Or forever hold your PEACE.

Michele is an Introvert to the Nth degree. I’ve loved her for 15 years – maybe more if you count the tingly feeling I got when we were both in college and she was still outta my league. My introvert wife recharges her soul with Peace & Quiet. She thrives off of alone time. Time to decompress and think life through.

Me? I’m the Extrovert. I react to things quickly and usually with emotion. I do better with face-to-face interaction and personal touch. As far as opposites go, I think Michele and I are a perfect match.

It snowed yesterday here in Kivalina.. The children came to school with a different skip in their step. I snapped pictures out of the front Cunnychuck door. We’ve been bracing against another cold snap with high winds and overcast skies. The snow shouldn’t have come at a surprise but it did.

1st Snow. 9/11/15 - looking south out the Cunnychuck @ 8:00am

 

1st snow - looking North at the Playground's FINAL Day. 

It’s 12:37 on a Saturday. My roommate flew out early to coach his second cross-country meet. The house has been quiet. I woke at my own leisure and celebrated the first snow and making it through my 4^th week with a breakfast fit for a King.

A sausage, egg and cheese sandwich on a sourdough muffin, chased with Biscuits and Sausage Gravy and a glass of double filtered, ice cold water. 

My stay in KIVLs - captured in 1 perfect picture.

After barely escaping the perfect food coma, I got down to the nitty gritty of teaching in the Northwest Arctic Borough School District – weekend Lesson Plans. Back in Small Town, Minnesota my 14-year routine had become wrote memory. I was comfortable going in to each new day whether every minute was planned out or not. Here at McQueen School, and all across the Bush, we are required to submit detailed and specific weekly lesson plans, fully equipped with matching State Standards and enough BS to placate the egos of those with enough time on their hands to peruse them once submitted.  It’s a painstaking weekly ritual in busy work. So, I followed my biscuits with paperwork.

I typed up the beginnings of some Sub Plans for Monday and Tuesday because I will be leaving The Rock for Kotzebue for a couple of days. I get to attend a volleyball coaches workshop and hopefully run in to some old friends from C3. I’m excited for both. After the sub plans were sketched out, I even graded a grammar assignment. I was on a roll this morning.

Making sure that I didn’t have too much fun all at once, I decided to go for a walk. Since my Alaskan adventure has began, I have easily logged more miles on my feet than in a car. Here in KIVLs, the thing to keep my mind straight is to exercise, whether it be a run on the beach, a walk around the village or calisthenics in Senior Housing. I usually prefer a fast paced walk and am most times alone. Although I have been joined by Jon, Leah and the hounds, and Wild Bill from time to time. 

I try to keep the pace up in for a couple of reasons, One, I want to count it as exercise and the other, it’s easier to avoid a trailing posse of elementary students if I just give my hugs, say my “hellos” and keep the pace up.

This morning I hit the ocean side frontage road and headed north – my typical clockwise route. I drifted off in to thought and then it hit me…

It was approaching NOON on a beautiful Saturday on the northwest coast of Alaska and I HADN’T TALKED TO ANYONE!!!!   My extroverted self was healthy, relaxed, accomplished and happy and I had yet to physically speak a word. Don’t get me wrong, Facebook and emails had already been attended to. So, it’s not like I was locked up in my own little world. I just thought that it was interesting that I was taking so much pleasure from a quiet morning by myself – and that I wasn’t in a turkey blind or in a deer stand….just going about my morning routine without someone cheering me on or listening to my bullsh*t.

4 young Eskimo boys approached me, each carrying a puppy.

That was the first time I had talked to anyone on this beautiful day in the Arctic.

The snow and the playground are gone. The snow will be back. The playground won't.

A Note from Air Force One - (Governor Walker Part Deux)

I’m a visitor here to this little island of Kivalina.

Originally from the Midwest, I have only been in Alaska since late July. As a matter of fact, I’ve only been in Kivalina for barely 4 weeks. It’s been one heck of an adventure so far. Through first hand knowledge, I’ve come to use words like subsistence and survival as easily as revetment and relocation. The words have true meaning now that I live and teach here on the shores of the Chukchi Sea. The village is welcoming. The scenery is breathtaking. The atmosphere has been electric.

