A few more pictures of my surroundings

Sorry about the extended absence.  After returning from inservice, it took me a few days to catch up to myself.  At this point, inservice (with lots of time to work in the classroom :) ) continues, and I'm continuing to unpack at home.  I hope Perry will be able to fly up on the plane tomorrow.  More details on all of that in future posts--I have them all laid out so I don't forget anything.

A tour of my house:

My house from the front.  The plastic is hanging from the front door while the porch is waiting to be replaced.  It blew off last winter.  This was a hot day (75°), so the windows are all open.

Upon entering the house, you are in the living room.  This is the view looking left when you walk in:

Hospital green walls...hmmm.  On the floor you see one of the 16 totes that carried all my earthly belongings to SMK.  Still waiting on the last one (amazing that it all came so quickly).  Unfortunately, my coffee maker is in the final tote, so I'm still on instant.  I'll survive--as long as I have caffeine!

And here's the front of the living room (the door is to the left of the photo):

A coffee table for my soon-to-be-ordered TV.  I will eventually have cable!

From the living room window, I can see one of SMK's many ponds/puddles.

Can you see the ducks on the pond?

Continuing on from the living room, one goes through a hallway:

The hooks are now all covered with coats and hats.  These hooks help to make up for the lack of a closet.

On the right side of the hallway, there's a door that opens on to a lean-to:

The lean-to is NOT weatherized (yes, that is sunlight you can see at the top), so depending on the season, it makes a good refrigerator or freezer!  Full Circle is a produce company that delivers fresh vegetables to bush Alaska.  As you may imagine, that is an empty box from the former tenant.

The hallway leads to the kitchen:

Right side of the kitchen: Dining table (treats ready for Perry's arrival), fridge, and window

Left side of the kitchen: cabinets, sink, and small but functional stove.  I'll miss my dishwasher!  The cooler is the former tenant; most of these were taken on the day she moved out.

To the left of the kitchen is the bedroom (you can just barely see the door to it in the picture above):

On the far wall of the bedroom are dressers, and above them, a rack for hanging clothes, and above it, a shelf that will be my bookcase (as will the top of the dressers, and the shelf above my bed, and...).

My bed is on the near wall of my bedroom.  My hot pot (aka my second-string coffee maker) is on the back of the bed, and my alcohol-free mouthwash towards the front. Even though this pic is from moving day, I still haven't quite gotten the hang of making a full-size bed.

Bonus!  I have a stackable washer/dryer in my bedroom.  So it leaks a little bit--I can live with that.

The bathroom is off of my bedroom, just to the left of the w/d.  Feel free to skip these pics if you're not my mom and concerned about whether I have proper facilities:

bathtub and toilet--water pressure's not great in the shower, and the water is either too hot or too cold, for the most part.  But it works!

sink

Now, around the village.

Behind my house you can see one of the local playgrounds and the water delivery system, which is all above-ground due to permafrost:

The church (in the center) from a distance--my house is just behind the nearer red building

The view walking home from school.  My house is just behind the nearer blue building.  The white stuff behind the basketball courts is insulation that will eventually cover the gravel roads as a prelude to paving them (!).  They hope to have the project done before winter, but it might be next summer before anything can get finished.

My house from a distance (the one that looks like a shed between the three large blue buildings that are the old school and current teacher housing).  You can see the church at the left.  This is on the way home from school as well.

Another pond/puddle between home and school.

The AC (Alaska Commercial) store.

Besides the school (and in my opinion, of course, the church), this is probably the most important building in town.  For bush Alaska, it's large and well-stocked.  You can certainly get anything you need here, though prices are intimidating ($5 for a loaf of good bread on sale today).  Notice the ATV's (also called Hondas, regardless of manufacturer) in front--the main form of village transportation in summer.

I think I'm starting to repeat myself, so I'll stop.  Next up should be my week at inservice in Unalakleet (your homework: figure out how to pronounce that name!).

AMDG

Tim