Adventures in Alaska: Mild Concussion and Halloween Carnival

Average temperature this week: 32

Morning frost on the boardwalk.

Ice crystals on the railings.

So not everything went according to plan this week. We had Parent Teacher Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday night. So, before conferences on Thursday, some teachers decided to order food from the restaurant. We went to pick up the food. I was carrying three to-go boxes in a bag, Nathaniel had two large pizza boxes, another girl had more to-go boxes, and another teacher was driving the four-wheeler.....

So we all piled on like we usually do to head back to school. We made a wide turn. We were going fast. I had on swishy pants. I was holding a handful of boxes. I was sitting on the back of the four-wheeler.....

We leaned with the turn. I started sliding off. I took two steps to try to run with the Honda. In my attempt to save the delicious chicken bacon ranch sandwiches and cheeseburgers, I face planted into the hard dirt. Nathaniel said that when I was still laying in the road my temple started swelling. My shoulder and hip bone absorbed the impact too. So we went to the health clinic to check if I had a concussion. They measured the goose egg on my head. At the time it had swelled 4 inches measuring across the bump. I rested the next day and have just been a little sore with a headache.

goose egg

Meanwhile, Nathaniel left for the weekend to go to a wrestling tournament in Hooper Bay. The kids won over half of their matches, which was a huge improvement over the last tournament in Emmo. He was really proud of the team for listening and working hard.

Hooper Bay looking over the Bering Sea.

Hooper Bay housing, basketball court, and playground. Mountains in the background.

Back at home our new refrigerator arrived.

Before: old fridge After: new fridge

Since I didn't go to the wrestling tournament, I decided to try-out making salmon jerky.

Thawing the salmon.

Mixing up a marinade: water, sea salt, and lemon pepper.

Cutting the skin off the fillets.

I cut the fillets into strips.

I put the fish strips into the marinade for a couple hours. When I took them out I patted them dry with paper towels. Then I placed them in the dehydrator for 4 hours.

Saturday morning we took a walk to the docks to watch the ice float down the river.

The sun at 11:30 a.m.

Everything in the shade is covered with frost crystals.

The streams are freezing over.

Dog or fox prints on the ice.

The sun at noon.

The tide was out so we could walk on these icy rocks.

The ice chunks in the background are floating down the river.

The side facing the sun is melted, the side facing the shade is still frozen.

Bullet frozen in the ice.

Our house has been shifting a lot. I wanted to see out our front porch, but the door has shifted so much I had trouble opening it. Rope works. The gap between the porch and the house is bigger than it was before.