Oh mighty winds of the Arctic!

An unusually strong area of low pressure about 700 miles north of Barrow will only very slowly weaken through the middle of this week. The low will bring west winds of around 25 mph to parts of the arctic coast, and may cause some sea ice to move south to the coast between Barrow and Wainright. – US Weather Service Forecast Alaska for Aug. 6, 2012

The Arctic Ocean was pretty mad the night before last, winds whipping up and frothing the icy waters along the coast near the village of Wainwright.

I went down to the bank in the morning with Harry. We drove a Suzuki 4-wheeler and pulled around a little cart that is used to haul whatever gear Rich needs to move around. Harry wanted to see if the water was hitting the banks (it was); I wanted to dream about putting my packraft in the breaking waves and play around (I wasn’t going to). But I’m not brave enough to do that on my own.

Harry yelled at a couple of kids who were playing near the bank. “Go home! What are you doing here! This is dangerous!”

The waves were smaller than what Andrea and I surfed in Pacifica (way back when I was a Californian), but they were all over the place and the wind… the wind was acting like a drama queen, bending this way and that, erratic and wild and untamable. We then drove over to the Kuk Lagoon to see what the waves looked like there and surprisingly, while there were white caps, it wasn’t as bad as we thought.

Harry’s sons are upriver at a cabin, fishing and hunting for caribou. They left Friday night before the storm moved in. It’s Monday morning and I wonder if they came in last night.

The winds are supposed to blow all week. It’s making trouble for Shell’s plans to drill wells this summer in the Chukchi Sea.

 

Mother-Daughter

There are stars whose light reaches the earth
only after they themselves have disintegrated.
And there are individuals whose memory lights
the world after they have passed from it. 
These lights shine in the darkest night and illumine for us the path.


–Hannah Senesh

Ecuador 2006. Photo taken by Dad

 

Homeownerness=Loveliness

I bought myself a log cabin for my birthday last fall.

 

It’s pretty darn cute and the most perfect size (~650 square feet), but it does push me back to early 20th century and the era of no indoor plumbing. I’ve been there before. Since October, I’ve become reacquainted with the 5-gallon blue jug, the Water Wagon over off Chena Pump Road, and the urgent need to refill so the dog doesn’t go thirsty.

I used to think that owning my own place would be a burdensome commitment, a terrible harbinger of the end of my restless youth. Oddly, now that time has come, I don’t feel that way at all. This means that either I’ve grown up a bit… or that the rental market in Fairbanks is so outrageous that even something such as commitment has suddenly become less scary than the amount the average renter doles out each month for a roof over her head.

Maybe a bit of both?

All I know is that I’m pretty okay with my new situation.

 

Why, is that an Airedale Terrier?

Fishing companions on the Klawock River.

Prince of Wales Island.

Early September.

 

Summer in Fairbanks = Granite Tors

Last Sunday, I woke up in the morning and decided I really needed to go for a long walk. I headed out Chena Hot Springs Road with the idea of exploring the Granite Tors trail. I’ve been on it before, but never to the top.  This is slightly shocking because it is a classic Fairbanks area hike and I’ve seen plenty of pictures and heard more than a few tales of getting lost.

It was a perfect day. I did get lost at one point, not too shocking, but I was with the dogs and they didn’t seem to notice – or care for that matter. I figured that if I walked 15 miles, they must’ve walked/run at least 40. All three of us returned back home that evening a little tired and very happy.

Starting out:

Nearing the top:

Sadie: “Oh my, look at that view, Echo!”

Echo: “Yes! We could run forever!”

Sadie: “Holy shit, it’s hot up here.”

Reaching the top. There is even a rainbow.

How did I lose track of these painfully obvious trail signs?

Sadie: “We’re not tired, not tired at all.”

Echo: “No way, we want to run another 40 miles.”

All in all, it was a pretty good day.

 

Believing

I took this photo when walking home from Ausdahl Mercantile in Kalskag at about 9:30 p.m. one evening in mid-April. I’m not a religious person by any stretch, but I’ve found that faith is an important part of life for many in the villages I’ve visited on the Kuskokwim.

Believing is beautiful.

 

Jammin’ with Annie Lou

I told Annie Lou that I thought making jam sounded like a tough, time-consuming process that would probably always seem overwhelming to me. She immediately took it as a challenge: “come over, it’ll take one hour and you’ll have jam.”

I love eating jam and I love to cook, how could I possibly refuse an offer from someone who promised to teach me how to make something so tasty in less an hour?

I couldn’t!

Annie Lou lives in Kalskag, AK. She’s got more energy than most people I know who are 20 – and she’s 70 years old. I admire her! It was a real treat to get a jam-making lesson from such a pro. I tried my best to follow the steps she taught us, but undoubtedly I missed a few.  Here is what I remember:

The first step – cleaning the jars to be used for canning – Annie Lou did before we even arrived.

Then, we measured out the sugar.  The recipe we were using called for 7 cups of sugar.  Sometimes I like sweeter jam and sometimes I like jam that is a little more tart. I could imagine altering this part of the recipe quite a bit until I figured out the right ratio (for me).  Here is Michelle, carefully measuring each cup.

The berries! Annie Lou had these berries frozen in her freezer from last summer. She said she thought she’d pulled out three bags of blueberries, but as it thawed, she realized it was one bag of blueberries and two bags of red berries. I love both, so I wasn’t about to complain.

Annie Lou’s advice: Always check and double-check the recipe.

Measure out the berries carefully. We used 4.5 cups of berries – and supplemented the other half cup with water.

Then, bring the berries to a rapid boil. Start adding the sugar.

Don’t forget to check the recipe!

Oh, and prepare your jars for pouring. Place them in a spot near the stovetop, removing all the lids.

Add two pouches of pectin and stir for another six minutes. Keep time!

Now, quickly pour the jam into the jars. QUICKLY! Before it jells. Make sure the ribbons around the tops of the jars are clean before you screw the lids back on.

Flip all the jars upside down so the heat can seal the jars!

Before we left, Annie Lou told us that she wanted to teach us how to make jam “because something isn’t yours until you give it away.  If I die tomorrow, I know that you can teach others what I’ve taught you.”

Not only is Annie Lou good at making jam, but she’s good at teaching the kinds of life lessons that make life worth living.