This weekend we were out on the water with the Sitka Whalefest. When we got off the Allen Marine boat on Saturday we wondered if it could get any better, with lunge feeding, bubble nets, a breach and whale bows … Continue reading Whales, Whales, Whales!
Is that a headline worthy of “The Sun”? Sitka Whalefest, is a multi-sensory and multi-disciplinary party that shows what a small town can do when it goes crazy. And it’s good for you. One minute we’re all singing sea chanteys … Continue reading Tap Dancing on the Slime Line. (Sitka Whalefest 2017)
Merle Haggard may feel that “Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear” but Sitkans know better. For Sitka manly, womanly and kidly footwear is the chevron soled non-slip neoprene fish oil resistant Xtra Tuff, “Sitka Sneakers.” Sitkans wear … Continue reading Fleet Footware.
Sometimes, when you are riffing on the radio strange things happen. In 1995 Ken was riffing on the theme of the end of the cruise ship season on Raven Radio. He was musing about how we could celebrate. He was … Continue reading Sooo Sitka (the 23rd annual running of the boots.)
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 … Continue reading A Beautiful Memory. Sitka Summer Music Festival 2017
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 … Continue reading Stepping into a Salad, Low tide at Point Brown.
Friday night SAFV (Sitkans Against Family Violence) held a fundraiser dinner cruise aboard one of Allen Marine’s (Alaska Dream Cruises) pocket cruise ships, Chichagof Dream. I had wanted to get aboard for some time to see how they refitted her. … Continue reading Chichagof Dream
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 … Continue reading Make America Fit Again!
Eternal Father strong to save, who’s hand has bound the restless wave. Who bids the mighty ocean deep, its own appointed limits keep. Oh hear us when we cry to thee, for those in peril on the sea. The blessing … Continue reading Blessing of the Fleet, 2017
This is the second tranche of Earth Day, 2017 pics. The event is sponsored by the Sitka Conservation Society and the Sitka Sound Science Center. To look at the first tranche and read my commentary, please click here. Continue reading Earth Day, 2017, in Support of Science and Critters.
April 22 is Earth Day. In Sitka we celebrated early with our 16th annual parade of species sponsored by the Sitka Sound Science Center and the Sitka Conservation Society. I really love this event. People dress up as their favorite … Continue reading Earth Day 2017
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 … Continue reading Resurrection in the Food Web
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 … Continue reading Honoring Ancestors, Sitka’s Orthodox Cemetery
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. … Continue reading Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, 2017
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 … Continue reading It’s beginning to look a lot like…ALASKA!
We arrived in Skagway in time for its evacuation. Skagway has a year around population on 850 but in the summer the population is on the north side of 2000. Sometimes 10,000 visitors, tourists and crew, come off of up … Continue reading Skagway
The White Pass and Yukon Route (WP & YR) is billed as the Scenic Railway of the World. It’s a narrow gauge (3’) railroad that was built to carry gold stampeders from tidewater at Skagway to, first the White Pass … Continue reading White Pass & Yukon Route, STEAM !!!
The White Pass is billed as Scenic Railway of the World. I can imagine with the play of clouds as we climb the almost 3000 feet to the summit of White Pass each trip is different. With steam power the … Continue reading WP & YR Scenic Railway of the World.
If you really want to understand Southeast Alaska you should travel on the ferry. The trip to from Sitka to Juneau is a 20 minute flight, by ferry it takes 9 hours. It gives you a sense of the country. … Continue reading Elderly Ferries
Lynn Canal is the deepest fjord in North America. It runs 90 miles from Juneau to Skagway and is from 3 to 12 miles wide. George Vancouver named it after his birthplace, King’s Lynn in England. It’s an extension of … Continue reading Lynn Canal
Chatham Strait, or Shee ya xhaak in the Tlingit language runs 150 miles from the southern tip of Baranof Island to Lynn Canal where it joins Icy Strait. Admiralty Island is on the East, Baranof and Chichagof Islands to the … Continue reading The Run Home, Chatham Strait to Peril Strait.
Spain may have its “Running of the Bulls” but in Sitka we have the “Running of the Boots.” I think this is safer. This year we celebrated the 22nd annual “running.” It started as celebration of the end of the … Continue reading Running of the Boots 2016
Last Night Suzi, Dave and I went out to look at the Aurora. At midnight we called it a night. I had just gotten home and before going to bed my Aurora Watch app told me that there would be … Continue reading Magnetic Storm!
One of my autumn rituals is to go up Harbor Mountain to see how the fall is progressing at higher altitudes. It seems like fall is a little late on the mountain top this year. But the berries are fine. … Continue reading Fall is late this year on Harbor Mountain.