Sunny Days, Snowy Mountains, and Missed Birthdays

It's only when the sun shines that I realize how infrequent this happens, here on the Island of Clouds and Rain.  Today was one of those days, not a cloud in the sky all day long.  Quinlan and I went for a long walk, up the road to the highway, then east a bit to the side road and the Klawock Cemetery.  It was great to be outside and stretching our legs.  I let Quinlan off the leash, which he loves.  He takes off, but never goes too far away.  There are plenty of deer tracks and scat, and he gets his nose right down on the ground to follow their paths.  The jays were squawking, the eagles were calling, the ravens talking.  Ravens have many calls and other sounds, much more than I knew before moving here.   

There must be another cemetery, judging by the small number of burial sites, but this is the official city cemetery.  I walk from headstone to headstone, reading the names and dates of life.  Many mention service in World War II.  Several are really nice granite ones, but not all of them.  There are some simple wooden crosses, and some gravesites with no marker at all.

It never got above 37 degrees.  The puddles were all iced over, thick enough ice so that tapping them with my boot made a sound like breaking glass.  As I write this at 8:15 PM, it's down to 27 degrees, yikes.  


Kathy took the car to work this morning.  She is really enjoying her job, as apparently are her clients appreciating her counseling:  she has had several new clients referred from existing ones.  

Snow-covered mountains above the Klawock River.  I took this from the Craig-Klawock Road, in Klawock and a five minute walk from SEARHC, where Kathy works. 

This picture is from the opposite side of the Craig-Klawock Road from where the picture above was taken.  The white house is our landlords, and our house is in the trees right above it.  The water is an ocean inlet. 

On our way to Craig this weekend, we were on the edge of the city and noticed a man standing by the side of the road.  As we got closer, we could see he was holding a bow.  As we got closer, we saw he had a good sized dead buck at his feet.  There was no car anywhere in the area; hunting is not allowed within city limits, which he clearly was, so what was his story?  Wish we knew.  He surely stood out like a sore thumb.

One of our favorite new TV shows is Alaska State Troopers on the National Geographic channel.  It's like cops, only not as cheesy.  We figure it's another resource for learning about our new state.  

We missed grand nephew Joaquin Anderson's first birthday party, sadly.  It's amazing to think he's already a year old!  We'll miss nephew Stephen's 21st birthday party this Saturday, too.  It's even more amazing to think little Stephen is 21!  Happy Birthday, Stephen!