tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276713212012-01-20T09:35:58.762-09:00Bush medicine, dog mushing, and tundra life...The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.comBlogger2701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-90726633503611862182010-03-12T10:10:00.000-09:002010-03-12T11:30:22.829-09:00

It is so hard to lose a beloved dog. Two days ago I had to say good bye to Princess, the last remnant of my sled dog team. I have written about her many times in previous posts, here and here and here among others. She went quickly; it was only five weeks from the moment I knew anything was wrong until she slipped away from the lethal injection.On the morning before her death, I wrote her this

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-23240487152036769762009-03-05T08:31:00.000-09:002009-03-05T11:25:47.463-09:00

For several weeks now, a notion has been flitting around in my brain, one that made me a little sad and a little glad. This morning I awoke to find that the notion had become a solid conviction. After nearly three years of blogging, it is time for Tundra Medicine Dreams to end.This blog has always been about life in Bethel, the Yupik Eskimo culture that enfolds it, and the practice of medicine

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-71968761196115793592009-02-07T08:45:00.000-09:002009-02-07T13:47:30.779-09:00

After four and a half months off work—the longest non-working period in my adult life—I was afraid I had forgotten all the medicine I ever knew. Fortunately, such was not the case. I started working again in mid January, and everything has gone smoothly, with the help of several dedicated people in Bethel.My entire job now consists of doing Radio Medical Traffic (RMT), which I described in

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-43448199153396827152009-02-01T11:30:00.000-09:002009-02-02T08:18:02.726-09:00

Kenai awoke this morning to bright blue skies and temperature almost 20 degrees below zero. The entire range of mountains to the west, including Mt. Redoubt and Mt. Illiamna, were stunningly clear and looked amazingly close. To an untrained observer like myself, Redoubt looks just as it always has. But volcanologists are watching it closely, and continue to believe that an eruption is imminent

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-83391983548757523022009-01-30T09:15:00.000-09:002009-01-30T11:24:10.558-09:00

Alaska is once again making the national news, and not, this time, because we are the "Coldest State with the Hottest Governor", as the bumper stickers say. This lovely mountain, which I am so fond of posting photos of, may be getting ready to explode. In the last week, Mt. Redoubt has moved from green to yellow to orange on the volcano alert scale; the only thing past orange is an actual

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-63532791082824973392009-01-17T11:01:00.000-09:002009-01-17T13:10:48.428-09:00

Dog mushing is the official sport of the state of Alaska. Does any other state have an official sport? Surfing in California, snowshoeing in Maine? If so, I’ve never heard of it. Having a state sport seems to be another way that Alaska is unique.I have written quite a bit about dog mushing over the years of this blog. You can see all previous posts on mushing by clicking the label at the

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-49540004295922135292009-01-13T11:04:00.000-09:002009-01-13T12:29:52.401-09:00

This morning I was out sweeping snow off the front porch when I noticed movement in the woods just across the small road in front of the house; a moose cow stepped slowly out of the trees and stood browsing the twigs and small branches at the edge of the road. I moved quietly to a bench near the door, sat down slowly and kept very quiet and still, hoping she wouldn’t notice me there. She was

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-12637269134386607462009-01-12T17:19:00.000-09:002009-01-12T18:38:33.874-09:00

This morning Dutch and I awoke to a welcome sight: the thermometer was reading a warm and toasty +18 degrees! And we got about an inch of fresh snow overnight--to frost the two feet that have been around for weeks--so everything looks clean and white, like a storybook winter. The air smells moister and it is great to be outside. The dogs feel it too; they want to romp and play instead of

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-50787238406023258302009-01-09T09:18:00.000-09:002009-01-09T10:33:21.515-09:00

About noon yesterday the sky began to cloud up and the wind to blow. "Change is comin'!" I thought. Hooray! By mid-afternoon our thermometer almost said zero, and wow, was it feeling warm. I went out for armloads of wood to feed the woodstove without even wearing a jacket.Yesterday Yahoo News had an article about this hard cold snap throughout Alaska since Christmas. They said it was the

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-91700889242241025402009-01-07T14:33:00.000-09:002009-01-07T16:01:29.443-09:00

Cold. Damn cold. Freezin’ ass cold (or FAC as Dutch, the retired Coast Guard Captain calls it). It was minus thirty-three degrees again this morning, as it was yesterday and the day before, plus or minus a few. It is as cold here as Fairbanks, and colder than Bethel! Where’s my maritime influence, for Pete’s sake? I don’t mind a quick dip into Really Cold—a few days, maybe a week. It’s

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-86532482465669103742009-01-03T14:23:00.000-09:002009-01-03T16:33:43.242-09:00

When I awoke dark and early—well, dark anyway; it was nearly 8 AM—the deck thermometer cruelly told me that it was -30F outside. Yeah, minus thirty! That’s pretty darn cold. That’s when your nostrils slam shut and your hands go numb in about three minutes, despite gloves. I gave a silent thanks to the furnace gods for a warm house to wake up in.No running water in the kitchen again (it came

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-57865752942369031632009-01-01T13:00:00.000-09:002009-01-01T15:07:31.178-09:00

When the alarm woke Dutch and me at 5 AM, the thermometer on our deck read minus 25 degrees F. The sky was crystal clear, inky black and full of stars. This cold snap has lasted for a week, holding the big dump of snow we received in last weekend’s blizzard, and also causing our pipes to freeze up. I’m getting used to the sound of a space heater running underneath the kitchen sink.The reason