Having taught in Minnesota for 14 years, I have experienced my fair share of First Days of School. This year at McQueen School, it felt good to be the new guy again. I didn’t think it would ,but the second day of school ended up topping the first.

On Thursday August 20^th my combined class of 4^th and 5^th graders had just about reached their limit of policies and procedures. Our mandatory coverage of the school rules that are somehow forgotten each summer was taking its toll. On a moment’s notice we had lost our access to the school cafeteria with a special group of local and state officials set to commandeer our cafeteria/gymnasium. Our Youth Leaders delivered lunches to the classroom in an orderly and timely manner and we enjoyed some second day fellowship while sharing a meal. But the five to ten minutes of free time that our kids live for after lunch was missed. By mid afternoon I sensed the need for a break.

Giving specific instructions about expectations and boundaries, I decided that a walk along the frontage road would have to replace our scheduled half an hour of physical education time in the gym. We put on our sweatshirts and headed out for a walk. We weren’t quite to the end of the revetment when Bering Air flights converged on our small runway. I new right then that we’d be some of the first to unofficially welcome the Governor’s delegation to Kivalina.

Moments later a motorcade of dignitaries on ATVs slowed down enough for me to identify, among others, the Borough Mayor, Reggie Joule.  Thanks to Wikipedia, I recognized Governor Walker and was happy that although weather had delayed their initial flights, he was now safely in Kivalina as well.  It was then that I had an idea and I hurried my students back in to the classroom.

Without skipping a beat, we threw lined paper stationery up on the Smartboard. I passed out good writing paper to the students and we began to compose a formal letter to the Governor of Alaska. The students were energized by their walkabout and actually seeing the Governor. The brainstorm of ideas was focused and we put down a basic framework for how we wanted to welcome him to Kivalina. Each letter gave a short bio of the author and some went on to ask a few questions of Alaska’s highest ranking politician. We talked about a formal letter having proper greetings and salutations and signed them with our official payroll signatures.

I briefly scanned through them as to avoid any embarrassment or breaches in security. There was nothing for me to find. The 4^th and 5^th graders did a fantastic job. Without a plan, I hurried down to the office and asked Principal Zoe if she approved of what we had already done and then I asked her to deliver the goods. She did so with delight.

A couple of hours passed while Governor Walker finished the business of his much-anticipated trip to Kivalina. At about 4:30 he emerged from the gymnasium and was off to catch his flight home. While walking past, Zoe stopped the Governor and pointed at me and said, “Governor, this is the teacher that had his class write those letters.” At which point Governor Walker turned back around, came towards me and showed his appreciation with a firm handshake and some kind words.

I thought that might be the last I heard from him. I hoped that maybe we would receive some response from his office, maybe a typed form letter from a personal assistant, stamped by an intern.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Yesterday, I received a large manila envelope in the mail. Inside there were 23 individually addressed Thank You cards for every one of my students and one for me too. Governor Bill Walker personally replied to each and every letter with the kind personal touch one would expect from our own grandparents. He actual pointed out the fact that the notes were written while he was aboard Air Force One, flying with the President of the United States from Washington D.C. to Anchorage on August 31, 2015.

This afternoon, I had an opportunity to pull each student up front, one by one, and read through the returned photocopy of their original letters. Then I let them read and share the responses and well wishes from their Governor. The kids were all smiles. They were proud and we clapped for each other after reading every one. The students that took the time to write specific questions were rewarded with many of the answers that they were looking for. Governor Walker told us about his family and his favorite color. He told us about the classes he enjoyed when he was in 4^th and 5^th grade. He said he’d like to visit Kivalina again some day, maybe even during the winter!

Governor Walker has a new Fan Club… all because he took the time to care about the kids of Kivalina.

Thank you Mr. Walker.

-       Sincerely,

-       Paul Kirby

-       Grade 4/5 McQueen School

-       Kivalina, Alaska

(The Principal asked me write up a little something to submit to the District and the Arctic Sounder... I'm not very good at "a little something".)

Buyer Beware.

I must look like a real gullible shopper. I swear, I get approached daily to buy trinkets and knick-knacks and currently, I’m just not in the market. I have very little cash on hand. As a matter of fact, I don’t carry my wallet on me because frankly, there’s nowhere to go and nothing to spend it on.

