A Quiet Week, and a Missed Opportunity

Thursday, September 29, 2011

We find out that it is normal for a parcel post package to take a month or longer to go from Maryland to Klawock, even if it makes it to Kent WA on 17th of September.  What?!  That's just crazy.

TV out, for another day.  I search again for the guy who supposedly cuts hair, on a certain street but don't have the address, with no luck.  I need a haircut!  Some businesses don't put up signs advertising their business, which I find just nuts, especially today. 

Wednesday, September 28, 2011          I take Kathy to work, then head home to get ready for a 10 o’clock appointment at the Thrift Store and Food Bank for a tour and introduction.  Kathy calls and says her contacts are bothering her, and she needs her glasses, so it’s back to Klawock first, then to Craig and the Thrift Store. 

Victoria isn’t there yet, so I just volunteer, and am put to work, sorting through a thousand and more books, not categorized at all, culling old ones to make way for newly-donated ones.  This seems worthwhile, as there are paperbacks dating from as far back as 1969!  I’m making room, emptying crates on the floor, and opening some books up for a display, as if it’s a bookstore.  Why not?  I’m also beginning to categorize them, and will print some signs for the different categories first chance I have to do so.  Just because it’s a Thrift Store doesn’t mean presentation counts for nothing. 

Victoria arrives around noon with spaghetti lunch, and we all sit down to eat. 

There are many customers today, and It’s gratifying to see them taking advantage of this resource.  Victoria gives me a tour, and explains how the all-volunteer bank works.  I stay until it closes at 2, and then volunteer to come back on Wednesdays. 

The Great Blue Heron and Kingfisher were hanging out together, nearly side by side, on the fish pens his morning, pretty cool.  The Kingfisher then moved over to the opposite side of the pens.  When I came home in the afternoon, I heard the awful squawking call of the heron, and looked out to see him/her standing on the walkway leading to the dock, pretty funny.  There has been much more heron activity here lately, and I have no idea why.   I've seen the heron a couple of times a day lately, and have no idea what changed to attract him/her.  I still haven't seen it catch a fish yet, but I did see the kingfisher name one, and watched him maneuver it in his beak so he could swallow it down.  His/her chattering call is much nicer than the squawking noise that the heron makes.

Back home, and I take the dogs for a walk.  Lakota is much better since we started her on medication on Monday.  The vet thinks she has arthritis.  She wants her to take it easy for a couple of weeks, which we will do, so it’s a short walk. 

Afterwards, I see that the hatchery technician’s car is parked at the hatchery across the street, and I go over to see if I can get a nickel tour.  Her name is LeAn, and she is very nice, glad to have some company, and happy to have someone show some interest in her job.  I tell her about the woman I worked with at San Diego Canyonlands in San Diego whose name is Leann, with just a slightly different last name, and what a crazy coincidence that is!  She tells me most people ask about her Dad, who with his father and two sisters, spent two winter months shipwrecked at the Dixon Entrance one winter, and all survived!  His dad wrote a book about the experience, which I put on my mental reading list.  She also tells me she was college classmates and friends with daughter of Arne Fuglvog, a staffer to Senator Murkowski, who he advised on fisheries issues, who fished illegally for years.  She said he seemed like a real nice guy, and was shocked to find out he had been consciously fishing illegally for years.

No TV, second day in a row.  The satellite signal is down, for some reason.  We didn’t even have any severe wind before it happened. 

The temperature dropped today, down to the mid-40’s, instead of the rock steady 50’s, looks like Fall is coming in. 

 Tuesday, September 27, 2011

I get a call from the Craig Police Department:  they selected another candidate, bummer.  Oh well, I really wasn't looking forward to the two graveyard shifts each week anyway.  The interview process is always good experience, for the next time.

The construction across they Klawock Causeway is completed, and the traffic signal has been taken down.  Funny, as this has been their since we got to the island, and was the only signal in Craig or Klawock!  Have I mentioned, too, that there are nothing but two-lane roads on the entire island?  Yep, and those are virtually empty most of the time, so obviously there is no need for more than one lane in each direction. 

She is a POW native, did commercial fishing, thought she was done with fish, then got interested in college, and came back and found this job, which she is very happy to have it, sees great potential, for now, but doesn't get paid much, and says she won't stay around very long at this meager salary.  Budget for this hatchery is only $65,000, including her salary!  She needs to get a raise, and soon, or she is walking.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Another night with no rain, and a morning dawns with some sun!  This is three days in a row, a new record.  I take Kathy to work, then return to Craig, and the vet, to wait for Lakota’s appointment at 9 am.  The vet is very nice.  She believes Lakota’s tumor is not related to her limping.  She says the tumor should come off, before it gets infected.  She suspects arthritis is bothering her, so prescribes medicine for that.  She is booked up for the next month for surgeries, so get back to me on a date and quote. 

Next stop is the Wheelhouse Coffeeshop.  I run into Victoria and Amy, the Craig Librarian.  I do some work on the computer.  Victoria gets a call, from Craig City Manager John, who is looking for our last name, Victoria tells him I am right there with her, and brings me her phone and I talk to him.  He has a question for me.  Life in a small town, fun.

No call from the Craig Police Department. 

