Happy Memorial Day

Wow...two blog posts in two days!! Not bad considering I still do not have internet at home...I AM A BLOGGING MACHINE!!! Ok...maybe not.

I woke up this beautiful Memorial Day morning without a single item on the to-do list. I thought to myself, "I think it is a good day to pack up a bag, climb up a bunch of rocks, eat lunch, and come home. And that is exactly what I did. I found an old backpack and started filling it up with water, snacks, and camera gear. I then hopped in the car and started driving to Angel Rocks. If you are an avid reader of this blog you may remember me going to this same location last fall. On my last visit to the rocks, I was a little apprehensive about doing a lot of climbing. I was pretty out of shape then. Now, about 25 pounds thinner and a heck of a lot stronger, I felt much more confident relying on my body to get me around in difficult terrain.

I made it to Angle Rocks around 11:00 am and started straight for the trails. The climb is rough, hot, and steep! I felt great this time around as I approached the first small plateau. At this point in the story I think that pictures will do better than words:

This shot was taken at the first plateau. Those rocks sticking up were my goal. I was going to be on top of everyone of them before I went home.


Me on the first plateau...a couple of nice, young hikers took the shot for me:


I nice view from one of the rocks:


Looking down at the other peaks...I made it to the highest one!!


Me....quite high up at this point! I rested my camera on my pack for this one and used the remote.


Finally, I saw some flowers growing from the side on one if the rocky spires. I was lucky enough to have captured a bee in the shots as well:




While on the rocks, I did just what I set out to do: climb, eat, and leave. On the way down, I ran into a parent of a student. It was a little odd being in a sleeveless shirt and all; exposing my tattoos to the world. It was fine though. I guess the student was up on the rocks ahead, but I seemed to have just missed her.

I got home around 3:30 and took a nice little nap. After I awoke, I edited a few shots, jumped in the car and drove to the University (for the free internet) to share them with you =)

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I wish you all a great week! My dad and his girlfriend will be up here in about 4 days, so I am excited! I am sure there will be LOTS of pictures after that!

Rock on,
~Mr. Lockwood

SUMMER IS HERE!!!

...well, maybe not according to the calendar, but as far as I am concerned...it is summer. I have spent the last few days enjoying some of the most amazing weather I have ever experienced. It has been in the mid 70's and sunny all week! I enjoy sitting on my porch with a cigar, a root beer, and a good book. I finished Harpo Speaks (the autobiography of Harpo Marx) and that was amazing! After that, I whipped through Water For Elephants in a couple days and loved it!! Due to multiple recommendations, I just started Into the Wild. I am not as impressed and everyone said I would be, but I'll see how it end up.

I have also been keeping myself busy by going on jogs/working out at the gym, organizing my stuff in my cabin, and starting up my garden! I have about 6 green beans, 4 zucchini, 1 cherry tomato, and one rhubarb. I have killed everything I have tried to grow with the exception of a jade tree I had to leave behind when I moved, so we'll see how this works out. Oh yeah, I have another jade tree up here =)

I finally have a few pictures to post! First, here are two shots that I printed and hung up in my cabin:

My silly little sister got in the way of my Spider-Man photo shoot...but I guess I'll keep it.


I liked this shot a lot. This was one of those pictures that you think nothing will come out of it, but then the end product surprises you!



This morning, I woke up at 3:30 am to drive a co-teacher to the airport. I figured that Alaska would be extra beautiful at 4:00 am, so I grabbed my camera before I left...boy am I glad I did that!








The lighting was beautiful, there was a thin fog floating above the sunlit swamp, and there were two trumpeter swans swimming in a small, glassy pool. Mornings like this make you want to wake up every day at 3:30, just to see what this amazing planet looks like when everyone else is fast asleep. I shouldn't say EVERYONE:





I saw four moose within a one mile stretch of road. These are a couple pictures of my first bull moose I have seen. This bull was pretty young and it is still early in "Antler Growing" season, so he just has a couple of nubs sticking out the top of his head. I have been told some have seen a HUGE bull in the area, already sporting a very impressive rack...but he was not around this morning. Hopefully these photographs will prove to Stephen that male moose do exist...even if they are small. (proof of concept maybe?)

Ok, I should get going. I am going to be looking at cats to adopt! I find myself a little lonely at times and I think a little pal would help pass the time. I hope everyone out there in Bloggingland has a happy and safe holiday weekend.

Rock on
~Mr. Lockwood

Two Days Left of School!!!

Hello everyone!

Life in Alaska is still amazing...in fact, it is getting more amazing everyday! I just went out and bought a fishing license. I am going trout fishing in about an hour!!! It should be a good time. Yesterday, Randy Smith had our end of the year staff party. It was a great time. It was a beautiful, sunny day by the Chena River with great company and AMAZING food! I brought my guitar and entertained the children (actually, some of the other teachers were as equally into the punk rock version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" as the kids were.) I don't know what it is, when I am in a large party setting, I tend to spend more time with the kids than the adults. I guess I have the same attention span as the youngsters so I fit in well. Once the party settles down a bit, I very much enjoy having adult conversations with my peers. We discussed literature, teaching strategies, travel stories, fine wine and beer...all of the things intelligent adults talk about and I absolutely loved it; but for the most part, I feel most at home playing with the kids.

