Thursday. Raising a New Totem Pole!

Thursday morning.  I slept even better last night:  Kathy found some naproxen, and it really took care of my shoulder.  Not only did I sleep better, but the shoulder was much better when I woke up, thankfully.

It rained most of last night, a nice gentle rain.  We are in the habit of sleeping with our windows wide open, for fresh air, and the moderate overnight temperatures up here mean we’ve kept that habit, enjoying much fresher air, especially nice with the overnight rain. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 302 pints, 2.5%, not good.  It looks like Wall Street is not happy with the so-called Washington Compromise passed this week. 

Kathy got today off:  today begins the traditional totem pole raising ceremonies, which will go on over the next three days, and includes other events throughout the day, and should be fun. 

Many hands make light work.

Walking the first totem from the carving lot to the park.

Native singers cheer on the pole-carriers.

We get up and pack up, yet again.  We run into a crowd coming north as we leave the Fireweed Lodge, spread out across the entire street.  We grab a parking place, secure the car, and join the crowd surrounding the teams of people carrying the Raven-Whale totem pole.  There are about 200 people, old and young, Natives and whites, men and women.  The totem is about 25 feet long, with an orca tail for the top, very cool.  They use about eight 4 by 4’s crossways under the totem, with three to four people on each side of the totem, holding it up.  They march forward about an eighth of a mile, then stop, sturdy sawhorse-type braces are unloaded from a trailer and placed under from and back, and all carriers lower the 4 x 4’s to the ground, while the totem rests on the horses.  This totem is being carried the furthest; the next four, two on each day, will be carried much less distance. 

I suspected this was an annual event, but it isn’t:  it occurs only when an existing totem at the Totem Park decays to the point it has to be replaced.  There is grand ceremony around the whole project.  The last time there were new totem poles were places was in 2005.

Traffic stacks up behind the procession, then follows it closely as it proceeds across the causeway bridge, which is closed down to one lane due to construction.  The carriers make it across the long bridge in one stretch, amazing!  This pole is western red cedar, I think, a good 15 inches in diameter, very heavy. 

It’s drizzling on and off, gets heavier, then lighter.  The weather doesn’t bother anyone; the temperature is about 55. 

There is two ceremonial blessings, several ropes attached to help with the raising, and then a forklift lifts it upright, as teams of people guide it straight with the attached ropes.  It will be attached somehow to a what looks just like a telephone pole, which is sunk in concrete and sticks above ground about 12 feet.  What a great opportunity we stumbled upon! 

We haven’t had breakfast, and it’s now noon, so we head back to the car, move it to Betty’s Diner, and have some lunch.  I’ve got pictures that I will get uploaded one of these days. 

Next we drive up to A Place to Stay, and find out they do have cabins available for next week, from Tuesday through Sunday, hurray!  This is one of our favorite places to stay, so far, and the owners are really nice. 

Next it’s back to Craig, to the phone company and we pick up the second cell phone.  It’s here that Kathy gets sick, apparently from something she had at lunch.  This isn’t good, and she feels bad the rest of the day.  We head for our next lodging, a Bed and Breakfast called Fur, Fish and Feathers, located in a residential area right across the street from a bay.  Thankfully, it isn’t the one I’d thought it was:  I had the wrong address.  There doesn’t seem to be anyone home, besides the two dachsunds barking their heads off, and an older gentleman doing some welding in the back garage.  I wait for him to break, and get his attention.  He explains he isn’t working, but playing, repairing the rear end of the ‘36 Ford pickup standing next to him.  He’s already installed a Ford 302 engine, nice!  Also in the garage are two cherry Harley-Davidson’s, and another inside the house, just outside our room.  The B and B is an older house:  we are in a single room down under, but it’s warm, secure, and it’ll be fine for a few days.  At least it has a private bath, always a good thing.  Kathy falls asleep soon after we get moved in.

It’s no longer raining, and I need a walk, Kathy needs her rest, so I take the dogs and take off with no particular destination in mind, just to explore the neighborhood and enjoy the fresh air. 

After meandering through the neighborhood, we end up on the main street through Craig.  We follow directions to the public indoor pool and check out the hours, continue back to the main drag,  to the Post Office where I buy some postcard stamps:  I have a very strong urge to send postcards to someone who can't even read, and who, it occurs to me, I haven't mentioned in a long time, Henry, of course!  I guess it's the picture-nature of postcards that has me wanting to send these to him.  I have vivid mental pictures of Kelli and Jared pointing out the animals and other scenes on the postcards, and reading to him.  I miss them all very much. 

Across the street to the store, to get some sick supplies for Kathy:  ginger ale, yogurt, and cheese, and 7 Up and cookies for me.  The dogs behave themselves, tied to posts, while I do my shopping.  

Now I have two bags to handle, two dogs, and my not-yet-right shoulder, a little better, and we are now 12 blocks from home, great.  Oh well, we aren’t in a hurry, take our time, and despite losing my way, we make it home in good shape, the dogs, exhausted, that objective nicely achieved!

I wonder why there are no fir trees this far north.  Spruce are fine, evergreen and all, but they have very hard and prickly needles.  Fir trees, on the other hand, are soft to the touch, and have nicer cones, to my mind.  Fir grow to the upper elevations of the Sierra and Cascade mountains, so it can’t be the cold that’s the determining factor.  I’m guessing it must be the rain:  maybe fir can’t handle so much water.  Another common tree here is the Western Hemlock, which has always been one of my favorite trees.  It grew at most elevations in Washington State, must have a higher tolerance for rain, if my theory is correct.  It’s cousin, the Mountain Hemlock, also grows here.  More on these in a future post.  Wish I had the Internet, darn it! 

Yesterday on our long walk I saw my first Alaska hummingbirds.  There were two, chasing each other, looking a bit smaller than the Anna’s I’m used to, but I didn’t get much of a look, and so don’t know their name.  I’ve also seen only one kind of butterfly, the common white cabbage kind, and looking forward to seeing more kinds. 

Sorry for the long post!  I hope these are still entertaining, despite being long and a few days late.  :-)