stories

In precisely one year and five months–if all goes to plan–I will have one hell of a decision to make.

Door 1: blow my savings to buy  a little plane and a tremendous amount of aviation gas and enjoy the first of what I hope would become many summers of flying around for fun, and someday when I’m good and ready, for both fun and income.

Door 2: blow my savings to learn how to fly helicopters and begin what would be a journey of many, many summers to becoming a commercial rotary wing (helicopter) pilot. There are two big snags with this plan: flying would never be strictly recreational, only work. fun work, granted, but strictly work. The other: this plan puts a cap on my teaching career. After earning a commercial license along with instrument and CFI ratings, I would have no option but to immediately give up teaching and take a flying job wherever I could find one, mostly likely leaving Alaska in the process. To take a break from flying is a very, very very big no-no for a brand new commercial rotary wing pilot.

I do have to say, of all the dilemmas I could possibly have, this one’s beautiful, as both options involve flying. I suspect that, should I actually come upon these two doors in one year and five months, I’ll go for door 1, but only time will tell. Next update: end of november.

other

It’s that time a year again to have my once-a-year rockstar.

we were lucky to have you around joe, and we still miss you.

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photography

Evergreen’s bo-105 is broken down again, and there was a LOT of stuff in the connex in Wales. Like, many thousands of pounds of mail and groceries.

They called in backup, rustled up a bigger steed for captain mike. The Bell UH-1 Iroquois, star of Vietnam war movies, is known colloquially as the ‘huey.’ We felt it coming long before we could see or hear it.

AWESOME. Second only to when the CG Jayhawk lands here. Although….even though the coasties and their jayhawk are great, there is something uniquely special about having a big old beautiful chopper from the 60’s bring the groceries and mail.

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photography

Please take a moment to notice a particular entertaining detail: see the spot in the first picture where the wave is crashing up and over the rocks, just to the left (i.e. ahead) of the wave, there’s a bunch of little spray. That spray comes down in a way like those first big raindrops of a thunderstorm pattering into the tarmac. But instead of being followed by wind and a building storm over the next half hour, this heavy pattering of water drops is followed in a fraction of a moment by a few hundred gallons of icy bering sea. Now look at the second picture again. Thankfully I was kneeling, so a quick curl-into-fetal-position-around-the camera maneuver worked; no bruises and my camera seems to still work fine.

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other, stories

The bread is almost ready for a second kneading. Another ten minutes should do it. It’s six in the evening, and I left work at 4:30, what must be a personal record. The kitchen is clean, I folded my laundry. I pull up my google news feed, and the first two headlines are:

Iran’s president calls for ‘constructive’ dialogue, end to ‘unhealthy’ rivalries

&

Pope seeks to shift Catholic Church’s priority from dogma to mercy

Maybe just for a little while today the world isn’t so bad.

So what now? Indubitably at this point I would begin to think of bad men in ties, mosquitos, war, or some other depressing thing. This must be staved off. I’ll think about flying. Flying is one of my favorite things in the whole world, and it is also a thing that no matter what technology or fable of creation we humans invent we will never truly experience. Ever. Except for in our dreams.

So here’s to mercy, constructive dialogue, bread, flying and dreams.

(…and jason for sending me this video)

other, stories

Work is hard but wonderful. I love my job. Teaching earth and space science is totally a hoot, we’re making clouds in bottles and checking out 8-day pressure charts. Big storm rolling around in 8 days, pressure down to 960 by 10am next friday. More laughing then ever before in my classroom. As always, I have my grievances about standardized testing and big men in suits, but at the end of the day I remember it’s all about the kids, and everything is ok.

Breakfast report:

I tried something different for my weekday breakfast routine. For those who know me, this is a big deal. I ate a tube of oreos with a glass of milk instead of my traditional can of peaches / can of vienna sausages combo. Conclusion? No-go. It’s 11:26 and my tummy is rumbling uncomfortably, threatening to start making funny noises.