Snow Day!!

We are having more snow!! Kind of looks like Logan did in December or January. With the additional snow the school district issued a snow day. According to Sandi...one of my co-workers... who has lived in Sitka all her life... this is the first one she ever remembers. Pam the other optometrist who also went to school here seems to remember one in the past 30 years. As stated before... this is really weird weather for Sitka. The only down side is that Charles and Meg were both up for their seminary class early and then found out there wasn't any school. Now if it rains it could make a bigger mess. Stay tuned.

Anniversary of Sorts

A year ago yesterday, today, and tomorrow Lori, Charles and I made our first visit to Sitka after having accepted my job. We have now lived here almost 11 months. First, the year has gone fast, second, we are really enjoying this place. The kids seem to be thriving, work for me is good, church is great, work for Lori is good. In a month from tomorrow it will be 1 year since we left Logan for our new adventure.

Another Shaggy Dog Story

Well, actually an update of the infamous D'Artagnan. I don't know if he is fully grown yet, but he now measures almost 26" at the back. We don't have any way to weigh him, but he is approaching 50 lbs. if not passed it. He has a problem with his ears getting infected... mostly from the dampness, love of getting in the water, and big floppy ears. The vet told us to keep his ears tied up, we have tried to super glue them (the right one stuck) and usually just use rubber bands to tie them together behind his head. Kind of looks like he has a mullet. Here are a series of pictures that have been on this blog before, but now to show the growth of our 7 1/2 month "puppy".

D'Artagnan is loving the snow. The only problem is that in his paws the snow gets packed and creates little rock-type balls that make it hard for him to walk. Lori tried some "doggie booties" on him, but the didn't stay on very well. So she has to pull them off occasionally.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I can't say "Turkey Day" since as the only meat eater in the house I got a very nice Cornish Game Hen for Thanksgiving. Lori made a meatless "meatloaf", but she and the kids decided that the dinner isn't really about turkey, but all the items going together. We still had our favorites... Lori's dressing, jello (except for meg), my rolls, my pies (only 4 this year) and a yam dish that is fun and tasty. We were served this on the Thanksgiving right after Meg's 1st birthday. We were in Idaho looking at a couple of practices to get involved in (neither worked out) and the family we had dinner with had prepared this yam dish... Yams, apples, crushed pineapple, raisins, walnuts and brown sugar. We have fixed it each year since then.
It was kind of strange this year with only 4 of us. We are used to having a pretty big crowd. Maybe next year we can be down in California with my parents. My brother John and his family were in Long Beach this year.
With the ice, snow, and cold we are having I took Charles out to learn how to drive on the ice. Good lesson, but only experience will really help. Charles has been a good driver... especially since he has only driven my 5-speed manual car. Meg has had no desire yet to get her license.

Correction to "When Rick Met Lori"

I have made a correction to the above mentioned post. It was pointed out to me by a reader that I had made a generalized statement that may have given the wrong impression. Please re-read that entry to get the proper idea as it should have been. If it is not noticable...good. Any errors in my history telling please let me know.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

No, it is not time for Christmas songs yet(2 more days till Meg's birthday ...the traditional Hart Family day for such things), but in literal sense.
I was out of town for work last week when it started to snow...we almost didn't get out of Sitka. Anyway, since last Monday(13th) we have had about 24"(61 cm) of snow!!! And as I write it is still snowing!! This place doesn't know what to do with so much snow. This would be good snow in Utah and not at all uncommon. However, here it is crazy. Infact, we were told by many people that it doesn't snow much in Sitka(20" average) and when it does it is after Christmas.
The snow affected my work trip too. I was in Klawock the 13-16, except that on the 16th the plane that was supposed to come get us couldn't get out of Sitka. We ended up staying another night and had to take the ferry to Ketchikan in order to get a flight via Alaska Air to Sitka. Then they weren't even sure that we could land in Sitka or Juneau... We almost ended up going to Anchorage, but we got lucky and made it home a day late. In Klawock it only snowed about 6 inches to Sitka's 18(at the time).
D'Artagnan the dog is enjoying it, but his fur creates little balls of snow and the only way to get them out is to let him lick them off.

Hart Christmas Newsletter(long)

Yes, this will be long, but I hope it is worth it. Some may get a hard copy of this too... Here goes...

