Training Alongside Lake lliamna

I arrived on the 7th to the village of Newhalem for a series of training activities designed to prepare me for the next nine months. It's a wierd world to be in when you take off from Anchorage sipping an espresso, typing out a text message and within fifty minutes to be in a location where *everything* is flown in, the internet and telephone lines drop from service for weeks at a time and the runway is longer than the road - but that's to be expected.

What I didn't expect was the very real openness of the locals. Last night, Bill (the science teacher for Newhalem) was invited to a wedding reception here in town. I went with him along with three other new hires to the event which was hosted in the teen center. Between the five of us, we all agreed that it was the best reception any of us had attended. A live band played while being entertained by the sight of young and old dancing. The floor was subjected to waltzes, a Russian "hop" dance, swing and that thing that I do when I don't know what to do. My favorite sight was watching one gentleman, well into his 70s, dance the floor with just about every lady there. Despite not knowing a soul in the place, it felt as though we had been there our entire lives and we had just returned home. It was very welcoming and reassuring to feel that way.

Knowing we had a 7am meeting, we left the sweaty building to a parking lot of 4 wheelers still well lit at 11:30. A deep harvest moon was making its appearence to the east and compelled by it all we hiked down to the shore. Utter silence is a wierd thing to describe but it's here in big scoops.

It's hard to concentrate on DIBELS, PEPs, and gearing together a thematic unit when, all the while, out the window the lake is shifting colors and mountains - endless mountains - cloak themselves behind commuting clouds. It reminds me of Flathead Lake in Montana...up until you realize that there are roads crisscrossing those mountains and there will be lights of buisnesses on later that night.