The front door to the cunny-chuck is literally 18 steps away from the Village Store. This I know because I just hit pause on iTunes and stepped it off. Ironically, none of these trinkets are available at the Village Store. So, maybe I am missing out on an opportunity here. While on a very brisk walk this afternoon, a fella called to me from his front porch. I recognized him from my visit with Rolling Stone at the airport last week. He was hawking his goods to the crew and introduced himself to me then. Today, he invited me in to his house. I accepted.

The house was tidy. Something was playing on the TV. It was not unlike any other house in America. Tidy, spacious and welcoming. My host lead me in to his laundry room where he had been steadily producing Eskimo masks out of whale vertebrae and polar bear fur.  I asked him if he carved with a Dremel. He laughed and showed me the tools of the trade. I hoped for a second that he was just “Showing Me” his workshop but he wasn’t. Today must have been the great Labor Day Sale because he offered me a chance of a lifetime. What, he says, normally goes for $400 was going to be sold today at a price that couldn’t be beat.

If after relocation, Kivalina ever gets a used car lot. I know who will be the first Used Car Salesman. This guy had the pitch down perfect. He even tugged at my heartstrings and drug out a story of his wife in Wasilla needing money so he could get her home to Kivalina. But there in his schpeel, he offered me a way out. I showed him my wedding ring and told him that my wife expects me to send her money in Minnesota just like his does in Wasilla.

I admired his many works of art. I honestly did. But I have no place for a giant whale vertebrae and maybe someday before I head back to Minnesota I’ll pick up a trinket or two to remind me of my time in KIVLs. But for now, even after hearing the 50% off clearance price… even today when Larry dropped it from $400 to $80….even today while walking out the door and hearing his final offer of $60 American Bones – I still said, “No, but thank you for showing me.”

Larry asked me is he should swing by Teacher Housing tomorrow.

I don’t need Mammoth Teeth – I’m not an archaeologist.

I don’t need a Tusk – walrus, elephant, mammoth or other – I want to get through TSA again someday.

I am not a collector of dolls – not Inupiaq or otherwise.

I do like fish hooks – but the “ivory” one Jeremiah offered was covered in rust and a pitiful attempt at drawing 40 bucks from me so he could partake in some medicinal marijuana.

I don’t need to buy any blackberries even if they’ll help an upset stomach.

No blueberries.

Not an Ulu.

Nothing for now  - thanks.

I’m waiting on the SCHWANS man to come by.

Leg 1 complete

I was the one who drove Kirby to the airport back in July. It was an early flight and we felt our 'see you laters' were better suited for at home rather than the airport. Gosh that was a hard night....

At the airport our 'see you later' was fairly quick and painless. We hugged, kissed and said good luck!  I quickly turned around and headed through the airport back to the parking lot crying. As I was crying I remember thinking..."Man, now I can say I've done one of those sappy airport movie scenes where the girl walks away crying."   

Fast forward 5 minutes...as I was driving through St Paul, I started thinking and planning out the next few months.   I decided that there were 3 'legs' to this adventure.  Leg 1 was now until the start of school. Leg 2 is school to Christmas and Leg 3 is New Years to the end of the school year/Kirby's return to MN.    Then after I got that all figured out I stopped at Target in Forest Lake and bought the pinkest-girliest bedding I could find.  Seize the day right?  No camo loving-hunting-fishing-long haired-bearded-get your hands dirty 40 year old man wants to sleep in pink bedding right? 

Stating tomorrow-Leg 1 is complete! Wahoo!!!!!  Back to school the kids go. Back to work I go.  Back to busy days and short nights. Back to the dogs being in charge of the house. Back to a new normal.  

Leg 1=Check

Storming the Beaches.

In the late 70’s and into the 80’s my Grandma Judy owned a resort in Northern Minnesota. Some of my fondest childhood memories are associated with the resort: dunks in the minnow tank, an ice cream cone when you were good, a seat on a pickle bucket when you were bad, not tall enough to see over the pool table at the motel but still able to master the cue that they cut down for us little folk, being tossed in the lake on my birthday, filleting fish while vacationers stood and watched, heck for that matter – catching fish while vacationers stood and watched. My memories of Cal’s Resort are all good.

