Flights on...Flights Off...

Air travelers are getting pretty nervous. One headline reads "All Flights Cancelled" followed a few hours later by "Flights resume; airline to re-evaluate hourly." Mail is coming to the island in spurts. Jeremy is scheduled to fly to Fairbanks on Friday and at this rate he may or may not have trouble. I just hope Mt. Redoubt is all done with its business by next month when we take our long-awaited trip to Maui, or that puyulek and I are going to have words.

I took this picture out my window this morning. Kidding!

Photo from Alaska Volcano Observatory website.

"Boat"

In which Jeremy begins Emmy's training for the Grand Canyon...

1964 Earthquake Ham Radio Operators

Original image at NOAA website

My sister Alberta got me a copy of this audio file, that was given to my grandmother from the UAF archive. Since today is the anniversary of the 1964 earthquake and tidal wave I thought I should figure out how to post this file. My grandfather, Nick Laktonen, had the call letters KL7APH. After WW2 he was mostly blind, but he was very good with radios and was a ham radio operator for many years. If you listen to the recording you can hear him speak, beginning at about 5:07. I can hear him say "KL7 Alpha Papa Hotel...I am on top of a mountain..a tidal wave is reported headed to Kodiak..20 miles away..I am mobile, I am mobile. I am on top of Pillar Mountain." It kinda brings tears to my eyes to hear him from so long ago, and to hear the stress in his voice.

Cuteness

Emmy and her "toe man"

The bib-cape

The Green Pajamas

Now I know how Jeremy feels when he is in Fairbanks and I tell him about all of Emmy's cute exploits.  When I was in Denver he absolutely tortured me with stories of all the things she did and said.  Now, looking at the evidence left on the family camera, it is hard to decide which photo captures her Emmy-ness the best.

Volcanoes and Canceled Flights

Mount Redoubt has erupted right before I am scheduled to return to Kodiak. If I don't get stuck in Seattle, I may get stuck in Anchorage, as they are canceling flights from both places right now. Thankfully I have family I could stay with either way, but I just want toget back to Jeremy, Emmy, and the dogs. Siska has been having trouble with his back and can hardly walk Jeremy had to bring him to the vet yesterday and he is in less pain now, but dragging his feet :-(

Alaska Airlines Cancels 19 Flights Due to Mt.Redoubt Volcanic Ash
3/23/2009 5:04 am (PT)

SEATTLE —Alaska Airlines announced it has canceled 19 flights destined to Anchorage and flights out of Anchorage to Bethel, Dead Horse, Kodiak, Nome, Kotzebue and Barrow. The flights were canceled as a safety precaution related to the pattern of ash at altitude created by the eruption of Mt. Redoubt volcano near Anchorage, Alaska.

As of 4 a.m. Pacific time, 16 flights were canceled. The airline is monitoring the ash pattern on a continuous basis and hopes to resume flights later when it is safe to do so.

Get more updates on Redoubt here.

Sick to Denver

I have this awful cold and am flying to Denver for the American Association of Applied Linguistics Conference, along with my professors and fellow students in the SLATE program. With the sinus and ear blockage and the airplane pressure I cannot hear a thing. No amount of holding my nose and blowing out through my ears (which I heard is actually very bad for your ears) will help, so I am kinda in this partially silent world for the time being.

I hope I recover quickly so that I can enjoy my visit to Denver. Never been there. today's forecast is around 70 which is AWESOME. by Monday it may be snowing there though, which made it hard to pack.

Missing Emmy Jeremy and the dogs already. Though I am sure little E is taking full advantage of how she has her dad wrapped around her little finger. (Don't give her juice every time she asks! ;-))

White House Victory Garden!

Two Ships...

Jeremy just got back from Fairbanks, and I am leaving Friday morning to go to a conference in Denver.  It will be so nice when we are all just here together, with no imminent travel planned!

Emmy was so happy when Jeremy surprised her at daycare today she started smacking him in the face.  Then she looked like she was going to cry before she got herself together.  It had been hard for both of them to be apart. She's like a mini Jeremy, but the female, delicate version.

