You might be teaching in Alaska if..................

Sign posted at the Sitka Ferry Terminal

......On the first day of school your principal tells the entire student body, "High School boys, do-not keep your guns in your truck."
 (He started by acknowledging that it's hunting season)

..........When you ask your students what they did this summer and 75% of them say commercial fishing, and 100% respond with stories of fishing, hunting or both. 

..........When you ask your students what was the most unexpected thing that happened to them this summer and they show you a picture of them holding a wild goose. 

.........Your "biggest" class has 10 students. 

I've been back in Thorne Bay for a little over a week and things are good. Super busy, as-per-usual but off to a good start. I continue to be entertained on a daily basis by exactly how ridiculous some of these people are. More stories to follow, for sure, the middle school this year consists of 10 boys, no girls!!!! Lord have mercy on me.

Enjoy the rest of the summer. 

This just in......

Yeah, those are bug bites. So happy to be living inside again.

I arrived in Thorne Bay on Sunday night and went to school yesterday afternoon to check-in and learned that I will officially be teaching FULL-TIME this year. Yes, my contract has been extended. On the roster? US History, Geography, Middle School Social Studies, Middle School Study Skills, Entrepreneurship (what a joke), MS Health/PE and 3-5th Grade Health/PE. I'm really excited, but have to admit that it kind of caught me off guard. In some ways I was looking forward to just teaching part-time. I know this is a lot better for me in the long run.

The Alaskan Marine Highway

View from the Solarium

 In the past, I may have casually mentioned the fact that I love traveling via the Alaskan Marine Ferry. It is hands down my favorite way to travel, in fact I kind of wish all of my traveling could be conducted on a big slow boat.

Allow me to catch you on the latest; I departed Gustavus with my dear friend Kara Nelson on Wednesday, August 15, after my last day of work (sad). We were set to depart at 10:40 AM via Wings (small jet). I prefer to fly Air Excursions but they’ve had 3 crashes this summer, one with a fatality so I thought I would test the competition. Mistake! Long story short, Kara ended up getting on the first plane out three hours before I even boarded the plane from Gustavus. So poor Kara had to sit in the Juneau airport with all of our stuff, including my wallet and ID. As you might have imagined, I almost faded away in the Gustavus airport with no money and no food. No worries, we made it to Juneau. That night we stayed with my friend Kayl who lives right next to the ferry. We went out for drinks and ended the evening with a costumed poker party. Luckily I always travel with costumes. I’m sad to report that I don’t have any photos of this event. Just trust that it was really funny.

 Early Thursday morning Kara and I catch the ferry to Sitka. In Sitka we do all of my favorite things: hike, camp, take public transportation, eat good food, and drink beer. Sitka is home to Baronof Brewing Company with a great assortment of handcrafted microbrews. I was pretty much in heaven. 

What do you normally hike in?

I prefer hiking in a dress and a pink cardigan

Friday night we missed the bus back to our campground (not we, I missed the bus, if Kara had her way, we would have totally made it) and had to resort to hitch-hiking for the 7 miles back to camp. It was dark and raining, not particularly cold but we knew all of our stuff would be wet once we got there. Any who, we finally got picked up (what a relief, we were scared for a minute that we might actually have to walk the entire way). At this point Kara has decided that she is going to stay in Sitka for a couple of days instead of traveling back to Thorne Bay with me. I have to catch the ferry in morning, boarding time: 3:45 AM. Snap. We try our best that night to keep our stuff mostly dry and to actually get some sleep, this results in me getting up at 2 O’clock in the morning and walking the mile to the ferry terminal in pitch darkness (scary). Did I mention we are in bear country? I can honestly say that I was a little scared. Once I get to the ferry terminal, I’m drenched and have two huge bags with me (what? I’m moving!). I ask the people at the terminal if I can please board the boat (almost two hours early), and they’re like, “sure!” And that’s when the sky opened up, and the birds started singing and everyone held hands and smiled. Well, not exactly, but it was a joyous moment for me because I was tired, and soaking wet, and REALLY needing a shower. 

Once on board I went straight up three flights of stair to the solarium where all the rift-raft or poor people stay on the ferry. Basically camping on the boat deck, but it’s super cool, and I’d like to think that even when I’m older and have more money, I will continue to stay up here because it’s awesome. In the solarium there are heat lamps and lawn chairs. I laid my wet sleeping bag on a lawn chair under a heat lamp along with all my wet clothes and took the best shower I’ve taken in some time, it hadn’t even been that long but I was so gross from hiking and camping. Finally, at about 4 am, the boat departs Sitka and I am warm and dry on a boat headed for Ketchikan. 

