We lose about 1 hour a week of daylight. There has been a noticeable change in the amount of light since we got here. When we arrived I had to put cardboard over our bedroom window because there was too much light at the wrong time of day. Now we don't need the cardboard any more. It is pretty dark until about 9 AM (when Eloise and I get up). We are looking forward to daylight savings. It will reallocate the light to the morning.
People here breathe basketball...you thought that B basketball was all encompassing...come to Deering and you will have a changed perspective. The folks here spend at least 5 nights a week in the gym. These people know how to shoot; they make 80-90% of their shots where ever they may be on the court. Make no mistake about it, the girls are as good as the guys. It could be said that basketball is the glue that holds these villages together. They take is VERY seriously.
There is a big push in the schools to encourage kids to get to bed at a reasonable time. When I first got here there were kids who stayed up until 2 or 3 in the morning (if not later) just because it was still light outside. I thought...well when it gets dark people will sleep more...I was wrong. This is just a nocturnal group of people no matter if it is dark or light out.
When we got back from district office in August, there was a box on our porch. We weren't sure what it was. We soon discovered that every household received a gun safe compliments of the borough. The borough, by the way, is like their version of a county. This borough is in charge of an expanse the size of Indiana (without any roads connecting villages).
We have a freezer full of fish. I really do hate to admit this, but I am getting kind of tired of eating fish. I know that is sacrilegious, but I have to get that off my chest. We will keep that one to ourselves..alright? Alright.
Since coming to Alaska we have experienced some physical ailings. It is not because of Alaska. Let me explain. The first things: I got a mosquito bite right next to my eye. All the soft tissue under my eye became swollen and I looked like I had a shiner. Next, Eloise decided to nibble on part of a mushroom. We tried to make her throw up. I hope I never have to do that again. It turns out that it was not poisonous because she was fine. The last injury to report: Paul was playing with Eloise. They were going around in circles around the spiral stair case. Paul misjudged when he should stand up and smacked his head on the metal stairs. It was a strange injury because it was like a bleeding bruise. The skin didn't actually split open, but there was bleeding. Hmm. Hopefully we have gotten all that out of the way. We will report more injuries when/if they occur.
They pump the water right out of the river here. I do believe there is some filtering before it gets to our tap, but we filter it again before we drink it. Even after filtering it twice it has a tinge of yellow. It tastes OK only after being filtered twice.
Cell phones are a rather new thing here. In the last 6 months people in Deering have been able to have cell service. I have a few old cell phones in Eloise's toy bin. When the kids come over they are always a point of interest. They first ask who it belongs to. I always tell them that they are old phones and they do not work at all. Then they ask if they can have it (I always say NO). After the kids leave I usually find the cell phone up off the floor on a shelf or table. Eloise leaves them strewn about. The kids find the phones to be a precious commodity that they make sure they are not in harm's way on the floor even those they are not usable.
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