The Road to Naukati

Warning:  this post has very little about the road to Naukiti, but I thought it sounded melodic as a title.  :-)

Another nice sunny day on this Sunday, September 25.  How about that, two days in a row!  This is a real treat.  Quinlan and I start the day by walking down to the Bread Box to get cinnamon rolls, cookies and bread, and find it is closed on Sunday’s, bummer.  We get a nice walk at least.  I could taste those rolls, too, and the oatmeal cookies, and the delicious apple sourdough.  We’ll try again on Monday morning, and hope they still have some product left.  They only bake on Saturdays, and we forgot to stop by yesterday.

Saturday, we slept in, then did some chores.  Next stop was the Dockside Diner, a place we haven’t eaten yet, and are hoping is less expensive than other places we’ve tried.  Unfortunately, they stop serving breakfast at 11:  I was really looking forward to eggs and hash browns and pancakes.  We have lunch instead, and it is not only inexpensive, it’s delicious, too.  We will be back, and it’s going on the list of places to take Kelli and Jared. 

We drive to the Westwind Plaza, to shop at Alaska Gifts.  We run into Kathy’s boss Pete and his wife.  Next it’s the short drive to Cemetery Island to walk the dogs.  It’s nice and warm, so we sit on a bench and just enjoy the sunshine.  Blue jays are calling through the forest, a winter wren comes out to investigate, and two bald eagles cry from the top of a tree.  The eagles are huge, and with their white tails and heads, very dramatic.  Kingfishers are calling and patrolling the shoreline.  After a bit, we head to the trail, and walk it for a while.  It's a rare experience, walking through the forest without getting rained on.      

We head to Klawock, and discover there is no mail today, post office is closed on Saturdays.  Kathy wants to drive by the log house that will be our home in less than two weeks!  Yay, less than 14 days to go!  J  Before we can get there, she asks about Big Salt Lake, all the excuse I need to take a drive out the ten miles to show her a great view of this big lake.  She is impressed.  It's a classic calendar scene.  Since we’ve gone this far, we decide to make our first trip to Naukati, a remote village up north.

It’s a beautiful, deserted trip, but it is farther than we expected.  With ten miles to go, we follow the signs and turn off the paved highway onto a gravel road.  It’s well maintained. But goes on and on and on, and we wonder who wants to live this remotely.  Once there, we are even sure we are:  they have a beautiful little bay with a couple of docks, but it can’t be he town itself.  We backtrack and try some side roads through the forest, a come across a gas station and repair shop, then see a modern school next door.  Interesting, very small and spread out.  We continue down this same road a find a beautiful and big house, almost on the water.  No judgement here, everyone is free to live where they want, it is just too remote for us! 

  

The dividend amount of the Alaska Permanent Fund Program was announce yesterday:  $1,174.  This will go to each Alaskan, even children, as long as they have been here at least one year.  It’s the 30^th anniversary of the program, part of the Alaska Pipeline Project.  If one had participated since the beginning, they would have received over $33,000 to date. 

Remember, too, that there is no state sales tax and no income tax in Alaska, also due to the oil revenues the state receives.  In fact, it’s the only state in the Union for which this is true.  Cities are free to have their own make sales taxes, and many do, usually between 2 and 5 percent. 

It’s so nice to see the sun shining! 

Friday……….Kathy took the car, since she has to drive to Hydaburg.  The storm came in last night as forecast, and the wind blew the strongest we’ve seen, 25 to 30 mph, with gusts to 56 and more!  Kathy found some down trees being cut up and removed from the road, but otherwise no problems on her long drive. 

Thursday, September 22, 2011       I take Kathy to work, then head to the Wheelhouse to do some computer stuff.  I tried getting a haircut, but all three salons were booked up.  I end up doing my own little trim, and shave, and it will be good enough.  I haven't seen a barber shop, just the three salons.  I hate paying full price to get the full lonely hairs I have left cut. 

I come back home, get some lunch and head out for a walk with the dogs.  It’s raining some, not constantly.  I see a bear up the side road near the slash pile.  It seems strange to write this, even to think it, but these bears are VERY black, even at a quarter of a mile.  He sits in the road for a minute, then turns and walks across the road, and it looks to be good size.  He ambles into the forest.  The dogs never see him.  It’s been over a week since I’ve seen one.

I come back and run into our landlords.  They are both getting ready to leave the next day.  She has taken the job as a bank manager in Browning MT, where she is from, and is excited about this new job.  He doesn’t seem so excited.  She starts on Tuesday, so is flying out soon.  He is leaving tomorrow morning in his pickup, driving some stuff for her.  He’s taking ferries to Prince Rupert, then driving the 1,250 miles to Browning.  I ask him about the Bellingham ferry, and he says it’s booked up for weeks, bummer.  He is remaining here over the winter to do the contact logging for the tribe.  He’s thinking of buying a 150’ boat for a mobile bunkhouse for the crew of 30 he needs to hire.    

I have my interview at 3pm for Dispatcher position with the Craig Police Department, and it goes very well.  Linda, Dispatch Supervisor, and RJ, Sergeant, interview me with a set of questions.  They tell me it would be graveyard shifts Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, then swing shift Thursday and Friday, the day shift on Saturday.  Yuk, don’t like graveyard shifts, too much for my body to accept.  I tell no problem, but really don’t like that much.  They told me I would hear either way on Monday.

