Alaska in most cases.
Today I spent most of the day observing student behavior and teaching style. Today was filled with much direct instruction. I, having never been in the 5th grade before, was amazed at the brevity with which they spend time on each activity, subject per day. Today was their first day back after break, so the energy level was low. Mrs. G uses mostly desist strategies when it comes to classroom management. Her students are mostly good, with the exception of one boy and one girl who have serious behavior issues that interfere with day-to-day learning for most students. Also, Mrs. G (who is an excellent teacher) has rooted out several gifted students, with which I will have the pleasure of training during my stay to work independently in literature groups. We are going to read Sounder, and I am a little bit nervous how to approach issues of slavery and oppression (not to mention frequent use of the “f-word”) with this age group.
After my first day with the kids, I can see how I will be challenged to love each and every one. Most students at Muldoon are suffering in some way or another, but the school seems to be a nurturing and safe place to learn. One of the students has already broken my heart. She is in foster care and struggles to get through the day without breaking down. With little stability at home, one wonders how she can be so resiliant and strong-I as an adult don't know how I would handle the same conditions.
My goal for tomorrow is to remember everyone's name. It is SO MUCH easier when you get to look at the same 21 kids all day, instead of trying to memorize 120. I also would like to re-learn some of my math facts along with the kids, since I am lacking elementary division skills. Who knew that my remedial math help would come in my 20's!!!!
I am so excited for the brand new day tomorrow. The weather is so cold here that the kids have to stay inside all day. People tend to get a little sick when the weather is 11 below in the middle of the “day”. The lack of light is strange, but doesn't seem to effect the kids. It just looks like dawn or dusk all day long, from about 9 am to 4 pm, when it begins to get dark.
Student names I know so far: Dallas, River, Anna, Elizabeth, DeCoursey, William, Peter, Ka, Merry, Ma (I don't know how to spell it), Damon, Carslile, Frank, Cody

I am here, and I have seen a moose!

I arrived in Alaska yesterday afternoon and have been getting a lot of rest. The sun made an appearance today at about 1:30 pm, just on the horizon. So far it has been flurry-ing and quite cloudy. I am not sure if this computer is going to work for me or not, it is kind of a dinosaur....so look for more and photos later, but for now the screen is blinking at me and everything is pixiliated.

Oh the woes of waiting.

Well, today I got all packed and ready to go. I am one of those people that I would consider "hyper prepared". I signed up for the text-message flight status alerts from Alaska Air, only to be spitefully notified 30 minutes later via cell-phone that my flight to Anchorage has been CANCELLED. I called, and they said the crew needed rest. I guess, it is better to be delayed than dead, right?

So the long and short of it is that I get to spend some time in Juneau tomorrow...

Notice that Juneau is quite close to Sitka, very south. If the other Alaska crew happens to be at the same time, somebody give me a call and we can 3-2-1 about the flights to Alaska, which are notoriously harrowing.

Keep tuned in...I will get to Alaska sometime, I promise.