Igloo

Teaching in bush Alaska had some advantages.  One was the money but one that I found more important was the flexibility in following class decorum. 

The kids were always ready to do anything other than the 3 R's, so I had not gotten "out side" out of my mouth before they had bolted from the room one cold and snowy morning.  I was much impressed at their behavior and felt a little smug because they all used the door instead of jumping out the nearest window which had not been uncommon when I first arrived.

We soon had constructed two snowmen about 10 feet from one another and decided to build an igloo between them.  We built our structures in front of a conex, which I might add permeated the land scape and were used for storage.  The only problem is that they were like magnets to the kids.  They would climb on top of them then hurl themselves off the top on to the snow.  Sprains and broken bones were not uncommon.

When we began building the igloo I realized that we needed a snow knife to trim the edges and cut the blocks more efficiently.  I sent a couple of the kids home to bring one back, (try that in the lower 48.)

It took us less than 30 minutes to build our structure.  I was impressed.  It was not every man, I thought, who could direct the building of such an elaborate structure that would last until at least the end of May.

All the kids started crawling in and out of the igloo and suggested I do the same.  I decided it would not hurt anything, besides they said they were wanting to figure out where a rear exit should be cut.  I took a young boy with me and we decided where the cut should be made and he started whacking away with the snow knife.  He made the exit just large enough for him to get through so I had to turn around and leave by the front entrance. 

As I was just about to leave, a giant snow ball was rolled in front of the entrance preventing me.  Ha, ha, I got the joke, very funny, "now let me out."  Silence.  More silence.  I looked at my watch, it was about lunch time.  Could they have gone on to lunch and left me there?  Certainly not.  All of a sudden two young agile Eskimo children came crashing through the top of the igloo.  They had jumped from the conex. 

We dug our way out, went on to lunch where I picked up a different bunch of kids for the afternoon class.  They decided that it would be fun to build an igloo.  What a surprise.  They even produced a snow knife that looked a little familiar. 

After we had built their igloo, they wanted me to go inside to help decide where the rear exit should be placed.  I had learned my lesson well and did not bite this time, but I did manage to do a somersault off the top of the conex on to the igloo that would have scored a 10 at any Olympic competition.