The healing pole sits upland from the Bartlett Cove Dock. It is a 20-foot yellow cedar pole depicting the conflicts between the park service and Huna tribe over their return to Glacier Bay. It combines traditional and modern forms and … Continue reading Ice Refugees, Bartlett Cove
The plan was to visit the fishing village of Pelican, but weather had a different idea. To reach Pelican you need to cross Cross Sound. (On some of the older English maps it is called Croff Sound, but Captain Cook … Continue reading No Pelican, Whales!
When we lived in Juneau, I managed KTOO radio. KTOO was on the same street as, and a block from, the State Capital. Across from the Capital was the Dimond Courthouse. It had a modern sculpture in its courtyard, light … Continue reading Looking for Nimbus (in Juneau)
Our cruise left on Sunday, so we flew over to Juneau on Saturday night. The plane was late as clouds and fog rolled into and out of Southeast’s mountains, bays and passes. Before GPS and Fog Busters I used to … Continue reading Alaska’s Brigadoon, Juneau
I’ve wanted to take one of these cruises for a decade. The timing never worked out. For the first several years we were overseas. Then other travel, and then the COVID epidemic intervened. Allen has been part of our lives … Continue reading 2021 Alaska Dream Cruise.
Highway 61 is one of the most celebrated highways in US music, riveling Route 66. While Nat Cole sang of Route 66 and Nelson Riddle did the TV theme, Highway 61 was celebrated by Robert Johnson, Roosevelt Sykes and Bob … Continue reading Highway 61 Revisited
Grand Marais was founded by French Canadians. It means Big Marsh, or swamp. It was involved in early fur trading, then it became a logging center where huge log booms were assembled and towed to mills in Wisconsin near Duluth. … Continue reading Community Radio in the “Big Swamp”
For one brief moment in time a wilderness outpost on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Northern Minnesota was the center of an international commodity trade. That commodity, Beaver pelts. And it was all done to make silly hats. … Continue reading Global Trade in the Wilderness
Psychedelic Deco. Nanioujou Club Lodge I go out of my way to find quirky old hotels. I collect them. In Slovakia there was the Hotel Junior, which was a satellite themed space aged Soviet Era fantasy with extremely hard beds. … Continue reading Psychedelic Deco. Naniboujou Club Lodge
Raptors, eagles, birds of prey, being chased across a lawn by a kid. That’s how I first encountered the Alaska Raptor Canter. It was set in a back yard to care for injured eagles. In 1983 it moved to the … Continue reading Raptors!
Fourth of July is a civic holiday. Christmas and Thanksgiving are for families and church. Labor Day and Memorial Day have evolved away from civic celebration to family picnics that bracket summer. Independence Day is a time for communities to … Continue reading Celebrate in Community
My most intimate experience with a bear was not in Alaska, it was in Albania. A man in our neighborhood had a pet bear that was also his source of income. He and the bear walked around Tirana, he gathered … Continue reading Smart Bears
Here is the second tranche of pics from the 2021 Sitka Fourth of July Parade. One of the highlights of this half, which straddles both posts, is the new Yellow Cedar Bench honoring Alaska Civil Rights Leader Elizabeth Peratrovich. The … Continue reading The 4th is back (Tranche 2)
After missing a year of parading Sitka’s 4th of July parade was back this year. This is the first tranche of photos of the parade. It’s good to see your friends marching down the street, waving and chatting. For me … Continue reading The 4th is back! (Tranche1)
Two hundred and forty-five ago a resolution written by Thomas Jefferson and moved by John Adams passed the Continental Congress. It read, in part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are … Continue reading After 245 Years “Jefferson Still Lives!”
For 50 years the Sitka Summer Music Festival has brought the world of chamber music to our remote island town on the fringe of the Pacific. Because we’re remote, we appreciate the world coming to Sitka at the start of … Continue reading Filling a Hole in June
Harbor Mountain Road was cut through in 1942 during World War II. The story in town was that it was to give access to an observation post, more than 2000 feet above the sound, to enable spotters to watch for … Continue reading A Late Spring on Harbor Mountain
Kruzof Island sits 15 miles to the west of Sitka and forms the barrier that creates Sitka Sound. Mt. Edgecumbe, our extinct volcano sits on the island. I can see it every day when there is good visibility from my … Continue reading Volcanic Field
I am afraid of flying. I am frightened whenever I get on an airplane. This is a strange thing for a person who flies as much as I do. I mean, I live on a remote Alaskan island, no roads … Continue reading Let’s Go Fly!
It starts with an image. The leader makes a full-sized sketch of that image. She slices that image up in strips from top to bottom, or sometimes in a grid. Each member of the quilting group takes a slice and … Continue reading A Slice of Quilt
The Parade of Species is a highlight of Sitka’s Earth Day. Usually, it has tons of kids dressed as different species, costumes made from recycled stuff. Last year there was no parade, this year it was limited to Spruce Tips … Continue reading Earth Day 2021
Friday Spring arrived in Sitka. It was sunny, the crocus had popped up in the yard, the daffodils have just shown their green shoots peeking out from the soil, the skunk cabbage had returned to Navy Creek and the temperature … Continue reading Aurora and Sunset Hues in the Clouds
Ramadan is a movable fast/feast. Back in 2008 it was in August and September. Here is a letter that I wrote to my extended family back then, before I started blogging. I did not think it was appropriate to blog … Continue reading Ramadan Mubarak.
Forty Years ago, I was sitting at a desk in Sitka’s historic Cable house. We were in the process of building Raven Radio. I looked out the window and it looked like someone pulled the plug on the harbor system. … Continue reading Front Porch Fishin’