Snowy Thanksgiving Weekend, and the Christmas Bazaar

Sunday, and time for church, at least for me.  I try the Presbyterian Church today. 

I’m not inspired with the pastor, and I only recognize one person in the assembly.  I’m not feeling it.  I enjoy the message of the sermon, if not the sermon, and decide not to stay for lunch. 

Saturday, and the long-awaited Craig Holiday Bazaar.  Our windshield wipers are working, thankfully, so off we go.  (There is still plenty of snow on the ground and slush on the roads.)  We are anxious to see the island crafts and buy some Christmas decorations and gifts.  We park across the street, and very carefully negotiate the slippery street and parking lot, both of us managing to stay upright.  The city gym is packed with tables and shoppers.  One person on the island is very creative, using her pictures for greeting cards, and doing beautiful glassware.  Our favorite bakery is there, too, and we get some cinnamon buns and apple-sourdough bread, yum.  We see our landlord’s son, who is also named Doug, and meet his wife; we see my POWER Thrift Store volunteer friends, we see the Pt St Nick Fish Hatchery person, and buy a raffle ticket from her to support the hatchery; we see the Prince of Wales Marathon table and buy four raffle tickets to win a roundtrip on Alaska Airlines, and get Kathy a fun Bling Ring (she later makes a little girl’s day by giving it to her. J); we see the everywhere volunteer and leader Victoria, and we see Kathy’s boss and his wife; and we see Craig High School students selling raffle tickets to support a state-wide art presentation coming to the island.  We find some nice Christmas decorations and a gift or two.  It’s a fun time, a big and festive event on the island. 

We had fun last night trying to knock snow off our roof.  Some had already fallen on its own, built up at the bottom near the eves in a big drift.  I got some to fall, but it was too high up to get a got shot.  Later, we heard what sounded like thunder, and knew it was the rest of the snow avalanching off.  We have a pretty steep roof, too, and the snow still accumulates.  This is all a new experience for us.  So far I’ve been successful at driving through the drifts that the snowplow creates at the head of our driveway, but I’m not sure it’s good for the car to charge these things.  I’m going to start using the snow shovel to clear a path.  

Ravens at the Craig Harbor.  There were about ten of them, hanging around, waiting for scraps.  See the weather coming in, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

 There are no signs for tire chains, surprising me.  The explanation is that this is Alaska, land of independence, and Alaskans don’t take kindly to being told what to do, so the government limits laws, leaving it up to the individual to properly equip his or her car, at least for winter driving conditions.  It’s also rue for building codes:  there are none, at least on the island.  Of course, if one is borrowing money from a bank, the lender will have their own requirements, but these are not the same as building codes.

A sunny but snowy day, at the Craig Post Office.  I took this picture from Annie Betty's, where I was having a hot chocolate while the wiper motor was getting fixed. 

 Kathy is having spotty success getting the hours of supervised counseling she needs to gain her certification.  It’s a good day if three of six clients with appointments actually show up.  For this and another monetary reason, looks like we will be hear closer to three years.  This bothers me a little:  I’ve met more than one Islander who tells me to be careful:  “We came here for two years, 17 years ago!”  There are certainly a few things about home I could learn to live without, such as traffic and crime for starters, but I don’t think I can live without the good things, such as family and friends and sunshine, for starters!

Sometimes I have the urge to look down on the ruralness of our new home:  the lack of culture, the second class credit union, the occasional electrical blackouts, the very slow speed limits, and a few other issues.   Even as I think this way, it strikes me as petty.  Not having a job and regular exercise plays into these feelings, I know.  We are working on the second issue, trying to buy an elliptical, but running into the combination of Alaska and island hassles.

I love the habit of people waving at each other as they drive, or pass pedestrians.  This is very common, whether they recognize you or not.  How cool is that?!

The birds don’t seem to realize it’s colder and snowy.  The ravens fly and call as much as ever (they have many different calls), and so do the bald eagles.  There are blue jays around.  Seagulls, maybe, are fewer.

We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving.  We missed family, of course, but made the best of it.