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-8186739576843027092008-12-24T22:52:00.000-09:002008-12-25T11:03:41.171-09:00

Does anybody ever get used to this? If I live here for twenty years, I don't think I will. I know, I know, it is so common around here people just yawn and say, "Oh, yeah, another moose." It is a frequent occurrence for people who live in downtown Anchorage, for Pete's sake (and Anchorage isn't really IN Alaska, though, as they say, you can see Alaska from there).This does NOT happen in Bethel

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-74392293747854207612008-12-17T11:02:00.000-09:002008-12-17T12:11:23.775-09:00

When my grandmother died this past May, it was only a week before my scheduled trip to see her; I dropped everything and went immediately when I got the not-unexpected news, and was there with Mother and the rest of the family for two weeks. Mother and I were the only ones staying in her house, as everyone else lives in the area.We spent quite a bit of time sorting through stuff, and what

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-56228958298803306902008-12-16T09:16:00.000-09:002008-12-16T10:33:34.728-09:00

A blog I enjoy checking in with, Addicted to Medblogs, has been doing a series every so often called Calendar Docs. The Medblog Addict is an attorney who is fascinated by medical blogs and the portal into the world of health care that they provide. Last year she started interviewing different physician bloggers and posting the interviews along with sexy beefcake photos (most of the interviews

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-50814721910920022152008-12-14T12:30:00.000-09:002008-12-14T14:11:20.321-09:00

For my entire life, I have been blessed by the fact that my mother has always been one of my very best friends. Even during my adolescence, the classic era of mother-daughter wars, we were very close. Possibly because I was such a goody-two shoes, I never gave my parents any problems. By the time my rebellious phase hit (such as it was) I was in college and too far away for them to directly

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-36655871183275524912008-12-05T11:58:00.000-09:002008-12-05T18:16:30.898-09:00

My dear friend Joan, who gets periodic mention here on the blog, spent Thanksgiving week in Anchorage seeing friends and was able to make a quick trip down to Kenai for an overnight to visit with Dutch and me. We were delighted that she was able to come; Dutch hasn’t seen her since August, and I haven’t seen her since I left Bethel at the end of September. The visit gave us time to catch up on

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-74630569163710389752008-11-19T09:20:00.000-09:002008-11-19T11:28:53.668-09:00

At the risk of boring you with tedious repetition, I just had to throw up this photo of the view from my deck yesterday afternoon. It is similar to the photo on Monday’s post, though that view was taken from the mouth of the river. This one does a bit more to convey the incredible vastness, though it still falls short of reality. The two volcanoes, Mt. Redoubt and Mt. Illiamna, seem much

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-51243316200919175432008-11-17T09:46:00.000-09:002008-11-17T11:02:43.883-09:00

It really is beautiful here in Kenai, both the area in general and the spot where our house is located. I can’t imagine a more restful and healing view to gaze at while recovering from surgery than this lovely image of mountains and sky. Sometimes the clouds obscure all of it, but when they clear, Oh! They take your breath away. I can watch for hours as the light shifts on the face of the

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-105150542693006992008-09-28T09:35:00.000-08:002008-09-28T11:00:58.978-08:00

The whirlwind that I have lived in for the last month continues unabated, but I am not totally overwhelmed by it so far. For that I can thank the help and support of several dear friends. In the last month I have had moments of profound exhaustion as well as moments of exquisite joy. My life continues to amaze me.The spirituality conference in California at the beginning of the month was

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-61348586257980601052008-08-28T21:08:00.000-08:002008-08-28T22:22:38.309-08:00

Packing. It consumes every waking non-hospital minute of my life. I’ve been in full-on combat mode for over two weeks. If I had to make a list of things I most detest in life, very near the top would be moving, or moving house, as the British say. It is just such a huge amount of work.Dutch and I have lived in this house for four years—one of my longest stints, five years is my record for one

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-83663201802988237322008-08-16T14:32:00.000-08:002008-08-16T16:05:36.175-08:00

After two full weeks without a computer in my house, I have a new appreciation for the roll of my laptop in my life. Every time I turned around, I was missing it for something. The internet, of course. Couldn’t check my email accounts. Couldn’t make my airline reservations, hotel reservations, car reservations for two upcoming trips next month. Couldn’t shop for a new laptop backpack when my

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-73908150816685161182008-08-06T21:06:00.000-08:002008-08-06T21:19:06.776-08:00

Last week my computer went belly up. One minute it was working fine; I put it in "sleep" mode, and when I came back it was frozen with the desktop being displayed. The cursor would move, but I could not click on any icons, and if I positioned the cursor on the bottom tool bar, the hour-glass appeared. The start icon did not work. Control-alt-delete did nothing. Holding down the on-off button

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-81571749896228074142008-07-26T15:33:00.000-08:002008-07-26T17:08:41.323-08:00

Recently a TMD reader left a comment asking for an update on the litter of puppies that Princess gave birth to last spring. They are now 15 months old, vigorous young dogs full of strength and energy. Photos of them during their first month of life are included in posts from the May '07 archives, here and here. In that first post I was mistaken about the gender split; there were two males,

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-4433630884640879372008-07-20T13:24:00.000-08:002008-07-20T14:38:13.170-08:00

