SADLY MY DREAR FRIEND MONICA WILL BE HEADING BACK TO MISERY (aka Missouri) TODAY!!! I HAVE BEGGED MONICA TO POST ON MY BLOG WHAT SHE IS WRITING ON HER OWN BLOG......SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN A BEST SELLER NOVEL WRITER IF SHE HAD NOT GONE INTO NURSING! THE NATIVE CORPORATION I WORK FOR AGREED TO LET ME TAKE A WEEK OFF WHILE SHE WAS HERE DURING MY MONTH TO TRAVEL IF I AGREED TO GO ON A VILLAGE TRIP THIS COMING WEEK....ACTUALLY I WILL BE GOING ON TWO VILLAGE TRIPS THIS WEEK! TELLER AND SAVOONGA. IF MONICA WILL AGREE, I HAVE ASKED HER TO POST HER BLOG POSTS ON MINE WHILE I AM AWAY IN THE VILLAGES....AS FOR YOU WILL GET SUCH DETAIL FROM HER! MONICA SAID THIS MORNING THAT "THE DOG SLED RIDE YESTERDAY SO EPITOMIZED LIFE IN ALASKA...STARK AND BEAUTIFUL YET SO SEVERE. LIFE HERE JUST SLAMS YOU TO THE GROUND AND YOU GET BACK UP AND IT SLAMS YOU DOWN AGAIN...BUT IT GETS IN YOUR BLOOD AND YOU JUST KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE!" SHE SAID SHE COULDN'T BELIEVE HOW MANY THINGS HAD GONE SO VERY WRONG THIS WEEK...HOW YOU JUST GET KICKED IN THE TEETH BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN GET UP FROM YOUR LAST FALL! I SHOOK MY HEAD AND TOLD HER, "THAT'S HOW IT IS ALL THE TIME HERE! IT IS NON-STOP STRESS...IF YOU AREN'T BUTCHERING A MOOSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, YOU ARE LOSING YOUR SEAL SKIN MITTEN, OR THE SLED IS BREAKING, OR THE CAR IS IN STUCK IN DEEP SNOW IN A DITCH OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD...IT IS ALWAYS ONE THING RIGHT AFTER ANOTHER HERE! PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL THEM THAT, BUT NOW AT LEAST YOU SEE IT REALLY IS THAT WAY!" (BY THE WAY, I LOST ONE OF MY BELOVED SEAL SKIN MITTENS A FEW NIGHTS AGO ALONG THE COLD CRUST OF ROAD IRAN AND I WERE TEARING DOWN ON THE SNOW MACHINE TO RESCUE MONICA, WHOM WE HAD LEFT BEHIND LOST IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE IN THE DARK OF NIGHT IN 20 DEGREE BELOW ZERO WEATHER...BUT SHE WILL HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT STORY HERSELF!)