Berry Picking and Fall Colors

First things first, I've had berries on my mind. I've been traveling so much and KEEP FORGETTING MY BERRY PICKER! However, I've been just using my hands and one of my friends in Nightmute was kind enough to loan me his picker.

September has really flown by and I've been kept pretty busy up here. The new job is going ok. I'd lie if I said I didn't miss the classroom. I miss Oscarville, I miss the kids, I miss the people I work with and I miss all the every day successes and achievements I've had the pleasure of sharing with my students on a daily basis. I don't miss having to deal with behavior issues, attendance issues, and all that other fun stuff that kind of sucks about being a teacher.

This new job has been interesting so far. I've been traveling a TON and feel like I'm constantly moving and going. Which is good. However, I also feel like there's an endless amount of work at my house that I am failing to get done. There's always wash and dishes and now I'm working on revising a baby blanket I started for a friend last year. On top of the normal amount of stuff I have laying around I now have various colors of purple and pink yarn balls scattered about my living room.

Fall has definitely arrived in the Delta and winter is close on it's heels. When we were approaching Nightmute the other morning there was a light dusting of snow on the mountains. I was told by the Site Administrator in Nightmute that the snow just arrived that night and that it was new. It also took me about a half hour in the school before I had two good leads on some great berry picking spots. I picked about a gallon and a half of red berries the other weekend but it seems that the more berries you pick, the more you have to clean! Go figure.

Anyway, when I walked into the school in Nightmute there was a man sitting on the couch in the teacher's lounge. His name is Iaso, he was from Japan, and I later found out he was touring bush Alaska in his plane. I asked Isao if he had gone out berry picking yet and if he'd like to go with me that evening. My friend Jimmie was nice enough to loan me his berry picker and since I forgot my bucket I had to use my hot pot for a berry vessel. Iaso and I were on the hill picking berries when we were joined by two professional berry pickers. The girls showed us where the cranberries were and we had a ton of fun playing around on the tundra, laughing and enjoying the crisp fall evening. Below are some of the pictures Isao took of the evening.

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Incidentally, this was the second consecuative time a photographer/someone with a fancy camera accompanied me berry picking. A few weekends ago my friend Jennifer and I met a guy on the road who had all sorts of fancy camera equpiment. We invited him to come along berry picking as well and he took a TON of pictures. Although most of them were of Macy to make her the most photographed dog in the Delta, I think he got some berry picking action shots of Jennifer and me as well. However, he still hasn't posted them to his flickr page and I'm axiously awaiting them.

I know this was just a quick update but I have to get back in the blogging mood. I'll do another post soon and keep everyone updated!