Blizzard in the Lap of Luxury

We are currently house-sitting again, at a luxurious new locale.  We have fantastic views of the Kuskokwim River, and as I write, I see a wicked blizzard to the South, West, and East.  (Lots of windows.)  It reminds me of watching storms hit the Oregon coast.  Very relaxing.

Statement as of 4:27 PM AST on December 27, 2006 ... Blizzard Warning in effect until 6 am AST Thursday... The National Weather Service in Anchorage has issued a Blizzard Warning... which is in effect until 6 am AST Thursday. A front will make its way northward over Kuskokwim Delta tonight. Expect northeast winds gusting up to 50 mph combined with snow and blowing snow to reduce visibilities to one quarter mile or less at times. Winds and snow are expected to decrease as the front dissipates Thursday morning. A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to white-out conditions... making travel extremely dangerous. All travel and outdoor activity is strongly discouraged.

Bethel, Alaska (99559) Conditions & Forecast : Weather Underground

The walk home from work was interesting. 

Raven, the french poodlish creature we are caring for, is a half-assed dog.  Literally.  She wears a diaper indoors because since she has only half an ass, she is slightly incontinent.  She was run over as a pup, but miraculously survived.  So far, she is a mellow and friendly old hound.   I'm sure we'll get some photos up  in the near future. 

Tom the Frenchman

Our friend Tom just got back from Paris, where it looks like he had no problem blending in with the locals.

Team Wilco Family Christmas #1 (2006)

We don't like to brag, but this is the best Wilco Family Christmas photo we've ever taken:

Oh, did you want cute baby photos? Well here's Pax Rev's cute little igloo walrus outfit. Brrr! Perfect attire for our new ocean based locale.

And then of course, there is the fuzzy bear outfit, complete with the ears. We're big fans of the ears on baby clothes program.

Working hard during the present opening phase.

We didn't have to dream too hard for the white Christmas, although we can't hang with Team WilYo, who got a record breaking 10 inches of fresh snow on Christmas Eve!

Jolly Christmas carolers stopped by last night.

Not all birds fly south for the winter. Birders, any idea what these red dudes are?

On the potentially awesome adventure program: Hiking and riding Makushin. On a good powder day - nearly 6,000 feet of vert. Potentially legendary! On other days, I guess we'll just have to settle for this. More info here.

My dream was to buy this, fix it up, and drive it up to the protected waters of Dutch Harbor, and make it a home sweet home. However, that may not be economically feasible. But how many other homes out there come equipped with submarine booms?

On account of my new job starting February 1st, I may not be able to blog any more, and I may have to go back through this entire thing and edit out anything offensive and/or political. Small price to pay, really. But Genevieve can always still blog.

Merry Merry Christmas and Happy Happy Holiday Season to Everybody! Peace and Love and Laughter to you!

Puppy Love....

Tom, did you know how much Mr. Kusko loves babies??? He makes sure he's an integral part of every activity that happens. He smiles!! And, for the grandparents, smiling in action...I don't know how to edit videos or I would have editted out the part where I almost drop his head off my lap. But hey, you get the idea.

Finally, you've waited so patiently.....here's your reward!

Happy Solstice from Alaska!!

Happy 6 Weeks!

We celebrated with 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night! Woo-hoo...

Of course, after-work family naps are still enjoyed...

Housesitting at Tom's

Revel Rebel

Afternoon rush hour on the river.

Sunrise over the river

All tuckered out after a long hard week

I don't know who Joe Kim is, but he's a genius.

My latest addiction....

As I see it, I kind of got ripped off with the whole pregnancy eating thing....you're supposed to have a big appetite, wild cravings, and eat lots of food, right?? Well, due to the heartburn, I think I ate far less while pregnant than usual...plus very limited quantities at all times, nothing spicy or acidic, very small amounts of my favorite hot beverages, nothing after 5:00 at night if possible....I never imagined I would live on berry flavored TUMS.

SO........

I'm currently eating like it's going out of style and my latest obsession is the no-knead bread from the New York Times that seems to be circulating the internet. Thanks to my Aunt Janet for originally sending the recipe and my friend Aileen for finally talking me into making it by proclaiming it very baby friendly and delicious. For some reason, I didn't believe her until I tried her bread at a party and then I decided that even if it was a difficult challenge to make, I'd give it a try. And as it turns out, it's nearly the easiest thing in the world, just about impossible to screw up (I even broiled it rather than baked it on my first time) and totally delicious. So give it a try....the only catch is you have to start the day before you actually want to eat it. I'll post the real link to the recipe later, but in the meantime, here's my modified version. If it seems complicated, take heart...it's not. It's just a little wordy to explain.

