Well, it's spring. The last day of school was on Tuesday and on Wednesday the weather warmed up and the sun is shining. It feels so good after a long winter. Just a few short days ago it was still below freezing and the cold north wind was blowing.
Spring means a few things to the people here in Brevig. It's time to start spring hunting and go to spring camp. People are hunting the birds that are migrating back and the sea mammals. They go out to the edge of the ice (about 10 miles out), put in their boats and go walrus and seal hunting. The walrus hunting has been poor for the past few years but this year is going really well. It means the local folks will have a lot of meat stored away for the next year and ivory available for carving. The skin of the animals is used for hand crafts and even organs are considered good eating. So far people have shared a little "oogruk" (bearded seal) and walrus meat with us. It's actually very good. The oogruk was very tender and didn't have an unusual taste at all. Many people cut the meat into strips and hang it on posts outside to dry, it's then eaten like jerky and dipped in seal oil. Seal oil is used like ketchup is used by so many Americans. Just put it on any food to enhance the flavor. I can handle eating a little of it but too much of it is not good for my stomach.
We will be leaving on Sunday for the rest of the summer. It's too bad we always leave at the most beautiful time of the year. But, our friends and family from our former life are calling and we've missed them very much over the past 9 months. Not long now and we'll be in the swing of mainstream America where people are eating hamburgers and french fries instead of walrus blubber and seal oil.