Later Saturday morning, I wake up on the boat, naturally practice some yoga, read a book, paint my fingernails, and bask in the sun because it is sunny and warm, and I’m on a MF boat, and have nothing to do and nowhere to be, and this my friends, this is why I LOVE the Alaskan Marine Ferry. The price is comparable (usually cheaper) to flying, you have tons of space, you meet cool people, it allows you to get off at every stop, all the employees are kind and respectful, it’s clean, it’s really peaceful, AND you get to take in the beauty of the Inside Passage. For those of you unaware, this is the same route that cruise ships take. I’m telling you, every person should experience this at least once in their life.

Tonight I will arrive in Thorne Bay. I don’t know if I already mentioned this but I am really excited about sleeping in a bed inside of a house. I love camping, but my body could really use less mosquito bites and a real bed. As it is right now, pretty much every part of my body hurts. This is a combination of a gnarly hike Kara and I did in Sitka and a summer of sleeping on the ground. The last two nights in a lawn chair haven’t helped either.

By all measures, life is really good. I’m really excited about my second year of teaching and 9 more months in Thorne Bay. For those curious about my plans after that, you’ll have to wait because I’m not sure. At this point, I don’t see any reason not to return to Gustavus for another summer of kayaking, but that’s all I know.

May all beings be happy, at peace, free from suffering and filled loving kindness.

What haven't I been doing?

I know it’s been a very long time, too long, some would say. Fortunately, this absence was caused by sure awesomeness in its most magnificent form, not from sleep deprivation and lesson planning. In short, Glacier Bay is the most wild (literally) place I’ve ever been and I’ve been completely swallowed by its beauty. I’ve had lots of realizations and have done plenty of epic things worthy of blogging about, but  have not made writing a priority. For this, I apologize to all my loyal readers. I would like to think that once I get back to Thorne Bay on August 20th, I’ll be blogging on a more regular basis. It’s also noteworthy that my Internet access totally SUCKS. That doesn’t make blogging any more appealing. All of this still begs the question, What the hell have I been doing for the last month? In one word: EVERYTHING.


For starters, that teacher’s trip that I did was life altering. I truly do see my relationship with the planet and others slightly different after that experience and might be considering living in a commune on Lemuserier Island.


I’ve been guiding a fair amount, which is totally fun but completely exhausting. I’ve spent the majority of my summer at Point Adolphus on Chichagof Island, yeah, THE Point Adolphus, home to the largest congregation on humpback whales. I’ve been serenaded by the sounds of whales breathing and breaching all summer. Have you ever fallen asleep or woken up to this? It makes me think that I can never summer anywhere else. It’s a transformative experience; everyone should try it.


Carrie Sabochik came to town. That makes her my first non-family visitor, even though I consider her my soul sister. Good job Carrie! We had tons of fun. Happs included taking a 6-hour boat ride to Haines for the Southeast Alaskan State Fair for the weekend. Tons of good music, food and people. I got a feather in my hair! All around good time. On Monday we took a trip “Up Bay” which means that we caught a tour boat going up bay to the glaciers, oh man was it cool. We saw orcas, bears, puffins, wolves!, sea lions, sea otters, seals, and bunch of other birds that I can never seem to remember. The animals were cool, but the best parts was watching the glaciers calf and create huge waves.


Speaking of awesome people visiting, my best friend Kara Nelson is coming to town on Monday, woot woot! She’s going to kick-it in Gustavus with me for about a week and then we are going to depart on an epic journey, heading south, where we will eventually end up in Thorne Bay. Our plan is to get to Sitka and do some hiking. I am really excited.


So yeah, I only have like a week and a half left in Gustavus. Crazy. I can hardly believe it’s almost school time again. I must admit that I am really excited about starting my second year of teaching. I’m also surprisingly excited to get back to Thorne Bay. There is something comforting about that place, hmmmmm.


Well, I hope that every person has had an enjoyable summer. I would actually love to hear all about. While the Internet is slow, I can still receive emails at:


Emily.d.moody@gmail.com or you can reach me by commenting on this blog. Alternatively, the postal service does work up here; if snail mail correspondence is your fancy you can reach me in Thorne Bay at:


PO BOX 19298
Thorne Bay, AK 99919


I do have a cell phone that works sometimes. The number is 907-254-9026. Leave me a message if I don’t’ answer.


May all beings be free from internal and external harm. May all beings be happy, exactly as they are and maybe every beings be FREE. Peace to ALL