"Black Friday!"

Since we're on a photo hiatus and I'm being stubborn in not wanting to pay to post our photos (should we ask the 7 faithful blog followers to help start a donation account?! Kidding...)....I can still write plain text, which is actually easier and quicker to whip up of course.

Last night the power went out around 2am. We were expecting more of this on Thanksgiving when a good storm took life on the water but we only had a flicker outage (right as Santa made his appearance during the Macy's parade--classic!). So overnight was a surprise. Technically it happened Saturday morning but I chuckle to think we had a real "black friday" because when I woke up to realize we had no power, Andy looked out the window to see total darkness. It was like camping. We don't have street lights anyway, but our view down the hill was swallowed.

Why write about a power outage that lasted 2-3 hours? Well, it's our first with a baby. I woke up because the baby monitor receiver, which recharges overnight, started beeping at me with no juice. Then I heard Miss A cry downstairs. I'm glad we could hear her faintly! Andy went down and of course her nightlight was out, but thankfully the darkness didn't seem to bother her. As we nestled back into bed we listened to beeping downstairs, just outside of A's room....the smoke alarm. It needs a fresh battery when not electrically connected. Reminder to self and others, check those 9 volts. Thankfully, again, that noise didn't bother A.

It's just those little things that take on new meaning with a wee one (like temporarily losing the baby monitor to Mother Nature and trying to sleep peacefully without).

As we inventoried our dependence on electric heat and our freezerS of precious fish and food, Andy decided we're saving up for a generator. Not a bad idea to have on hand for Alaska.

*Amy

Thanks, Alaska!

Last week over 600, 000 Alaskans received their annual pay out from the state of Alaska: the Permanent Fund Dividend. One baby was excited to receiver her first. For some reason her parents didn't choose direct deposit, but an old-school check. So the deposit is ready to be made, an investment for her future.

Miss A is so thankful for the treat she tried to eat her original check. Therefore I made a photocopy to memorialize #1 in pictures. She tried to eat the fake as well. Clearly she's teething again at the moment. Our task is figuring out a smart way to invest (some of) her savings for the next 18 or so years down the road. Ahhh, the decisions parents must make.

Truly, the jackpot is actually living in Alaska. That's what I thought while on our mountainside afternoon stroller "hike" today.

We had a wet, kinda crummy summer weather-wise. I think the number of sunny days can be shown on one hand, maybe the start of a second. I'm not exaggerating. A recent string of lovely fall days has been most welcome. I'm more motivated to get our ugly used Bob stroller rolling. Smell the sunshine, smell the change of seasons.

All else is well and we enjoyed a nice visit from Grandma J last week. Thanks for coming and we'll see you as you come through south from Nome!

*Amy

It's A Bird...No, it's an Eagle

The eagle traffic has been heavy and steady this year. Actually, I think it's just that I'm better at spotting them than from my first year in Sitka. As of late I don't see as many as often, but during the winter, spring and most of summer our national bird flew overhead and around our home and island all the time.

It's a normal day to see several of them playing in the wind passes and currents from the mountain behind our house. They can fly by so close I duck for fear of bird crap. Then there's the dead tree not far off the road whenever we drive toward town. Usually I count 3+ hanging in that tree. I can tell their method of sailing over the harder work the ravens exert to cover the same distance. Their golfball heads pop among the trees while we spend time on the boat.

Sometimes they're not so subtle or natural, but downright obvious, like when a juvenile landed in a convenience store parking lot and just starting walk around. Or when I pulled away from the McDonald's drive-thru (I know, I know!) and saw one also doing a close drive-thru (our McD's has an awfully scenic parking lot view).

When an eagle passes overhead and we're sitting on our porch, I'll point and say to Andy, "bird." He doesn't even look up. I say, "hey, you missed a good one of an eagle!" He said, "then, say it's an eagle, not a bird." Although scientific categorizing says I'm technically right, to Andy--and most of us--the eagle is so much more than just a "bird." Their grace, strength and beauty is so romantic/captivating.

We're amateurs with photos and we certainly don't try to take pictures of eagles, but sometimes the moment comes together for us to document just one of our many encounters.

 Photos by our friend, BV, while playing on our camera aboard the Cajun Queen.

 Golfball heads. One above and at least three in the picture below.

 No eagle eye needed to spot the eagle in the picture, below. 

Just like the look of the moon one evening from our yard in early July. :)

*Amy

the Nome boys...

...came down to Sitka. Fantastic. Tony (G2) and Cole (G4) spent nearly a week with us at the end of July. Man, did those guys fish! And they did awesome. Andy has to show off pictures of the catches, including an interesting sea creature hooked from the "mudhole." Cole took to Southeast like butter on bread. I couldn't wait for the end of my work day when they'd come back from the boat. The excitement was explosive as 6-year old Cole told me every critter they spotted and all that was caught. Every day on the boat they wrote down the wildlife list on a paper plate with a Sharpie and Cole would wave it at me as the day's stories spilt. Three Gorns on a boat get things done.

