I started this blog on August 21, 2012, with the release of my first book, Titan Encounter. Most of those posts are now in what I call the “Early Blog.” I’m gradually updating their format and bringing them into this new journal. Back then the sole purpose of the blog was to promote my books, but gradually that changed.
That’s how it started but, over the years, I’ve mused about other things that are important to me, such as my family, my farm, rural life, and occasionally about politics and country. However, I try to limit the politics in this journal. If you want to know more about my political leaning go to The Conservative Alternative.
The agent typed on the computer for a minute and then wrote my connecting flight information on a scrap of paper, tore it from the sheet, and handed it to me.
I stared at it for a second. “This is my ticket?” I asked holding the bit of paper.
Read MoreWe finally get to Bethel
After removing the freight from the plane loading our luggage was easy and quick.
Just before takeoff the pilot turned in his seat and gave the usual speech about seatbelts and, in case of a crash, where the emergency transponder was located, then he said, “If we get to Bethel and I start circling it’s because the visibility has gone down over the airport.”
Read MoreTraveling by bush plane is nothing like a regular airline.
As you may have guessed from the picture in part one, I did find Ferdinand and, with him driving, I rode to the airstrip sitting on the side of the ATV. Like the airfield the road to it is dirt, but with hundreds of potholes, mud, water, ice, and gravel. I’m always glad when these trips are over—my butt is sore and my pant legs are splashed with mud.
Read MoreI was supposed to report for jury duty on Tuesday of last week. I packed a bag with three days of clothes because travel at this time of year is always iffy. I might fly into Bethel and get stuck there, so it’s smart to pack extra underwear and socks.
Read MoreAbout ten days ago several of our students here in Eek excitedly told me there was an article about me in The Delta Discovery.
The Delta Discovery is the weekly newspaper in our region of Alaska. I had sent them a press release about the book and later someone from the paper had asked me a few questions so, of course, I wanted to read the article.
Read MoreYesterday I flew back to the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Eek.
This will be my seventh year teaching in this remote Alaskan village. Getting to Eek starts with a flight to Anchorage, but that is only the beginning. From there you catch an Alaskan Airlines flight to Bethel, about 400 miles west of Anchorage on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, one of the largest river deltas in the world.
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