The Sitka Seafood Festival is probably the last thing you would expect me to attend given the strong allergic reaction I get from eating almost anything that comes from the sea.   True, I give the seafood banquet, prepared by visiting celebrity chefs, a pass;  but I certainly enjoy the other activities.  The Seafood Festival happens largely on the Sitka Fine Arts Campus.  Chuck Bovee, who worked for Sheldon Jackson College for years, said it’s been a long time since he’s seen so many people on the campus, it felt good.  It does feel good.  For several years the abandoned … Continue reading Sitka Seafood Featival

The last regular season concert of the Sitka Summer Music Festival is this evening.  It has been a glorious month of music.  The Festival has concerts or events 6 days a week, evening concerts, brown bag lunches, cafe concerts, music based movie nights, a kid’s concert, a garden party concert and a concert on a boat floating in Krestof Sound.   About half the events are free.  The concerts are a delight, with four centuries of chamber music performed on instruments that span five centuries.  June is a month where I know I am exactly where I should be. Thanks to … Continue reading The Sitka Summer Music Festival Ends Today.

When the rain came back earlier this week I had the feeling of fall coming on.  It has been beautiful the last two months, with our long northern days and lots of good weather.  We have been so blessed with weather that I can’t let myself believe that it isn’t autumn already.  But, of course, we are just beginning summer.  A friend told me we are fortunate to live in Sitka because when something normal happens, that is normal for other people, a blue sky, it is a cause of celebration in Sitka.   We have had two months of celebration.  … Continue reading An Early Summer in Sitka

After a 31 year absence, the Carnival came to Sitka over the weekend – not the cruise ship Carnival, but the cover-your-kids-in-cotton-candy carnival. Golden Wheel amusements brought 14 rides, games, funnel cake, and corn dogs. Sitka was ready. KCAW’s Rich McClear sent this audio postcard from the midway. Awesome – This is fun, do it again next year – cool –I haven’t seen a lot of people gathering like this for a long time, very active, good for the community – my kids were born and raised here so they have never been to a carnival before, They’re super excited, … Continue reading The Carnival Comes to Sitka

I started the day telecommuting with places like Tbilisi, Georgia and Washington, DC.  (I am, after all, only semi-retired.)  Mid-morning there was time for a workout on my recumbent bike while listening to Grace play classic rock on Raven Radio.  Suzi, our friend Nan and I, were downtown in time to hear the glorious noontime change bell ringing at St. Michael’s cathedral.  Just after noon we took the few steps into the Centennial Building to enjoy a brown bag concert by artists from the Sitka Summer Music Festival — Bach, Chopin and Dohnanyi.  The glass wall behind the musicians framed … Continue reading A Day in the Life of a Semi-Retired Sitkan (June 5, 2014).

The Sitka Wearable Art show was a fantastic community event.  Artists designed clothing made from discarded or unused stuff found around the house.  Some of the costumes were made from empty beer and pop cans, there was a chain mail suit made of pop can pop tops, a suite made of old Kodachrome slides, plastic packing material, magnetic recording tape, spare napkins, cloth remnants, kids’ art taken from the fridge, old movie tickets, orange bait bags, old tire tubes, plastic cutlery, beer bottle tops, tire inner tubes, taco shells, money, unused neckties, and clothes pins. Some of the costumes were … Continue reading Sitka Wearable Art Show

Saturday night we had a power failure.  Snow brought down a tree onto a power line between Blue Lake and Green Lake.  Suzi had just pulled dinner out of the over so we had a candle light dinner.  And just in case the power didn’t come back we ate all the ice cream. The view of the snow along Jamestown on Sunday Morning made the power outage worth it.  (Although I am sure the Sitka Electrical Department may disagree.)  This morning we had a beautiful moon set over Jamestown Bay and Mt. Edgecumbe after another night of fresh snow.  By … Continue reading Two Mornings On Jamestown Bay

This is the first full moon of the Chinese New Year, the year of the Horse.  That means it’s the Lantern festival.  Sitka celebrated in style with a parade down Lincoln Street.  The Dragon Dancers formed up under the totem pole and danced past the Russian Orthodox Church.  The Celebration included performances by groups like the Celtic Kittens dancers.  Hank, our local bluesman, learned a song in Chinese and sang it.  Mt. Edgecumbe High School had its own dragon dance and students in the Chinese language program sang Chinese songs.   A Mt. Edgecumbe student in a kilt sang Auld Lange … Continue reading Chinese Lantern Festival, Sitka Style