Merry Christmas, Aleutian Style

Unangan Santa with the Grand Aleutian Hotel and Mt. Ballyhoo in the background

The Ounalashka Corporation displays my favorite island Christmas decoration. Wearing a traditional bentwood hat, the Unangan Santa navigates his carved bidarka led by a team of seals.  Of course, he should be out in the Bering Sea, but then we would not be able to enjoy his presence.    

Unalaska has 6000 or more years of rich cultural history; the Unangan people lived off the land and sea, built underground houses to protect themselves from the harsh weather, made waterproof clothing from the guts and skins of sea mammals, skillfully carved boats and tools and ornaments, used native plants and berries for food and medicine.  I would not give up my modern conveniences to go back in time,  but I sometimes wonder what life was like for the people who lived in this beautiful place thousands of years ago, before the Russians, before the Americans, when their culture and traditions were valued and respected, and every day was a challenge, a victory of survival over the elements.

Trials and Tribulations and Looking forward to Vacation

After assuring fellow blogger Alaska Steve that his photo uploading problems had nothing to do with his Mac, I have had photo uploading problems myself for the past three days. At first I just thought it was our slow internet but now I keep getting a message saying Safari can't open the page. So I switched back to my laptop, thinking maybe it WAS the Mac after all. Now, on the laptop, Blogger acts like it is uploading the photo, tells me it's "done" and yet no photo exists in the blog entry. I have done this four times. So I am thinking I am just going to have just post words till we figure out what the heck is going on. Sorry, I know y'all like the photos more than my ramblings. :)

Last night , we made a run out to Alaska Ship Supply to buy some jumper cables because we are having more vehicle troubles, this time with Rich's car. Not only does he have a continuously flat tire but his car died the other day and has been sitting in the parking lot of the AC Store (Alaska Commercial Company). On the way to Alaska Ship, I was surprised to note that we now have railroad type crossing gates keeping vehicles from driving over the runway when a plane is taking off or landing. This is due to the fact that the Grumman Goose clipped a truck last summer--a little bit of excitement for all, though thankfully no one was injured. It all looks so professional and official now--not nearly as much fun. After the purchase of the jumper cables, we got Rich's car started and he drove a few yards to the gas station to air up his tire, turning off the car without thinking. Ooops. He had to push the car backwards into the AC parking lot so we could get it jumped again, then we took it to the hotel and left it running while we went shopping at the AC Store. It's going out of business (soon to be taken over by Alaska Ship) and has everything 25% off, so we stocked up on lots of staples and nonperishable items. Nice. Back to the hotel to see if Rich's car would start again if he turned it off and the answer was NO. It's still sitting there till he can find the time to deal with it some more. It's really worn out and probably needs a battery, not to mention some tires.

Some of my Texas friends were together last night and gave me a call--loved hearing from y'all and miss you lots!

Meanwhile, our box of fresh produce from Full Circle Farms came in two days early on Monday night. We have not even finished last week's stash. We are trying to be healthy and Rich has fixed us a very pretty platter of fresh fruits and veggies to snack on.

We exchanged gifts at our staff meeting at work this morning and I was slaving in the kitchen last night making banana bread to take. Unusual to see me in the kitchen. haha I am the queen of online shopping since moving to Unalaska so have been trying to get the last of our gifts sent out. I feel weird that I have not sent out a single Christmas card because that is one of my very favorite things to do each year. But receiving others' cards is even better so I am enjoying checking the mail every day.

We leave on vacation a week from today--can't wait to see the kids and grandkids! We will be blogging and hopefully will be able to get some photos uploaded so you can see how cute they are.

Time Passages

It's cold and rainy today.   Perfect day to stay at home with a good book.  

Rich had a busy day yesterday with preparations for the City party and then stayed with me till the end of Midnight Madness so he was a tired guy by the time we got home.  Midnight Madness was fun and we sold some more photos; I think we might actually be making a profit by now.  LOL   We also finally got some greeting cards done, though they did not sell as well as we thought they would.   Next we have to make arrangements to leave the rest of our inventory on consignment at the hotel gift shop while we are on vacation.  

The Unisea holiday party is tonight so Rich has another long day in store for him.   Although the weather is miserable, I went over to Anne's house earlier so we could discuss the music for the radio play.  Ended up cooking some breakfast for lunch, chatting about a number of things, and trying to figure out some future community projects.   Had a great time and it just made me think about all of the memories with my women friends from Texas.  That has definitely been a little bit hard for me here; starting over and trying to make new friends in one's 50's is not the easiest thing in the world.  :)

Sittin' here listening to  Neil Young's "Live at Canterbury House-1968" that I just downloaded. Boy, do those songs bring back memories, too. How did Neil get so old?  How did I get so old?!

Happy weekend, everyone.  Hope you are staying warm and dry, wherever you are.

Random Thoughts on a Thursday Night

I added an Einstein Quote of the Day but it's at the very bottom of the page so you won't see it if you don't scroll all the way down.  Today's, which is "Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it,"  makes me think of all the people who have spoken truth to power and taken a stand against wrongdoing in our own country and elsewhere.    Theirs are my favorite stories, inspiring and uplifting moments in time when something shifts and the collective consciousness is raised.  

