Subtitle: Flat Stanley Arrives in Shishmaref

TAT would like to extend a warm welcome to our newest cast member: Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley hails from North Odgen, Utah. He was sent first class to Shishmaref by my cousin Ben. (Hey Ben! Thanks for sending us Flat Stanley! We're taking good care of him, I promise!)

One look at Flat Stanley told me that he was not going to survive in Shishmaref unless he got some warmer clothes.

This is a parka. It's the traditional Inupiaq winter coat. The student in this picture is making a silly face because he's wearing a woman's parka. A man's parka wouldn't typically be purple and pink. Or have flowers on it.

Note to readers: In Shishmaref, parka is pronounced "park-ee."

This is a pretty common man's parka. It's called a hunting parka. They are all white, thus camouflaging the hunters amid the winterscape.

This isn't really the best picture of a parka, but I thought it was too adorable not to include. Ahhhhhhhh!!! Cuteness attack!!!

I took FS over to visit my friend Kate. She hooked us some supplies to make a parka. FS wasn't sure what size he was, so I had to trace him. He wiggled a little bit, but we managed to get a pretty decent outline.

We made the parka out of blue material so there would be no doubt about FS's masculinity.

Much better. The fur ruff is Tuscany lamb. FS now has a chance to make it in Shishmaref without freezing.

FS should consider himself pretty lucky. Neither Steve or I have a parka. We brought our Rexburg coats up to Shishmaref. (Hey BYU-Idaho! Thanks for preparing us a little bit for the cold!) They lasted for about 3.5 years before we upgraded. We both went with The North Face jackets. Steve got a coat in rust, and I got one in black.

Note to Readers: In the above picture, Steve is demonstrating a very UNwise way to dress around Shishmaref. Shorts are a no-no, unless you don't mind sacrificing your knees to frostbite. However, he is wearing the boots that are very typical for life in Shishmaref. We both have a pair. Thank you.

The latest addition to my cold weather ensemble is my gloves. They are made out of seal skin and lined with beaver fur. I received them as a gift in the staff Christmas gift exchange. Steve took this picture of me right after I opened them. I might have been a little bit excited about them. They are super warm and super comfy. I recommend them to anybody that in need of warm fingers.