Christmas 2006
Hello All,
For any of you that have not either been informed, heard, or seen… we are now living in Sitka Alaska. We entered Alaska on January 1st of 2006. OK, now for the story and a few other tid bits.
Last fall(2005) things at work for Rick came to a head and we realized that it was time to make a change. As we looked, this position in Sitka just felt right. The description of the job, the area, the information we received just fit together. So…
We finished remodeling our basement in Logan in 2 months, sold our house, visited Sitka and arranged for a rental house, packed up all our stuff except for the 50% we sold or got rid of, said good-byes, packed a 25 ft. truck, left Lori’s car to be sold by a friend, caravanned with the truck and Rick’s car to Seattle, left our dog Heidi with Rick’s brother (she ended up with bone cancer and died within a month of us leaving), got on a ferry and spent 4 days getting to Sitka, and settled in to our rental house. Then in March we bought a house and moved again!!
Sitka is located on Baranoff Island… about the size of the state of Delaware. It is very rugged with mountains, lakes, valleys, a couple of glaciers, etc… We have many trails in the mountains and shoreline to investigate. We have the brown bear here (grizzly). Yes, they do come into town and are seen on the trails. Also a small deer called the Sitka Blacktail. We have enjoyed the many eagles, especially this summer when there were hundreds of them. Our house is on a cove where eagles like to hang out in the trees. We also see blue herons. We have seen several whales although not up close. We also have a dormant volcano about 15 miles from down…Mount Edgecumbe. This is just one beautiful place.
Rick is now one of 2 optometrists in the Eye Clinic at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital for SEARHC (South East Alaska Regional Health Consortium). He gets great benefits, a great staff to work with, and Saturdays off. He travels several times a year to clinics in Yakutat and Klawock. Rick is very happy with his position. He gets to see types of patients he has rarely seen. He enjoys working with the native people who are the vast majority of his patients. They are very friendly.
Lori has been working like crazy on her Ph.D. dissertation and has finished the writing. And then she has to get it through her committee and defend it. By the time you receive this Lori will have finished all her work for the Ph.D. and will be Dr. Hart. She continues to teach for Weber State doing internet classes and has taught online for UAS (University of Alaska-Southeast). On Nov. 13 she will start a new job in the mental health department at SEARHC as a nurse practitioner. She is really excited to be back working in mental health. So both she and Rick will be working at the same hospital. She worked again at Kennolyn Camp in Santa Cruz, CA and again had Charles and Meg with her. Even with all the writing and researching she has taken time to get to know Sitka.
Richard went back to Logan so he could get ready to go to Utah State… where he is now. He is living in the dorms and using a scholarship he earned in high school. He has a job at the USU library doing all kinds of different jobs. He seems to be enjoying his experience.
Meg is back from her exchange to Udine Italy. She had a tough time with the language, but finally beat it. She made many friends and has a hard time keeping up with them. Her host-family, the Mineos were really good to her and will always be special to us. She got back in July and right away started making friends. Sitka has been growing on her day by day. She was just named the Student of the Month at Sitka High and has done very well for the DDF (Drama Debate Forensics) team. Since Meg got back from Italy she, Lori, and Charles have gone vegetarian. Rick is doing all right as Lori accommodates him with a meat version of the meals.
Charles had an advantage before we moved here. When we came up for our visit last November he was introduced to Zach (a good friend now) and spent 2 days at the middle school. When he started school he was already well known. He played bass in the middle school jazz band last school year and this year is also in DDF. Charles hadn’t been east of Utah, so in April he and Rick went to Memphis while Rick attended an optometry seminar. Charles played golf and enjoyed Memphis BBQ. He got to see places from our family history that he had only heard of. Charles also attended the Sitka Fine Arts Camp playing music in various groups. Charles is vice-president of the freshman class.
Lori wanted a new dog and we got a labradoddle… D’Artagnan (the 4th Musketeer), whom she is training and walking and just loving. In June we got D’Artagnan, an 8 week old puppy. Now he is about 50 lbs. and big. A labradoodle is a cross (he is 50/50) between a standard poodle and a labrador retriever. The idea is to have a dog that sheds little or none and has the good parts of each breed. She and D’Artagnan have walked and hiked wherever they can.
Also in June Lori and Rick went to Fairbanks while Rick attended another seminar. They took a trip up to the Arctic Circle and experienced 24 hours of light even though the sun went down at 11:30pm. Rick got to play golf till 10:30pm. This trip was also to celebrate Rick and Lori’s 25th wedding anniversary.
We are really enjoying Sitka. It is strange what being on an island does to people. Lots of traveling “down south”. Our airport is small, but has several flights a day from Alaska Air. Shopping is sparse and we do bulk shopping when in Juneau or down south. We have learned lots of the “local” ways including how to dress dry for the rain and how to take your shoes off before going in anyone’s house.
Anneka and Mike are in St. George where AJ is working for Zions bank and Mike is still an electrician. Anneka just had her gall bladder out and Lori was able to fly down and help. They came up for a weeks visit in August. Mike caught 3 fish on a charter trip we took… (Rick only got one).
Annika Brachmann our first exchange student came to see us for 3 weeks. She went on the fishing trip, but didn’t fish. We got her to hike with us eventhough she was afraid of the bears. She got to go to Juneau for a few days when Rick went on a business trip.
Our summer from all reports was pretty lousy. Lots more rain than usual and much cooler temps. We survived well and it can only get better. This fall has been pretty nice. For comparison: Our rainfall for Sept was 16.3”(ave is 11) and October was 15.8”(ave. is 14.1). November "only" averages 9”.
Rick’s parents are doing OK. Dad has Alzheimer’s and Mom is working very hard at taking care of him while still having a life. They are very active at Church. Mom has been feeling better the past few months and is looking forward to us visiting at Christmas.
We have plenty of room for houseguests should you come visit. Summer is the time to come… July or August. If you are connected to the internet please contact us: Rick-rhartsco91@gmail.com, Lori-lhart8862@gmail.com
We have a great bunch of people at church to meet with in the Sitka Ward. They were very welcoming and have a great testimony of the restored Gospel. Their faith in Christ helps us to keep more of a Christmas spirit in our lives all the time.
Have a great Christmas.
Love you all, Rick, Lori, Meg, Charles, Richard, and D’Artagnan