So that's my profound thought for the day.  Otherwise, we are having a busy week with work and activities.   My coworker Darcel and I, along with radio news director Anne,  are helping a group of teens with a project, recording "A Christmas Carol" to be broadcast for the holidays. We all shouted "Merry Christmas!" and Anne added "God bless us, every one!" as we finished up.   We did it twice for good measure.   The dj, Daniel, knocked on the door to the booth to announce that someone had called to ask him what was going on because we were heard on the air.   Oops!    Just a little early Christmas cheer.    The kids did a great job and will also be presenting a read-through at the Senior Center next week.

Rich is having fun with shrink-wrap tonight.    We are finishing up photos for Midnight Madness and he is shrink-wrapping the trios since we did not have any clear bags big enough to hold them.   He thinks it's the coolest thing ever and I have to say that they do look very professionally done.    This project is becoming a bit time-consuming but we are still  having a good time.  Apparently, tomorrow night I have to show up at the hotel at 4:30 and wait in line till the doors open, when I am supposed to elbow people out of the way and sprint for a table in a good location.  Wow, I guess some folks take this thing really seriously.   :)    

It was a pretty day with the sun shining on the snow.  I meant to take some photos around town but just didn't have time.  Maybe this weekend.....

Book Freaks

Rich found a great new site for me called Shelfari, which I have added to the blog.   List the books you have read, those you are reading now, those you want to read, add reviews, answer questions, join a group.  Like I really needed something else on the internet to occupy my time.  Of course, I have gone crazy trying to add some of the books I've read.   There's a "read 50 books in a year" challenge and the even more daunting "read 100 books in a year" challenge.   Maybe the 50 books will be one of my New Year's resolutions.  I love to read.  On the other hand, I could probably get more books read if I didn't spend so much time on the internet.  Maybe instead of going to Shelfari and adding books to my list and reading reviews of books and trying to figure out what I want to read next, I should just read.   

What are you reading?

Weekend update

We have the most gorgeous sunrises in the winter time.  These photos do not do it justice but this was the view out our front door this morning with just a few minutes in between.  

It looks the bees v. whales boot rumble has about run its course so it's time to post something new.  You can still vote for a few more days if you are so inclined.   It was silly fun and I enjoyed hearing from people I don't know--thanks, all!

The annual Firefighters' Ball takes place tonight so Rich and his crew have been working long hours preparing the food.  Meanwhile, the Senior Center hosted an arts and crafts fair from noon till 4 today, so I have been hard at work (chatting) and selling photos.  I am happy to say that we had another successful day of sales, and in fact, we are about out of stock.  Luckily, our ink arrived a few days ago; today a box of mattes and backs came in.  I need to get busy building up our inventory for the Midnight Madness sale at the hotel on the 12th. 

My car is finally running again ($200 and a lot of hassle later).  I just don't like that feeling of having to depend on others to run me around.  There aren't very many miles of road here and lots of people do not own a vehicle, but I have to admit that I feel lost without one.  

We are already receiving Christmas cards!  Okay, I have always aspired to be early sending out holiday greetings but I have never managed to do so.  This year, we are meeting the girls, guys and grandbabies in Sedona, AZ from Dec. 27 to Jan. 4 so I am planning on taking pictures and then sending out New Year's cards instead of Christmas cards.  If you are usually on my list, be forewarned that we will be really late.  Loved the cute photo card of Sarah, Miles and our happy, smiling granddaughter Elle that showed up in the mailbox yesterday.

Yes, we are gearing up for another vacation!  We leave here on Dec. 23 and fly to Vegas for a couple of days.  Christmas in Vegas sounds kinda weird, huh?  We did not want to get stranded here and miss the trip with the kids so we are giving ourselves a cushion in case the weather is bad.  Did not really want to go to Phoenix early and just wait around (no offense, Phoenix), it's a cheap flight to Vegas, and Rich kinda talked me into it.  My one request is that we do something of service on Christmas Day so I have emailed a shelter to ask if we can do some volunteer work there.   It bothers me to see the excessive lifestyle all around while people are homeless and hungry.  Of course, like many humans, I am pretty inconsistent and certainly enjoy my vacations and my purchases (did I say I want to get tickets to see the Cirque du Soleil show "Love,"  based on Beatles songs?!) Otherwise, Vegas Schmegas.  I can take it or leave it, but maybe Rich will win big at the casino and fund our retirement since our 401K's have gone all to hell.  What are the odds?!

Whales or Bees?

Take your pick; you, too, could be stylin' during Rainy Season in Unalaska.   We are enjoying high winds and lots and lots of rain this week.   My car is still dead in front of the house and no one has had any desire to come and get it or take a look at it.    Not that I blame them.   I have been bumming rides, mostly from Rich, but also from my coworkers, which is getting old and just a bit annoying.  Rich has a low tire that he has to keep refilling.   His car didn't want to start earlier tonight so we are crossing our fingers that we won't both be stranded soon.

We forced ourselves out into the storm and back to the gym, which hasn't been graced by our presence in a good little while.    I could swear the elliptical machine started laughing when I climbed on board.   Luckily, my ipod was going full blast so I could drown out the sound.