When I returned home to Bethel on July 7th from my all-too-short visit with Dutch for the holiday weekend, people were raving about what great hot weather there had been for the 4th and 5th. Bright sun and temperatures in the mid-80s; and no wind, which means lots of bugs, but no one was complaining about that. It had just been fabulous, I heard over and over. I was hearing these tales as

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-56103058653175627932008-07-13T17:37:00.000-08:002008-07-13T20:27:41.371-08:00

There is a long tradition in western culture of cities and large towns holding an open market on Saturdays where farmers and craftspeople gather to sell the products of their labors. Bethel has had a Saturday Market for several years now, and it is a delightful way to spend an hour or an afternoon... It is important to understand the context in which the Market exists. There is just not a

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-6663872844187100872008-07-09T13:07:00.000-08:002008-07-09T14:23:39.331-08:00

It has been nearly two months since Dutch left Bethel to take his new post as Public Works Director for the City of Kenai. We miss each other dreadfully, but round trip air fare is a little pricey (just under $600) so we haven’t been traveling back and forth on weekends. Since the Independence Day holiday fell on Friday, it was all the justification I needed to make a trip over to see him.

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-12527353826712342412008-06-21T13:05:00.000-08:002008-06-21T14:42:38.047-08:00

The king salmon (Chinook) are running strong on the lower Kuskokwim River now, and many people have left Bethel and the villages to live in their fish camps. This is a busy, hardworking time in the subsistence lifestyle. The king salmon run will last for a couple of weeks. During that time, people who live by subsistence must catch a year’s worth of salmon for their family, fillet it,

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-36444409657501808052008-06-15T12:54:00.000-08:002008-06-16T21:39:36.681-08:00

Most of this area where I live in southwest Alaska is a huge wildlife refuge, the 19 million acre Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The headquarters for the Refuge are here in Bethel, a fairly long way from the Yukon River, leading some of us to feel that it should be named the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta NWR. The Y-K Delta is the summer home to a huge population of migratory birds,

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-14655028447685323942008-06-13T07:20:00.000-08:002008-06-13T08:28:50.082-08:00

Long time readers of this blog have probably noticed that it has changed quite a bit since I first started writing it two years ago. It is less about bush medicine and more about bush culture. And, frankly, it is more about me than I originally intended. The first change has evolved out of a general concern for patient confidentiality. The hospital decided that I could not post any

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-64664647575427613242008-06-11T10:28:00.000-08:002008-06-11T11:53:46.412-08:00

No matter where I’ve lived in my adult life—including a few “iffey” spots in my younger days—I’ve always loved coming home. From a trip, or just from a day at work. Being greeted by dogs who are happy to see me, sitting in my comfortable chair with a hot or a cold beverage depending on the weather, sleeping in my own bed if I’ve been away overnight, I just love coming home. No where has

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-55242062298062630172008-06-03T08:42:00.000-08:002008-06-03T09:04:00.591-08:00

The long silence on this blog is an indication that I am still far from home and have very limited computer access. I have been in Alabama for a week now, staying at my grandmother's home with my mother. My wish for one more visit with Grand was not to be. She passed peacefully and without pain a few days before I arrived. I cut my conference time in San Antonio short in order to be present at

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-63367133717274813982008-05-22T07:14:00.000-08:002008-05-22T08:20:13.767-08:00

It is nearly Memorial Day weekend, and that means time once again for the annual conference of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. This year our meeting is being held in San Antonio, Texas. This conference offers an outstanding opportunity for PAs from around the country (and the world) to meet, network, reunite, and enjoy each other’s company, as well as to obtain a load of

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-77828954355254819972008-05-21T11:18:00.000-08:002008-05-21T12:42:39.972-08:00

We have a new blogger in the blogosphere, and I am very pleased that she has created this platform to share her thoughts and ideas. Those of us who are regular recipients of her letters are often inspired by them, and feel that a wider audience deserves to receive that inspiration as well.Joyous Judy is a member of the Women's Harvest Circle whom I have never met. Last summer she was diagnosed

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-27200037654581971772008-05-14T18:03:00.000-08:002008-05-14T20:23:28.793-08:00

Break up is the big spring event here in Alaska that says that winter is finally, truly, honest-to-goodness, no-turning-back, absolutely over. Some say jokingly that it is the start of summer, but we are actually quite a way from that just yet. The temperature this morning was about 36 degrees; it did get up to 55 by mid-afternoon, and with the sun shining brightly it felt really warm

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-38488293603008687912008-05-14T14:30:00.000-08:002008-05-14T16:52:56.508-08:00

Dad and Stepmom called this morning and one of their questions suggested to me that I should post a bit more info right about here, as a follow up to my previous post. “What exactly is a kuspuk?” they wanted to know. Buried somewhere deep in the archives of this blog I have mentioned it before, but not lately. So, for those who may be asking the same question, here is more about it.

