9 July 2008 , Wednesday *** Clean UP Hike with Denver written Wednesday a week later 16 July 2008 Alaska Railroad
* In the middle of late last night I was sittin' on a curb I didn't know what about, but I was feelin' quite disturbed A street sweeper came whistlin' by, he was bouncin' every step It seemed strange how good he felt, so I asked him while he swept ** He said, "It's my job to be cleaning up this mess And that's enough reason to go for me It's my job to be better than the rest And that makes a day for me."**
I got an uncle who owns a bank, he's a self-made millionaire He never had anyone to love, never had no one to care He always seemed kinda sad to me and I asked him why that was And he told me it's because in my contract there's this clause
That says, "It's my job to be worried half to death And that's the thing people respect in me It's my job but without it I'd be less Than what I expect from me."…
It's my job to be different than the rest And that's enough reason to go for me It's my job to be better than the rest And that's a rough break for me
It's my job to be cleaning up this mess And that's enough reason to go for me It's my job to be better than the rest And that makes the day for me *
- thanks Jimmy Buffett for the song!
*
If I write while I am on the train does this make me a** travel writer or a traveling writer? **
ONE MUST WHILE IN BARROW
One of my main objects while visiting Barrow was to connect with kids, after all I am a middle school teacher for 9.5 months of the year. Being that it was summer time made it a little more challenging.
I had asked the wonderful Lourdes Ferris, who runs Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful in Florida, if she happened to have a few extra promo shirts, pens or beads to spare so that I could share them with Alaskan kids. Lourdes, whom I have worked with on Beach and school clean ups for many years, **shared more **than I had anticipated. Since I had so much to share I thought it best to host a beach clean up.
*****On another note I pestered her again** to share little cigarette butt holders that say Keep America Beautiful after I noticed butts on the tundra that had been left by local workers. I was pleased to notice that people were taking them and I assumed using them. On my last day working at the BEO in the tundra, I watched one guy empty his before he went to do more work!
Garbage around Barrow.
There is much to clean up. Although they have a dump and are building onto their landfill, they also have a tremendous amount of wind. The wind carries trash all over the place, even from the dump.
When I arrived in Barrow there was still snow on the ground, but as the snow melted, trash appeared. I actually felt compelled to clean the parking area around the NARL Hotel, because it needed it and only took a few minutes.
Finding Kid Groups
Jen, Alice and Hazel, BASC employees **were very helpful in finding several groups for me to work with. I contacted four different groups directly and confirmed their participation the day before. But when Wednesday at 2pm rolled around **only one group was there to meet my husband, Rob and me. Karen Hibbard- Rode joined us as well, she was a researcher from Fairbanks who had taken my yoga class the Sunday before.
** The Event**
** AMAZING – SOUL STIRRING**
We were all screaming and cheering
We had a perfect sized group of 28 and we collected over 55 pounds **of debris from the Beach. **Jae Jae Ningeok is the awesome woman who is charge of not only the Summer Youth Program in Barrow, but also in charge of Clean Up’s in the area. She supplied the brightly colored yellow "Keep Alaska Beautiful" bags.
But who cares about all of that! KIDS!! YEAH! KIDS! **They were great. I brought a **small jar of Florida Beach sand **with seashells, sargasm , and trash – things you would find on my beach. We talked for a while about how **my beach compares to their beach. We have almost fine sand, Barrow has course gravely sand. I have a jar for my kids too. We have shells they have shells, but ours are different. We have coral – they do not! We also talked about a piece of rope I had in the jar and how BADLY it could effect wildlife, especially babies if it got around their necks or legs.
I brought a little jar of beach findings to Barrow from South Florida. I was able to teach the kids the differences between our beaches. I also brought some trash - a rope and we talked about all the bad things that could happened to the ocean animals, just because of a little piece of rope or a plastice bag or a ... the list goes on!
We talked about how important it was for them to keep their beaches clean to protect the animals, because they eat so much that comes from the ocean.
They were all very excited about the prizes that I brought too, but they were willing to wait to collect them until we were finished.
The kids ranged in age from about 5 years – 12years old with a couple of high school helpers and WOW did they clean. Some were **toting bags of debris that appeared to weigh as much as they did. **
Rob Eubanks was the beach keeping the kids entertained or are they entertaining him? - A little of both, no doubt!
Can you see Melissa's red legs? This girl did NOT stop. She cleaned up the beach, even if it meant getting wet! Way to Go Melissa! I see a scientific caree in this little girls eyes!
They were fun and eager to help. The Beach Clean Up was one of the highlights of my trip. Some of the kids told me that they had **never participated in such an event **before and will clean up more on their own, because it’s fun!
The kids left Rob and I that morning screeching out – **Keep America Beautiful, Keep Alaska Beautiful and quyanaq, which means Thank you! **
*You will be able to hear and see them on a pod cast/ video very soon.
There is an article in the Arctic Sounder today June 17, 2008 about the event– Barrow’s local paper. http://thearcticsounder.com/news/show/2750
These two yound ladies have only been cleaning for 30 minutes and already have a heavey bag!
A very special thanks to Jae Jae Ningeok of Barrow, AK’s summer youth program and to Lourdes Ferris with FL’s Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful for helping make this a day for me to remember! I also passed out St. Mark Catholic School magnets and even saw one on the Summer Camp door as I strolled through town!
Denver Holt and the Snowy Owls
I finally got the opportunity to go out with Denver and his friend and volunteer, Dr. Steve, who is a Heart Surgeon back in Montana. Rob, got to go too. We had a wonderful experience and I am so appreciative to Denver for taking the time to share with us.
Looking at a Snowy Owl Chick eye to eye is an experience I will never forget, nore is spending time with Denver Holt! Notice all of the them Lemmings aroudn the nest site. Photo by Rob Eubanks
Denver checked out the babies, while the mom fussed at us and the dad watched us from a distance. Denver said that typically in mature families the dad will do more fussing than the mom. I** guess he just needs to grow up a little.** In this guys defense he did screach at us when we first got to the nesting site.
There were 3 chicks and one with a contorted neck. Denver doubts that that little one will survive. I was busy taking photos and filming Denver for a little video I will create while Rob and Steve were counting, sexing and weighing Lemmings. Lemmings are typically place around the nest by the male and the female will rip them up to feed the babies. At this nest there were about 17 Lemmings, which isn’t too bad – well unless you are a Lemming! When they finished the measurements, they cut off one of the legs – does anyone know why researchers would do this? – **Please take a guess and answer in the Ask the Team section! **
Rob, Steve and Denver are evaluating the Lemmings. Lemming data is an important tool that Denver uses to evaluate the mating pairs of owls. How many Lemmings are around the nest is an one of the important facts that are recorded.
Thanks Denver I am not sure which is** more moving – to be in **your presence or the presence of the owls, really – you are AMAZING – Infectious as Steve put! Denver is truly an inspiring man. He loves being out in the field doing research and hikes sometimes 15 + miles a day in the tundra!
Denver Holt is checking out this chick to make sure that all limbs seem to work in the correct way. Denver records all of his observations about every chick at every nest he visits.
Where are we now?
…on a train from Denali to Anchorage. Denali was amazing, I saw so many animals in two days that my head is spinning. I will update a Denali report very soon!
Writing a journal in the Alaska Railway is the way to go! I have a dream to write,reminisce and ride all of my days! Photo taken by fellow passenger
Bird of the Day
Ah but what is he saying? Go Away, probably! Denver led us out to a nest that he needed to check on. 3 chicks, one with a messed up neck. The male only approached us in the beginning then he just watched us.
From the Train just below the Top of the World