Afterwards, I have time some time before I pick up Kathy, and don’t want to drive down the gravel Pt St Nick, then turn around and drive back out, so try calling Dad, and get through, yay, and have a nice talk with him.  I call Kelli next, and have a nice talk with her, and Jared:  he asks about taking up the master bedroom carpet, and I see a mental picture of that nasty thing, wonder why we never thought of doing that, and give him the go-ahead.  He says it might be bothering his allergies. 

I head to pick up Kathy, continue talking to Kelli the whole way, and hand the phone to Kathy when she comes out, so we both get a nice long talk with home and family. 

We have dinner, and wait for the big storm to roll in.  It comes in around midnight, very windy with very powerful gusts, lots of rain. 

Everything You Wanted to Know About Salmon

Wednesday, September 21, 2011     According to the National Weather Service station at Klawock Airport, we got over 1.5 inches of rain on Monday, and over 1 inch since then.  I’ve heard that Craig, where we are living now, sticks out into the sea unprotected, so has much different weather than Klawock, but I haven’t been able to find a Craig weather station online.  I ran into Les Nelson, who is the Craig City Water Treatment Plant Manager, and they have a rain gauge there, which is right across the street from our place.  His gauge showed over 4 inches for Monday, and 1.1 inches for Tuesday, for a total of FIVE INCHES in 48 hours!  I can totally believe it!  Les had just returned from the City’s reservoir, and said there was two and a half feet of water flowing over the dam! 

I have to mention an anniversary here, a little late.  Kathy’s Mom Eileen’s birthday was September 18.  Although she passed away in March of 2010, she is still in our thoughts, and we know she is pain-free, back together with Hank and Michelle, among others. 

Last night was nice, as Parenthood season premier last night, and Glee

I haven’t written enough about salmon.  This place is all about salmon.  There is a very popular recent book called Salmon in the Trees which explains their lifecycle in essays and excellent pictures.  I’ve written about the creek nearby, where we often take the dogs for a walk.  The road goes over a newer bridge over Dog Salmon Creek.  I just learned its name, having seen a group of high school students out on a field trip, and heard the teacher talking.  Every time we walk to this creek, it has at least 100 salmon in it, many 18 inches long and longer, nice fat ones, heads all pointed upstream, swimming in place against the current.  The only trouble is, they are spent, i.e., they have already been upstream and laid their eggs, and are now back closer to the ocean, just keeping their heads pointed upstream while they die.  These are dog salmon, otherwise known as Chum salmon.  Here’s a chart I put together from Wikipedia and the Alaska Fish and Game page.

Name, spawning                         Alternate name         Size, etc.

Chinook, 1 yr in stream, 2-5 at sea; summer spawn	King	>30 lbs.; most important commercial and sport salmon
Sockeye; 1-2 yrs in freshwater lakes, 2 yrs at sea	Red	7-11 lbs.; Fees on plankton; summer to fall spawn; most economically important in AK, due to higher selling price
Chum, 2-5 years at sea	Dog	Widest ranging salmon
Pink; shortest lifespan, only 2 yrs; spend 18 months at sea, least amt in freshwater	Humpy	3.5 to 4 lbs, smallest species, yet most abundant
Coho; Sept-Jan spawn	Silver	2nd largest salmon; less numerous than Chum, Pink, Sockeye; very important sportfish

The eggs hatch into alevin or sac fry. The fry quickly develop into parr with camouflaging vertical stripes. The parr stay for six months to three years in their natal stream before becoming smolts.. It is estimated that only 10% of all salmon eggs survive to this stage.  The smolt body chemistry changes, allowing them to live in salt water.
The salmon spend about one to five years (depending on the species) in the open ocean where they gradually become sexually mature. The adult salmon then return primarily to their natal stream to spawn. The precise method salmon use to navigate has not been established, though their keen sense of smell is involved. Prior to spawning, depending on the species, salmon undergo changes. They may grow a hump, develop canine teeth, develop a kype (a pronounced curvature of the jaws in male salmon). All will change from the silvery blue of a fresh run fish from the sea to a darker color. Salmon can make amazing journeys, sometimes moving hundreds of miles upstream against strong currents and rapids to reproduce. Condition tends to deteriorate the longer the fish remain in fresh water, and they then deteriorate further after they spawn, when they are known as kelts. In all species of Pacific salmon, the mature individuals die within a few days or weeks of spawning,
Salmon that are not killed by other means show greatly accelerated deterioration (phenoptosis, or "programmed aging") at the end of their lives. Their bodies rapidly deteriorate right after they spawn as a result of the release of massive amounts of corticosteroids.

----------Wikipedia

Salmon are all bright silver in the sea. As they return to spawn, their colors may change to brown, bright red, green, or stripes. The spawning males of different species may also develop a hooked nose, humped back, or fierce teeth which help them attract a mate and defend their spawning territory.
Salmon Have Amazing Senses
A salmon can detect one drop of water from its home stream mixed up in 250 gallons of sea water. Salmon will follow this faint scent trail back to their home stream to spawn.

----Alaska Fish and Game

A Walk in the Woods, and, you guessed it, more rain

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Rain and very windy all night long.  Still, the temperature stays above 50. 

Have I mentioned there are only two radio stations we can hear from the island, one being country?  My Ipod cable is safely packed away, until October 7, so there’s no option besides the radio, and a couple of CD’s that are about worn out. 

