Since Oscarville does not have a post office, I should say the joys and tribulations of sending and receiving mail. Our mailing address is a Napaskiak P.O. Box. Although Napaskiak may only be a mile across the Kuskokwim River, sometimes it seems like a much greater distance.
Because of the challenges or despite them, we enjoy getting mail very much once it makes it to us! We get mail ABOUT every other week. Packages can be at the post office, but it doesn’t mean they are always picked up right away. It is easier to pick up mail in the winter because a snow machine and sled can be driven right up to the post office. This time of year getting mail takes more effort, especially if large packages are involved because it is boating season and once you park the boat there is a fair distance to walk and depending of the tide there can also be quite a bit of mud and muck to wade through.
A few weeks back both Tiffany and I knew we had packages in Napaskiak and were eager for someone to pick them up and bring them over to Oscarville. One Saturday we knew Mr. Straw, our principal, was heading to Napaskiak and we were hoping, praying, and crossing fingers that he would go over before 4pm (when the post office closes) and even more hopeful he would bring back all the mail and packages. Tiffany and I were both working at school (as we so often do on Saturdays) and Tiffany was on the lookout for any sign that the school boat was gone which would mean Mr. Straw was off to Napaskiak. Sure enough it had left well before 4pm so hope was on the rise. You’d think we were waiting for St. Nick himself (oddly enough we were because Mr. Straw’s name is Nick).
As soon as he hit shore I heard Tiffany holler; we both bolted out the front of the school trying to look cool and helpful when we were actually bouncing all over the place thinking (no we aren’t subtle AT ALL) “where are our boxes?” Someone had already carried them to our house and left them on our porch. We dashed over to our house grabbed scissors and our mini Christmas began. Tiffany’s boxes were from her parents and mine were two boxes I had sent myself before I left Oklahoma. She received her life jacket, a definite must living in a boating village and the real desired treats of M&Ms and Mountain Dew plus some other goodies.
Snail mail is without a doubt one of the nicest pleasures and luxuries here in Oscarville. I know we live in an electronic age, but snail mail cannot be beat. It is a true tangible connection to the outside world. I subscribe to various publications and I delight in receiving each and every one of them. I read them cover-to-cover several times; the first read I always save for a weekend so I can sit down and lose myself in the pages of the newest edition. Any personal letter or card I receive is also read several times and then it becomes part of my décor. Receiving pictures, notes, and packages from friends and family reminds me that distance has no place in matters of the heart. I may choose to live in a remote little rural Alaskan village, but by no means do I want to be disconnected from those I care about.
