Life in the "Bush"

I (Mark) need to share a little of what is on my mind/heart:

Life here in the village of Aniak, Alaska (also referred to as being "out in the bush") is different from most other places that we have lived. 


On the Kuskokwim River

If you have a limited imagination, then you would be hard pressed to find much to do during your spare time.  Do not get me wrong, this is such a beautiful place full of opportunities for activities such as boating, fishing, four-wheeling, hiking, hunting and snow machining.


Hiking along with "big white dog"

Unfortunately, many people are not so creative.  Out here in the bush, drinking and drug abuse are wide spread.  Abuse and violence are common against both humans and critters.  Often times there seems to be very little that is valued. 


Common site

Vehicles, dwellings and even personal hygiene/care/appearance are neglected.  Much to our dismay, these things have hit close to home (work) this week with abuse and even a suicide.  It breaks our hearts.  It saddens us to see so little value placed on the richness that God provides.


Small mountains in Alaska

 We are thankful that God has brought us to so rich a place and we pray that we would be found faithful in being good stewards of His goodness.





And away we go!

Anchorage was a beautiful and nice small city with all the amenities we have become so dependent on.   We enjoyed our visit here but it was time to repack our life into six large suitcases and finish the next leg of our journey.  We arrived at the Anchorage airport nice and early only to find that our flight was delayed almost four hours due to maintenance.  We spent our time reading, watching people, walking around and waiting anxiously for our boarding call.  The plane we flew in comfortably sat thirty passengers, had the smallest lavatory I have ever seen, and offered beverage service.   Our flight would take us from Anchorage to Unalakleet then on to Aniak, about a two and a half hour trip.  We flew over amazing landscape. We saw the Alaska Mountains, Russian Mountains,  Kuskokwim Mountains, and the Yukon River.                                                                                                                                                               The further west, the more rugged the terrain, and I noticed that I did not see any villages, towns,
roads, buildings, or any sign of human life.



 Unlike flying over the midwest where you see blocks, patchwork fields, roads, lights, and constant evidence of  "us"; all I could see was vast wilderness which left me thinking if any of this beneath me has ever felt the weight of our footprints.  It truly is untamed. I felt so small. 

In Unalakleet we landed at an airport about the size of a Super America and got off the plane for twenty minutes or so.  I wandered into the parking lot and found myself standing on the edge of a frozen Norton Sound, a bay of the Bering Sea.

We reboarded the plane and shortly thereafter we landed in our temporary new village, Aniak. It was cold and snowy and it was now home.






Beth

Anchorage Day 3

We had a very busy and exciting day.  First we officially reported to work for the first time, went through orientation, signed lots of papers, met all the biggies at the office, and spent a long time at the DMV becoming licensed Alaska drivers. 

After our day of work related things we decided to take a little adventure and explore the beautiful mountains that are right near Anchorage.  The Chugach Mountains are not as large as other mountain ranges in Alaska but are beautiful in their own right.  We visited the Turnagain arm of the Cook Inlet, drove down to the Kenai Peninsula, saw the Portage glacier, drove through a 2.5 mile tunnel through a mountain (underneath a big glacier) and came out on the other side to see a small bit of the Prince William Sound. 

Tonight we will spend the rest of our time here preparing for our trek to Aniak tomorrow.  Laundry, repacking, charging all of our electronics, and still trying to adjust to the time change. 

It was a good day.  I saw beautiful things.  I felt the cold wind coming off the mountain glaciers. Yes, it was a good day.


You can see all of our mountain pictures :


https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3470098082141.154258.1561776055&type=1&l=1439aa240b




Beth 



View of southeast Alaska while over the gulf of Alaska

Even had Disney music playing!

After a very full day of travel and barely making all our connecting flights we arrived safely in Anchorage, Alaska yesterday. Our Alaska Airlines plane was actually Disney themed...how exciting!

 Beth and I have an incredible view of the mountains from our hotel.  Temperatures are running in the 30's and 40's and there is still plenty of snow on the ground. 

Moose eating bark off the tree

Today we explored the greater Anchorage area and even drove by a moose right off the road when we were just north of the airport while visiting the Earthquake Park.  The moose sighting simply made our day.  Later, we visited the Alaska Zoo, and seeing the moose in the zoo just did not seem all that exciting.  We did, however, learn some facts about bears that may come in handy in the near future.

Self explanatory

Speaking of bears, and this being the beginning of "spring bear" season, I purchased a new rifle, bear spray and a bear bell.

Tomorrow we have orientation at the home office and then Tuesday we board another plane to head out to Aniak.  Please stay tuned!