Saturday, November 27, 2010

11-27-2010


Now that Thanksgiving is over with, the countdown begins for the next major holiday: Groundhog Day.  When the Groundhog pokes his head out of the hole and gives presents to all the boys and girls, we know in our hearts that this is what makes this country great.  That and a fast food restaurant that cavalierly discards the bun in favor of more chicken.  

We had an impromptu holiday dinner at my house on Friday.  My place was chosen because I happen to have a table large enough to fit seven people, not because of my hosting abilities.  And I have a TV.  The weird part was nobody but me cared that there was football on.  We had moose, swan, and lots of stuffing.  I didn’t have to break out the turkey SPAM to share with the guests, so the dinner was a success.  The swan, moose and cranberry sauce were all locally hunted or foraged by someone other than me.  Monica sent my green bean casserole ingredients, so I can’t really claim to have contributed much to the dinner.  I did use a manual can opener for the beans.

With no radio station in the area, I have been curious about how the kids find different kinds of music.  Not many of the houses here have satellite TV and even less have Internet access.  I suppose they get some of their musical taste from their parents, just like I did.   One of the first singers I remember listening to when I was little was Johnny Cash.  The other day I was absently humming Ring of Fire, when one of my students materialized beside me and began singing along.  I asked him if he knew any other Cash songs.  Listening to an 8yr old’s rendition of The Ballad of Ira Hayes with a Yupik accent is something.  I think a person can go anywhere in the world and still find a Johnny Cash fan.  We were on break, so I brought up iTunes and started choosing Cash songs.  Since they will only give you 30 seconds of each song, he was yelling at my computer because the songs were interrupted.  I did have two Cash songs on my computer, but I don’t think he’s ready for Cocaine Blues.   At least I’m not ready to listen to an 8yr old sing it.

With only three more weeks until school is out for the break, I’m getting excited.  I will leave directly from my classroom to the airport on the 17th.  I can walk from the school to the airport in about the time it takes to walk through a major airport anywhere else.  When I say we have an airport here, I don’t mean to imply there is a building.  We have a gravel runway with a turnout to pick up passengers and turnaround so it can take off again but no TSA pat downs.   I will have a four-hour layover in Anchorage, so I may try to get to know a nice bartender while I’m there. 

Since I don’t have any leftovers from the holiday dinner, I have to continue eating what I normally do.  Eating turkey for the next week would be nice, but I don’t have that option.  I think I may try a new SPAM sandwich, but this time without the bread.  Colonel, you are a genius.  

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