Visualizing Ruby

Ed & Evelyn's Property

Ed & Evelyn's Property

Ed & Evelyn's Outhouse

The Yukon River

How Ruby Rolls

The Chickens

Ed, Trinity, & Evelyn

More Chickens

Max the Mynx

Evelyn's Amazing Baking

Trinity (Most Likely After Too Much Sugar)

Mama Goat

Baby Boy Goat

Me and Trinity After Weeding the Garden

Baby Goat on Her Perch

Me Gardening

Male Turkey Establishing Dominance for the First Time

(AKA: Doing the Turkey Dance)

A Phenomenal Rainbow Over a Less-Than-Phenomenal Rainbow

What a Week!

As of today, it's been one full week of Ruby, Alaska.

Here are the Ups:

1. Can't hear a car engine for miles and miles
2. Ridin' down the Yukon and Molozi with Scottie and catchin' a pike (that was just a hair shy of keep-ability)
3. Bear huntin', which is really more about beer drinkin' (and all the beautiful sights that come along with the huntin' and fishin')
4. Watchin' the animals and plants all grow and helpin' 'em do it in the process
5. Kneadin' dough, makin' bread and biscuits
6. Eating all of the delicious food Evelyn makes (salmon fish spread, salads, organic chicken noodle soup, oatmeal, eggs and pancakes, and spaghettie with bison meat sauce)
7. Readin' lots of books
8. 24 hours of sunlight
9. Gettin' hugs from Trinity

Here are the Downs:

1. Never can get rid of those damn kids (Karen, look! Karen, look! Karen, look!)
2. Bad attitudes from Ed in the morning
3. No running water (I just really like to wash my hands, man.)
4. The overall laziness of the town (I like to do stuff)
5. Those stinkin' mosquitoes, man
6. Chicken wranglin'
7. The fact that this is Not My Farm... I'm so gettin' one, though... just wait
8. Uncertainty about what needs to be done and how to do it
9. Missing friends and family
10. No snack food, yo

Overall, the ups outweigh the downs. I'm diggin' the life of the farm. I could do this for, I don't know, a long time... as long as it was mine.

The Interior

Arrived in Ruby yesterday after a luxurious sleep at the Fairbanks Airport.

The plane I took in was a six-seater and the views were some of the best I've ever witnessed. I have never seen so much unabated wilderness in my entire life. There were lush pine forests with meandering rivers and ponds here and there.

I got into Ruby at about 9:30 AM. As I was riding from the landing strip, after being asked if I was the new teacher. (Word travels fast and somewhat inaccurately here in a town of 160 people.) A gentlemen asked me, after I killed a mosquito in the cab of the truck, "Well, are you keeping count?" and I responded, "Well, that was one."

The mosquitoes aren't the most friendly folks here, but the family sure is.

I was welcomed by Kyle wander out of Ed's place. I met Ed right away, and then he headed to work. Ed's two grandchildren (Zeke and Trinity) are staying with them. Man, is Trinity a hoot. She latched onto me immediately and now asks for hugs every ten minutes, repeatedly tells me, "You're nice," and she wishes I would stay forever.

Well, Kyle showed me around the farm, showed me how to take care of the ducks, chickens, and the goats. He and I caught up on things and such. Man am I sure glad to be spending a summer with that fine gentleman; I didn't think we'd get around to that one for another year or two.

Well, after a few meals, Kyle and I ran into the infamous Scotty - the special education teacher here in Ruby that also loves to fish all day, drink a few brewskis, and share some good company. As Kyle and I were touring the town, I said, "Man, I sure hope I meet Scotty sometime soon." Fate slapped us in the face as Scotty came ridin' down the road with a grin on his face. He'd had about 15 beers out in his boat since 7:00 AM (it was 7:00 PM), had caught around 14 shefish and 1 pike (all were well over three feet long!).

Scotty took us out on his boat a bit later to a rocky beach out on Molozi River (right off the Yukon). The views were outstanding. I cannot explain how absolutely breathtaking the mountains and the wilderness are out here. Once you mosey just a mile from Ruby, it's sheer wilderness. We had a few beers, skipped a few rocks, and then I was pooped, pooped, pooped. After traveling for over twelve hours and then meeting so many new people and seeing so many different things, I was exhausted.

Today, Kyle and I greeted Evelyn, Ed's wife, and she and I hit it off right away. We talked in the kitchen as we made flat bread together (her recipe is stellar!). I got all unpacked and did a few chores around the farm.

Kyle and the men put up the tepee today. I don't have a finished picture, but I'll get one up as soon as possible. I watched and helped a bit, but mostly the men took care of it. This is where Kyle and I will be spending a lot of our evenings.

Well, that's all for now up here in the great blue yonder. I'll be postin' more in the coming week. 

The Will to Adventure

Being an adventurer should be a prerequisite to being a grown up.

We all need some adventure, near or far, to allow purpose in our lives.

Well, great and grand yonder, I am your humble learner.

A New Adventure

After my first year of teaching, which was an adventure in and of itself, I am heading to Ruby, Alaska.

I'll be living the self-sufficient lifestyle with Kyle at a family's home. I'll be growing food, taking care of chickens, ducks, turkeys, and goats, and, well, just about anything else I'm asked to accomplish.

This is a great test run for me in my goal to grab up a piece of land and grow my own food and maybe raise some chickens and such. We'll see if I've over romanticized it, and we'll see if I can really hack it.

I'll be keeping you all updated on my adventures here on this blog.

I leave this Thursday, June 21, and I'll return on August 22.

Here's to spontaneity (as close as I've ever really come).

Melody & Harmony

He said, "I often feel as though I'm trying to harmonize with everyone around me. I have a hard time making my own melody."

What I didn't say was, "I'm the maestro of melody, and I need your harmony."

What I should have said, "Let's share, and I'll try to harmonize more and conduct less."

All I know is that we make beautiful, sweet music, even if it hits a discordant note or two on its way to perfection.

Given a Day

Most days, there comes a time that I think about a time that has not come yet. Planning. Thinking about me. Then, it's about this time, that I realize how utterly selfish this concept is. Then I plan some more.

Some days, I think things are finite and just as they are. Really, it's our nature, ain't it? Grab onto any sense of stability. Hold firm. Hold the line of fire. Then I fire my day job and get a night job.

Other days, I almost think I got it down pat. This concept of living. Then I stub my toe and realize that there just isn't one perfect way to live.

This day, I thought about change. I thought about making it, saving it, watching it, commentating on it. And then I decided to change my necklace to a scarf.

I took a walk, but it changed me.