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-90617016213989678792008-05-07T11:19:00.000-08:002008-05-08T09:39:16.199-08:00

Today is the day for which I have waited for more than fifty years. The day that, for many years, I thought would never come. The day that, for the last four years, I have joyfully anticipated. Today is the day that Dutch and I will be married. Our story goes so far back that there is not a time in my life which I can remember before I knew him. His name echoes down the hallways of my

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-5911891225998094922008-05-05T23:01:00.000-08:002008-05-05T23:23:20.068-08:00

Today is the two year blogiversary of Tundra Medicine Dreams! It amazes me to think that I have been writing this blog for two full years; it just doesn't seem that long. This makes the 234th post, which is about one every three days. Just recently the 100,000th reader visited.Of all the posts I've written, the one that enduringly gets the most visitors--through Google searches--is the one on

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-87122283075303741962008-05-03T14:36:00.000-08:002008-05-03T17:28:14.109-08:00

I have the most amazing friend. Her name is Jody Drew and she lives high in the mountains of New Mexico. She was one of the Arctic Adventurers which I blogged about last month (scroll down if you missed it); she was nicknamed “Mackenzie” on that trip. Jody and I have been friends for over a decade, we think going back to about 1993 or ‘94, though neither of us can remember

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-62896142087824106882008-04-26T14:57:00.000-08:002008-04-26T17:08:11.738-08:00

It has been six weeks since my last post on the political goings-on in Bethel, and in that interval the situation has continued to deteriorate. We have reached a point where the actions of the Mayor and selected council members can only be characterized as corrupt. Until now I have not referred to the council members by their actual names, but have used labels for them. Several commenters

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-66798218427175714822008-04-19T20:38:00.000-08:002008-04-20T11:47:19.647-08:00

With clear skies and a fresh crescent moon that we could barely see, the temperature continued to drop. By the time it was getting dark, about 10 pm, the thermometer read 25 degrees below zero. Pretty cold to be camping out in! But the wood stoves in our Arctic Ovens did a good job of beating back the cold and with good gear, no one was suffering. We were pretty proud of ourselves for

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-17851059334148478442008-04-18T19:23:00.000-08:002008-04-20T11:17:09.965-08:00

Our first full day in camp had a leisurely start, eating breakfast and drinking coffee in the Sherpa Tent, and listening to Aliy and Allen tell stories of their most recent Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Aliy finished 21st out of the 78 mushers who completed the race (of the 96 who started it), and though she had hoped for a top-10 finish, she was satisfied with her dogs’ performance. Allen was

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-31910190788078552292008-04-17T19:42:00.000-08:002008-04-20T11:12:52.032-08:00

Wide-open, snow-covered land, so huge, so vast it seems endless. Massive, treeless mountains that stretch to a distant horizon. A sky so big and deep and blue you can get lost in it. Cold, cold, cold nights with twinkling stars and bold Northern Lights that dance and swirl and almost hum with intensity. Wild animals galore—caribou, fox, sheep, moose, marmot. And, of course, sled dogs; 32 of

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-65348413420746615132008-04-15T09:07:00.000-08:002008-04-15T09:15:26.545-08:00

Dutch and I made it home to Bethel last night, tired, stiff, sore, and very happy. Our expedition into the Arctic was fabulous, and everything we hoped it would be. I will be writing about it and sorting through the huge number of photos I took tonight and tomorrow; look for a big post about it all before Wednesday is over!

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-82716664408583093992008-04-03T20:57:00.000-08:002008-04-03T23:20:55.264-08:00

Dutch and I are going to the Arctic! We leave tomorrow for a week-long dog mushing expedition into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with our friends, Champion dog mushers Aliy Zirkle and her husband Allen Moore. This trip has been planned and in the making for about six months, and after so many weeks of anticipation, it is finally here.For about ten years, Aliy and Allen have been offering

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-37195533084081641452008-03-30T22:52:00.000-08:002008-03-31T11:10:37.203-08:00

. .Another Cama-i Dance Festival is done, and it is a good thing I was not the official photographer for it. I did a lousy job. I so wish my friend Peter Ashman had been here to take the kind of photos he took last year; he did a beautiful job documenting that festival.....Dutch and I had great seats for viewing, but not so much so for taking pictures. At least not with my camera, which has only

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-42677326720932217592008-03-29T12:33:00.000-08:002008-03-29T14:45:28.690-08:00

OK. I’ll admit to being a shameless hussy when it comes to my birthday. Today’s snowstorm is only a pathetic excuse to announce to all and sundry that Today Is My Birthday! Since I was a small child, I have thrilled to the approach of March the 29th; it was right up there with Christmas in terms of a child’s anticipation (thanks, Mother, for making it so special!).So anyway, since moving to

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-90461258628701831342008-03-28T09:54:00.000-08:002008-03-28T12:19:52.297-08:00

It is time once again for one of Bethel’s most cherished annual events, the Cama-i Dance Festival. For the next three days, beginning at 5 pm today, the gymnasium of the high school will reverberate with the sounds of many drums, stomping feet and audience applause as Eskimo dance groups from all over the delta and invited guests from Outside Alaska take the stage to perform. It is a celebration

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-45069682833651834192008-03-23T17:56:00.000-08:002008-03-23T18:56:18.591-08:00

Yesterday was such a gorgeous day that Dutch and I couldn’t wait to get out and burn some gas in our snowmachines. There was nowhere we particularly needed to go; just getting out of town is the only goal, and the reward. The Ice Road on the Kuskokwim River is the best I can remember in years. Though winter was late in coming, since December the weather has mostly remained

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-39453594215106302742008-03-22T19:38:00.000-08:002008-03-23T13:22:03.658-08:00

An Easter egg hunt in the sub-arctic would just have to be different from those in the lower 48, and Bethel’s certainly is. For one thing, we are still pretty much in the grip of winter. Despite the lovely long hours of daylight, with sunset about 9 pm right now, the thermometer is still hovering around zero and there are feet of snow on the ground. In a land with virtually no trees, and

