MORE FROM LOUANN IN ALASKA

I got the following email 3/22 from Louann Bates who is back in Alaska teaching after her Christmas break.

Hello, Friends and Family,

Yes, I'm still here. It is still cold and beautiful.....actually, right now, it is a world of ice. Since the last time I've written, I have had the experience of flying in the small bush planes in a snow storm and in an ice storm. After the ice storm, the pilot said that he was very glad to be on the ground. If we had been in the smaller plane, a Cherokee, we would have had to turn back. I say all that to say, that the adventure continues.

I am learning to trust in a major way out here. I am 90% sure that I will return for one more year. However......I am moving to a different village, Aleknagik. The school is larger, the scenery is totally different, and the village is accessible by road to Dillingham. Well, I have to cross a lake, and then I can drive thirty miles to Dillingham. The school is located on a point overlooking a gorgeous lake and is surrounded by mountains and trees as opposed to being surrounded by the tundra here in Twin Hills. It, too, will be a challenge, but at least there will be more people and more of an opportunity to get out and do things. I feel like the effort and the expense it took to get to Alaska, deserves at least one more year. But just know that I may change my mind again between now and May....who knows?????

I am going to attach some recent pictures of the kids. The little girl and the dog are Sylvia and Buddy. Buddy brings her to school everyday, and she thanks him every morning before leaving him at the door. She says that he protects her from the monsters that grab at her feet on her way to school. Remember that they come to school when it is still dark. One morning, she asked me if I heard Buddy barking, She went on to say that he is the school bell.....he tells the kids when to come to school with his barking. That whole story of Buddy and Sylvia is one of those special stories that I will never forget.

I am looking forward to the ice melting and the berry bushes bearing fruit. I think some of them will before I leave for the summer. I have 57 sleeps left before the end of school. April is our month for administering state and district tests, so it will go by very fast.

Before I leave you, I want to thank you once again for your wonderful support. The only way I will ever be able to show you my full appreciation is by passing your love and goodness on to someone else which I have had the opportunity to do many times. Hugs to everyone. The kids and I have enjoyed the goodies, the treats, the books, the crayons, the drawing pads, the magazines.......just everything.

Thank you! I love and miss you all, Louann

P.S. I sent one picture of Twin Hills nestled between our "twin hills" and the picture of the lake is where the new school and village are located. That is the lake that I rode over in a snowgo across what is now ice to visit the school.....another new experience for me that is just everyday reality out here.