Spring Into Summer!

June is moving along.  Warmer and drier days, and a little sunnier, have us out walking more.  We found a muskeg nearby with easy access, so took the dogs for a long walk on Sunday.  Almost all the ground is spongy at best, wet at worst, suitable only for our Xtratuffs.  There are lots of trees, all stunted by the high water table and very acidic soil.  It's like a bog.  We're hoping it'll be a good place for blueberries later in the summer. 

We took the dogs to Stan Snider Park on the weekend, and let them swim in the Klawock Inlet.  They both love to swim.  


Two weeks from tomorrow, I fly home for eight whole days.  I can hardly wait.  Every other day Kelli sends us a picture of Henry, a new Henry story, or new words he is saying, and it tugs hard at my heart that I am missing these moments.  He and I had so much fun together, and with me being out of work, I could and would pick him up at the drop of a hat.  That was before he was walking - I can't imagine how different it will be now.  I'm looking forward to taking him for walks down by the San Diego River.  He's quite a chatterbox now, too, and that will be fun.  


He surprises them with new words out of no where, like cinnamon.  I miss him so much.

The bald eagles are more numerous.  Kathy saw a black bear on her weekly trip to Hydaburg, but I haven't seen one yet.  The salmon don't run for another month, at least in the rivers, and this is the reason the bears are more visible.  People are catching some King Salmon out around the islands, and halibut.  The Council President pulled in a 40 lb. halibut today.  

No tour boat this Monday, must have been some tough weather that forced a schedule change.  Last week the boat was full, 65 people, and I only sold two shirts.  We are still having trouble getting the Cultural Heritage Tour program up and running.  I've been pulled back from it, and the person they hired didn't work out.  This has so much potential, I hope we can get it up and going.  

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice.  Today, the sun came up at 4:09 AM and set at 9:39 PM.  It actually gets light around 3:30!  We took a nice long walk after dinner today, as the sky was clear.  We walked down to our usual destination, at the curve in Big Salt Lake Road, where the Big Salt Lake overlook gives a great view of the lake and the mountains and the sunset.  It was warm and nice so we walked on down the road to the Klawock Cemetery.  It's always so quiet here.  We walked along a main highway for about 20 minutes, and saw only three cars.  The hermit thrush were singing away.  We saw a couple of bald eagles, and crows, too.  

Here's one of my favorite flowers, bunchberry, blooming right in our yard.  It's hard to believe it's directly related to dogwood trees.  

Earlier this week I took a break during the morning and went out to the docks, right behind our offices.  As I looked over the docks from the top of the ramp, I saw this brown critter jump out of a boat, lope down the dock, and disappear into the hole around a piling.  I got a pretty good look, and was sure it was some kind of weasel.  Today I went out again, hoping to get another look at him or her.  The docks were deserted.  I walked down the ramp, and got to the bottom and saw this little brown head pop up on a side branch, about 30 feet away, looking right at me.  There he was again!  He took off running down the side branch, behind a boat, so I couldn't see exactly where he went, so I cautiously walked toward where he had been.  I rounded the corner, and he was no where in sight.  I keep going, meandering down the dock.  After about three boats, he popped up out of one on my left, jumped onto the dock, and ran ahead of me, jumping into the last boat on the right.  Hmm, now he's sort of trapped, and he is a weasel, cunning and fierce, I better be careful, I thought to myself.  I got my phone out and ready to take pictures.  I was sure he had jumped into the last boat, but as I got up to it, I couldn't see him, and there didn't seem to be any place for him to hide.  All of a sudden I see quick movement, a flash of brown, and realize he's running along the bottom of the boat, toward the stern, in my direction!  He jumps up on the gunwale, and stops, staring at me, and posing!  I snapped off three pictures, and was getting ready to back off and give him room, when he suddenly made a perfect dive off the boat and disappeared into the water!  Funny how he seemed a little panicked as he ran from me, all the time having no fear of the water which he could have jumped in anywhere along the dock.  

I'm not quite as close as it looks.  You can barely see his claws in this picture, and Mink or not, he's still a weasel, and could do some damage with claws and teeth!  I was so lucky to get this close and take his picture.  He's about 18" long with a 10" tail.  I was probably about ten feet away.  Pretty cool!

This is a picture I took recently, and you can see the boat on the left of the picture.  This was what the locals call a 'minus tide,' when it's below a certain normal level.  When the tide comes in, it comes right up under our building, which is in the far right of the picture, at the end of that black pipe.  The far building is the cannery, which was used up to last year, but sits unused this year, a real shame.  


One more flower picture, and it's time for bed, or at least time to get back into my Jack Reacher book!  :-)  

I found this flower today, in a culvert, and almost passed it by, as there are lots of yellow flowers blooming, none of which are anything special.  This one is a relative of snapdragons, and even has a cousin growing in the canyons behind our San Diego home.  


Good night!