(June 19, 2023) “My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.” — Edward Elgar. Suzi and I were hiking … Continue reading Music on the Mountain
Okay, I admit it. I almost missed it. Today started out fairly nice with rain in the forecast for the early afternoon. Suzi and I had Saturday Breakfast at the Nugget. I dropped her off at home and headed out … Continue reading Sitka Pride Post
Of course, we would have loved to finish the 2023 Grand World Voyage and not disembarked in Mauritius for medical reasons. We would have loved, to have visited the African ports, the Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic Islands and cruised Europe. … Continue reading OK, This is Really the Final Cruise Coda.
(June 17, 2023) OK, they are plastic, and they are not the ducks we’ve been picking up off the beach after a container full of them fell off a ship and broke open years ago. They are ducks used in … Continue reading Counting Rubber Duckies.
I must be getting older. It is mid-June, and I am exhausted. May and June have always been the big social season in Sitka with the Music Festival, Art Shares from the Fine Arts Camp, wildlife cruises and all sorts … Continue reading Music in the Mist.
I am not sure why we need a special Kids’ Fishing Day in Sitka. This year in the Sitka Salmon Derby kids, not adults, walked off with the big prizes. A 9-year-old won $10,000 for the biggest fish, an 11-year-old … Continue reading Fishing Farm League
We celebrated our 55th anniversary on Saturday. Suzi and I tried to reconstruct what the day was like. I am not sure anyone else will be interested, but this is up on the web to jog our memories since there … Continue reading 55 Year Old Memories.
You are a new naturalist on an Alaskan excursion boat. You just came up from Outside, you’ve narrated a few wildlife tours and are beginning to feel a little confident and then… You are on a wildlife tour filled with … Continue reading Critters.
No, they performed no music written by Albanians and, as far as I know, there will be no Albanian musicians at the Sitka Music Festival but at the festival’s family concert my thoughts drifted to Albania. We watched the concert … Continue reading Dreaming of Albania at the Sitka Music Festival.
(May 21, 2023, The Ocean Wave Quilters annual quilt show.) Alaska is sleep deprived. As we approach the solstice nights get lighter. From Mid-May until the end of July Sitka has no real nighttime, only extended twilight. I normally go … Continue reading Melatonin Nights
(May 20, 2023) The pandemic was getting everyone down, isolation, masking, not seeing friends. In a rain forest, where there is less communal outdoor activity, it hit especially hard. In some ways we were fortunate. There are a lot of … Continue reading Sitka Porch Fest, 2023
(May 20, 2020) At 10 on a Saturday morning folks were lined up two or three deep on the platform above one of two large brown bear habitats at The Fortress of the Bear, a bear rescue center for orphaned … Continue reading Bear Aware Day
The little girl said a prayer over her fish before she released it into the Pacific Ocean. The baby coho, part of the Sitka Sound Science Center Hatchery class of 2023, had begun it two year Odyssey around the Pacific … Continue reading Swim Little Fishies, Swim.
It’s Earth Week. All week Sitka’s kids have been making costumes portraying their “favorite” species to prepare for the Parade of Species. The Parade starts at Totem Square and ends at the Fine Arts Campus with games and face painting. The event is sponsored by Sitka Spruce Tips 4H club, part of University of Alaska Cooperative Extension and run by the Sitka Conservation Society. Sometimes I am not so good at recognizing the species. I suggested that I may post some pictures on iNaturalist, the citizen science app of the National Geographic Society, to see if anyone could identify what … Continue reading Name that Species!
The ambulance hit every speed bump between the port and City Clinic. Lying on my back I felt every jolt. There was nothing to look at to distract my attention so with each jolt I wondered “how much is this … Continue reading A Coda of Sorts, Lessons Learned
On a beautiful Sunday when our Orthodox neighbors are celebrating Easter Sitkans gathered at the harbor for the annual “Blessing of the Fleet.” A service of thanksgiving, supplication and a memorial for those lost this year. From God comes every … Continue reading Blessing of the Fleet, 2023
…actually it was two, but more on that later. Six years ago I had just completed major surgery in Seattle and was staying in a hotel waiting to be certified “fit to fly” back to Sitka. (This was not my … Continue reading Taking the Great Circle on a single heading.
… and tasting tea. Colored earth may not seem that exciting but it fascinated me. Between a million and three million years ago volcanic activity drove minerals to the surface, specifically iron and aluminum. The two minerals repel each other … Continue reading Getting Excited about Colored Dirt.
Wedged between the Indian Ocean and some impossible looking peaks, Port Louis (pronounced Louie by the locals) is Mauritius’s capital city. The town has about 150,000 residents. The Caudan waterfront, on a peninsula, is where Zuiderdam’s shuttle dropped off passengers. … Continue reading Port Louis, Mauritius
Mauritius has miles of clean and shaded beaches. Ian, Zuiderdam’s Cruise Director, suggested several beaches and told us that some of the beachfront hotels may offer a day pass. I called around and did not find one that was willing … Continue reading Mauritius Beaches
One of the tours offered by HAL was entitled “Multicultural Mauritius.” Before I was released for day trips around Mauritius, I experienced that multi culturalism. The staff of the hospital reflects many of the communities of Mauritius, Hindu, Moslem, Catholic … Continue reading Multicultural Mauritius
Holland America listed 6 tours of Mauritius in its shorex brochure. Ian, the Cruise Director suggested at least two other activities. One advantage we had, being let off the ship in Mauritius is that, in one way of the other, … Continue reading Mauritius, Our Final Port of Call
Right now it is snowing, but it’s too warm for it to stick. Before that it was rain, hard rain and before that drizzle. It’s overcast with occasional bursts of sun through the clouds. It is 40 degrees but feels … Continue reading Herring Weather
Yesterday was a magic day. Our son, Brian, came to Sitka to visit and Sitka obliged. We were watching Jamestown Bay when a pod of whales exploded from a bubble net. Then there was a beautiful sunset, but the best … Continue reading The Camera You Have With You.