One of my grandmother’s favorite stories to tell is about a time when my sister and I just pulled in to town after spending the school year in Illinois with our mother. As kids of divorced parents, we spent the school year in Illinois and the summer in Warroad. It was always hard to say good-bye to one home but also a time of happiness to reunite with friends and family at our other. After 14 hours in the car from Aurora to Warroad, my grandmother was waiting with open arms as my father pulled in to the restaurant lot. Grandma Judy was expecting the biggest hug as I dashed from the car – right past her and out on to the dock.

“Just a second Grandma, I have to say HI to MY LAKE!”

Now she never really tells anyone how old I was in this story of hers. I’d imagine that I was still young, maybe 6 or 7. But the truth is, I could have been 10, 15 heck 20 years old! I love Lake of the Woods.

I love my Grandma too.

Officially, my cousins and I were always referred to as Cal’s Beach Bums. We even had shirts that proclaimed it. It was a title that I felt was earned and never lost. Although Lake of the Woods is expansive at 1,679 square miles and it lies in two Canadian Provinces and my home state of Minnesota, I’ve always felt that it was MINE. Like the crazy Irishman from “Braveheart” that thinks Ireland is his island, LOTW is MY lake. I’m most comfortable playing on its shores and fishing anywhere on its great surface. As a testament to this, I professed my love for Michele and asked her to marry me on a cold and dreary March day overlooking the lake at the mouth of the Warroad River.

The water calms me.

I’ve been around the world a couple of times as a Marine Raider. I’ve ran the beaches of Coronado, California with a rifle in hand and walked across the sand at San Onofre with a surfboard in hand too. I frequently tell stories of rolling around like a sugar cookie on the beaches of Okinawa in the middle of one clear night, long ago. The Marine Corps brought me to Waikiki, Perth & Sydney.  At each place, the water set me at ease. Uncle Sam also put me in places like Bahrain, Penang and Mogadishu. The shoreline and breaklines were vastly different yet somehow always the same.

On my mother’s side of the family, my Grandpa Paul was killed by a driver “under the influence” while I was just 4 months in to my Marine Corps service. The American Red Cross got a hold of my superiors and some officer told me the news of the wreck. I was going home for a funeral and to see my hurting grandmother as soon as possible. With my world upside down, I headed in to the town of Oceanside with a couple of buddies. At sunset, we walked under the pier at the water’s edge. I vividly remember the calm Pacific Ocean waves that lapped lazily at the shoreline and helped clear my mind.

Nowadays back home, my family has taken to the rocky shores of Lake Superior. Over the years we have chucked rocks, gathered tadpoles and from time to time, been brave enough to take a dip in the icy waters of Gitchi Gummi. I hope that Emma, Logan and Tyler feel the same serenity and safety I felt as a child with the sand between my toes and the waves calmly playing a soft beat on the shore.

Today is Saturday September 5^th, 2015. It is Labor Day weekend. In Minnesota my family is on one last camping trip before their school year starts. Here in Kivalina, I have survived 3 weeks already. I am securely in to my third month away from what was normal.

After sleeping in a bit, I knocked out some morning calisthenics and could tell that today was going to be another gorgeous morning in the Arctic. For as bad as the storms and rains were last week, we have been repaid with wonderful weather the past few days. Temperatures tickling the 60’s. High sunshine and little to no wind have made me want to be outside every chance I can get. So after working up a sweat with some basic pushups and the like, I decide to go for another run.

Now, I have trudged up and down the beach a handful of times already. I’m on a mini-mission to eat healthier and to make better decisions about my vices - like pop, chips and over-eating. With that, I’ve started to enjoy lots of walks around the village and an occasional run when the Good Lord moves me. Lately, He’s moved me more often. The runs have ben therapeutic, like writing.

This morning was no different.

The Chukchi Sea was at its calmest. The waves rhythmically crept in and out. The steady weather of late has stabilized the sand and gravel and compacted things where they meet the water. I’m not setting any land speed records. I’m forty. But I just tilt my head up, look at the mountains in the distance, breathe in the clean ocean air and keep picking them up and setting them down. Each day I’ve made it farther up the coast and with each run I feel that much better.

