These Boots Are Made For Walking

[Donna Moore]

So, as predicted I arrived at the airport to be greeted by the dreaded words "So, how much do you weigh Donna?" I showed the nice lady my boots and we agreed that they were, indeed, very heavy looking. I then toddled off to the gate. When flying inside Alaska, you don't go through the usual security procedures. You just go and sit in the gate. This, presumably, is how the man sitting next to me managed to have an item of carry on luggage that I have never seen before. An axe. A big, shiny looking, yellow handled axe. That was all he had - obviously travelling light. The gate area was also full of men in camouflage who smelled of moose. Most of them looked me up and down as though I was a plump and juicy prey that they wanted to chase through the forest - and not in a good way. I could almost feel the shotgun pellets whizzing past my head.

There were also a couple of fishermen there on their way to Dutch Harbour. One was lamenting the fact that he had forgotten to bring a sheet and last time he slept on the ship's bed without a sheet he got an infection because of the dirty mattress. The other one said that last time he'd slept on that ship the mattress was covered in fungus. Lovely. I moved away, scratching myself. Remind me never to go fishing. Or sit next to fishermen.

As we queued up at the gate to get on the plane the lady who had checked me in upstairs waved away my outstretched passport. "I remember you from upstairs - the lady with the heavy boots." On my flight was one of the high school students from Aniak. He'd broken his leg playing volleyball and then had to wait for a Medivac plane to take him to Anchorage. Ouch. When anyone here is pregnant they have to leave the villages a month before they are due to give birth and go and stay in Anchorage or Bethel. They CAN stay but they need to sign a disclaimer that they understand they will not be evacuated in an emergency. It's beautiful here but it's a tough life in many ways.

I was slightly worried about the weather. It was snowing quite hard and the only way you knew there was a runway outside was the faint lights shining through the 4 inches of snow. The visibility was also pretty bad in the air. Planes were taking off and then disappearing within seconds. Back home, the whole country would have ground to a halt. Here, it is all just business as usual.

So, as we flew into a blizzard we had the safety demonstration "Ear plugs and sick bags are in the seatback in front of you. Anyone want a drink, just let me know." There was a breeze coming in from somewhere, but I was too afraid to ask where. I just kept my gloves on for the whole flight. We landed in Aniak - again in 4 inches of snow and walked into the terminal building (posh name for a shed) where Emily was waiting for me. She drove me to my home for the next couple of days.

We then went back to the school district where the school board was having their monthly meeting and wanted to meet me. So I had to say a few words about my trip last year and what I was intending to do this time, and I also showed them the anthology which they thought was great. They have lost over 40 students this year. High fuel prices and lack of jobs have meant that quite a few families have taken advantage of the extra high Permanent Fund Dividend they received this year to move into the cities. As a result, one of the schools in the area has less than the regulation number of pupils to stay open, so at some point it may have to close. As you can imagine, the closing of a school signals a bit of a death knell to a village, which is a real shame.


After the school board meeting, Emily let me sit in on her teleconference class which was excellent. The students can join in from schools in the school district by video conference and computer. They all have laptops as part of a program out here. We then went off to the only shop in the village. A pack of celery is $4.99. Another negative of living here - fruit and veg is excessively expensive. On the positive side, Emily left the truck in the parking lot with the engine running to keep it warm, just as she had left the door of the house unlocked when we went back to the school board meeting. How wonderful is that? If you stand still in Glasgow, someone will steal your shoes from your feet while you're still wearing them. I can't imagine leaving my home door unlocked or the car with the engine running.

This morning I am off to the Elementary School. I can't wait.

Tata for now.

Donna