Have I mentioned we live in one room, like a hotel room basically?  Sure, it can be fun to live in a hotel, but not when it rains nearly constantly, and there is no movie theatre!  I do have the Internet for entertainment, at least, but can't use my phone, so have to go into town to do even that!  Going out to eat, something we enjoy, is challenging:  seems only very expensive restaurants stay open beyond six o’clock, too.  Oh, and it rains a lot, though not always hard, in case I haven't mentioned that fact.  Yes, this 'hotel room' living has lost it luster. 

I take Kathy to work, minus dogs, and go for a much-needed drive.  Today, for some reason, I’ve come to my senses, and I’ve started wearing my deluxe rain jacket, instead of a sweatshirt, when I go out.  It’s not so much that it rains hard, but it’s always warm, so the sweatshirt is too hot.  I’ve also got my hiking boots, which are much more water resistant than my other shoes.  Headed north, no particular destination in mind, reveling in not having the dogs along, and just driving.  I get out of range of the NPR station, so turn off the radio.  No deer, no bear, no birds, just forest and light rain.  I see a US Forest Service road, and a sign for a trailhead.  I continue down the highway until I find a safe place to u-turn, and head back to the trailhead. 

It’s two miles up a gravel road to the 20-mile Trail trailhead, so called because it’s at the 20 mile mark north of town.  I park at the trailhead and take off hiking.  The trailhead kiosk says this is a 1.5 mile trail that ends at beaver ponds on the Harris River, with an elevation gain of just 100 feet, and takes about 40 minutes.  Looks like a nice easy walk in the woods, just what I need.  It seems to have stopped raining, too.  I take off, enjoying the forest, not planning to make it the whole distance, but see where I end up.  I hear jays calling, some other bird, and cross lots of new bridges.  The trail is deserted and quiet.   I only go up about half way, to the 34^th location, as counted by the tin signs, located along many of the creek crossings and all of the new bridges.  I’m still anxious about leaving the dogs inside for so long, and still have errands to run before I get home, so I find a good place to turn around, and do so.

I see three alder trunks close together, and my mind instantly jumps to my favorite sculpture in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, The Three Graces, or  Les Trois Graces, by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.  A check on Wikipedia shows there are many sculptures and paintings of the three women, but this is the only one I remember having seen.  How interesting, that these beautiful natural alder trunks would evoke that far away, in distance and time and circumstance, memory.   

I turn in my application for dispatcher with the Craig Police Department, and my volunteer application with the US Forest Service.  Jobs and opportunities are very slim around here, got to get something going. 

The storm knocked out or satellite TV last night, and it’s still out.  Thankfully it comes back.  Oh, this reminds me, Craig has a wonderful little library, which we are taking full advantage of, in use of their wi-fi, computers and printer, and fiction books.  J

Monday, September 19, 2011

This is an important day in the history of the Wescotts:  Henry made it to the top of Cowles Mountain for the first time, riding on the front of his Dad!  Jared told me Henry had a great time, waving to everyone, calling “Go” for every dog he saw (that’s what he calls dogs), and enjoying the ride.  Wow, this is so cool!  He follows in the steps of his grandmother, grandfather, grand uncle, grand aunt, mother, father, cousins, and his great grandmother Mary Wescott, who first climbed the mountain in 1948.  Great grandmother climbed it with her freshman class at San Diego State College, to follow a tradition and re-paint the giant S that used to grace it's southern slope, and is why it was called S Mountain for years.

Not much else today, besides high winds and driving rain.

Random Observations and a Lucky Confrontation

Today is Sunday, September 18, 2011.  I take the dogs for a walk, the first since Lakota was skinned on Friday (more later).  The light rain stopped, so we stayed out longer than planned, which the dogs appreciated.   

Next we went grocery shopping, our treat for the weekend.  Yesterday we relaxed, all day.  It was a special day, too, as it marked the half-way point in our last stay before we move into our own place.  Three weeks from yesterday (which better go a lot quicker than the last three weeks have gone), we will pack up our room and take the last trip down Pt. St. Nicholas Road, to 6755A Hemlock Rd, in the city of Klawock.  That will be a day of real celebration.    

We, er, I, got Lakota ‘trimmed’ on Friday.  Kathy said get her trimmed, I heard ‘shaved,’ so, Lakota no longer has any fur.  She has slowly adjusted, as has Kathy.  At least we won’t be finding her fur everywhere for awhile, wish will be a refreshing change.

Rain today, rain yesterday, most likely, rain tomorrow.  Oh well, at least it’s not cold.

Thursday was nice, at least for a while.  I decided to try the trail up Sunnahae Mountain again.  The sign had been changed, saying the trail was closed beyond the log bridge, about a quarter of a mile up the trail.  Bummer.  We walked all of the improved section, which has been widened, flattened, and covered with crushed rock.  Abruptly, the rock ends, the trail narrows a lot, and boot-grabbing roots cross the trail frequently, no fun.  We kept going anyway, and it got progressively tougher going, at least for Lakota and me.  Quinlan recognized only challenges, no obstacles, and kept pushing easily upward.  This is a steep trail for much of the way.  After walking a couple of narrow, slippery notched-log stairways, I came to my senses, and turned around.  The challenges were not over, though, as Lakota had somehow managed to get up a section of trail that she could not get down.  My shoulder hurt from a near fall, and I was really hoping I would not have to lift this overweight dog, even half of her.  Luckily, we found a detour that worked for her.

