It's like Christmas without the drunk family members...

Living out here has provided prospective on a lot of things. For example, we have been given insight into the history of the Aleut people that brings a level of sympathy and respect that did not exist prior. Being this remote has shined a bright light on the fact that our future is completely dictated by what we want for Isabel's future. And, perhaps most surprisingly, we LOVE MAIL! It arrives (not always, though) every Thursday and Sunday (save for any major holidays, weather, and when they just don't feel like flying). It is like Christmas...without the drunk family members and the God-awful home-knit sweater that you are forced to wear that smells suspiciously like a mixture of Pall-Mall 100's and Metamucil.
You know in old western movies when the prisoner has the one foot by one foot window with the bars? That is what mail is to us; our only proof that there is still a world out there that runs free and enjoys the luxuries of...of...of purchasing a piece of fresh fruit without discussion of their children maybe going to a community college.
It really is exciting, though. So much so that the Postmaster/School Board Member/janitor for the city buildings (all true), calls us at our home so we can drive to pick up packages if they, in fact, have arrived. Yup! Quite convenient, really.
Outside of waiting for the mail, we have become fans of "going for a drive" around the island. In high school my best friend, Tony, and I would go "for a drive" with his parents. Because of these modern day Bhutan Death Drives, I swore I would never "go for a drive." Well....
Today it was just "kind of" windy and rainy, so why not have a picnic, right? We loaded into Beatrice (did I mention I named the suburban, with more miles on it than Paris Hilton, Beatrice?) and went for a Car Picnic. It is exactly what it sounds like and was actually quite fun. Isabel loved it and the sandwiches Cassidy made were delicious. All involved were happy. Even Beatrice.
Tomorrow is mail day, so all smiles.
Every day is something new around here. I am heading over to Big Mikes house at 8:00 a.m. to watch football with Mike. Mike works for the cable company, so...Mike has cable. Tim doesn't work for the cable company so...(If bananas are over $3.00 a pound you can probably imagine what cable costs) Tim walks to Mike's house.
Cassidy is setting a new record for baked goods (emphasis on the GOODS part. seriously, she missed her calling). In the last week, NAY! The last four days she has made homemade bread for sandwiches (two loaves) that are amazing, a loaf of blueberry banana bread, banana peanut butter bread, a birthday cake for Sanne (student teacher from the Netherlands [pronounced Sauna]), cookies for Isabel (courtesy of cousin Karen), biscuits, and several other items. Tomorrow I am arriving to Big Mikes with banana cream pies that have home-made crusts, of course. (sidenote: there was a shipment of bananas that did not get picked up by a fishing vessel, so they donated the bananas to the school, hence the banana theme for the week).
Silver salmon season is just about winding down. I might go out tomorrow and see if they are still running. I caught a couple Salmon last weekend. I do have a conflict with telling this story, though. I want to tell everyone that I went by myself and had an incredible day mostly isolated from the world while fishing. And a successful trip at that. All true!
What I don't want to share with you (but it's funny, so I will) is Adak is an outdoorsmans paradise and people show up with extremely expensive equipment for hunting/fishing, which accompanies the extremely expensive flight out here. Two of these men showed up at the stream I was fishing when I brought in my fish. They seemed a little irritated, however, when their $2,000 fishing trip yielded nothing while I was standing next to them catching salmon on a Hannah Montana fishing pole that I borrowed from one of my 11 year-old female students. A fool and his money, right?