Snow-Go

It's important to remember that I live in a dry village. If a person is caught importing, bootlegging, or consuming alcohol here, they are slapped with a Class C Felony, punishable by jail time. I've never been a big drinker, so living in a "dry village" was no big deal, though as the saying goes, you do always want what you can't have.

Saturday morning, as I rose out of my noon slumber, sleeping off a nasty cold, my neighbor called to ask if I wanted to make the 50 mile round trip journey to Dillingham in sub-zero temperatures for nothing more than a drink at the bar. Naturally, I was giddy with excitement and illness would not and could not hold me back. So I threw on my overalls, seal hat, neck gator and several layers of coats, along with my warmest mittens and ski goggles. I was so padded down I could hardly get my boots on. As I pulled them on, I was sweating and breathing hard. I felt (and looked) morbidly obese, but even as we skimmed across the tundra at high speeds, I was toasty warm.

This day filled with newness, excitement, overwhelming beauty and great people, of course, goes down as one of my favorite days in life. It was so simple but still so thrilling and completely unexpected. I tossed and turned last night before I finally drifted off to sleep. I saw and felt myself flying along on a snowmobile across the blazed tundra trail with the cold wind whipping past me and the bright blue skies and rolling mountains surrounding me. I thought about how lucky I feel to be here and living this really beautiful version of a life.

Crossing the Weary and Snake Rivers were more of a challenge on the return trip because the tide was coming in. You can see the pools of water that accumulating along the banks of the river. I took a deep breath before we sped across the partially open water.

This is the Bearing Sea seen from Dillingham. I was in awe. The chunks of ice were moving so quickly it almost made me dizzy. A beautiful sight, but could you imagine putting your foot in that? Brrrr....