Happy New Year!
The People of Nome love to celebrate, and New Years Eve is no exception.
Message after message was sent out through the community for each of the parties that would be thrown and places that people should check out. When midnight finally rolled around, much of the town gathered near the harbor beach for the fireworks show. This display has become a loved tradition despite the fact that the fog is normally too thick to see much more than a red or white flash. This year was better than average.
Following the fireworks, Kimberly and I started our shift on the safety patrol (sounds dorky, but is super helpful). One of the common dangers that comes from the combination of alcohol and extreme cold, is the potential of passing out and freezing. The citizens of Nome have organized the safety patrol to be a positive support system so people can get help if and when they need it on such busy nights. Though, when our shift ended at 3:30am, it sounded like many of the parties were still going strong.
December in Review:
As is our normal habit, we have been very busy recently. Along with our missionary work, taking care of the new puppy, and trying to get ready for Christmas, Kimberly and I have been enrolled in an EMT course. I am proud to say that after 10 weeks of studying and training, we have passed our exam and have been accepted into the Nome Volunteer Ambulance Department as EMT 1's. For those that aren't familiar with the EMT provider scale, it means we are able to respond to any ambulance call as a driver or emergency responder. We are able to administer a few basic medications and/or any basic life support that is deemed necessary by the situation.
Starting this new year, we will be adjusting our schedules to be on call several days/ nights each week. This is something that both Kimberly and I believe will help us further our ministry in Nome and help us get to know both the people we are serving and the people we are serving with. We are blessed to have the encouragement of our site director who had been running with the department as well.
Our Christmas was fairly low key here, as it was just the two of us celebrating a wonderful day of rest on Jesus' birthday. We did managed to put together a small Christmas tree despite the distinct lack of trees here in Nome. It was a nice symbol of a family tradition, made from reclaimed wood from the community. Donned on top as our star, a dried and decorated starfish made by a creative citizen of Nome. We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and the last snowfall that made the whole town look clean and new as a fresh snowfall often does. However, following that snow we had several very warm days that got up into the mid 30's (After 1º- 12º averages, that feels very warm). This means the ice on the roads and sidewalks melt and refreeze creating a fresh, slick layer for cars and walkers. This made us realized that the warm weather has become an abnormal occurrence and that cold and windy is the way it should be. Just goes to show that we're becoming Nomites at heart.
In other exciting Nome news, Thursday, Dec. 17th, we had a young bearded seal make his way out of the harbor and up toward 1st street. While we have yet to see one of these awesome creatures in person, this isn't that uncommon of an experience here in Nome. These two pictures were taken from the Nome Nugget Newspaper which has a free PDF to download each week. If there is anyone interested in the reading more about the local Nome news you can check out the newspaper's PDF at nomenugget.net. We've heard about sightings of a Walrus on the beach, Beluga or Minke whales riding the waves during storms. Grizzly bears on the mountain behind the high school, and otters in the Nome river. A few people think this might be the year to see a polar bear, too. Though, they've stayed further north since 2005, I believe. There's all sorts of fun, new pieces of God's beautiful creation for us to discover. While we may want to keep our distance for some of the animals, we are both excited to keep exploring.