The cabin:
I have been totally moved into my cabin for a little over two weeks now, and I still love it. Every now and then I find myself getting a little bored, but then I just go out for a walk or a jog, grab a toy and circuit bend, or just sit on my porch with a cigar and a book. I do not own a TV and I think I like that. I don't need to sit around and watch other people do stuff when I can go outside and experience the stuff myself. The only part that I do not like so far is doing dishes. Without running water, it is a pain in the butt. Not so much the washing, but the rinsing. I have not come up with a good system yet...but I am sure I will. I plan on having a friend come over and show me how she does dishes in her dry cabin. Dishes aside, the cabin rocks! The freedom of living in the woods rocks! I have been known to take a trip to the outhouse in just my boxers. It may be a 20 yard walk outside in 30 degree weather, but there is no one around so who cares. The overall freedom of Alaska is starting to set in. I am excited to go out this summer and "get lost." I plan on putting a tent in the back of the Kia and start driving. When I get sick of driving, I pull over, hike a bit until I find a good place to sleep, set up the tent and camp. Hopefully I will be by a good place to fish so I can catch my dinner...if not, I'll bring some food on my trips. Next summer I am sure I will be taking continuing education credits for my masters degree, but I told myself that this summer is going to be for me...a little treat to Bobb after my first year as a real teacher.

Two days left with students and I am done. After that, I have two workdays and I turn in my keys and have some fun!! This year has been wonderful. I have learned so much and have been blessed with great experience after great experience. My administrators have been so supportive these last nine months. I really love Randy Smith and am proud to call myself a Black Bear, our school mascot. It's funny that they picked a mythological creature to represent the school...but I guess it's ok. I do not think that Washington Wizards are real or the San Francisco Dragons (a Major League Lacrosse Team.)

Well, that's it for this post. As per Rowdy's request, I talked a little bit about my cabin. If there are any other specific things you want to know about Alaska, teaching, music, or me...please feel free to write a comment and ask or drop me an email. It can get a little lonely up here and the intro-web is my only connection to people back home...well that or a very expensive plane ticket ;-) Take care all!

Rock on
~Mr. Lockwood

A Quick Little Update

Hello all you out there in Blogging Land! It is crunch time here at Randy Smith. Seven days of school left..that's it! We had our concerts last week; Concert, Varsity, and Jazz bands were on Tuesday and Choir and Orchestra were on Wednesday. The kids did GREAT!!! I am very proud of every last one of them! If you are down with middle school music, here are a few pieces we performed:
Bands - Los Banditos, Highlights from Harry Potter, Overture de Argentina, Into the Storm (a GREAT Robert W. Smith piece), Semper Fidelis, La Noche del Burrito Picante, All Blues, and Manteca
Orchestra - Londonderry Air, Gargoyles, Hoedown, and Rosin Eating Zombies from Outer Space (if you are a middle school orchestra teacher you MUST play Rosin....it is awesome!)
Choir - What Do You Do With a Drunkin Sailor, Alleluia Canon (by Mozart), Carry Me Home, and a great Gloria Deo! Oh yeah...we also sang a short arrangement of You Are My Sunshine that I did.

It was a great week, but VERY exhausting. I still do not have internet at my cabin, so these blog updates are actualy hapening at school (like this one.) I am looking into getting internet...hopefuly soon. Well, Jazz band is going to be starting in about 25 mins, so I should get ready. Have a great day everyone!!

Rock on
~Mr. Lockwood

Goodbye Wedgewood Hello Dry-Cabin!

I am officially moved out of Wedgewood and into my cabin. I have spent the last two or three nights there. It is really cool! Last night, I sat on my porch with a very nice cigar and a diet root beer - just staring out at the trees and the setting sun. This was around 10 pm...yeah, the sun is still out at 10 pm up here. I do not have internet at my cabin yet, so this blog entry is being made from my office at school. I will hopefully have internet in the cabin sometime this month.

A very cute thing happened at school the other day that I want to share with you. I believe it was Tuesday morning when a small group of students came up to me before my first period class in a panic. "Mr. Lockwood, Mr. Lockwood!" they yelped. "They just caught a little vole in homeroom and they are going to feed it to the science teacher's snake...will you help us free it?"
    I told them that I had class and couldn't go at the moment, but after class, if the vole was not already snakefood, I would go up with them and see what I could do.
    After class, I accompanied two other students to the science room to check on the fate of poor little Taco (Taco is what the students named him.) We got there just in time. We arrived to find the vole still alive, resting in a cardboard box, awaiting the feed. I talked to the science teacher and he had no problems with us letting the little bugger go. I told the students to ask their 2nd period teachers is they could go to release the vole with me. They got permission and we went outside.
    While walking outside to set Taco free, the students joining me were giddy with excitement. Every couple of seconds one of them would squeak out, "He is SOOOO cute!" We found a nice place in some trees as far away from the school as we could get without leaving the property. I opened the box, we each pet Taco, said our goodbyes, and set him free.
    The rest of the day the two students had HUGE smiles of pride on their faces for a job well done and I had a huge smile on my face for giving the students a chance to save a life! It was a fantastic morning!

Well, I'm off. I have a little bit of grading to do, and other things around town that need to get done, then a Community Band concert this evening. I hope you all have an amazing weekend. I know I will (it has been about 80 degrees the last few days...and it feels GREAT!!)

Take care!
~Mr. Lockwood