Mix 3 cups flour with 1/4 tsp. yeast and 1 1/4 tsp. salt. Add 1 5/8 cup water and mix until it's dissolved. Cover and let sit for 18-24 hours (as with all times in this recipe, it appears that just about any time will work). The dough will have little bubbles on top when it's ready. The next day, put some flour on the counter and dump the dough out. Put a bit more flour on the dough and turn it over on itself a few times. Let rest 15 minutes. Shape into a ball (using a bit more flour to keep it from sticking) and place seam side down between 2 floured cloths (when you have a baby and want to decrease floury laundry, you can try my latest modification which is putting on a floured plate and covering with a papertowel which also works just fine). Let rise for about 2 hours (I've done 2, 3 and 4 all with success). During the last 1/ 2 hour of the rise, preheat the oven to 450 with a coverable soup pot in it (cast iron or the like). When everything is about 450 degrees, take the pot out of the oven, dump the dough in it (seam side up) and bake covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 15. Then you have delicious crusty on the outside, moist and chewy on the inside, bread. Goes great with butter, butter and jam, plain, toasted...Dawson and I seem to be able to eat a loaf a day, which some may call excessive, but hey---that's just 1 1/2 cups of flour per person per day, right??? Of course, there's the butter and jam, but hey...EATING IS FUN!!! YAHOO!!!!

On a lighter note.....

Thanks Jodasm and Renee!!!


And on an only semi-light note, check out this article in the latest edition of Stars and Stripes magazine about the YK Delta troops in Kuwait. I know Teddy Charles and his family from Toksook. Outlawing the yupik language??? Can you imagine what it's like for the troops there?

More Shocking Statistics

How many towns with a population of 6,000 have had three wholly unrelated homicides in the last 6 months?  My guess is none.  But guess what's new here?  You guessed it.  KYUK is reporting yet another homicide.  Another homicide here in Bethel.  Now, that whole math thing just got a little more interesting.  In less than 6 months, Bethel itself has had 3 homicides.  We have a population of roughly 6,000.  We are number one in a major way, with an annual murder rate of about 100 per 100,000.  That's more than FIVE times Detroit's murder rate.   To put it in a personal context, that's like Missoula County having 50 murders in the last 6 months.  Imagine if 63 people had been murdered in Ann Arbor in the last 6 months! 

If you include the whole YK Delta, the numbers aren't quite as bad, but they are still shocking.  In addition to the three Bethel murders, there was one in Newtok and another up the Tatlawiksuk River.  We have a regional population of around 20,000.  Our region's annual murder rate is therefore about 50 per 100,000. 

And even if there are no more murders in the next 6 months, our stats will still place  us at #1 in the nation, both regionally, and by city. 

Something to think about.  Maybe I should write a letter to Governor Palin.

Too Much News For One Title

Starting with the good, we took Revel-Roo, or Renegade as some of my law school amigos like to call him, out for snow machine mission #2. Genevieve pre-trip, with Rev inside, looking dominating in my coat.

Genevieve demonstrating the skills she mastered while playing Arctic Thunder, her favorite video game.

Instilling important values and prepping Pax Rev for success in life:

Feet, still huge:

And the Bethel Cookie auction and indoor Christmas caroling:

The above picture is the Bethel Bell Choir in action. Check back here for a little clip we plan on putting on YouTube.

I feel like I've blogged several times about "my first trial." Well, those never happened. But yesterday, I actually had my first trial. And the result was... mistrial. Dangit. One little slip up and you have to start all over again from scratch. Still, it was a good experience, and I learned a lot. I'm actually looking forward to my next trial. Which is a good thing, because I have four next week and two the week after that. One is in St. Mary's, so I will get to travel up to the Yukon River. Jury selection takes a long time here, that's the main thing I learned.

My case involved indecent exposure and sexual harassment. Nearly 25% of the jurors had to be dismissed from the jury pool for cause because they had been raped or molested, or had children that had been. Because of their life experience, they didn't think they could hear the evidence and be fair. I tell you, it's practically a state of emergency out here.

Along similar lines, on Sunday a man was murdered approximately 300 yards from our house. Shot in the head. That's the fourth murder in less than 6 months in our area. Our regional population is less than 20,000. The national murder rate is 5.6 murders per 100,000 population. So basically, for the last 6 months, our little YK Delta has been leading the nation, beating our nearest rivals (Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Detroit) by a 2 to 1 margin. That's right, our rate is about 40 per 100,000.

Is this America? Are we in Darfur?

And to top it all off, Aileen's snow machine was stolen this morning. A cash reward is being offered for its safe return.