It’s almost like one long ongoing prayer in my mind when I run here. Sometimes I slip and cuss under my breath when the water gets too close, or the sand gives way and makes running more difficult. But all in all, the positive thoughts far outweigh the negative ones when I’m at the water’s edge.

And although it wasn’t the beach at Waikiki, Hawaii or Buffalo Bay, Lake of the Woods – two of my favorite places in the world to swim – I decided to take a dip in the ocean at the end of my run. I’m glad that Dennis was on his porch looking out at the crazy Naluagmiu undressing down to his shorts. I may have chickened out. But I didn’t. Today I went in warm and came out cold. Self-Baptized on the beaches of the Chukchi Sea.

My Daughter's Birthday...

I woke this morning before the alarm again. Today the anticipation of being away from my baby girl on her birthday probably was enough to get my mind rolling early. I popped open my laptop before I even turned on the lights in my bedroom. I’d hoped to see a Facebook post from my wife and without disappointment there was one waiting. Like any good mother these days, Michele shared a couple of pictures of our sweet girl and professed our love for her.

I expected to feel a little emotion. I didn’t expect to see a picture of her as a newborn, her tiny hand hanging on to Daddy’s finger. It was too much and I was a blubbering mess.

I decided to have a midweek shower before school. On one hand, I needed to calm my nerves and on the other hand, there was a slight chance that I’d see the President of the United States today. I didn’t want to smell funky. The shower cleaned my body and cleared my mind. I was off to school – glad to see a second beautiful morning in a row.

I’ve asked my wife to take lots of pictures when I’m gone and she’s even sent me a few video clips now and again. I absolutely live for those small bits and pieces of their world and I’ll admit, I cry. But it’s a weird kind of pain. After seeing these videos one time, I’m not sure that I’ve cried at all after seeing them a second time or when sharing them with friends.

I got to school and shortly thereafter had a video waiting. Emma wanted to open her presents early. I was glad to watch her sit at the kitchen table and open a few presents. She looks tough in her Sidney Crosby jersey. I loved seeing her smile. The video was almost enough to get me crying again but I held off because after all, although I was alone in my classroom, I was already at school. Minutes before I would be receiving students, I got another short video entitled “Good Timing.” Apparently, while Emma was opening her gifts the mail was delivered and lo and behold, my letter was there. Michele filmed Emma opening the letter I sent out last week. I smiled. It was as close to being there as possible.

But I lost it when she read it aloud. The audio wasn’t great and I could barely hear her. I leaned in and strained to listen. By this time the tears were pouring freely on to my keyboard as I frantically fought them off with a small towel. I looked at the clock and dashed for the back porch. I needed a moment of fresh air, a couple of deep breaths and a quick prayer.

It helped. I was smiling and happy the rest of the day. SKYPED a birthday song and watched her blow out the candles. Got to visit with some good friends when they dropped by the house during our SKYPE. It was all good in the hood…  made it past another small hurdle that I was worried about.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES flew over Kivalina today at 4:30 in the afternoon?

POTUS decides Kivalina runway can't handle AF1

That was kind of a big deal too.

“On the cover of the Rolling Stone…”

“Big doings here in Mystery. Price World wants to build a store here, and now the New York Rangers are coming to town.” – 

Bailey Pruitt (The fat guy lawyer from Mystery, Alaska)

I am proud to be cranking out blogs left and right. Word from the Peanut Gallery continues to fuel me. Writing is good therapy because some days I hurt. And there’s just so much to write about in this little hamlet I now call my home away from home. 

“Big doings here in Mystery.”

Kivalina is the epicenter for Climate Change. It has been for years but now that the POTUS has put it on his radar, KIVLs has been electric! The way I see it, Mr. Obama is looking for a human-interest story to ease in to once he leaves office and becomes a true humanitarian. Political attention directed toward global warming and climate change on the home front would solidify a worthy cause to stick his name to. Coincidentally, there is an International Arctic Commission that is lead by Senator John Kerry and they’re convening in Alaska as we speak. Thus – Barack will become the first President to visit the Arctic Circle while in office. Tomorrow he arrives in Kotzebue. My teacher friends have been posting Facebook pictures with Marine 1 and their tickets for the official presidential address, complete with seal and all.

