Back in the Last Frontier

We made it back to the last frontier through a slight winter storm that caused our four- seater airplane to pitch, drop, and jockey from side to side the entire 25 minute flight. I was a wreak…praying, yelping at times and hanging on pitifully to my seven year old son’s leg. Meanwhile, Steve read a book and Andrew, despite my tight grasp on his knee, fell asleep. Thank God we landed in one piece. As we drove home, my stomach started to settle and we to found our little island covered in snow and ice. While we were in Oregon our Hoonah home had some problems. The pipes froze. Our welcome back note read that we were down to one working toilet and no shower. Thankfully, the shower was fixed by Thursday evening (that was a long four days) …the upstairs toilet will be awhile before it is running. The roads and sidewalks are covered in ice turning walking to school into sliding and slipping to school. My past ballet lessons paid off as I gracefully tumbled and slide a few feet down the hill by our house. The positive side to the snow is that Andrew’s playground is a winter wonderland. I had lunch with Andrew on Friday and enjoyed playing with all his friends in the snow maze and “ice skating rink.”

Andrew’s joy for being here amazes me. As soon as we got out of the cab on Monday, he exclaimed how happy he was to be back in Alaska, adding that this is the best winter ever! His perspective and happiness is my saving grace. His smile truly brightens the cloudy days.

This week we went to a talent show at the Boy’s and Girls Club. The counselor at the school had her sister come for a visit. She is a professional dance teacher and spent her Christmas vacation teaching the kiddos ballet, tap and hip-hop. They did a demonstration of what they had learned in just a few lessons. In addition some students played the violin, sang and told jokes. Here is a picture of Andrew’s friend Manny, playing the accordion. (love that!)


















We also had two home basketball games, complete with a Pep Band. Wednesday night the boys played first then the girls’ game followed. On Thursday they reversed the order. I admire all the Hoonah students that play a full game of competitive ball and then turn around, walk up into the stands, pick up their instruments and play great music for the crowd to enjoy. The opposing team was Yakatat. Both the boy and girls Yakatat teams are defending state champions for their division. They beat us mercilessly, with a point spread of over 40 points. Ouch!


Thanks for checking in and a special thank you to all those that made our Oregon vacation so memorable. Hope you have a great week!