Truly effective training takes the learner through different modalities: direct instruction, hands on, practice, even self exploration. Day two of PolarTREC training has been a combination of learning at its best. Participants were given the opportunity to practice blogging, update personal expedition pages and learning the multitude of technical details necessary to have the correct code, format and information to document the progress all trainees are going through as they prepare for their individual field experiences. But when work is done; learning is never over.
A joyous explorer in the basement looking at a huge pile ofmoose antlers
Welcome to the basement of bones, a Fairbanks landmark that draws in the hearty tourist ready and willing to foray into the basement, knowing not what awaits. The shop is unassuming, a traditional tourist establishment: from post cards to magnets all the accouterments are present. But wait, there is the basement, and it was there where I and two other "Trecers" ventured.
With narrow steps we ventured into the interior, sensing that musty smell often associated with underground, but wait, not must, dust. Everything was covered with a glistening layer of bone dust, the left over sheen of hard work as antlers, whale vertebrae, even mastodon horns were converted to pieces of traditional art.
A lone carved moose, sitting on a shelf waiting to be completed and sold to eager tourists
at over 4, 500 years old, this Mammoth tusk has found a place of pride in the basement bone yard.
The basement of bones has been building for over thirty years, a marinade of sorts where life that has long passed is finding new purpose. I have visited this basement twice before and plan on returning again. I am not yet done, and need another glimpse into this den of natural history where breath is gone, but life still lingers in a cold basement just waiting for the prying eyes of a woman from Arizona.
Comments