Halloween night brought out Sitkans in their finest costumes. Many made it to Raven Radio’s Stardust Ball at the Odess Theater on the Sitka Fine Arts Campus. Here is the first tranche of pictures from the ball. I have 3 … Continue reading Who Knows What Evil Lurks in the Heart of Man? — Stardust Ball 2015
This afternoon on my walk I encountered a rare and endangered species in Sitka, an Alaska Marine Highway ship. The state has proposed a reduced ferry schedule to save money. The schedule includes laying up three ferries all next summer. … Continue reading Endangered Species Spotted in Sitka
Alaska Day 2015, rain may make the pictures look dull but it does nothing to slow the celebration. It’s October, some people theorize that the Russians chose to pull out because it was October. Continue reading Alaska Day, 2015
I have a library phobia. They terrify me. It goes back to a librarian who accused me of stealing a book when the library had mislaid it. My parents were called, the principal was called, guilty until proven innocent was … Continue reading Library Phobia
Fifteen years ago today Serbian president Milosevic fell from power. It was a day of great joy and celebration. On October 5 Milosevic fell, on October 6 I tried to get a Serbian visa, the embassy was closed. On October … Continue reading October 5, 2000
The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair was designed to show us a future built on cheap hydropower. It was the world of the future from the Space Needle to the Monorail. Many old world’s fair sites look like the past’s idea … Continue reading Paul Allen Meets Frank Gehry in Seattle.
Dale Chihuly is a glass artist from Seattle. In the Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair he has a museum and glass garden with fantastic glass figures set among plants in the garden and displayed with … Continue reading Chihuly Garden and Glass
My earliest memories are of Jersey City. I loved Jackson Avenue in particular because I loved riding on the Jackson Ave Trolley Car. I learned many lessons on that streetcar. It was there I first remembered seeing black people and … Continue reading Reclaiming Jersey City
When I was a kid I loved New York. My grandparents took me in to museums, the planetarium, and sights like the Statue of Liberty. School trips took me to concerts, plays, even the opera. With scouts and the Y … Continue reading Reclaiming New York City
I read the reviews and decided on the one play I wanted to see while in the New York area. It was “The Christians” by Lucas Hnath, at Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater on 42nd Street in New York. I ordered … Continue reading Christians of New York
I’ve seen the Yankees play the Mets before, but it didn’t count. The Mayor’s Trophy game was an exhibition game where the results had no play in the standings and a home run was not counted toward a player’s total. … Continue reading A Subway Series
The Beaux Arts Lackawanna railway station in Hoboken, New Jersey went up in 1907, built at the site of an old ferry landing. It was designed as an intermodal transportation hub serving trains, ferries, and street cars. Today there are … Continue reading Home of Phoebe Snow
“Tomorrow we are spawning salmon, do you want to come and take pictures.” I had never heard salmon be the object of the verb to spawn but I understood what August meant. So at 9 in the morning I was … Continue reading Spawning Day
Today I paused during my walk to watch Holland America’s Westerdam weigh anchor and sail past the mouth of Indian River on its way to Seattle and asked “Will this be the ship that carries me away?” It’s a question … Continue reading Will this be the Ship…?
Saturday we took an Allen Marine Tour from Crescent Harbor. They are offered every Saturday for folks not on a cruise ship. We went to St. Lazaria with Captain Steve Campbell. On the way to and from St. Lazaria Steve found us … Continue reading Surrounded by Acres of Whales
On Saturday’s Allen Marine Tours Cruise we not only saw whales (Click here to see whales.) The reason for the trip was to go to St. Lazaria Island, a national wildlife refuge. It is a beautiful volcanic island sculpted by … Continue reading St Lazaria and Other Delights.
It was a small town festival and I was beginning to wonder if my recommendation to a friend that Sitka was a great place to live was going to blow up in my face. I mean, I’ve lived here for … Continue reading Small Town Festival
When I was in college I became familiar with St. Paul’s Union Depot. I took Great Northern’s Western Star for spring break skiing in Whitefish, Montana. The Star was Great Northern’s ‘ “second train.” I couldn’t afford the flagship Empire … Continue reading You Have Built It, But Will They Come? St. Paul Union Depot
Evening on the St. Croix River on the Minnesota – Wisconsin border. As the sun gets lower the wind shifts changing patterns on the river and changes the reflections. I love the way the reflections of the Soo Line high … Continue reading Reflections on the St. Croix River
On July 5 we took the Sitka Conservation Society cruise to Frosty Reef. A very low tide happened at a convenient time (10 AM) on a Sunday so the Society took us out to look at the reef to see … Continue reading Frosty Reef
My favorite Fourth of July event in Sitka is the water fight between the Stika Fire Department and Coast Guard. A pony keg is set in the middle of the street and the teams use hoses to move the keg … Continue reading July 4th Water Fight!
Sitka, Alaska, July 4th 2015. The parade started with change bell ringing at St. Michael’s Cathedral, a Coast Guard fly over and then our friends and neighbors. Trish and Dirk White were this year’s parade marshals. Continue reading Small town Fourth of July
Sitka’s Fortress of the Bear is, perhaps, one of the most innovative recycling project I’m aware of. The Alaska Pulp Company mill closed in 1993 leaving behind two huge clarifier tanks that were part of its waste control system. They … Continue reading Fortress of the Bear
June 23, 2015 was a beautiful Sitka summer day. We walked the docks, went on the Sitka Conservation Society Salmon cruise watching different salmon hunters, including an eagle sitting on a branch that hardly looked like it could hold her. … Continue reading A Sitka Summer Day (June 23, 2015)