Icewind's Ramblings

I meant to post this on New Years Day but was sidetracked like many of us do and thought I would post it anyway. For many of us this year will be much like last year with many events and things happening in each others lives.   Hopefully more good ones this year than the last few but many times there are choices to be made and possibilities to ponder. I can only hope 2011 will be a great year for you and during those times when you have to think of what direction to go or what changes need to be made one of the things that I try to remember is the poem by Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken .   It gives us an understanding to the possibilities in life and living each day for what it is. The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost (1874–1963) Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood ...And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the b

I started off the New Year with a ‘quick’ trip up to Selawik Alaska for meeting with the tribal leaders on our plans to refurbish their water treatment plant and add some water and sewer service to 8 new homes added last summer to the community. There was a large group of us flying up from Anchorage leaving for the airport around 4 am to light snow mixed with rain.   We gathered at the boarding gate in the airport with everyone mostly quiet as we waited to board the plane around 5:30.   Once on board the plane several people took the chance for a quick nap since we were not due to return to Anchorage until almost midnight.   The rest of us chatted briefly or listened to music on our iPods.   We landed in Kotzebue which is a small spit of land on the Arctic Ocean along Norton Sound.   We deplaned from Alaska Airlines and made our way over to Bering Air for our charter flight to Selawik. Everyone dressed in their arctic gear and boarded the plane in the darkness of the long nights t

It’s been two years since I last updated you on the ‘cool’ family in bush Alaska.   “Storm & Icy” live above the Arctic Circle in a little spot on the 400 mile haul road (Dalton Hwy) between Fairbanks and Prudoe Bay called Livengood, Alaska. You can check out the back story in my archives from January 1 found here & 2 found here 2009. Again special thanks to a neat lady, June Dilley who has imagination bigger than mine and continues the fun with her creations.   (I just have the weird mind set to think up a story for these highlighting the uniqueness of Alaskan lifestyle.) As we begin again, life in rural Alaska has its challenges and also rewards.   Those of us who live in a small town adapt and become self sufficient in the everyday things most take for granted.   Many villages still have no running water or indoor plumbing.   Cell phones and internet are slowing bringing communication into areas which has never had an easy time in talking with the ‘Outside’ world. Du