Snow Reeks Havoc for Work Trip

Another work trip, another lay-over. My work trip to Klawock, became interesting when southeast Alaska got an early snow. Sitka and Juneau got dumped on…over a foot and a half in 3 days. In Klawock/Craig we only got 8 inches…mostly on Wednesday and Thursday. We barely got out of Sitka on Monday morning when it started to snow, but the airline that we fly couldn’t get out to come get us on Thursday afternoon. We ended up, on Friday morning, driving across Prince of Wales Island to Hollis, catching the ferry(this after having to spend another night in Craig) to Ketchikan, waiting several hours in the airport, and finally getting on…hold the phone…
Here I am now sitting on the plane, still at the gate, being delayed some more. There are runway issues here in Ketchikan, but worse are the reports out of Sitka…heavy snow and iffy runway conditions. We are now waiting for the word as to whether we bypass Sitka and go to Juneau or bypass both and go to Anchorage…
This is apparently a very early snow for the southeast not to mention a really big snow. I have already been blamed for bringing weird weather to Sitka…why not this too.
Stay tuned for more…same Bat time, same Bat channel…
OK, I'm back... We did get off the ground and did land in Sitka and I am home!!! There appears to be about 24" of snow here at home. Looks like Logan after a big storm.

Poor Pitiful Puppy the Second

Our last dog, Heidi, was officially the first Poor Pitiful Puppy, but D'Artagnan is a close second

D'Artagnan the labradoodle is getting BIG. Here he is the end of June at one of Charles' baseball games and then last night... Both sitting on Lori's lap. He is now 7 months old and probably 50 lbs. I tried to carry him to his bed the other night...I might as well have tried to carry Charles...

Snow!!

Our first snow of the season fell today... making things pretty slick. Only about an inch fell. Since the first of November it has been nice weather although much colder than normal. A snow this early is kind of unusual from what the "old timers" say. Usually it doesn't snow till around Christmas. We won't complain though.

Meg: Student of the Month!!!!

Meg has been named Sitka High School's female Student of the Month!!! She is so awesome! Congrats Miss Margaret!

Lori is Mental.......Health Nurse Practitioner...That Is

Lori has been hired by SEARHC to be a nurse practitioner in the Mental Health Department. She will be working with 3 psychiatrists and a couple psychologists. She is really excited as mental health has really been an interest for her and she has missed it since she left Bear River Mental Health in Logan.

She will be working with patients doing medications and other treatments. Since it is at the same hospital as where I am we will be able to cut come to work together. She is supposed to start Nov. 13th, if all her license stuff makes it through the various boards. We are happy for her.

Precipitation Perception

I was talking to my brother Dave the other night telling him our rainfall totals for Sept.(16.3") and Oct.(15.8") of this year. He commented that that is what people think of Seattle and the northwest. Well, a check with weather.com shows that Seattle averages 37.1 inches of rain/precipitation a year. while Sitka averages 86 inches. Some sources indicate that it is closer to 100 inches.

As a comparision to other places we have lived:

• Logan 18"
• Memphis 55"
• Raleigh 46"
  
• Rhode Island 46"
  
• Long Beach 13"

Other "rainy" places to compare:

• Orlando, FL 48"
  
• Honolulu, HI 18"
• Hilo/Kona, HI 126"/11"
• London, England 30"
  

So Dave has a great point. Many may think it rains 24/7 in Seattle, but people also think that we are living in a frozen waste land and never see the sun instead of a rainforest.