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-65178113793940014592008-03-17T20:02:00.000-08:002008-03-17T23:43:11.015-08:00

Readers of this blog who do not live in southwest Alaska may have difficulty appreciating the intensity of emotion which continues to grip this community in the wake of the firing of the City Attorney. It has become a watershed event which has galvanized people in all walks of life. It has focused people's attention on the deliberations of the City Council in a way that none of their previous

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-64403407370201386092008-03-15T13:58:00.000-08:002008-03-15T17:01:52.596-08:00

Tuesday night’s Regular Meeting of the Bethel City Council was lacking in the kind of big drama that has attended the meetings since the firing of the City Attorney, but was rife with subtle elements that continue to underscore the sad state this Council is in, and the continued importance to the citizens of ousting the Block of Four. They are still thugs, they are still working against the best

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-8921873735368692052008-03-13T21:59:00.000-08:002008-03-14T00:19:29.592-08:00

This post is too late to be news (no time for writing in the last few days) and anyone who wants to know already does, but I just had to say it here. Lance Mackey won this year's Iditarod Trail International Sled Dog Race on Wednesday morning just before 3 A.M., with an elapsed time of 9 days, 11 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds. In doing so, he has done the impossible for the second year in a

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-51596711338733446442008-03-09T13:00:00.000-08:002008-03-09T15:39:46.889-08:00

For those of us who love the sport of dog mushing, early March is a nearly endless feast of fun and excitement. That is when the best dog mushers in the world are joined by a large pool of dedicated amateur mushers to pit themselves and their dogs against the best and the worst that the huge wilderness of Alaska can throw at them. It is the 1,049-mile-long Iditarod Trail International Sled

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-16417419083922956492008-03-02T17:40:00.000-09:002008-03-15T18:29:37.780-08:00

It has been almost a month since the February 8th Special Meeting of the Bethel City Council in which the Council summarily fired the City Attorney at what was supposed to be her two-year evaluation. In that time the entire city has been mired in a pall of shock and dismay at the unexpected and uncalled-for action of the Council, and that pall shows no sign of lifting. The two Regular

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-39298548061115328062008-02-24T15:56:00.000-09:002008-02-24T19:22:04.647-09:00

Seventeen year old Bethel musher Jessica Klejka (CLAY ka) is the winner of the 2008 Junior Iditarod! And is her hometown ever proud of her. The Junior Iditarod is a 150-mile sled dog race for young mushers between the ages of 14 and 17 years old. It is held each year on the weekend before the start of the Iditarod and follows the first portion of the Iditarod trail, starting at

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-8720674584957234472008-02-13T19:38:00.000-09:002008-03-15T18:29:37.780-08:00

My apologies for the lack of recent postings. The town of Bethel has been in something of an uproar for the past week, due to the shocking behavior of our City Council. In a hastily-called Special Meeting last Friday night, they summarily and unexpectedly (to most of us) fired the city attorney. To understand the ramifications of this move, a little background is necessary. Bethel is a

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-84270015608774870992008-02-03T19:30:00.000-09:002008-02-03T23:00:53.702-09:00

It has been over a month since Dutch and I had our snowmachines out, for one reason or another. I was really hoping we could manage at least a short ride before the Super Bowl started. My dad, who is a major football fan, said the game should start about 2:30 Alaska time, so it seemed a reasonable hope. Last weekend’s blizzards gave us such a huge dump of snow that the trails are

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-10835339030388129432008-02-02T14:06:00.000-09:002008-03-15T18:29:37.780-08:00

In this case, the post title refers not to the ambient humidity level or the condition of one’s clothes, but to the local alcohol control laws. In Alaskan parlance, Bethel is a damp town. Damp is the compromise between wet and dry. In wet towns, like Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau, alcohol is available for sale and the only restriction on purchase and consumption is your wallet. In

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-52648834218063747382008-01-31T14:01:00.000-09:002008-01-31T16:20:48.189-09:00

It was with the greatest of good hopes that Claire and I arrived at the airport yesterday morning. I just knew that after four days of delay, we were going to get the weather break we needed to get to Pilot Station. We were even 15 minutes early for check in. The terminal was full of many of the same faces now familiar to us from our days of sitting there waiting. We nodded to a few

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-26684679173870938822008-01-30T06:52:00.000-09:002008-01-30T09:03:55.902-09:00

It has been over 18 months since my last hospital-sponsored village visit to Pilot Station, the Yupik village on the Yukon River for which I have been the primary care provider for nearly ten years. My last trip was in June of 2006 (check the archives for posts about that trip). In the interim I have made a few short social visits on my own, which usually involved seeing a few patients

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-78663502197766899142008-01-27T15:29:00.000-09:002008-01-28T21:32:17.153-09:00

There never was a time that I didn’t love dogs. They are just the most amazing creatures. In the animal-based pantheon of the Native American spiritual traditions, the dog symbolizes loyalty, and deservedly so. Dogs love us almost despite anything we do to them, and one of the highest goals we can strive for is to be the person our dogs think we are. My experience with dogs before

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-8723545193229974492008-01-23T20:23:00.000-09:002008-01-23T22:49:56.272-09:00

OK, now it is truly over. The last musher reached Bethel late this afternoon.At the time of the last post, there were still two mushers on the trail, Dave Tresino and Kyle Belleque. They were laying over in Tuluksak--for two days--waiting to see if the weather would change. As so commonly happens here, change it did, and quickly. This morning we were back down to a few degrees below zero.

