Islands and Oceans Visitor Center was the destination for Ms. Kysar’s 7th grade Reading class Thursday, October 1. In class, they have been studying about various habitats and biomes from around the world. As a part of their Ocean Study, a trip to the Center was in order. While there, all of the students earned their Junior Biologist patch by studying seabird populations, invasive species, and people of the Aleutian Islands.
These kids are fun beyond belief. They are easy to fool and I tease them incessantly! As much as I long to be back at the High School teaching, this 7th grade class makes me smile every day.
Left to right, back row: Andrean Kusnetsov, Cameron Corbell, Shane Fielding, Cody Rosenthal, Filip Reutov
Left to right, front row: Crystal Crane, Ms. Kathy Kysar

Andrean (Russian kid with strong accent) has a sing-song way of talking that makes his oral reading very dramatic and entertaining. Cameron (most mature kid of the bunch) doesn't try hard and I think he is smarter than he lets on. Shane (fun, typical, 12 year old boy) makes me laugh every day over his enthusiastic approach to life in general. Cody (small kid with a speech problem) is a born leader and doesn't know it - I am trying to nurture that within him. Filip (Russian kid with not as strong of an accent) smiles all the time and is THE #1 hardest working kid in the class. Finally, there's Crystal... ahhh, Crystal... the only girl in the class (Filipino with a strong accent). She was so quiet at first and is gaining confidence and beginning to speak with authority!
Their overwhelming enthusiasm and energy at Islands and Oceans made me feel so blessed to be their teacher.
These six 12-year-olds have blessed my life and made my time teaching at the Middle School bearable...

HHS Pwned!

As some of you may or may not know, I am the head coach of the Homer High School DDF (Drama, Debate, Forensics) Team. We had our first tournament of the season this weekend at South High School in Anchorage. Due to a lot of schedule conflicts (football, volleyball, SATs, etc) this weekend, we only took 9 students to the tourney.
However, those 9 students did spectacularly! Every one of Homer's team members placed! That has got to be some sort of record, because that just never happens!!! I am so proud of these kids that it isn't even funny!

Watch out, you BIG Anchorage Schools... Homer is the Underdog and we intend to Rock Your World this year!!!

Age Improves with Wine!

So, this summer I worked at the Bear Creek Winery in Homer, Alaska. What fun! It was the perfect antidote to teaching high school English! Everyone comes into the winery happy and leaves the winery happy. It was an awesome job... even though most folks from the lower 48 could use a lesson in the art of "tipping."

I served 18 wines in an average wine tasting, describing all of them to the customer... from the LoLo Berry (an Italian Barolo grape mixed with local Lowbush Cranberry) to Rhubarb Wine (100% estate grown and bottled) all the way to our incredible Alaskan Port (a clear spirit - aka 151 - mixed with a Muscadine Grape) which goes so great with chocolate that I may never be the same!

I met customers from all over the world and worked with a most incredible group of people - competitive dog mushers, professional bartenders, lifelong beer/wine-makers, and on and on.

Every day was a unique experience - it was most fun to tell customers, when they asked, that this was my summer job and that I actually had a Masters degree in English Education (a co-worker also had a Masters in Journalism). That's just how Homer is.

It is not unusual here to have a bartender with a Masters Degree. They choose to live in Homer for the quality of life and just take whatever job pays the bills. Folks here live life on their terms. The "Jones'" don't exist. There is no "climbing to the top" of whatever ladder is locally available. There are many a soul who throw out a grappling hook, however, to ask for local help so that they can continue to live life on their own terms.

And, folks here are generous. We live simply... and share what we can. We're all in this together, after all. We live in paradise and we know it. The more I'm here, the more this place sucks me in... more than any place that I've ever lived. And, I've live in quite a few places - suburb of St. Louis, rural Wisconsin, Shreveport, Louisiana, rural south Louisiana, rural Allegany mountains of Maryland, Couer d'Alene, Idaho... I know what I'm talking about.

But, if you're thinking of moving here... don't! The weather is horrible, the prices are unreasonable, and the schools are negligible! (at least that's what we tell the tourists)

Local Musher Visits Classroom

Here is a press release that I sent out to local media on Friday, along with pictures taken the day of the visit...
LOCAL MUSHER VISITS CLASSROOM

Jillian Rogers of Spitfire Kennels visited Ms. Kysar’s 8th Grade Reading class at Homer Middle School on Tuesday, September 29. The class has been studying about animal adaptations; in particular, adaptations of domesticated dogs. After researching different dog groups and specific breeds, Kysar invited Rogers to come share her competitive mushing experiences with the class.

Rogers began her working career as a journalist for the Yukon News in Whitehorse. After covering many a sled dog event, she developed a passion for the sport herself. She began training in Fairbanks as a handler for Ken Anderson and Lance Mackey. Since then, she has moved her team to Homer in order to better hill train the dogs this winter, as she is training for the 2011 Iditarod. She does plan to race in the Yukon Quest this season.

Rogers talked to the class about different types of mushing, common dog breeds used in the sport, and even a little of the history of modern dogsledding.

For more information about Jillian Rogers, check out www.wannabemusher.bogspot.com.

As a side note, I met Jillian working at the Winery this summer - she is a year-round employee there and they have just released a new wine, Lead Dog Mead, in her honor!

Suburban

In my 7th grade Reading class today...

