Extreme Cold!

Sunset over the snowy tundra

We are defiantly starting to experience temperatures lower than I have ever experienced before.  The other morning we woke up to -23 degrees, factor in the 15-20 mile per hour winds and the temp was about -45.  With these low temps comes a plethora of new experiences for us.  Here are just a few:
* Despite the fact that we have double pane windows there is a thick layer of ice on the bottom INSIDE of all our windows!  On several of our windows we taped plastic shrink wrap to the inside in an attempt to keep the cold out and the heat in.
* The other day I went to visit a friend and she had to use a hair dryer to defrost her door before she could let me in.  Her outer door had actually frozen shut!!

Snow drift

* There is a phenomenon that we have not yet experienced since we are able to park our car inside our heated garage, but I know several people who have... square tires.  That's right, square tires.  The temperature gets so low that the pressure drops in the tire and they flatten a bit.  Then the rubber freezes in the flattened shape.  The only way to get your tires round again is to warm them up, the only way to warm them up is to drive your car.  At first the tires and car clunk along, but apparently it doesn't take too long for them to warm up, round out and ride smoothly.  I almost want to leave our car outside one night just to see if our tires are square in the morning.
* Lately whenever you walk outside, after just a couple of inhalations through your nose, the inside of your nostrils start to freeze!  Its a very strange sensation.  The first time I experienced it I kept breathing in just to feel my nose.

Frozen Kuskokwim River

* A few nights ago, I took a walk out on the tundra to view a beautiful meteor shower and try to catch the northern lights.  It was about -45 with the wind and after about 10 minutes I could feel icicles on my eyelashes.  I didn't last too long outside that night, I don't have goggles yet and it didn't take long before my cheeks and bridge of my nose were burning.
* Lastly, we got a chance to take a drive on the river.  We didn't go very far, it was a much rougher crossing than I thought it would be.  Plus the wind was blowing the snow so much that it was quickly covering the previously made tracks.  Since we weren't at all familiar with the smoothest route we turned around rather than risk a flat tire in the middle of the river.

Driving on the Kuskokwim

Ice fishing

Blowing snow over the frozen river

So maybe its just the novelty of our first Alaskan winter that makes all the above so interesting, but if that's what it takes to help us get through the coldest winter we've ever experienced then we'll take it!
  

Becoming More Alaskan

Just one of the hind quarters we got

Back in the beginning of September moose season opened.  In that first weekend friends of our friends got not one but two moose!  It was kind of a sad story actually.  The two moose seem to have been brothers.  They were both wondering the tundra together.  The first moose got shot and the second moose didn't want to leave him there, so he got shot too.  (If it makes my animal loving friends feel any better, those two moose filled more than one freezer.)  Mark was asked to help quarter and pack the moose back to Bethel.  In exchange for his labor we would get to keep some of the moose.  It took the whole weekend.  The first day both moose had to be gutted and quartered.  Each moose probably weighed 700-800 pounds and had to be moved away from the gut pile to keep bears off their sent.  Mark didn't get home that night until about 3:00 am, got a few hours of sleep then headed back out to finish packing the moose back to Bethel.  In the end we got two hind quarters.  
We brought the meat to a processor here in town.  It took a little bit of time, but we finally got our moose back.  One hundred pounds of moose sausage, moose hamburger, moose roast... Our freezer is full of meat that will save us hundreds of dollars this winter.  

Our freezer full of moose!

Moose stew.  Yumm!

Tonight I made moose stew for dinner.  We had our good friends over to enjoy it with us.  (Dinner get-togethers are a way of life here.)  It was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself.  Not too gamey as I was afraid it would be, and very lean.  I do feel just a little bit more Alaskan now that my freezer is full of moose meat and I successfully cooked an enjoyable moose dinner.

Russian Mission

My Room

Russian Mission Clinic

This past week I have been away on my second village trip.  Russian Mission is a village of just over 300 people, nestled in the mountains on the bank of the Yukon River.  It's about a 45 minute flight northeast of Bethel.  The first record of the village was in 1837 by fur traders.  Then, the village was known as "Ikogmiut" meaning "people of the point".  The whole town is less than 6 sq miles of land.

Main Street

Enough snow for sledding 

Moose quarters hanging in the cold

Russian Mission - mountain view

My trip started out a little rough.  I arrived early Monday morning only to find the health aide who was also supposed to be there was nowhere to be found!  I was on my own.  No nurse, no health aide, just me!  I didn't know where anything was located, and if there was an emergency I didn't know who I was supposed to call.  No 911 out there, just me.  The health aide who was supposed to be there that day had a full schedule of patients.  Most of those patients regretfully had to be cancelled, but I tried to squeeze some into my already booked schedule; I was frazzled to say the least.  That night I barely slept for fear that the on-call phone would start to ring.  

Trail up the mountain

The next morning however, things began to look up.  The health aide arrived on the morning flight and I was successfully getting my patients' blood on the first stick!  There were so many patients who needed to be seen.  I saw patients every day I was there from 8:00 in the morning till 8:00 or 9:00 at night.  

Airport

The Yukon River - frozen of course!

I managed to get out and around town for just a bit on my lunch break the last day I was there.  I went and had lunch at the school.  The kids were too cute.  Some of them I had seen earlier in the week as patients.  Many of the elders I saw as patients were there as well.  The school is the town's biggest employer, so I shouldn't be surprised I was seeing so many familiar faces.  One of my patients gave me a tour of the two story, two year old, K-12 school.  My favorite room by far was the Yup'ik room.  In this room, the elders pass on their knowledge of the culture.  They teach the kids how to make various arts and crafts, bead work, quilting, and sewing.  They also teach the kids how to trap fish and animals for fur.  The room was full of tradition.

I truly look forward to my next trip.  With any luck I'll be able to bring a nurse along with me and double the number of patients I see!

Painting of Russian Mission in the 1950s