IDITAROD

     The Iditarod 2015 is in full swing.  Some of the teams are past Unalakleet.  I've been listening to reports and interviews on KNOM radio station.  They have a lot of good stories and pictures on their website  (  http://www.knom.org/wp/ ).

Martin Buser in his 32nd Iditarod talked to reporters Laura Collins and Matt Smith and he gave an awesome interview I think everyone should read.  In this quote he refers to a plain cardboard sign he saw along the trail.  it was put up by a high school class from a nearby school and it simply said "We teenagers look up to you".  He goes on to say..

"Buser remembers the Huslia teenagers, saying it’s that sign that needs to be remembered when the chips are down. “That’s when you can really lead by example. That’s maybe when in the darkest moments you can make a difference. When somebody thinks about checking out, but they don’t. People can overcome, people can tough it out. If I make this race so important that I compromise my values, then I’m a loser. That’s what I don’t want to happen.”"

Wouldn't it be great if professional and college athletes and coaches had this philosophy and lived by it?

     These mushers are some awesome people.  As I listen to their interviews I hear how humble they are and how they care more for their dogs than themselves.  It's really inspiring and I recognize so many things that sports in America today are missing.  In contradiction to Coach Henry Sanders, to these guys and girls on the trail 'winning isn't the only thing'.  To persevere in this grueling competition means so much.
     The field of competitors this year has several women.  There are brothers competing against each other and father - son competitors too.
     On thing I find so refreshing about the Iditarod is that the spirit of competition is so pure.  Trash talk and put downs have no place here.  Each competitor has so much respect for his fellow racers and when the race is over there seems to be a closeness among all of the teams.  The camaraderie is amazing.

I think I've found my new favorite sport to follow.

"DIAMOND DUST"

     As I walk around this place on sunny days when it's really cold, there is often a sparkly quality to the air.  Tiny little flashes of light, I men really tiny sparkles everywhere.  If I ever dropped acid I would probably write it off as a flash back of some kind but it's a weather phenomenon called "diamond dust". 
     Tiny little ice crystals are floating in the air, tumbling around and reflecting sunlight on their flat crystal faces.  I can't get a picture of this phenomenon because I just can't but imagine you're living in one of those snow globes with glitter instead of snow and you can hold your breath for a long time so you don't drown and someone shakes up the globe and you're holding onto something stable so you don't get hurt then you look around after the big person is done shaking and this sparkly glitter is floating all around you.  That's what it like.

 A Little Experiment 

  Lately I've been conducting a little psychological experiment with my students.  Actually I was forced into this experiment because weather has planes grounded and mail hasn't been delivered in over a week so my bulk candy order hasn't arrived.  But let me back up a minute. 

     The way I start every morning is to come into my classroom and tape a piece of candy to each student's warm-up math assignment, the one they did yesterday.  So here's the routine, the kids come in the door and pick up a strip of paper with about 10 math problems on it.  The problems have something to do with what I'm currently trying to teach them or something I want them to get practice on since they don't do homework.  They go to their seat and start working or copying from someone else and then turn in the paper.  Later, I grade it.  If they get a high enough score they get it back the next day with a piece of candy attached.  Usually a reward-worthy grade is 80%. 

     When I started getting low on candy I upped the ante to 90%.  Back when 80% was good enough rarely did I grade a 100% paper.  In fact, most were in the 80 to 90 range and some kids even left a few blank at the bottom if they felt they had the minimum needed for the reward.  I mean, heck, why do more than you have to?  When 90% became the new threshold all of the sudden nearly everyone was getting 100's and 95's. 

     Well, for the last four days, since my supply has run out, participation has dropped to where few kids are doing the warm-up at all and grades have plummeted.  I've even been told that I am cheap because I don't go to the local store and buy some candy at ridiculous prices.  Keep in mind these are the same kids who receive all of their paper, pencils, and notebooks from the school, as well as their breakfast and lunch every day.  I suggested that the students could all pitch in and I would go to the store and purchase some candy.  That was met with righteous indignation, much like the suggestion that anyone on unemployment should take any job that comes along.  It's interesting to note that when I do have candy and I am passing it out there is rarely a thank-you uttered, not to say that it never is.  Also, after the students leave the room I am guaranteed to find no fewer than 5 wrappers discarded on the floor. 

Perhaps this very same experiment is already being conducted all across America.  It looks to me like it is.  My conclusion is that when the minimum is acceptable that is all you can expect.  And where there is no tangible reward there will be little tangible effort. 

It was a bright sunny day out on the tundra Saturday.  No wind at all and the snow on the ground was fairly hard and easy to walk on.  Me and Hobart went hiking for 3 hours.  We struck out in a northeasterly direction.  It is so flat that even several miles away we could still see the town in the distance.  The terrain at first seems featureless but you have to take a closer look.  What I call the micro-landscape is pretty neat.  With the low angle of the sun the play of light and dark makes interesting designs with the small snow drifts and ice

 Some of the scenes would look the same at two inches in height as they would if you were looking from 2000 feet up.  Scale becomes unimportant.  The same forces and conditions that shape these tiny dunes and ripples form the grand features of the worlds great deserts.