This is getting old, this interim living.  Our pantry is half of our bureau, our microwave is in the bathroom, tv dinners are old, wieners are old, short dinners are old, driving the beautiful Pt. St. Nicholas Road is even old.  The scenery will never get old.  Watching the nine foot tides swing twice a day, watching the birds, seeing an occasional otter, seeing the forested mountain across the bay, even seeing a few salmon try to swim up the little creek next to our place, all very fun.  Hiking the road is fun: even though it’s a road, it’s through the forest. 

Friday, September 16, 2011    I haven’t updated my blog in five days, not sure why.  Maybe things are getting ‘normal’ around here.  I took more pictures today, for my Signs series, these in Klawock.  I think signs tell a story, and might provoke questions from my readers which I haven’t thought to write about previously.

I did go to an excellent lecture on the geology of Prince of Wales Island Friday night.  It was given by a geologist for the US Forest Service, and touched on anthropology and glaciation, and was very interesting.

On my way over, I got to use my new Alaska drivers license for the first time.  I was speeding, and got pulled over by the Craig PD.  He clocked me doing 44 in a 25 mph zone, dang it!  I had no defense.  I think he got an urgent call at the right time, as he came back to the car and told me to slow down, and that was it.  Phew! 

I got my Alaska driver license this week, an important step toward our move.  This also changed my voter’s registration to the land of Representative Don Young, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and the second senator, whose name escapes me.  This is strange, living in a state, a huge state, with so few citizens it only has one Representative.

Kelli and Jared made reservation to come visit us!  Wow, it will be so fun to see them and Henry!  They arrive late October 13, barely five days after we finally, FINALLY move into our place!  October is going to be very exciting!

We get pretty good TV here, including local stations from Seattle.  This makes me feel more connected to home.  It’s odd to watch TV that is an hour ahead of us though.

I was driving between cities today, after having gone to the mailbox and the credit union, thinking to myself what a pain it was to drive back and forth.  Why was I thinking about this, since we commonly drove these same distances and longer, back home?  Then it hit me:  it’s not the distance, but the frequency, the result of our paring down to one car.  I’m driving in the morning, taking Kathy to work, then driving in the afternoon, to pick her up.  These two round trips were not necessary in San Diego, because we had two cars.  Ah, now I understand, it’s the result of a conscious choice.  This makes it easier to live with. 

Random thoughts:  Henry might be left-handed; Henry tasted his first Jamba Juice this week (with his love of fruit, easy to see he would like these); there are several pay phones in both cities, a strange site; 

Klawock School District Student Enrollment:  2001 = 190, 2011 = 136

High School Graduates:  2001 = 11, 2011 = 11

Teacher Ratio:  2001 = 14:1, 2011 = 8:1!

Monday, September 12, 2011        Whoa, what is going on:  another sunny day dawns, our third In a row!  Awesome!  The temperature actually hit 68 yesterday, and may do the same today!  We’ve lost our blanket of clouds, which means the overnight temperature is dropping below 50, but that’s just fine by us.

Either I have the only car alarm on in Craig and Klawock, or no one else locks their car.  Our Subaru always beeps when you use the remote to lock it, and I never hear anyone elses car beep.  I tried locking it on the inside of the door, to see if that would keep the alarm from going on, but it doesn’t.  I wonder what people think of us, that we lock our car everywhere we go?  It’s just habit, plus we do still have a few valuable things in the car that we haven’t unpacked, so that’s a good reason to lock it.  I’m wondering if I’m insulting people here. 

I took a series of pictures today of signs around Craig, and posted them in a new album on my Facebook page. 

Dinner at Ruth Ann’s, for a nice change, but it was too much food, the wait was too long, and it cost was too much, so not pleasant.  Plus, the last client Kathy had before I picked her up was sitting to tables away! 

Kathy still suffering from cold.

Here are some latitudes* and longitudes to help you all place where we are:

Craig, Alaska is:  55° 28' 35" N                           /  133° 8' 54" W Wismar Germany:  53° 54' 23" N                      /   11° 26' 33" E Pittsfield, Maine is:  44° 46' 57" N                    /  69° 23' 0" W Burlington, Vermont is:  44° 28' 32" N            /  73° 12' 45" W Bellingham, Washington is:  48° 45' 35" N    /  122° 29' 12" W Latitude is one factor in the climate of a place, but obviously just one of several.  I’m surprised that Bellingham is farther north than both Pittsfield and Burlington.

*the length of north–south latitude difference is about 69 miles.

A Sunny Warm Weekend, Finally!

Hey, here's some question for my followers.  The Blogger shows ten of you officially following this blog.  Does that mean you get an email notice each time I update it?  For those of you not signed up, how do you get notice I've update it, or do you?  I'm trying to understand better how this blogging works.

Anything I could do to make my blog easier to follow, or more interesting?  Any feedback is greatly appreciated, and I do very much appreciate the comments I've already received. 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since 9/11.  Our hearts go out to the family members who lost loved ones in the attack.  It’s still unimaginable to me, ten years later.  We’ve watched a couple of testimonials from first responders, and their stories make the attack so real, so amazing the actions they too to help others, without regard to their own safety.    

Kathy is nursing her cold, and sleeps in.  I get ready and go to St. John’s Catholic Church.  This is a beautiful church, and a friendly congregation.  We’ve met several people there.

