Getting back on this blog has been weighing on me. I think one of the problems I have is that the “real” story is so big, I don’t feel like I can tell it, right? “But that’s the point of a blog, Matthew, to tell little bits of the story at a time.
Ok, OK.
One thing I’ve been working on is figuring out them drones. I’ve got a plan to work with science teachers in Akiachak and Akiak to do some sort of unit on the Kuskokwim river freezing. This is a big deal – when the river freezes it becomes a highway that makes moving between villages and getting to Bethel much easier. Freeze-up and Break-up (when the river melts – we’ll have fun witnessing that together this spring!) are really the two events that divide the year probably since people first walked this land.
Anyway, my idea is to get the drones to periodically go to three or four different points on the river and take a picture straight down. This way students can observe the freezing progress over time. Then we can explore why different parts of the river freeze before others, etc.
To do that, I have to figure out how to program these drones to go to the same points and take the same pictures. Ugh.
In the meantime, here’s a nice shot that I made:
Here’s some other things that have happened on the past week:
- Last week two brothers got drunk and one guy shot and killed the other, then tried to shoot himself but only wound up messing up his face really bad. The crime scene had to remain in the house for two days before State Troopers could arrive.
- The District Office announced that there was barely any money in the budget for sports teams to travel, and that coaches would have to raise their own team travel money. This nearly created a walk-out.
- The first morning frost firmed up the mud on Monday for my morning commute.
- I got my electric guitar and an amp up to the village! It feels so good to be able to make a little noise now and then.