Save the whales.... for dinner!

Fall whaling season started early this month on the 8th of October.  I was totally bummed because I was out of town and of course they caught two whales before I got back.  Then there was a LONG stretch of time when the weather was too bad for anybody to go out and I figured it was over.  I was happily surprised when I heard  on Monday that two whales had been caught (unfortunately for me, that news came too late for me to get a look), and then today while I was in an appointment I overheard that another had been caught.  I rushed home, forced Ian to get himself and the boy ready, and we raced out to the site of the old runway, where they were butchering it.  As it turns out, we caught the tail end of the butchering (not the prettiest subject of photographs) but I can now say I HAVE SEEN a bowhead whale being butchered.  It was gory to say the least... blood staining the snow everywhere.  I saw a fin laying around and part of the ribs, some intestines and other organs and whatnot... and it was SO COOL!  This marks the 5th whale caught this fall whaling season and the meat goes to feed the community.  Now I likely have to wait a whole year to hopefully get there soon enough to see them haul it up the beach and make the first cuts... and I can't wait!  Congratulations to the crew who brought this whale in!  

Adventures in the Stroudmobile

Our van.  It's a 1987 Ford F-350 15 passenger clubwagon.  The speedometer doesn't work.  There's a leak somewhere in the power steering so that doesn't work.  It's thinking of rusting through in some spots, there are more cracks in the windshield than I like to count, and it doesn't idle well.  Sometimes it cuts off when you come up to a stop sign.  This means we've gotten used to putting it in park while revving the engine to keep it going.  It's basically an adventure and an upper body workout just driving this thing!  But you know, it runs and the heat works pretty well.  With the onset of winter weather, however, it's become a little bit more of an adventure.  It snows in our van... like a measurable amount.  Ian has decided it's because some of the doors don't have rubber gaskets.  I'm still flummoxed how that much snow can get through a seemingly shut door even without rubber gaskets!  The biggest adventure, though, came the other day while I was driving to the post office.  Barrow is a windy place and it has really been howling lately.  Makes 20 degrees seem a lot colder!  I had turned on Eben Hopson St., one of the more major roads in Barrow, and was cruising by Tasigarook Lagoon when a gust of wind unhooked the hood of the van and flipped it up covering the entire windshield.  I let out an involuntary, low scream right before I tried to see out my passenger window how close to the edge of the road next to the lagoon I was.  Being so high up and the window a little dirty and so far away, I really couldn't tell.  So I just slowly came to a stop as best I could on a road of ice.  I discovered I don't know where the emergency lights are... probably need to know that with this thing! I checked my rear view window, put the van in park and got out and fixed the hood in the middle of the street, cars passing me on the right (apparently I wasn't as close to the side of the road as I hoped.)  The kind of funny thing is nobody honked or even seemed to act like this was anywhere out of the ordinary.  Only in Barrow.

Settling in for the long haul of winter

 

Something like 4 inches of snow fell on Barrow overnight and we'd already had two or three inches on the ground already.  Our freshwater is frozen and winter is no longer just a rumor.  It is here.  People have traded their ATV's for snowmachines and cars everywhere are starting to be plugged in.  And you know what?  I'm ok with that.  I've decided that Barrow looks best under a beautiful blanket of white.  AND I've seen more wildlife since the snow started falling than I've seen all summer.  This is evidently snowy owl season.  They are everywhere...  almost like the eagles in Homer.  Barrow's Inupiat name is Ukpeagvik which means, "The place where we hunt snowy owls."  And yeah, no wonder! Ian pointed out to me the other day that they are completely silent and they really are.  The take off without any sound whatsoever and without any warning.  This morning breakfast was postponed for an hour while I stalked one that was hanging out at our house.  Somebody must have told it about all the lemmings living under our house.  :)  And not just the snowy owls have been out.  I've seen two arctic foxes in the last two weeks.  Now if only another polar bear would show its face around here!  But that's all in good time.  Fall whaling starts on the 8th and with whale carcasses comes bears.  Unfortunately, I'll be out of town for the start but hope they catch one when I return!  

Our elections were held today so hopefully we'll find out in short order who will be mayor. One of the primary candidates is rather controversial.  His wife has recently been indicted for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the native whaling corporation. And yet, it won't surprise us if he's actually elected.  Ian and I thought it was kind of funny that we were watching part 3 of Ken Burn's movie on Prohibition tonight while votes here are being tallied to see if a liquor store will be allowed in town to those who qualify to buy.  Wouldn't that be something?!  Of course, Ian is actually against the idea.  It'll make work that much more difficult.  Ian and I didn't get to vote today.  We had asked to be added to the voter registration list when we updated our drivers' licenses but evidently that didn't go through. That's life in a small town for you.  I enjoy the atmosphere of a small town immensely though.  It's nice to go to the post office and see people you've just seen around town before.  It's homey.  