It’s a beautiful day, the second in a row, a real treat.  Priest JP is leaving tomorrow to visit Ketchikan, and the area Bishop.  I leave before the final hymn, not feeling particularly social. 

Work continues on the Klawock River Causeway, now the other side.  It’s been under repairs since we arrived, and provides one of only three construction traffic signals currently on the island. 

Next stop, the grocery store, where we seem to end up nearly every day.  I need to pick up some Vick’s VapoRub, pseudo-pseudophed, hot chocolate, tea, and a mug, since we don’t have mugs, ugh.  Oh, and a Glamour and a Redbook, too.  Kathy has already seen this month’s Us and People, so have to expand out.  I also pick up the Weekend Edition of the Ketchikan News, and see Island News, the weekly that covers some news on Prince of Wales Island.  Wait, what’s this, the top headline reads “SEARHC Hires Wescott As Behavioral Health Clinician,” and there is Kathy’s smiling face!  Ha, what a nice surprise!  She will be tickled.  I buy two copies.  J 

It’s so nice not to have the dogs with me.  I just don’t trust them at our place, and they can’t get out to use the bushes, either.  So, I take them with me, and let them out often, and have them ready to go for a walk when I get the chance. 

Back to home.  It really is a beautiful day, must be above 60 degrees.  It really is a treat to see detail in the forests across the bay, instead of just the uniform dark green underexposed on the gray cloudy days, often with the clouds hanging well down from the ridges. 

I drive past home and continue down the road toward the spot I found hiking on Friday, to measure the distance to quantify how much exercise I’m getting.  I need badly to get back into regular exercise.  It seems the birds are also very happy to see sun:  I see more lots of robins along the road, and hear and see Stellar Jays scolding.  Jays can be a real pain, under some circumstances, or, they can be a cheerful reminder of family memories.  They represent something very familiar, our family camping trips on Palomar, and Yosemite. 

Kathy is feeling better, got more rest, and some sun.  She’s glad I’m back with medicine, tea, a mug, and magazines.  I get some lunch, and then take the dogs on a return hike to the spot we found on Friday, this time with binoculars.  It’s warmer, and the hill at the beginning seems longer and steeper, which is fine, since I’m after some real exercise.  We are going to hike quickly out, then leisurely home, since I think the return hill is steeper and longer coming home, and Lakota needs me to go slower.  Lots of water has dried up, but there are still some creeks running. 

The forest we cut through and the shore we reached on Friday seem quieter today, maybe because of the time of day.  I do spot otters seemingly watching us:  they poke their heads above water, nothing more, and seem to be looking right at us.  They won’t come closer, and they won’t show any more than just their heads.  Bummer.  At least I can see more detail with my binoculars.  The shoreline is very quiet, just one kingfisher.  The ever-present seagulls are on the point of land at the mouth of the river.  There must be close to 100, spread out.  I’m not a sea and shore bird expert, but there may be three, even four or five different species.  I do spy two groups of Canada Geese, too, grazing in the grass, just apart from the seagulls.  I hear a bald eagle scream, but never see one.      

The walk back is nice.  We take it slow, enjoying the sun and the quiet. 

Saturday, September 10, 2011     A beautiful, sunny day dawns, wow!  We sleep in, Kathy needs her sleep to fight of this cold.  The Quigley’s both left on Thursday, Kenny coming home Monday and Susan on the 22^nd.  I need to pay them for this week and next.

We take the dogs for a walk, and they end up chasing salmon on the creek up the road.  It keeps getting warmer, and Quinlan has rolled in a maggoty decomposed salmon, so we wash the dogs in the garden hose, their first since we left San Diego!  They are all set to get their nails trimmed, and Lakota will be cut back, next Friday.  I brushed the carpet, literally, to pick up the dog hair, then vacuumed yesterday. 

There are no snakes on POW, or poison oak.  You haven’t read anything from me on mosquitos either:  whether it’s the very wet summer or what, they have not been around, and we keep our windows open at night, with no screens.  I’m sure this lack of the state bird is only a temporary situation, but we’ll enjoy it while we can.

We are back, and get a text from Brady, ready to Skype us in to Henry’s birthday party.  He is ready to blow out the candles.  We tried skyping once before, but they could not hear us, even though we could hear them.  Unfortunately, we have one issue after another.  The picture is fine, but it’s very frustrating to me not to be able to talk back and forth.  We try speaker on cellphones, but our connection comes and goes, adding to my frustration.  I see Pat and Mark and Dan and Lynn, and Brady and Kelli and Faith, and Mom and Dad, and Henry of course.  Brady works very hard to fix the problems.  Finally he tries something else, but the pictures are stamp-sized, so far from ideal.  We see Henry get a cupcake from his birthday cupcake cake, and we see him ride push and ride the Tonka dumptruck we bought for him, so fun! 

Oh, I thought of another national brand on the island:  Wells Fargo Bank.  I guess they truly are everywhere.  Two more things in common with home:  blackouts, and having to boil water!  J 

Sunshine and Watersheds

Friday, September 9, 2011

Kathy takes the car, since she must travel to the Hydaburg office each Friday.  It’s a nice sunny day, so I and the dogs are not trapped in our apartment this time.  I do some work, then head off for a nice long walk up, farther out Port Saint Nicholas Road.  It’s uphill to start, then levels off.  I come to the spot where someone slipped off the road and crashed down an embankment into the low trees.  The road is muddy along here, and with the heavy rains we had, I can see how this might happen, especially at night, and then being surprised by a deer or a bear crossing the road, it’s even easier to understand.  They had a nice cushy landing in the alders, probably didn’t even get hurt or damage the car.