Siska is Beautiful

Even though he is almost 12 years old, Siska is still the most beautiful husky I have ever seen.  In this photo taken yesterday, the snow and ice had melted from the boardwalk, so he decided to lay on the snow pile to cool off.

Favorite Foods

I go through phases of really liking certain foods. Lena in Old Harbor once told me in her family they call this the "Like-A-Lots"  Currently my Like-A-Lots (besides Thai Iced tea which has been top on my list for some time) are Mezzetta sliced hot pepper rings and Cambozola cheese.

The hot pepper rings are not really that hot, but just hot enough to make your mouth water.  And they have a good flavor - not just heat. I have just purchased my second jar in as many weeks.

I had Cambozola cheese at the Silvergulch Restaurant up in Fairbanks, and have 

been wondering what it was called ever since, since we don't seem to have it in Kodiak.  It is kinda halfway between a brie and a blue or gorgonzola.  So it is creamy, but with a few bands of that blue marbling that we all know is mold. tasty, tasty mold.  Jeremy is now searching Fairbanks for it so he can bring some home to me.  Now isn't that romantic?

She likes my Hat

Emmy's favorite Song

This is Emmy's Favorite Song - Say Hey I Love You by Michael Franti.  Every night I ask her "Do you want to Dance?"  And she says "Yes!"  When the first few notes start up she gets so excited, treating us to a few of her signature dance moves including "baby zombie" and "I work in a button factory."  Sometimes she sings along "Hey Mommy, Hey Mommy" instead of "Hey Mama, Hey Mama..." And repeats the "I Love you" part.  Soooo cute. You'll dance too.

Nick Tucker Vs. Sarah Palin Follow up

In my recent post about Nick Tucker speaking to Sarah Palin in Russian Mission, I was focusing more on his leadership than the real issue evident in the video, which was her lack of leadership.  She spoke down to him and proposed a totally lame solution that she seemed to think would placate him and whoever was watching the video.  Here is a letter to the editor he wrote to the Arctic Sounder after his experience speaking with her.  Other bloggers have commented on this as well.

Looks like village aAlaska will need to help itself.  If you can help as well...

"Womens Fiction?"

I was just looking for some good reads on Amazon.com and wasn't finding what I wanted under "vampire fiction" or "teen vampire romance" (the adult vampire romances tend to be a bit more...graphic), so I went to the browse section and looked under Fiction >>Women's Fiction.  And here are the categories they had.  This is what we are supposed to be interested in?

Divorce

Domestic Life
Friendship
Mothers & Children
Single Women
Sisters

Sunny Winter Beach

Today we drove out to Chiniak for a walk on the beach.  It was absolutely beautiful. A bit chilly in the wind, but well worth the drive.  We must have seen 6 deer along the way, tons of eagles, some mallards, magpies, and of course plenty of seagulls.  Oh, And cows and horses.

Grant writing = Punishment

I have been slaving the past few weeks on a grant application for the language program. If we get it, it will be an awesome project that includes Alutiiq Language Institutes for adults, materials development and language outreach. And based on how much blood, sweat and tears have gone into this thing, I REALLY hope it is awarded.

In the mean time, a few of us are going out tonight to celebrate getting it in the mail. Which as you may know, celebrating of any kind has become sort of uncharacteristic of me, and I will probably still end up in bed by a decent hour. Jeremy was drafted to be our designated driver. I am so much in need of some relaxation.

But as soon as this is in the mail, it is back to the school work. I am still trying to get some modifications to one of my exam papers completed, and then I have another publishable paper to do before I have officially passed all of my exams. I have another paper I am writing with my advisor for the American Association of Applied Linguistics Conference in Denver this month, an application for more Graduate funding due in April, and that doesn't even begin to cover what needs to be done in order to finish my research and dissertation. Sak'aartua! (I am exhausted).

Sarah Palin's visit to Rural AK...

This man, Nicholas Tucker is a true Native leader, even if he says he does not get involved in politics. I got this from over at Progressive Alaska. You can also read the transcript over there. It brought tears to my eyes. The news flurry about Emmonak and the other hurting villages may be fading, but the problems are still needing to be addressed. I am not sure what to say about Sarah's responses...