We also enjoyed a couple of days at the Tom Young cabin. The cabin is owned by the City of Sitka, about an hour boat ride away. Andy reserved two nights (just like a public use cabin) last winter and he was stoked. It's just across a little body of water from the Goddard (natural) Hot Springs!

We all went along with our good friends and their two boys, same age range as Cole. I think the boys got along swell. We had lots of excitement on our adventure including regular visits from a male deer on our beach (or, its beach?)--just one week before deer hunting season! That was one lucky critter, for that weekend anyway.

Miss A approved of the cabin's rustic comfort.

One afternoon some of the guys returned after a small fishing excursion on our friend Matt's boat.  A line was thrown into the water before returning to the cabin for the fun of it. Cole called it (he had a knack for knowing when something would hit and what it could be), and a 100+lb. halibut was given over! G2 got to harpoon it!

 Bravery in touching the eyeballs.

 Cheddar jalapeno moose dogs over an open, contained fire

Cole often sought out his little cousin to play or interact with her.
It was the SWEETEST. 

 G4 never tired of spotting & catching tiny crabs near the shoreline.
And they were EVERYWHERE!

First time solo in a kayak

 Behind the cabin in the woods are suspended old fishing nets, Swiss Family Robinson style. Miss A's friend Naomi put her in it and played with her.

Jetting across the water to soak in the warm springs on a sunny day was what the doctor ordered. The paddle back to our beach was great too. Plus beach fun, campfires, happy kids and good weather (eventually) made all the gear packing and hauling worthwhile.

We are grateful for the great visit. These guys are welcome anytime. And I think they hauled back to Nome enough fish to not forgot us on the other end of the state. G4 asked his Dad if they could come back to Sitka in 2 weeks. Miss A loved the head rubs and funny talks with her cousin. 

We miss you Uncle Tony and cousin Cole!

*Amy
ANDY: you're up next on the blog, okay??! You gotta show the captured sea creature.

Full Term

Hurray! 37 weeks and feeling good about this marking of time. We reached full term during a very snowy Sitka day. We are no means new to snow but given that all last winter we never laid eyes on a shovel and never scraped off our cars, this week of luscious, wet snow brings back familiar wintry tasks and feelings.

Watching Andy shovel (since I can't!), wearing warm gear and taking in the breath-taking snowy scenery makes this winter so far a really great one.  Love it today as the rain will come again and wash it all away.

This past week we had our third and final ultrasound with bebe--just to confirm her position, which IS head-down. What developments in seeing a defined spine, close-up of her mouth practicing breathing by gulping amniotic fluid in and out. Just as we were starting to see her eyes, she flung her hand over her head blocking the view. The technician said it was very dramatic and Andy quipped, "she must get that from her mother." I don't know what he's talking about!  Once again, the photos we took home are no where near as neat as what we saw in real time.

We started the parental-to-be tradition of childbirth classes and have to say so far they're pretty fun! Our instructor is an OB nurse here but a certified midwife in her native Australia. Pretty great lady. And we have 2 doulas-in training attending. Among five other pregnancies in class we've got the closest due date. 

I've been feeling slight movements by my pelvis. Our doc., instructor and the doulas noticed bebe's  slight descent south. The beginning of the end (of pregnancy)! Andy's getting antsy.

*Amy

Soggy Indeed

As you've noticed from this blog, I tend to process and understand some things in life through writing. Today's post is no exception. Andy is in Georgia for two weeks. One week has gone by and I sneaked in a village work trip during that, and I leave for a visit to MN before he returns. I planned other distractions like happy blog-posting (which I'll still do), reorganizing my recipes (okay, more necessary than fun), and some pampering. So Saturday started with a pedicure. As I drove home from that pampering, up our hillside neighborhood, it hit me how much rain had poured the night before and that morning. The ditches and culverts were bursting with new, gushing streams going down hill.



My friend and neighbor Naomi texted asking how I was doing, and our house with the rain. I went around inside and out and all looked tight. Except for the puddle "lake" growing behind my neighbor's, on our zero-lot line. 



Andy's room at the military base does not have cell service so we began to Skype and I described all the rain we received. That's when it occurred to me I needed to check the crawl space too. Before I even got that far, I believe God sent Naomi over to me for the day as she was at my door insisting we check that crawl space. Thanks to her, I never had to face anything alone yesterday. She was decisive, quick to action and available to give hours of hands on help for what we were about to discover.



It was hard to determine how much water had flooded until we went down there (and I ended up only doing one cursory and heart-stricken trip to the crawl space. I was forbidden to climb in and out after that, and do any major heavy lifting. That killed me). There was water on top of the plastic covering the ground, but the plastic was floating up with most of the water beneath. Every step we took had to be careful to avoid unnecessary water movement and rushing from one area to another.