We keep walking, enjoying the chance for a nice long and dry walk.  There is no sound but the occasional little waterfall cascading down from the hill on the left, flowing along the road.  These flow along the road, then come to an underground pipe and flow to the inlet on our right.  We've had plenty of wet walks, that's for sure, mostly down to the new bridge over the creek that has many many dying salmon, swimming in place, noses pointed upstream.  It’s too late for wildflowers, and the trees are silent, no birdsong.  I can hear seagulls screaming once in a while:  we are close to the waters edge, though we can’t see it through the dense forest.  We come to a long downhill section ( not realizing how steep it is until the return trip!).  I find gap and a trail in the forest and we walk through to the shore.  I’m hoping by sitting quietly by the shore we will see some birds and wildlife. 

The water is very still, glassy, very picturesque against the forested mountain across the way.  The bright sun is a nice reprieve from all of the clouds and rain we've had almost constantly.  Shores here, by the way, are always made of rocks.  I read there is only one sandy beach on the entire Prince of Wales island.  Also, there is a twenty-something foot swing in tides where we are, twice a day, and the trees grow very close to the high tide line, so there are not long stretches of shore to explore. 

I hear a winter wren, and stand still, getting a glimpse of him when he inevitably hops out of the dense trees to get a better look at us.  These birds are evenly brown, no other color or distinguishing marks, but I’m happy to see any bird at this point, and their habits are fun, chatting to themselves as they examine branches for insects, hopping around from branch to branch and tree to tree.  Wrens always seem very busy, and almost cheery at the same time.

We get to the shore, and immediately bother a kingfisher with our presence.  There habits here are the same as in San Diego, very skittish, and not shy about letting you know you disturbed them, calling loudly as they flee down the beach away from you.  I appreciate this habit:  if they flew away silently, I might not even know they were there.  I see and hear them often, and enjoy their blue and white color and crested head; I wonder why the other famous fish-catcher, the osprey, is nowhere to be found.  I’m sure they inhabit Alaska, and I would think the island is prime habitat for them, but haven’t seen one yet. 

We are sitting quietly by a couple of big downed trees, and I suddenly notice a shorebird at a creek mouth 30 feet away, dipping, but it’s not a Dipper, or at least not like one I’ve ever seen.  It is the right size, but the color is way off, light brown on top, white below, but the size and habits sure seem like Dipper.  It is keeping and eye on is, but doesn’t move from it’s spot, just keeps dipping.  It seems to be a young bird:  do Dippers look like this when young, then turn brown all over as they mature?  I wish I’d brought my binoculars with me.  

We walk the shoreline, and find a backbone and maybe a shoulder bone, all picked clean.  It's way too big and substantial to be a salmon; I'm guessing maybe a seal?   I spy something breaking the surface of the water, maybe 30 yards off shore.  It's too far away to see detail, but doesn't look enough or act like a duck, so I'm guessing it's an otter, cool!  He seems to be watching us.  He dives and then surfaces 15 or so feet away, only showing his head above water.  He keeps doing this, as we sit quietly.  He never comes closer, so after ten minutes we move on up the shoreline.  He seems to follow us a bit, then disappears.  Again, wish I'd brought my binoculars.  I'll definitely have to come back here, better prepared.

Kathy comes home a little early.   She's still recovering from her cold.  

Thursday I went to the meeting of the Prince of Wales Watershed Association.  This is a group is in the planning stages, with a mission to educate the public about the value of healthy, intact watershed on Prince of Wales Island.  There are groups like this all over Alaska.  The National Forest Foundation is stewarding this effort.  A coordinator has been hired, and now bylaws and an interim board are being formed.  This was my second meeting, and I came away as an interim board member, very cool.  I am sure my experience in nonprofits and as a member of the Serra Mesa Planning Group for five years will be useful, and it will be great to be involved, especially with a group just getting started.  I also met two key people involved in resource protection on the island, so this was a very successful meeting.

CAUTION, LEAVING THE "NO WHINING ZONE," you have been warned.  :-(

The place we are staying is gorgeous, even with the cloudy rainy weather.  It would be great, for a vacation, or even a summer house.  However, it's apartment living, with the owner's daughter and kids and boyfriend behind us, with thin walls.  The TV audio goes up and down about 30 decibels between stations, and we are very sensitive to sounds traveling through walls, so that's a pain (we do, however, get lots of channels on the dish, and rarely any loss of signal despite the clouds and rain, very nice).  The cell reception is sooo frustrating!  We get a call, and then it drops, right in the middle of a sentence.  It's useless to try and call someone.  Fortunately texting works much better, but not perfectly, and my phone keypad takes me about three times longer than it should to type a message, ugh.  On top of all this, we have to drive about four miles over a gravel road, half of it filled with potholes, to get somewhere with better reception.  They are working on improving the road, but with the constant rain, it sometimes seems like the project takes two steps forward and two back. 

Oh, in the Took It For Granted Department, the kitchen issue leaves a lot to be desired.  They did let us move a microwave up to our room, but you all know that is better, but not best.  

