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.
I called Eek home for seven years.
The Yup’ik Eskimo village of Eek is 415 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska, on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The delta is about the size of the state of Louisiana, but within that delta roads are rare and people are few.
Read MoreSchool is out now in Eek, Alaska, and the staff has departed.
Dirk, a longtime co-worker and friend from Eek, took the slow route home. Along with his dog Katja, he visited Anchorage and Kenai and then traveled north to Delta Junction and across into the Yukon, and south to British Columbia. Then he crossed the border into the United States and Washington State.
Read MoreBack to Eek School
Traveling to Eek School is an adventure.
My return to Eek started early in the morning of May 14th. Robert, my youngest son, drove me to the Seattle-Tacoma airport. Since the Alaska Airlines flight took off at 8:00 am, we both got up way too early. The flight to Anchorage, on a regular 737, took about three hours.
Read MoreEek is a Yup’ik, Eskimo, village 415 miles west of Anchorage, Alaska. Starting in 2007, I taught in the village school for seven years. Because it is a small village of 300 people, I quickly learned the name, and backgrounds, of nearly every student.
Read MoreOne definition of irony is an event that “seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result.”
With that in mind, I submit this picture.
Read MoreA fan wants me to autograph Through Many Fires
Yesterday, after a long spring day of inattentive, restless, students the school secretary, Loni, brought me a torn cardboard mailer. It was addressed to my personal mailbox but delivered to the school. This often happens in the village, but this time I didn’t recognize the return address.
Read MoreGood teachers do many crazy stunts to get students interested in learning.
Our school in Eek, Alaska, is blessed with some fine teachers. Every March in conjunction with the Iditarod dog sled race our school does an Iditaread reading competition. The students get points moving them along the Iditarod trail for each page they read.
Read MoreThe trip from Eek was like a trip across the river Styx.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement. As I’ve mentioned before, there are no roads in the region of Alaska where I work. Travel in winter is by snowmobile, bush plane, or dog team. I had chartered a plane for five teachers (including me), the principal, two children, and a dog.
Read MoreWinter has returned to western Alaska with a vengeance.
For several weeks the temperatures in and around the village of Eek have been extraordinarily mild with temperatures hovering in the mid to upper thirties.
Read MoreThe Pledge as you’ve never heard it before.
As regular readers of this blog know, I teach in the Yup’ik Eskimo village of Eek, Alaska. Every morning the students of our small school gather in the gym for announcements and to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Read MoreA man with two rifles stood just outside the door of my apartment.
No, it wasn’t a burglary or gang activity. It was Brett, the principal of Eek school. I live just across the hall from him and his wife. On this Saturday morning, he stood at the end of the hall wearing hip waders with one rifle slung over his shoulder and the other in his hand.
Read MoreArt is enjoyed by most people.
I’ve written before about the apparent fascination the students of Eek School have for drawing me.
Read MoreThe first autographed copy of Through Many Fires is in the hands of a reader.
My wife sent up copies of my latest novel to where I work in Eek, Alaska. They arrived on the mail plane this weekend. Loni Hoover, the school secretary, and an avid reader, asked me for a copy. Of course, I’m going to give the most powerful person in the building a copy.
Read MoreA picture of me along with authors like Shakespeare, Poe, and Twain and book covers from Harry Potter and The Hunger Games alongside my book, Final Duty, brought a smile to my face.
Read MoreUnfortunately, art is one of those classes that we don’t often offer at Eek School.
We wish we could offer art more often, but reading, Writing and Math take priority and art teachers willing to come to the bush Alaska are hard to find. That doesn’t mean that our students are any less artistic. Art is very much a part of the Yup’ik culture. I wish the students would do more with traditional themes, but for some reason they often like to draw me.
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