Life in the Bush

The snow is disappearing, it is November, instead of snow we have been experiencing rain, and today hurricane force winds. With daily rain comes ice at night, creating nice slick paths for ATVs and pedestrians heading to work in the darkness at 8:30 a.m.

The main street in Nome is called Front Street, fitting since it is right there on the front of the Bering Sea. I can see from my office window some of the lights that are strung in zig zag fashion across the street. Starting at the Library and headed down to the Post office, so basically a block. Little town little pleasures, quaint.

To give perspective on life in the Bush... heating options, typically people use gallons and gallons of heating oil to keep cozy and alive during the winter. Also, snow machines, careful- not snow mobiles, are a key travel component between villages and vital tools for hunting. Furthermore, airline tickets are strikingly expensive even from Nome to Anchorage.

I was hoping to get out to a village this weekend to cover a volleyball tournament, however it is just not possible at this time. The production department does not have the elasticity to have me gone a Thursday-Saturday, roughly. However, I would not have been able to get out today anyway, with the rain freezing on runways all carriers that I would have used to get out there would have been canceled. Perhaps I am just too clairvoyant.

KNOM does a yearly Christmas play every year written by a former volunteer. Several of the past plays have won awards, and I am going to be editing this years production. I should be receiving this year's play any time now.

I have been spending some time with the local Parish Priest in Nome, and attending Mass. It is interesting to how it is celebrated and the Biblical basis of every tradition presented. I sit thinking about the parallels between Protestant practices and the Catholic tradition. After all, that is where Protestant traditions are generated from. Funny, some Protestants think their fathers created most of the traditions... and Catholics feel that they do not even know the Bible like Protestants, I find that interesting because Mass is scripture, despite what some people think.

Nome is a special town and I feel privileged to be apart.

Happy Holidays everyone!

You are all in my prayers,

Kristina