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-58329649019152274972008-01-22T07:06:00.000-09:002008-01-22T08:19:15.276-09:00

The Musher’s Banquet last night at the Cultural Center was lots of fun and lasted until nearly 10 pm. At the start of the banquet there were six mushers still on the trail, and while it was going on, Mike Williams Sr. and Jr. completed the race. Gerald Riley officially scratched in Akiachak, leaving Dave Tresino and Kyle Belleque as the only two mushers still in the race. The

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-25703596236162795172008-01-21T16:10:00.000-09:002008-01-21T17:24:30.000-09:00

For about a week, the Race Headquarters for the K-300 is the central nervous system for race volunteers and all race-related activities. It is staffed 24 hours a day, and the phones never seem to stop ringing. How many teams are still out on the river? Has anyone seen Hugh Neff yet? Can trucks still get onto the river at the Finish Line? Did Mike Williams Jr. really scratch at Tuluksak

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-21619684824913289702008-01-20T21:55:00.000-09:002008-01-20T23:45:28.744-09:00

The 2008 Kuskokwim 300 has been one of the slowest in many years. The warm weather and melting conditions have made it a tough slog for dogs and mushers alike. Mitch Seavey was the first K-300 musher to cross the Finish Line at 8:09 pm, about an hour later than expected. He and his team all looked exhausted. I believe that puts this year's winning time at 49 hours, 39 minutes--about six hours

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-63667779648732644502008-01-20T10:28:00.000-09:002008-01-20T22:19:09.726-09:00

Very high resolution map (1.3 MB). Click on it for more readable version. Good morning, K-300 fans! It has been a long and windy night, and the dogs are starting to get tired. The mushers are feeling the sleep deprivation that goes with distance racing. We are now 39 hours into this race, and the frontrunners are probably a good ten hours away from home. Even with a late energy burst,

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-2258774574897936292008-01-19T14:06:00.000-09:002008-01-19T15:42:15.589-09:00

The 29th running of the Kuskokwim 300 got off without a hitch last night. The weather was on the warm side of perfect at +22F with occasional big puffy flakes of snow drifting gently down. It was a beautiful night. Start time for the race was 6:30 pm, down on the river in front of town. Dutch and I were volunteers on the truck support crew, as my truck is rigged with side rails, drop

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-16595466611006283452008-01-17T14:07:00.000-09:002008-01-17T15:19:32.093-09:00

People who come to Bethel to visit tend to see it as a pretty doggy town any time of year. Most everybody has dogs (pleural) and loves dogs. Bethel has perhaps a dozen resident mushers who each have dog yards with 20 dogs or more, and the largest dog yard has close to 50 dogs. On any cold, clear night, if you listen carefully, you’ll hear the beautifully mournful sound of a dog team

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-37508940154654103162008-01-15T14:12:00.000-09:002008-01-15T16:39:25.345-09:00

After weeks of severely cold weather, we have done a typically Bethel turn around. From 30 below on Sunday night we jumped to 30 above by Tuesday morning. The change came with dire predictions of a serious blizzard, complete with 50 mph winds and blowing snow causing white-out conditions. The wind has picked up, blowing frost and snow from the trees, but no blizzard has arrived. (

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-47764845089354846182008-01-12T14:54:00.000-09:002008-03-15T18:29:37.781-08:00

Before I moved to Alaska, I lived for many years in Washington State. Occasionally I would see a vehicle on the road there with an electrical plug sticking out of the front grill. At first I thought it was most odd, but someone enlightened me that the plug meant that that vehicle had spent time in Alaska, where all vehicles have electrical plugs. The plugs connect to one or more

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-7980399634008988802008-01-07T20:54:00.000-09:002008-01-07T23:37:55.832-09:00

Handmade items by Yupik artisans and craftspeople are much sought-after by both visitors to southwest Alaska and residents alike. Many of the things now sold as crafts, such as baskets and fur clothing, were originally useful, functional items that were part of everyday life. Before Western culture invaded this area, bringing things like Tupperware and plastic bags, baskets were what

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-5388937992189779582008-01-02T22:24:00.000-09:002008-01-02T22:37:31.444-09:00

We have had several days of beautifully clear weather, which generally means colder temperatures. This morning the thermometer was reading about 15 degrees below zero. Everything outside is coated in a thick layer of hoar frost, and it sparkles like diamonds in the sun. If you brush against the branch of a tree, a fairy dusting of snow comes floating down. The wind is blessedly still for

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-54878431414703005582007-12-26T18:03:00.000-09:002007-12-26T19:11:40.701-09:00

Alaskans are, on the whole, a most inventive bunch of folks. Using materials at hand, they can quite often fix what needs fixing, or create something completely new. And in so doing, function tops form every time. It does not matter what something looks like as long as it does what it needs to do. For years there was a house in Bethel that was apparently too drafty; the T-111

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-20344143263351727762007-12-25T13:00:00.001-09:002007-12-26T23:21:29.740-09:00

The barely-waning moon watches from above as Christmas morning dawned cold and clear over Bethel. May each of you have a day full of peace, joy, love, and hope...and may the laughter of children gladden your heart.Photo by The Tundra PA, taken at 11:30 AM; temp -12 degrees.