2 beautiful days in a row... must be some kind of record!

Today we went outside and celebrated two beautiful days in a row. It was "warm" and we frolicked on the beach without coats. It was 42 degrees. It's really too bad Ian had to work today on what was supposed to be his day off because we really could have made a day of it. But we'll be going to bed feeling so much happier for our frolicking. Good day. We really have to start taking full advantage of what few days like this we get because winter is on its way in a hurry. We're already dropping below freezing at night and it won't be long at all till we're never making it above freezing.

The post office today was unbelievably slow (this is not unusual in the slightest), but I did get to eavesdrop on the unusual conversation between two teachers that involved a lot of bathroom humor. And everybody in there was a lot chattier than usual. Makes for much better line waiting. In Barrow you appreciate the little things like overhearing funny conversations. Atticus, of course, had his usual great time trying to unlock all the post office boxes. Nothing makes that boy happier.

I've been told by multiple people that they'd like to know about our sunshine hours. So for those who having inquiring minds, today's sunrise was at 6:59am and sunset will be at 9:45pm. Not too shabby! We're losing daylight quickly though.

All things polar bear, yet remain unseen

So here we are at the top of the world. Atticus having been sick from scarlet fever is finally getting well and feeling good, and I get a call from my husband, "Polar bear. Brower's. Gotta go." It's baby nap time, but I throw my camera gear together, wake up the baby, give him a dose of antibiotics and load us into the 15 passenger hooptie and hightail it out to Brower's. I was really quite proud of how quickly I got us out the door. I mean, I get motivated for polar bears! And alas, we were too slow. The bear had decided it had too much of an audience and swam off into the distance... apparently RIGHT before we got there. CRAPSPACKLE!

After the disappointment of not getting to see the bear that a significant number of the Barrow population had wandered out to ogle, we headed to the post office. I ran into my favorite librarian and in the process of the conversation I mentioned that I knew a polar bear had been shot... ok, back up storyline... our landlady, the dentist, gets a lot of community gossip and she had just told us the day before that a bear had been shot. I KNOW that means there's a pelt somewhere.... back to conversation with librarian... she knows where the pelt is! She gave me an idea of the area of town. But alas, I couldn't even find the dead polar bear! Ah well, there's always time for the polar bear scavenger hunt tomorrow. I think it's safe to say polar bear season might be starting here soon! Incidentally, it took 10 shots to take the dead one down.

Weird and fascinating facts about Barrow

Since I haven't had a lot to report on due to a string of rainy, cold weather, I thought I would give you some interesting Barrow tidbits that I've picked up along the way.

Whenever a UPS or FedEx package arrives, it will be delivered to your house by a member of a family of Tongans who will drive it over as soon as it gets off the plane... this means it could be 10pm.

If you want a pizza delivered, East Coast Pizza has fabulous pies but you'll have to pay the $5 delivery fee for it to be delivered. Why? Because they call a cab and the cab delivers your pizza. Cab fare is $5 anywhere in town. :)

We attend the Presbyterian Church, which is the oldest church in Barrow. Unlike any other place I know, Alaska was split up by the different denominations by an agreement and Barrow was in the Presbyterian area. Only Presbyterian missionaries were sent up here initially. It is also interesting to note, that the scripture is read in Inupiat as well as English.

All the police officers are not originally from Barrow. The reason is that nobody in the native community is interested in taking the job because they are related to everybody else and don't want to arrest their relatives.

For summer fun, the kids find pieces of plywood or old table tops that float and sticks that they use as oars and go punting on the tiny, shallow ponds that are all around town.

Dinner with the people who love Barrow

Tonight we went to the rotary meeting. One of Ian's colleagues is from Tuscaloosa and had been home to help out with tornado relief and was giving a speech on his trip. I find it both funny and bizarre that here we are something like 4000 miles away from Alabama and I run across a rival. It's like we can't get rid of alabama fans no matter where we go! :) It was a good speech, though, and he and his wife are extremely nice. It looks like we'll be getting together for bbq in the future. The great thing about the meeting was that it was full of the people who love living in Barrow. So we came away feeling really positive. The alabama fan's wife is originally from South Africa and had so many interesting stories to tell. They've been up here for 17 years and have even lived in some of the small villages like Anaktuvuk Pass and Wainwright... and they loved living there too! It sounds like I have a lot of interesting experiences ahead of me from polar bears and walrus to the whale hunts.

The woman who sat next to us was a probation officer. She has been up here for a while as well. One of her funny stories involved a drunk man approaching her while she was taking a walk and suggesting he should be her boyfriend. When she said no, he invited her to a party. He tried to tempt her by telling her there would be marijuana and alcohol. So she asked if she could invite her friends so it could be a real party. He was really disappointed when her friends turned out to be the cops! That just cracks me up! Word to the wise: if you're on probation, do not approach a probation officer and invite her to your illegal party!