Her aunt gives Heather a helping hand with her Thanksgiving maktak

Today at the Thanksgiving whale feast in Nuiqsut: Her Aunt Doreen spotted Heather struggling to cut her frozen maktak with an ulu, so gave her a helping hand. I just returned from the feast and I am stuffed - and I have a pretty good-sized box of maktak, frozen meat and frozen fish to take home. I took a picture of it but the internet here is extra slow today and Squarespace 5 falls apart with a slow net. I can't face this struggle twice today so this will likely be my only post this Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This will be part of today's Thanksgiving feast - maktak, from a bowhead that came to Edward Nukapigak's EMN crew in September when I was in the boat with them. They completed all the cutting before I arrived, so I missed that, but I am here for the feasting and the Eskimo dance that will follow tonight.

I doubt I will post much. Between all the misfires of my Squarespace 5 bloghost acerbated by my weak internet connection that often cuts out on me altogether mid-post, it can be quite a struggle to put up a post. I'll put something up, though. 

Thanksgiving away from Margie, the kids and grand kids yet somehow still at home in warm place with cold temperatures

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, I will join the community of Nuiqsut for a whale feast. This evening, Bernice Kaigelak invited me over for an early Thanksgiving feast in the turkey way. She worried she had overcooked the turkey. She didn't. It was succulent and juicy, just the way a Thanksgiving turkey should be. She said it must be hard, being away from my family on Thanksgiving day. Indeed, it is, but Nuiqsut is where I need to be right now. And, in its own way, I have a feeling here like being home. I plan to have a Thanksgiving feast with my family Saturday. Three Thanksgiving feasts in four days - that is something to be thankful for.

I don't think there will be any more terrifying visitors demanding candy tonight

It's drawing nigh to 11 PM. I don't think any more trick-or-treaters are coming. Just those six – the four I photographed and the two who came for the two minutes when I could not find my phone.

It's very, very, quiet in here – and the lighting is dim. All evening I kept but one light on - the one over the front door. If you could see Jim sitting here for real, you would see that to the eye it looks more dim than this. I remain pretty impressed with the low light capabilities of this iPhone 5s camera. Of course, I had the porch light on so the trick-or-treaters would know they were welcome and there was the glow from the fire in the wood stove. The fire is dying now and I am not going to bother to build it back up tonight. If the weather were normal - cold - then I would. But hell, it's so warm Jim and I might as well be in San Francisco. 

Text added at 11:02 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - 40 days and counting.

Halloween has changed – what am I to do with all this candy?

Well, it must be getting close to an hour since the last two trick-or-treaters were here. I still can't leave my vigil, though.

It's raining outside. Do you think that has anything to do with it? Maybe, but I don't think so. When we first lived out here and the kids were small, there were years that we had to go back to the store and buy more candy because our original generous supply was not enough. And we commonly took them out in snow and cold weather – sometimes below zero. So what's a little rain?

No, I think things have just changed. I'll bet in the rich neighborhoods there are carloads of kids going in, though. We noticed that a few years back as we drove past a rich neighborhood after taking Kalib and Jobe to a Halloween gathering at the Alaska Transportatian and Industry Museum, so they could wander among airplanes and get candy. Or was it just Kalib?

Hmmmm… No trick-or-treaters, but lots of candy… hmmmm.... And look at Jim! The good black cat looks really scary tonight! 

Text added at 9:06 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues. Day 40 and counting...