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-33640853510163325272007-12-19T15:13:00.000-09:002007-12-19T15:20:59.014-09:00

After weeks—nay, months!—of being wishy-washy and non-committal about it, Jack Frost has finally decided not to pass us by this year after all. We didn’t so much slide into winter as jump off feet-first into full immersion. Last week we were glad just to get below freezing so the mud would stiffen up. Snow fell with some promise, but melted as it hit the ground. A few days ago that

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-32042104056271083162007-12-15T13:46:00.000-09:002007-12-15T14:14:00.155-09:00

It was coffee spewing time this morning when I stopped in at Musings of a Dinosaur to see what Dr. Dino was up to. Dino and the Medblog Addict have an ongoing competition to see who can find the funniest You-Tube videos. Dino definitely won this round. If you want a big laugh, go check it out. I strongly encourage doing it beverage free. Don't say you weren't warned!And FYI, the British

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-72244716259270994632007-12-14T13:28:00.000-09:002007-12-15T14:01:56.981-09:00

It was so dumb, really, and such a minor thing to have such a big result. I was shoveling snow off the deck. I leaned the shovel against the railing and bent down to pick up something in the way, and the shovel came down and bonked me--right on the bony edge of my right eye socket. It made my eyes water, but feeling around I could tell there was no blood, so I stayed on task. Two hours later

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-75505221759407776202007-12-13T21:36:00.000-09:002007-12-13T21:43:13.663-09:00

Yupik names have fascinated me since I first came to Bethel almost ten years ago. At first it was the village names, which I puzzled over in the airport while reading the flight information board. Mekoryuk, Kwigillingok, Kongiganak, Tuntutuliak, Nunapitchuk, Atmautluak, Kwethluk, Akiak, Chuathbaluk, and many more—such an odd, and yet musical jumble of syllables. I wondered if I would ever

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-42084988050797533152007-12-10T19:32:00.000-09:002008-03-15T18:29:37.781-08:00

This might have the flavor of a rant. Be warned. This morning when I went to yahoo.com to check my email, I was interested to notice one of their front page feature articles: the top 10 most expensive places in the U.S. to buy gas. Feeling a bit curious, I clicked on it and read the article. Number one on the list was San Francisco at something like $3.54 per gallon for regular

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-67916757602545279532007-12-08T20:15:00.000-09:002008-03-15T18:29:37.782-08:00

Every now and then, something about Bethel reaches the national media and our odd little town enjoys a momentary spotlight of attention. In July there was an article in the New York Times about Bethel’s dubious status as the taxi cab capital of the country. Last month, a staff writer from the Los Angeles Times showed up here in town and did a similar article. The NY Times article is here

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-37728269605610057122007-12-01T19:34:00.000-09:002007-12-01T20:18:38.183-09:00

Last Saturday was one of those incredibly beautiful winter days that we may only get a handful of in any one winter. The temperature was in the high 20s, the sky was piercingly blue and there was lots of snow to play in. The drifts were waist high. The sun is making a low, flat arc across the sky for the six or so hours of daylight that we have now, and the long noon-time shadows

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-71905759640837060162007-11-20T17:29:00.000-09:002007-11-20T18:16:10.520-09:00

The temperature dropped below zero yesterday for the first time this fall; I’m not sure what the official reading was, but the thermometer on my deck read minus three degrees about 6 pm. Today we are back to ten above and snowing, and the prediction for Thanksgiving is +30. Bethel is famous for the yo-yo effect when it comes to winter temperatures. It is not uncommon to either drop or climb

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-11730260441010314822007-11-10T16:44:00.000-09:002008-03-15T18:29:37.782-08:00

There is a reason why football is not a big sport in Alaska...

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-12915834602978682462007-11-05T21:45:00.000-09:002007-11-05T22:10:22.699-09:00

Most years, there is a skin of ice over the Kuskokwim River by Halloween, so that it appears to have stopped flowing. But this year we have had a warm and rainy autumn; though ice is building up in the river, it is still flowing strongly and people are carefully traveling by boat to and from the closer villages. The river’s freezing process begins at the banks and works towards the

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-61039580253062331452007-10-29T07:20:00.000-08:002007-10-29T08:02:29.451-08:00

Claire sent me a few photos from her camera--some of which I took--so I will add a short addendum to the previous post and share them with you.The clinic staff, who took such good care of us while we were in Napaskiak, Katya, Harold, and Aggie. The lead health aide, Julia, was off the week we were there.Village transportation. Four wheelers are the best way to get around in the village. There

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-21660087059973499492007-10-24T21:46:00.000-08:002008-02-01T16:38:15.464-09:00

One of the more unique aspects of my job—and one of the most enjoyable—is traveling to a village and spending several days working with health aides and seeing patients in the small village clinic. Life has a different pace and a different focus in the villages, and it is refreshing to experience that. Napaskiak is a Yupik Eskimo village of about 370 people located 14 miles downriver from

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-45616951784030651852007-10-10T14:15:00.000-08:002007-10-10T14:59:17.854-08:00

After two wonderful weeks in autumn-kissed Montana, I only had three days at home with Dutch before repacking my suitcase and traveling again. This time it was to Fairbanks for the annual meeting of the Alaska Academy of Physician Assistants. I had only been to Fairbanks once before, in the summer of 2004, when Dutch and I drove the Alaska Highway from beginning to end. The meeting