Here on the Rock, Wild Bill and I debate daily.

“Is he coming?”

“Could he really only come as far as Kotzebue and NOT see Kivalina?”

“He can land un-expected in Afghanistan. He can land unannounced here!”

Either way tomorrow is going to be the day. September 2^nd, 2015 – Emma’s birthday…I’m carrying my camera on me all day for the slightest chance that there might at least be a Presidential Fly By.

“Big doings here in Mystery.”

Since I first missed The Weather Channel visit to my classroom, I’ve been intrigued with the visitors coming and going. I was still in KOTZ myself when my roommate said that TWC was staying in my classroom for a few days. Ya see, there are no 5 star accommodations in Kivalina. When guests come and need a place to overnight, McQueen School is their one and only choice. I believe the going rate is $150 bucks per night per person. There’s electricity, running water and a coffee pot in the paper room. Other than that, we’ve had a revolving door of cameramen, news reporters, inquiring minds and the like sprawled here and there in our building for quite some time now.

I’ve taken a little interest in making small talk with those that are willing. I’ve thought about putting up a Guest Book sign in like you might see at a Bed And Breakfast. It’s become second nature to hear – “Oh, that’s the Germans staying in the counselor’s office.” Or “Do you have time to take Al Jazeera to the airport?”

                      I’ve decided to take pictures when I think of it.

Blokes from iTVN on First Day of School.

Two of the nicest blokes I’ve met, Rob and Matt, were here for two days from iTVN, the BBCs competition. They carried many heavy bags and had thick British accents and actually overnighted in my class on the first day of school. Stationed out of Washington D.C., they told me that they were affiliated with NBC and sent as an advanced party to film footage in Kivalina and that there film would probably be distributed widely. They were gracious and thankful. They asked very poignant questions off the record…mostly about the seemingly lack of jobs and the high cost of living not exactly correlating. I agreed.

I didn’t get a picture with the LA Times but we had Author Maria L.LaGanga over for spaghetti dinner on Friday and on Sunday her article was in the Times and circulated to the Chicago Tribune and Duluth newspapers among others I assume. Maria’s article was sprinkled with bits from our dinner conversation and used as a great talking piece in class on Monday.

On Sunday I was at school, cleaning up some Lesson Plans around mid-day  when Zoe came in and asked me if I would mind hooking up the trailer and "taking Al Jazeera to the airport?" It was great. I got to drive the school's 4 wheeler and I got to meet 3 more interesting people. They heard a little of my story and I heard a little of theirs. 

Al Jazeera - 9/30/15 - My 1st day at the Dump was their 1st day at the Dump.
They seemed pretty concerned when I told them about the bear tracks
and why I carried a weapon.
(They hadn't thought about that.)

Tonight after dinner I went for my routine walk around the village. I actually went to take a picture of the BARGE parked out front.

9/1/15 Barge w/ the new POD.

“Big doings here in Mystery.”

If you look closely you can see the main purpose of this load. Our school is overcrowded and there is a POD on there for us. The 6^th and 7^th graders will have a new classroom once the crew gets here to unload that bad boy.

After a quick pic of the boat, I walked on. And what has become common when I spot a group of kids, I readied myself for the rush. A half a dozen kids or so were bunched up and accompanying 3 adults - one villager and two reporters. When they spotted me, they screamed my name and ran in for hugs. The reporters followed. The older lady from the village that was escorting them let them know that I was a teacher and then asked me if I would mind doing an interview with Rolling Stone.

I didn’t mind.

Rolling Stone and my boy David - maybe he'll get the cover shot. 

Tonight I was briefly interviewed by Rolling Stone. I couldn’t make this story up in my wildest dreams.

I shook a Governor's hand. I cooked Beluga. I haven’t caught a fish in Alaska. The President might be coming. I ate dinner with a big wig from the LA Times and tonight two cameras from Rolling Stone were shoved in my face.

I haven’t shaved since July 22^nd. I did shower once this week though.

I don’t think it’s going to be a cover shot… but weirder things have happened.

“Big doings here in Mystery.”