Category: Alaska

Sitka

When Lost in the Forrest, and other Uncommon Gems.

Our summer is full of the joy of music festivals, the Sitka Summer Music Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the Uncommon Music Festival, Sitka’s newest. The Uncommon festival features music that is not usually heard but should be.  This year we had music ranging from early composers like Orlande de Lassus, through Amy Beach, to 21st century Fairbanks composer John Luther Adams.  There was … Continue reading When Lost in the Forrest, and other Uncommon Gems.

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Sitka

A Beautiful Memory. Sitka Summer Music Festival 2017

The Sitka Summer Musical Festival ends today with a fundraising brunch.  I will not be there because I will be on an airplane traveling to Minnesota and grand kids.  Together Brian, Liz, Liam, Fiona, Suzi and I will go to the Winnipeg Folk Festival.  These two festivals, back to back, reflect different music traditions.  But they have a lot in common. They give us comfort … Continue reading A Beautiful Memory. Sitka Summer Music Festival 2017

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Sitka

Stepping into a Salad, Low tide at Point Brown.

It was like stepping off the boat into a salad.  That’s what it was like at Point Brown when Allen Marine dropped a group from the Sitka Conservation Society on the east side of Kruzof Island. Sunday morning saw the lowest tide of the year, minus 3.21 feet.  Around the time of summer solstice the Earth is closest to the Sun.  When the new moon … Continue reading Stepping into a Salad, Low tide at Point Brown.

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Sitka

Make America Fit Again!

Donald Trump has been president for 100 days.  Around the country people are marching for “Climate, Jobs and Justice.”  James Poulson from the Sentinel said this was part of the President’s “Make America Fit Again” campaign. About 100 Sitkans marched from the Crescent Harbor shelter, around the Russian Church and back down Lincoln Street to the Episcopal See House.  Motorists, not expecting a parade, drove … Continue reading Make America Fit Again!

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Sitka

Resurrection in the Food Web

I often wonder if people in the Southern Hemisphere view Easter differently than we north of the line.  Easter is so tied into rebirth, renewal and resurrection.  It comes naturally in the springtime.  If the days were getting shorter, leaves falling and flowers wilting I am not sure how I would view Easter, perhaps as the promise of resurrection at some time in the future. … Continue reading Resurrection in the Food Web

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Sitka

Honoring Ancestors, Sitka’s Orthodox Cemetery

Today’s walk was not energetic, it was contemplative.  I walked through Sitka’s Orthodox Cemetery.  A couple of months ago someone suggested that I walk through the Cemetery and post some pictures.  I didn’t get around to it until I met Bob Sam on my walk yesterday. During that walk through Sitka National Park I took a break, sitting on a bench.  Soon Bob Sam sat … Continue reading Honoring Ancestors, Sitka’s Orthodox Cemetery

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Sitka

Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, 2017

Sitka Celebrated Elizabeth Peratrovich Day with a parade and celebration at the ANB Founders’ Hall.  Here are some pictures from the parade.  To read the history of the holiday, scroll below the pics. February 16 is Elizabeth Peratrovich Day in Alaksa.  With today’s political climate of demonizing the other, repeating this story is more important than ever.  In 1945, during the debate in the Alaska Territorial … Continue reading Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, 2017

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Sitka, Winds of Change

Sitka In Solidarity

I have not seen anything like it in Sitka.  Estimates vary from a low of 500 to nearly 1,000 people marching respectfully.  I saw people for all sorts of different causes from all walks of life, and many different persuasions.  We gathered as people made signs, than we marched, well it was more like a stroll, from the Crescent Harbor Shelter, around the St. Michael’s … Continue reading Sitka In Solidarity

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Sitka

It’s beginning to look a lot like…ALASKA!

Last night I popped my Jeep into 4 wheel drive for the first time in 33 months.  I had begun to wonder if Sitka would ever see winter again.  When you live in a rain forest the snow is a relief, precipitation in a different form. precipitation that you don’t mind walking in, precipitation that brightens up the town, even cloudy days. Today is transitional, … Continue reading It’s beginning to look a lot like…ALASKA!

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Sitka

The Battery Exchange, 8:00 PM to Midnight, Christmas Eve, on Raven Radio

December 24 will not be “Just Another Saturday Night.”  It is Christmas Eve, which means the Battery Exchange is back.   Here is a history of the Battery Exchange.  The Tradition continues live on Christmas Eve on Raven Radio, KCAW, Sitka, streaming on www.kcaw.org. — The Battery Exchange started on KAXE in Grand Rapids Minnesota on Christmas Eve, 1976.  When Suzi was a girl neighborhood parents … Continue reading The Battery Exchange, 8:00 PM to Midnight, Christmas Eve, on Raven Radio

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Sitka

20th Sitka Whalefest.

For 20 years Sitka’s Whalefest has occupied our town during the first week on November.  The festival is centered on a science symposium but integrates the performing arts, visual arts, education and outdoor adventure into a package that engages the community and brings visitors from as far as Australia and New Zealand. The Symposium dove into topics ranging from harpoon heads found bowhead whales captured … Continue reading 20th Sitka Whalefest.

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