Part of the Christmas area where, thankfully, most ornaments are in plastic containers

Here's me in my Bogs--Naomi used my Xtra Tuffs-and when we moved by one another one time I had water spill in. Bye bye pedicure!

Andy stayed on Skype standby for hours to receive my updates. Once he got the bad news he tried getting out texts to the Troopers. I never had to stop and call anyone. People came quickly and I had 8 people (and a baby!) helping at some point. Naomi stayed down below with two others as they removed the light and dry stuff stacked on top of others. For the water-logged, tearing boxes beneath, we hoisted empty rubbermaids down there and they just emptied wet contents into the containers to bring up to the garage. The garage is an interesting disaster of drying out stuff...from decorative 4th of July flags hanging to art supplies, and *hopefully* salvaged baseball cards, Andy's high school diploma, etc. etc.

Water caused stacks to become tippy, or boxes just to float

I got to damp photos early on and we covered the kitchen and living room surface areas with photos galore. Most are saved.

I feel more prepared to tackle emergency situations in the future, hopefully not needed. And got some hard-knocks lessons too (like packing everything in plastic containers...and don't procrastinate on doing something with scrapbooks and photo albums--even if you don't have actual house space for that stuff!)


Andy's LT brought over a pump and hose from the Academy and within 4-5 hours the space was free of water. Our buddy Lance climbed around last night making sure it reached the far and dark corners. Fans are blowing down there now.


The main thing is that it's all out...I can dry out, clean where possible and then will repack eventually. Don't want mold and mildew now. Our house structure is dry and strong...the other main thing. I'm so glad we discovered early Sat. so I have all weekend. The City is aware that a better drainage route is needed up and behind us. They already jerry-rigged something to divert the rain scheduled for at least a week. We weren't the only ones. I heard one trailer court below us had river gushing streets.


I can't express (and Andy too) enough our appreciation for the all the help! Even to the plate of dinner I was brought, the hauling away of destroyed items and trash, and checking-in phone calls. This home alone preggers lady is so grateful. Alaskans are first-rate helpers to one another, especially when families are often far away. 


*Amy

Captain's Log

Here's a photo reel of the last three weeks, mostly centered around visiting friends and the Cajun Queen. We went camping with Sitka friends and it was our first overnight onboard! Then, G & J came down from Anchorage and brought back home a filleted king salmon! Lastly, the Viators spent the holiday weekend with us, all the way from New York! They have the honor of catching the Queen's first halibut. I think the boat loves all the company and use. I know we do.

Click on all photos to view larger

Campsite on Strawberry Beach

Ladder Ball!

These tracks were discovered and made entirely by eagles. 

An eagle dance party.

Their talons are BIG!

First use of our dingy...heading out to grab the hot dog sticks on the boat.

Lone eagle Sunday morning. 2 mature and 1 juvenile eagle gave us their company for the camping trip.

I think they had the eagle beach party before we humans showed up.

Brushing teeth after a great night's sleep onboard. 

Check out that calm ocean water!

Totem Park with G & J

Yellow-eye rockfish in protected waters! Andy was stoked.

The Viators on water after a year in the desert overseas.

Welcome back to Alaska!

What a great June and start to July!

Raising A Pole

More than a month ago the Sitka community participated in or witnessed a totem pole raising. It was quite special, traditional, but not entirely rare. We are living on Tlingit land. The Native culture is ancestral to here and has existed with nature, bloodshed, warfare, persistence, spirit, and much more. Totem Park is one of the most frequented places in town for casual walkers, tourists, eagles and ravens, a connection to the past....it is located in the Sitka National Historical Park, which turned 100 years old this past year. The culmination of the centennial was the raising of a dedicated totem pole carved for the occasion. Normally, the personable and talented carver Tommy Joseph gets many months for his commissions; I believe he employed a crew of volunteers to crank this pole out in several weeks.

The raising was to take place the weekend of the possible government shutdown and therefore postponed. The rescheduled date in May provided warm sunshine and ideal conditions for gathering the community over a special, exciting and revered occurrence.

Due to other plans we could only go to the ceremony rather than the actual raising. There was great energy tinged with celebrations waiting to burst once the pole was raised into its place. A video of the raising is here.

I think of them as "youth" and "elder" poles situated by one another. :)

See the ropes attached? Imagine the many people who grasped those ropes and pulled, heaved, and staggered along to heft the weight of not only this cedar, but the weight of a storytelling and identity-sharing tradition. They worked together and pulled this pole into its impressive posture, balancing how it will sit and look out across the waters and historical forest forever more.

Mother Earth rests before the raising excitement.

As I said, it was a gloriously sunny day for ceremonies.

Presenting regalia for recognition.

Lifted and standing tall. Enjoyed and celebrated.

When you visit us in Sitka we will take you through the Park to view and enjoy these totem pole treasures. They are long-standing members of the community and probably welcome the company and appreciation.

*Amy