other

Well, no, make that ‘2nd best.’ The best will be when that logbook is good and full and the most recent entry is a passed checkride.

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photography, stories

The air here smells like pine trees and wildflowers.

Thanks for the loaf of bread, mom. Love you :-)
Thanks for the loaf of bread, mom. Love you :-)
Denali didn't come out of her clouds, but it was a magnificent vista nonetheless
Denali didn’t come out of her clouds, but it was a magnificent vista nonetheless
Wet tarmac, sweet alaskan air, mountains, and the big beautiful tre--S*** THERE IS A SEMI TRUCK COMING BEHIND ME GET OUTTA THE ROAD
Wet tarmac, sweet alaskan air, mountains, and the beautiful arctic fores–S*** THERE IS A SEMI TRUCK COMING BEHIND ME GET OUTTA THE ROAD
photography, stories

hello, puget sound
hello, puget sound
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this one’s for jori…Steam Punk!!
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ain’t nobody pullin’ nothin’ on mama
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what you lookin’ at.
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holy $%&@, it’s FRUIT! FRESH FRUIT!!!!!
photography

Best viewed full screen. To do so, just give the picture a click and let’er open up.

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photography

Last week of school: rocket week. Success, all the kids shot off rockets to finish off the last day of school.
Last week of school: rocket week. Success, all the kids shot off rockets to finish off the last day of school. One of my students put wonderful time and hard work into her rocket, and this is the beautiful finished product.
After the last day of school? Deep cleaning.
After the last day of school? Deep cleaning. DAYS of deep cleaning.
Playing the waiting game on the helipad. Will we make it out, will Cap'n Mike fly in horrible weather, after being weathered out for a week?
Playing the waiting game on the helipad. Will we make it out, will Cap’n Mike fly in horrible visibility after having been weathered out for a week?
Yes. And I got to ride shotgun :D
Yes. And I got to ride shotgun. Thanks Cat :D
See ya 'round, cap'n Mike
See ya ’round, cap’n Mike
What now? We have been living in close quarters for 9 months, working all day long with each other. So what do we do when we're off the island? Road trip!
What now? We have been living in close quarters for 9 months, working all day long with each other in a sometimes very hard and stressful job. So what do we do when we’re off the island? Get some personal space? NO WAY. Road trip :)
Ms. T kickin' it
Ms. T kickin’ it
Jori and her dog being adorable. PHOTO BOMB.
Jori and her dog, Zorra, being adorable.
BEER, DELICIOUS BEER
BEER, DELICIOUS BEER
Great friends, great times
Great friends, great times
REALLY good fish'n'chips. This one's for you, mom :)
REALLY good fish’n’chips. This one is for you, mom :)
Ms. T and her million dollar smile
Ms. T and the million-dollar smile
On the other side of the lens
There is a reason I avoid being on the other side of the lens… 
Zorra
Zorra. She is incredibly cute, and likes to pee as much as she is cute.
The one, the only. Man, myth and legend. Mister Moses.
The one, the only. Man, myth and legend. Mister Moses.
Jori lookin' like a million bucks.
Jori and Catherine are like smile-twins. Because they each got a million-dollar smile.
other

The panorama stitch is shoddy, but it was the best I could do from my classroom’s window. The best part is that it’s very windy and the big waves come in under the broken up sea ice, and it makes the whole mass undulate unbelievably.

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other, stories

One toaster, one space heater, one lamp, and one back-up power supply, all dismembered, lots of help from my roommate, and many hours later…

other

Last week of school? It’s wild. Straight up hairy and wild. There’s no open gym, so the kids have next to nothing to earn by doing well in school. The sun is out 24/7. So I came up with this idea a while back: rocket week. Yes, rocket week. I told the kids to be ready, and excited, because we’re going to blast rockets into the sky on the last day of school, the last week we’ll watch movies about rockets and make our own.

What could be better?

I tested the supplies yesterday. Critical error. The ignitors don’t fire. I should not have trusted old supplies we had here at the school. PANIC. So I call up the man the myth the legend Mr. White in Nome–yes, he’s willing to pick up supplies from his PO box and get them on the chopper out here on wednesday. Then I call the hobby shop in Anchorage. But there’s more bad news: motors and ignitors are considered haz-mat. Air shipping is a no-go. There’s no way to get them here in time, it’s doubtful that I could even get them here by next year…they have to come by barge from Seattle to Nome, then another barge from Nome to Dio.

&%$@

What do?

I’m going to make some damn rocket ignitors.

other, stories

Nothing like a night of basketball to remind me just how much I love my life. God really is in the little things.

photography, stories

Off that way, which is East, just past the edge of the picture is the dateline and the border between the U.S. and Russia. To the left, which is west, near to the village there are a few of my coworkers, friends. People and places, people and places.

Eight days of school left in my first year of teaching. It went by in a blink, yet the first months seem like they were years ago.

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