Skip to content

Postcards from the Transition

Postcards from the Transition.

  • Topics
    • Winds of Change
      • Winds of Change, Africa
      • The Fall of the Wall
      • Velvet Revolution
      • Arab Spring
      • Balkan Turmoil
      • 9/11
      • Soviet Union
    • Christmas Markets
    • Lent and Easter
    • Holy Land
    • Pillars of Hercules
    • Architecture
      • Boardwalk Towns
      • Bridges
      • Castles
      • Religious
    • Transportation
      • Trains
      • Ferries
  • Europe
    • Balkans
      • Albania
      • Bosnia and Herzegovina
      • Bulgaria
      • Croatia
      • Kosovo
      • Macedonia
      • Montenegro
      • Serbia
      • Turkey
    • Central Europe
      • Czech Republic
      • Hungary
      • Poland
      • Slovakia
    • Southern Europe
      • Gibraltar
      • Malta
      • Spain
    • Northern Europe
      • United Kingdom
      • Iceland and Faroes
      • Isle of Man
      • Baltic States
    • Western Europe
      • Belgium
      • Germany
      • Netherlands
  • Africa
    • Kenya
    • South Sudan
    • Tanzania
  • Caucasus
    • Armenia
    • Azerbaijan
    • Georgia
  • MENA
    • Ceuta (Spain)
    • Egypt
    • Israel
    • Jordan
    • Morocco
    • Oman
    • Qatar
    • Palestine
    • United Arab Emirates
  • N. America
    • Canada
    • Contiguous US
    • Cuba
    • Greenland
  • S. America
  • Alaska
    • Sitka
    • South Central Alaska
    • South East Alaska
  • Cruises
    • Iceland, Greenland & Scotland 2017

Tag: Sitka Alaska

Sitka, Winds of Change4 Comments

2025!

January 3, 2025January 3, 2025 Rich McClear

At age 70 9PM becomes the new midnight.  By that standard I have seen in the New Year every year since I reached the Biblical lifespan.  The ball drops in New York, I sing “Happy Days are Here Again”, stay … Continue reading 2025!

Sitka2 Comments

Sitka Shows Off.

August 10, 2024August 10, 2024 Rich McClear

On Thursday I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Rotarian Timothy Massawe from the Moshi Rotary Club in Tanzania.  Our club is working with his to support a group of girls attending school.  We do regular zooms with … Continue reading Sitka Shows Off.

Sitka1 Comment

Now it’s 16 Miles!

July 7, 2024July 7, 2024 Rich McClear

For the last several decades it has been a little over 14 miles from one end of Sitka’s road system to the other.  Over the July 4th weekend that became a little under 16 miles as the first section of … Continue reading Now it’s 16 Miles!

Alaska, Sitka6 Comments

A Global Moment of Wonder

May 11, 2024May 11, 2024 Rich McClear

As Sitka waited for the dark, (as dark as it ever gets in May) we watched our glorious blue skies fade to dusk and clouds began to form.  The forecast was for cloudy skies after sunset. Sunset is just after … Continue reading A Global Moment of Wonder

SitkaLeave a comment

Fly Free!

March 23, 2024March 23, 2024 Rich McClear

It used to be a regular event around Eastertide.  But Sitka hasn’t seen it since 2019, the annual eagle release at the Alaska Raptor Center.  The Center takes in injured raptors, nurses to health those it can, and releases them … Continue reading Fly Free!

Sitka, Croatia1 Comment

Flashback Fourth…

July 14, 2023July 14, 2023 Rich McClear

…And a look at today. I’ve always loved Independence Day.  It and Christmas are my two favorites.  I love the sense of community that both holidays engender.  At Christmas it’s community parties, singing, decorations and a feeling of celebration.  The … Continue reading Flashback Fourth…

Sitka1 Comment

A Famers Market in Sitka?

July 13, 2023July 13, 2023 Rich McClear

When some folks first hear that Sitka has a farmer’s market they say, “I didn’t know Sitka had any farms.”  Don’t expect to see big John Deere Tractors or long rows of soybeans in Sitka, but, historically, Sitka has had … Continue reading A Famers Market in Sitka?

Sitka, Winds of Change3 Comments

Almost Independence Day

July 2, 2023July 2, 2023 Rich McClear

(July 2, 2023, 127 years later.) On an unseasonably cool July 2, 1776, Richard Henry Lee moved a resolution, before the second Continental Congress, declaring independence for the 13 American colonies.  To get unanimous agreement Congress made changes during the … Continue reading Almost Independence Day

Sitka1 Comment

It’s The Emotion

July 1, 2023July 1, 2023 Rich McClear

My music education was largely intellectual.  I learned about scales, keys, meter, time signatures, tonics, and modes.  It was almost like learning mathematics.  I was taught that listening, particularly to classical music, was an exercise in intellect.  But that’s not … Continue reading It’s The Emotion

Sitka4 Comments

Surprise!

July 1, 2023July 1, 2023 Rich McClear

(June 30, 2023) OK, I was feeling a little down.  It had been raining most of the day, which is not unusual for Southeast Alaska, it was a Friday night in June and there was no music festival concert.  The … Continue reading Surprise!

Uncategorized, Sitka3 Comments

Jazz on the Waterfront

June 26, 2023June 26, 2023 Rich McClear

The first program Raven Radio produced was for the Sitka Fine Arts Camp.  We produced it before Raven was even on the air.  Suzi, the kids, and I moved to Sitka from Juneau in the fall of 1980 to help … Continue reading Jazz on the Waterfront

Sitka1 Comment

Music on the Mountain

June 25, 2023June 25, 2023 Rich McClear

(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

Sitka3 Comments

Sitka Pride Post

June 24, 2023June 24, 2023 Rich McClear

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

Sitka2 Comments

Counting Rubber Duckies.

June 18, 2023June 18, 2023 Rich McClear

(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.

Sitka5 Comments

Fishing Farm League

June 13, 2023June 13, 2023 Rich McClear

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

Sitka3 Comments

Critters.

June 7, 2023June 7, 2023 Rich McClear

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.

Sitka4 Comments

Dreaming of Albania at the Sitka Music Festival.

June 5, 2023June 5, 2023 Rich McClear

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.

Sitka2 Comments

Melatonin Nights

June 4, 2023June 4, 2023 Rich McClear

(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

Sitka5 Comments

Sitka Porch Fest, 2023

June 3, 2023June 3, 2023 Rich McClear

(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

Sitka2 Comments

Bear Aware Day

May 31, 2023May 31, 2023 Rich McClear

(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

Sitka5 Comments

Swim Little Fishies, Swim.

May 29, 2023May 29, 2023 Rich McClear

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.

Sitka5 Comments

Herring Weather

March 25, 2023March 25, 2023 Rich McClear

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

Sitka11 Comments

The Camera You Have With You.

March 24, 2023March 24, 2023 Rich McClear

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.

Sitka, Sitka WintersLeave a comment

Winter Scenes Along the Road

December 31, 2022December 31, 2022 Rich McClear

This is the final post in my Sitka Winter series. It is designed to allow me to carry home with me wherever we travel on this next adventure. It is winter shots from all along the 14 miles of Sitka’s … Continue reading Winter Scenes Along the Road

Posts navigation

Older posts

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 206 other subscribers
Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: Gazette by Automattic.
All original content on these pages is fingerprinted and certified by Digiprove