Summer in Kaltag, Part 1
- Prof C
- Jul 14, 2024
- 9 min read
I'm finally getting around to writing down everything that has happened since my last post in May. I can't believe it's already July.
Since the last post was about Forrest, our dog, I figured I'd mention that he is doing well with us here in his new home. He is thoroughly enjoying the cooler weather, and more importantly, the semi-regular supply of fresh fish that we've added to his meals. He's adjusted to our smaller space rather well, even though there are many times he gets himself stuck in corners and narrow passages. Most of us have loved having him back (Philip is definitely not an indoor dog person), and it's obvious that he missed us. He's been rather clingy, making sure to always be near someone.
So, with that said, on to the first leg of our summer vacation, post dog travel-drama. As I mentioned in the last post, after everyone left for the summer, or for good, Philip and I began taking inventory of the school and its property, to see what work needed to be done, in an effort to clean and update things. Philip is actually the maintenance guy for the summer, since no one has filled that position, as of yet. It became apparent, the more we explored different sections of the school, the larger this project came to be. There are decades of neglect in every facet of maintenance, from care of the grounds, to the stockpile of outdated and broken supplies and curriculum of all kinds in the school. I've already mentioned the sad state of the library, which at one time seemed to be rather functional. It appears that the state of things now are a result of frequent staff turnover, COVID, and a lack of passing on the torch, so to speak. People come out here long enough to order a bunch of stuff for projects to be done, but don't stick around long enough to see them through.
We set to work, with the library, teacher work room, and offices being the top priorities, to get them organized and functional. With the library, it was so jam packed with books and clutter on the floor, and all available walk spaces, that we had to start by just creating workable space. I went through every single book, determining which ones we had multiple copies of, which ones were outdated, and which ones were ratty and gross or unrepairable, and started by discarding those. Looking around at this beginning point, I was beginning to think I had bitten off more than I could chew in one summer. It was important to stay focused on manageable tasks each day, in order to not get overwhelmed or discouraged.
Then, on the last day of May, Philip flew out to Cordova, for a training opportunity in sustainable practices, such as hydroponic farming, foraging, and edible landscaping, with a focus on how to tie these in to curricular standards in the classroom. He was gone for eight days. To date, that is the longest we have been apart in our entire marriage. He made it known that never again are we to be separated for that long. I concur. However, he did get to see more of Alaska, and get an idea of what the coastal areas are like, compared to the Interior, where we live. It is definitely beautiful country, much like Juneau, where Jadyn will be going to college in the fall.
The Friday he flew out, Joe and Brenda, my parents-in-law, flew in. The kids had been waiting anxiously for their arrival, and it was kind of surreal to see them get off the little puddle jumper on our airstrip. I had planned out some tentative things for us to do to introduce them to the village, but little did I know that they were ready to work with us, over at the school. In fact, Joe was a very nice, yet consistent slave driver in getting that library whipped into shape! He and Brenda also joined me every day, driving down to the plane to pick up anything that was delivered to us, or the school. We also did several dump runs, to keep trash picked up. We did balance out the work with fun, though, and their first week here saw me cooking in the kitchen (yikes!), us doing some archery, walking along the shore, walking around the village, playing ball, and visiting the Co-op. There were of course some epic games of Wahoo as well.
The Thursday after they got here, Avery, Josh, one of my students and I had to fly out to Fairbanks, for a prize trip that our Battle of the Books team won during the school year. We were to attend a baseball game, to watch Fairbanks' team the Alaska Gold Panners play at their local stadium. But since flights were so booked, we had to fly out two days before the game, and couldn't fly out until two days after it. So, the kids and I holed up in a suite at Sophie Station, complete with some groceries from Fred Meyer, to tide us over. It was obvious, after our first night there, with our dinner consisting of $18 burgers and $8 milkshakes, that eating out every day was not going to be financially feasible. Since our suite had a fully functioning kitchen, it seemed wise to use it. We had some fun walking around to places nearby, and relaxing in the hotel. We also squeezed in some bowling and a movie while we were among civilization, and took a walk-through in the University of Alaska Fairbanks' botanical gardens. I was taking lots of notes and pictures of things to plant around the school and teacher housing. The timing of this trip actually worked out well, since in conjunction with the Forrest flight drama, it meant that both Philip and I were in Fairbanks at the same time, to pick our dog up at the airport. (I'm not writing in detail about the hours leading up to that dog's arrival in Fairbanks, but let's just say I didn't sleep at all the night prior, and I am forever grateful to our friends and family who got him shipped off, which ended up being a complicated nightmare. But Alaska Airlines came through, and they remain my favorite airline!)
The baseball game ended up being quite a bit of fun. The kids got to go on the field and get recognized for their accomplishment during the 4th inning switchover, and were also able to tour the press box after the game, and see where all the announcing magic happens. Even the weather was close to what we'd expect for a baseball game, a balmy 85 degrees and sunny. Granted, it was tainted a bit, with the smell of smoke from the nearby wildfires, but it almost felt like we were back in Texas. It was strange to remember we were in Alaska.