Crystal is reading aloud from the text, "The roots of the Arctic Poppy spread out like a Suburban-"
"We have a Suburban!" Filip interupts.
"Shhh, let her finish," I tell Filip, giggling to myself, having read ahead.
Crystal continues, "... like a Suburban strip-mall." She pauses, finished with the paragraph.
"It's black!" Filip excitedly adds, totally missing the point of the simile that Crystal just read.
I explain to the class what a strip-mall is, in Homer terms, and how that relates to the root system of the Arctic Poppy. They get it, but the term suburban still eludes Filip.

It was my smile for the day. I love these kids. Their small town world view. Their inability to imagine a city large enough to warrant suburbs. They are sweet. They are innocent. And, for now, they are mine...

Oh, and as a side note: Filip is Russian and Crystal is Philipino - it's quite an eclectic mix we have here at the end of the road in rural Alaska.

Another Day, Another Fish

My friend, Cap'n Steve invited me to go Halibut fishing again today. I took along a friend, Shelly, and the three of us had a terrific time! We left the dock around 8am, loaded with bait and headed for a spot 15 miles out Kachemak Bay, almost to Cook Inlet, just off the coast of Flat Island. The water was a bit choppy at first but them calmed down and we set our bait on a pile of Halibut right away.

While we were out there, chatting and fishing, I learned that the village of Nanwalek used to be called English Bay. I have heard both terms in town before and had no idea that they referred to the same place... one is the Native name and the other is... you guessed it... the English name. Nanwalek is known for its exceptionally high rate of HIV which could be due to several factors including its isolation (it is only accessible by boat or small plane), lack of community education, and obvious lack of birth control evident in the number of young, single expectant mothers in the population. We fished off the coast of Nanwalek for most of the day. A charming looking village from the sea - not a place people want to live, though.

As the day progressed, Shelly caught several cod and even a shark in addition to several halibut. I pulled also pulled in my share of halibut and so did Cap'n Steve. The wind picked up around noon and since we were drift-fishing, the Cap'n had to reposition the boat a couple of miles about 4 different times.

However, the big excitement of the day was a humpback whale who was nearby most of the day. We first heard him blow and that made us look up and realize that he was very close by. I had never been close enough to a whale to hear him blow liket that. It was truly amazing. He surfaced many times as he circled around us for several hours, following the birds who were following the fish. Whales are such amazing creatures. I had to put down my fishing pole and just go sit on the bow of the boat and watch in wonder.

As if that wasn't enough fun, I got to drive the boat back to the harbor - 20 miles of open sea and me! Wow, what I would give to have my own boat! Cap'n Steve always acts like I'm doing him a favor when I drive the boat, but I know that he's just doing it for my own enjoyment. What a great friend!

We also encountered many sea otters throughout the day and when we were headed back into the harbor, a seal greeted us. The Time Bandit was docked near the fuel dock and as I was fumbling for my camera (I was sitting on the bow, supposed to be readying the line to throw to the girls at the fuel dock), I dropped the line in the water and it quickly swept back toward the boat motor. EEEEK! I called for Cap'n Steve to kill the motor so I could get the rope before it wrapped around the motor. Success! Thankfully Shelly kept my secret that it was dropped because I was getting a picture of the Time Bandit. LOL. They both enjoyed a good laugh at me taking pictures like a tourist all day. But, these are the days that I will remember for the rest of my life and want to share with my grandkids (did I just say that?)!

Seriously, having a chance to fish with friends on Labor Day this year... well, I just can't think of a better way to spend a day! And, to top it all off... Shelly's son works at the Coal Point Fish Processing Plant so she gets all her fish for free, which meant that today, Cap'n Steve and I also got to drop our fish off for him to filet, vacuum pack, and flash freeze for us for free! Now, that's my kind of fishing!

"THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF SHIPS. THERE ARE WOODEN SHIPS, PLASTIC SHIPS AND METAL SHIPS. BUT THE BEST AND MOST IMPORTAINT TYPES OF SHIPS ARE FRIENDSHIPS."

Fireweed

Alaska is truly a land of extremes. This spring, we had a large wildfire about 16 miles from town. It was out of control for several days as thousands of acres were lost, including 14 structures. Homes were evacuated, roads closed, and lives changed. However, in late July, a very unique phenomena began to occur... the season of the Fireweed.

You see, in Alaska Fireweed is the first thing to grow after a fire has swept through. These plants grow and flower as long as there is open space and plenty of light. As trees and brush grow larger the Fireweed dies out, but the seeds remain viable in the soil for many years. When a new fire or other disturbance occurs that opens up the ground to light again the seeds germinate. Some areas with heavy seed counts in the soil, after burning, can be covered with pure dense stands of this amazing species, and, when in flower, the landscape is turned into fields of color.

Not only that, but locals make candies, syrups, jellies, and even ice cream from Fireweed. Even monofloral honey made primarily from fireweed nectar has a distinctive, spiced flavor.

Perhaps there is a larger lesson to be learned here. We've all heard the sayings about a phoenix rising from the fire or baptism by fire. In this case, the fireweed doesn't permanently take over, but rather provides some relief for a burned landscape until other flora and fauna begin to take hold again. Then it simply lays in wait until the land calls out for it again.

Residents here truly do know how to make "lemons out of lemonade"... or is that "jelly out of Fireweed."