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-90727715057008495162007-09-26T15:07:00.000-08:002007-09-30T11:29:30.351-08:00

There is frost on the vines and snow on the mountaintops as the women gather to celebrate the beauty and bounty of harvest time, to renew our ages-old commitment to each other and to life, to stand as witness for others and be fully present to ourselves. It is a time of opening, of healing, of insight. For eighteen years, an evolving group of women has gathered in the mountains of

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-76748043304534897452007-09-13T07:48:00.000-08:002007-09-13T07:58:56.576-08:00

Rainy. Cold. Windy. It has been this way for so long it is hard to remember when it was anything else. Seems like summer ended on the last day of July and we’ve had a crappy fall ever since. The thermometer has been parked at 50 degrees for weeks and the rain is coming down in buckets. Roads are a muddy mess. Trees and outside dogs look bedraggled, and people’s spirits are about

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-46101184538537178412007-09-11T07:58:00.000-08:002007-09-11T08:25:38.601-08:00

For those of you searching for your weekly smorgasbord of the best of the medical blogosphere--otherwise known as Grand Rounds--you'll find it at The Efficient MD. This week's theme is "Healthcare Innovations and New Technologies." Click over and enjoy your Tuesday morning read!And on a more serious note, I hope all Americans will take a few moments today to remember the events of six years ago

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-6841309215379811632007-09-04T07:59:00.000-08:002007-09-04T08:06:59.602-08:00

Tuesday mornings would be so much duller without Grand Rounds--the weekly selection of the best of the medical blogosphere. This week's host is Dr. Emer at Parallel Universes. With this edition he becomes the third blogger to be a four-time host for GR; having done it once, I truly appreciate the magnitude of this accomplishment! This week's edition is hefty: thirty-five blog posts to savor,

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-55497016587780044902007-09-03T13:31:00.000-08:002007-09-03T13:51:04.984-08:00

This post is a follow-up to a previous post about Evan, my patient with a very high PSA. I should have mentioned that it was with his permission that I wrote about him, and that (of course) Evan is Not His Real Name. It has been a month since I saw him in the clinic. He started taking Septra (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) the next day and had no side effects from it. Several days

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-73573812714898820162007-09-02T10:32:00.000-08:002007-09-03T13:55:05.905-08:00

This Is My Life, RatedLife: 8.2Mind: 8.6Body: 7.3Spirit: 9.2Friends/Family: 5.6Love: 6.9Finance: 8.4Take the Rate My Life QuizGuess things aren't too bad, ah? 'Cept maybe I need a few more friends...Thanks to Monkeygirl for the link.And once started, I had to do the book quiz too. I'm really a sucker for these things...You're The Mists of Avalon!by Marion Zimmer BradleyYou're obsessed with

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-87247600607981448462007-08-27T14:38:00.000-08:002007-08-27T16:11:35.810-08:00

Perhaps it is because I am an Aries—you know, not a lot of patience with the details. Whatever the reason, housekeeping is just not my strongest suit, either in my actual house or on the blog. As long as things are reasonably tidy and mostly clean, I’m good with it. But some chores take me forever to get around to, despite my best intentions. Like repotting the plants. I’ve been

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-58270901549742336112007-08-19T13:52:00.000-08:002007-09-02T10:37:34.387-08:00

The primary subsistence activity of the Yupik Eskimos in July and August is picking berries. The vast tundra of southwest Alaska is literally covered in berries in late summer—salmonberries, blueberries, blackberries and redberries, the Native people love them all. Berries are the main source of vitamin C in the traditional diet, and are usually either made into jam or frozen for later use.

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-41599395235364743932007-08-15T12:33:00.000-08:002007-08-15T12:36:45.053-08:00

Writing has been like pulling teeth for me these last few weeks, as evidenced by the dearth of posts on this blog. Life is full and busy, I just haven’t been inspired to write about it. This is not so much writer’s block, as I have numerous ideas for topics I want to write about; it is more like lack of writer’s discipline—an inadequate supply of “bum glue”, as author Elizabeth George

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-49516281953851813292007-08-07T10:04:00.000-08:002007-08-07T10:20:57.133-08:00

Grand Rounds is posted this week at Eye on DNA. Our host, Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei gives us a lovely beach house setting for a large collection of interesting posts from around the medblogosphere. I was pleased to be included in this week's edition; it is the first time I have submitted a post for consideration since January. It is nice to be hanging out with some of my favorite bloggers again.

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-29829820855044477062007-08-04T13:27:00.000-08:002007-08-04T23:30:30.165-08:00

He was the last patient of the morning, and as usual, I was running about an hour behind by the time I got to him. He had a twenty minute appointment for abdominal pain. He was the third abdominal pain patient that morning; the first two had been women of reproductive age who also had twenty minute appointments. The first thing he told me when I walked into the room was that he had to

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27671321.post-75564277611260138462007-07-20T08:18:00.000-08:002007-07-20T08:25:08.072-08:00

After a few days back in Bethel, the culture shock of going Outside has about worn off. American culture in the Lower 48 is a whole other world from here. You get used to what you are around all the time, and even the strange can come to seem commonplace. So it is with Bethel. And then you jump feet first into what most Americans think of as “normal”. A land of paved streets with

The Tundra PAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11389307878200524785noreply@blogger.com11