Avery's birthday also happened during this trip, which was the first birthday that our family has been split. Obviously, it was bittersweet. It was nice that we were able to take her out on some city excursions to celebrate turning 12, but we missed having our elder two with us. However, she did get the creme brulee she'd been craving for quite some time, so that was definitely a win.
As fun as Fairbanks was, we were all really glad to finally be back altogether, in Kaltag. We were also finally able to settle in and enjoy Joe and Brenda's visit. Philip insisted that we all take the next couple of days off from any work at the school, and just take time to play games, hike and relax. So we did. And it was great.
But... then we got back to work. In the library, that meant clearing tangible workspace, and then dismantling some tall metal shelves. The way the library was arranged before, all we had were tall shelves, that didn't allow for line of sight, nor differentiation between information sections. Here are some before shots of our library, which had actually already been partially cleared by us:
Besides a hoard of books that at some point had been delivered, but never sorted, many other items throughout the year had been dumped in between the rows, and along the sides of the library, rendering it unusable for students, unless they were trying to hideout during class. So we hauled out a broken futon (which apparently had a decades-long reputation outside of the village...), removed anything not pertinent to the library, and began going through books. While I did that, Joe, Brenda and Philip began dismantling the shelves. We decided to try to use what we had, and converted some of them into shorter shelves, to create a line of sight, and differentiate the nonfiction section from the fiction. Already, it made the space look so much bigger:
Then of course, once the shelves were in place, there was the sorting, classifying, and alphabetizing...
At the time of writing this post, I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me. 90% of the collection we have is on the shelves. And district has been very generous in giving me pretty much anything I ask for, for the library. There is no way that all of this would have happened without the help of Joe and Brenda. It was amazing how much we got done in so little time. Their efforts of course went beyond the library. Brenda helped Philip in organizing all the supplies and spaces elsewhere in the main working rooms in the school, and Joe helped Philip with outdoor landscaping and reconnaissance in the outer buildings. Oh the things we found!
To add another pause to our work, Josh and Avery were invited to play in the Little League tournament in the village of Galena, about 2 hours northeast, up the river. Philip and I joined them on the very cold boat ride, to watch them play. It ended up being a lot of fun, and the mosquitos actually weren't as bad as we feared. They played a double header, winning against the team from Galena, but losing to Huslia. They ended up taking 2nd place overall, and Josh won the All-Star award, and Avery the Golden Glove award. It was great seeing them playing and having fun doing it.
It was neat for us to finally see a different village. Galena is one of the larger villages along the Yukon, large enough that they have their own school district. They also have a road system, hotels, small restaurants and coffee shops.
After our return, and before Joe and Brenda left, we were able to host a breakfast for the community, on behalf of Trinity Baptist Church, Gatesville. We weren't sure how it was going to go, because something we've learned in our first summer here is that the villagers are very transient during the months of June and July. Some go off to work as firefighters for the summer wildfires; some go about 20 miles south of here to work in the mines. Others visit friends and family in other villages, visit their summer cabins that they have along the river, or host bear hunting trips as a side business. As such, we weren't sure what day to pick for the best turn out, and who would even show up. We ended up hosting it on the very last day that Joe and Brenda were here. At 9:00 that morning, we headed over to the school kitchen, and began cooking eggs, potatoes, bacon and sausage. The entire family ended up forming a bit of an assembly line as we put together breakfast tacos. We had posted our breakfast on the village facebook page, as well as made signs to post at the Tribal Office and Post Office. And then...we waited. At first, we only had one or two show up, sitting to eat and talk for a bit. But both of them worked on crews that were getting ready to start the day. They left, to tell them about the food, and next thing we knew, we had a whole host of work crews coming in for their tacos! It was a lot of fun, and everyone was so grateful for the food. (We even heard that they were all talking about it at Tribal Office, when the Elders got together for lunch.)
We ended up making around 70 tacos, all in all. It was a good introduction for ideas we have moving forward, in providing the adults of this community constructive alternatives that provide hope for their present and future. It was a lot of fun, working side by side together, as a family, and laughing with some of the community members that we hadn't met yet. We're planning a family game night later this month, where we'll be able to hand out goodie bags from TBC, with notebooks, pens and Bibles. Our hope is that we'll be a part of the effort that some of the younger villagers are showing, in wanting to help this village heal from past struggles and forge visions for the future. We want to say thank you to Trinity Baptist, for helping us host the breakfast. It seemed to mean a lot to those who showed.
Since I still have so much more to write, I'll wrap this post with other pics from the month of June. The next post will include our adventures in July, including the 4th, the boys' fishing trip, and summer school. I will say this, the highest temperature we've had in July, so far, is 60 degrees. Even with the mosquitos, which can be rather persistent, we are loving this version of summer weather!
*Warning: Major photo dump ahead!!!
Summer Fun:
Summer Landscape in Kaltag:
What a blessing y'all are!