It's almost enough to make a person want to move to Unalaska or St. Mary's.

The other day, he was staring at this grape....

That's a reference to comedian David Cross' routine about how parents become overly interested in their child and think that everyone will find detailed descriptions of their every move absolutely fascinating. Well, I currently spend at least 8 hours a day home alone with our dear little one, who makes lots of cute baby noises but is otherwise not big on conversation, so I guess I'm starting to get pretty excited that he is beginning to look at things. He hasn't looked at any grapes yet, but here he is looking at his toy.In case you want to see an action shot of the above picture, click here (I'm sure at least the grandparents will find this one fascinating!).

Lest you think I'm not doing my physical therapy duties, here he is practicing his tummy time.
And to Tom's mom Joy and her comment about the beautiful sunrise pics...That's one of the best parts about winter in Alaska....even though Pax helps me to be plenty sleep deprived, we haven't missed a sunrise yet!

Bethel Sunrise

Our friend Steve took these lovely photos:

Kugstuun

Paxson Baby Revel had the honor of being given a Yupik name the other day. Genevieve's friend and co-worker Cindy named him Kugstuun, after her father who recently passed away. (I used to work with Melanie, Cindy's daughter, at the courthouse.) Chief Antone Kugstuun Anvil led an adventurous life, and we're delighted to name Pax Rev after him. Even if, as English speaking gussuks, we can't pronounce Kugstuun correctly.

Antone is "remembered for his teaching of hunting, fishing and gathering, his hard work in his trade and for his family, his passion for his people, his strong voice and words, his fearlessness especially when he was challenged and he knew he was right, his fight for native rights and self-determination. He will be remembered for his love and leadership." And this is a cool poem that was part of his memorial service.

It is often stated that Eskimo cultures believe in reincarnation. But according to this site, "The Yupiit do not believe in reincarnation! We are not reincarnated when we are given a Yup'ik name - rather we acquire some of the good characteristics of our namesakes." So we pay our respects to Antone Kugstuun Anvil, and we look forward to seeing some of his good characteristics in Paxson Revel Kugstuun!

In other exciting news, thanks to knowing that Jimmy Cliff sang "I can see clearly now", I won a brand new Yupik/English dictionary.

And in other exciting news, Regan's trial continues to produce entertaining nuggets. Like this quote - "This is the most unfair process on the planet," hurled by the defense counsel at the Judge as he was departing the courtroom.

Rev's first snowmachine mission

When he grows up, he'll be able to tell people he's been snowmachining since he was 3.5 weeks old.

Pretty much like always, he was as happy as a clam when we were on the move.  But it was kind of a short mission, as he wasn't too pumped when stopped for a photo op.    We decided to head back home before somebody called OCS. 

Anarchy in the Y-K

Delta, that is.

Like father, like son...

Anarchy, it might not be such a bad idea anyway. Theoretically. But then again, anarchy could be used to describe life in the Alaskan bush, and here we are leading the nation in unenviable ways.

I've noticed that all our blogs have become about either little Paxson Revel or movies we've been watching on DVD. Well, that's pretty much the kind of adventures we've been having recently. We love it. The adventures of family-hood!

To those of you who agree with David Cross, we apologize.

Here's Boo, trying to eat my bicep. It can keep him distracted for about 15 minutes, but I just can't compete with Mom. I guess I should not be too stoked about my bicep being soft enough to be confused with a boob, but hey, that's why I'm on a 21 day challenge right now. Incidentally, it's day 14, and I'm still weighing in at 220. But, I feel much fitter.

Both the Cats and the Griz in the playoffs today. Terrorstorm and Warren Miller on deck for the DVD entertainment for the weekend. Plus books, letters, comedy, and some living room Feng Shui manipulations. Then, after a weekend of joy, back to the grind - where I've been assigned some very serious cases. (Attempted - which is still an unclassified felony, punishable by 99 years). I'd blog about it, but it's too much of a downer.

Big Love

We've been watching the Big Love series via our Netflix subscription.  It's about a polygamous family in Utah, and their trials and tribulations.  Bill Paxton plays the dad, and Chloe Sevigny is one of the wives.  Are we sending subliminal messages to Paxson?  He isn't too into it anyway, so we needn't worry.

Anyway, it's entirely engrossing.  We love that it reminds us of our fond Utah memories, like wandering into Colorado City and having breakfast amongst the big polygamous families.  (We didn't really blend in, despite our best efforts.)  Anyway, the show is very entertaining and intersting, even for those who have little experience with Utah.  The show attempts to be factually accurate, and does a good job at it.  At least, according to books I've read.