So, between just having our own place, having more than one room, having our own kitchen, being able to cook a full, home-cooked meal, we are just going feel like we are in heaven when this is over!  On top of that, we will be a five minute drive from Kathy's SEARHC office.  Two weeks down, four to go!  Come on, October!

Check Out Our Alaska Plates!

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

It rained through the morning and into the afternoon, but not heavy.  Last night, it cleared up in the evening, and we saw the moon rise over the mountains across the inlet.  It was beautiful, and reminded us how few times it’s been clear enough to see this since we got here. 

The goal today was to get AK driver’s licenses and license plates.  The bad news, AK DMV here is only open four hours and only twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays; good news, there was only three people in front of me when I got there, even though only one person works the office!  Ha, there’s a huge positive for living in a very small town!

So, first is the driver’s license.  Not so fast:  they want my current license, my passport, and my social security card!  What?!  If I have that, it’s still packed away, for another month.  Who does Alaska think they are?  California, with 33 million people and the eighth largest economy in the world, doesn’t require a Social Security card, for pete’s sake!  Oh well, can’t get that today.  Let’s try the license plates.  Keep in mind this is a small office in the corner of the first floor of the two-story Craig Police Department building.  All I need, luckily, is my current registration and $100, and I’ve got both.  She looks over my application, and then pulls a set of license plates out from under the counter!  I’m going to walk away with a set of plates, cool!  No waiting for them to be mailed from Juneau.  They are the old style, plane yellow, but they’ll do the job, and make us more officially Alaskans!  GFY 153:  I see Goofy’s batting average in the cartoon where he played for the Yankees for ten games.  (As Cookie ‘Chainsaw’ Randolph would say, “Are you just MAKING that up?!”  YES!  J)  They do have some really cool license plates, but those have to be ordered over the Internet, after one already has plates, so we’ll think about that next.

Next, the dogs have been very, very patient while I ran errands and hoped the rain would stop or slow down, so it’s time to go take them for a walk.  I head to Cemetery Island, our favorite place to walk them.  It’s always deserted, which means the dogs can go off-leash, which they love.  (They always stick to the trails and stick close, so don’t molest the wildlife.)  The rain has slowed somewhat, but continues.  Driving in, all we see are the 15 or so Canada Geese grazing on one of the ballfields.  I continue past them and drive to the spot where the long trail starts.  They deserve a nice long walk, and the red alders provide fair protection from the rain, so we walk the entire trail, find it is a deadend, strangely, and turn around.  Lakota is lagging behind, so I know we’ve had a good walk. 

Back at the car, and it’s time to put the new plates on.  Away go the paper plates from the dealer, and I don’t like their frames either, so I take them off.  The new plates look a little bare, but still better, and so cool, we are Alaskans!   I’ll find some nice frames from a local or regional nonprofit organization I’d rather help promote.     

It has been a pretty good day for birds, relatively speaking.  Sittting at the DMV parking lot waiting for them to open, a nearby tree was visited by not one, but three Stellar’s Blue Jays.  I’ve seen a couple of these, and heard a couple, but this is my first sustained look at them.  They mean mountains and forests and camping to me.  They were almost pests on Palomar Mountain, our family’s favorite local place to camp for decades and generations. 

I pick up Kathy for lunch, and we open an account at our local credit union, Tongass Federal.

Okay, we are in Alaska, right, land of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, pumping billions of gallons of oil south to a port.  Alaska residents get a check each year from the oil they sell.  So, why am I paying a constant $4.519 a gallon, with no movement at all since we got here?  Hmm, must be that darned island syndrome factor.  Luckily we don’t have to drive far for the most part. 

Here is a little information on the impact of the pipeline to Alaskans, taken from Wikipedia:

Since the completion of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1977, the government of the state of Alaska has been reliant on taxes paid by oil producers and shippers. Prior to 1976, Alaska's personal income tax rate was 14.5 percent—the highest in the United States. The gross state product was $8 billion, and Alaskans earned $5 billion in personal income. Thirty years after the pipeline began operating, the state had no personal income tax, the gross state product was $39 billion, and Alaskans earned $25 billion in personal income. Alaska moved from the most heavily taxed state to the most tax-free state. 

It now delivers about 700,000 barrels of oil a day.  Each barrel produces about 25 gallons of gas!  Again, why am I paying even more than San Diego is paying?!  I suppose I shouldn’t complain, since I won’t be paying any state income tax, and may get a check from the state after we’ve been here a year. 

The thermometer has been a very short one, too, which is nice.  It has varied little outside of between 51 degrees and 58 degrees.  This works for us:  one habit we’ve been able to maintain is sleeping with at least one window open, enjoying the fresh and cool air. 

All of Alaska has the same area code, 907; all Alaska, except the extreme western islands of the Aleutian chain, is in the same time zone, which seems like a stretch for a state that is 2,261 miles wide (it’s also 1,420 miles long). 

Another factoid:  half of the 710,231 residents of Alaska live within the Anchorage Metropolitan Area, making the most sparsely populated state in the Union, on average, actually even more sparsely populated.    

By the way, I did find a national franchise on the island, when I thought there was none.  I’d ask people for their guesses, but I don’t think anyone would get it without lots of clues:  it’s NAPA Auto Parts.