First Snow!!

Yesterday it started - hail/rain so fierce that by the time I pushed my cart from the grocery store to the van, I was soaked. But by the time I got to the top of two hills and our house, it had turned into a beautiful snow storm.

And when we woke up this morning, it was official - the first snow of Winter 2009.

Cedar Bark Basket Weaving

I'm taking a two week course (every night from 6-9 PM) on cedar bark basketry. It's taught by Diane Douglas-Willard (that's her gorgeous rattle top basket pictured) and it's held at the Totem Heritage Center in the middle of town. We - all 14 of us including one man! - sit around a large conference table and weave. (The bag of Halloween candy in the middle supplies us with energy if we feel sapped...)

After we soaked the cedar, we began by connecting eight "spokes" of red cedar with two ends of a long cord of yellow cedar. Diane is a great teacher because as I watched her across the room patiently showing two classmates, I was positive that it would be incredibly complicated to learn. It isn't at all - in fact, it's somewhat simple. The technique starts with two ends of the weaver, a right and a left. The left weaver goes over and under the "spokes," and is snugged up tight. Then you begin again with the new "left" weaver which used to be the right weaver.

The difficulty lies in making the weaving uniform - very hard to do - and also in adding the additional "spokes" or spider legs, as I like to say. You need to have 60-90 of these spokes which means you're adding every other or every two or three spokes.

After two classes, I am nearly finished with the bottom of the basket. Tonight I'll take photos to show you.

CRASH! CLATTER! ROAR!

It finally happened. It's been almost happening for about a month now. By that I mean that we'd awaken around 1 or 2 AM to the clatter of our neighbors' trashcan being pushed over by... bears. We'd rouse ourselves with the hope that we'd actually be able to see one. We'd peer out first the bedroom window, then the dining room window, then the living room window. Nothing. Once or twice, we even ventured outside to the deck, a safe place because it's a whole story above the ground. No luck, no luck and more no luck.

But last night, it was finally different. There it was - a huge, maybe 800 pound large black bear dragging a trash bag into the woods. We could even see its nose in the light from the street lamps.

Back to bed, but then up again in about 30 minutes as it had returned, just as huge and hungry as before.

Who needs Netflix with bears outside your window??

I'm BACK!

I have to apologize for being away so long. June happened and then July and then and then and now, October is just around the bend. I'm going to try hard to blog at least once a week.

In July, we took a ferry trip up the Inside Passage to Skagway, Juneau, and Sitka. I plan to put up posts of each leg of the trip.

But in the meantime, fall has arrived in Ketchikan - no blazing New England foliage, just the yellow of the aspens and red of some isolated maples. But the air is crisp, and any day now, I expect to see snow at the top of Deer Mountain. I remember riding my bike last fall to the rec center, rounding the corner and there it was - gorgeous white peaks stretched against the sky.

Last Saturday was the season's first Torchlight Cultural Arts presentation. Robert and I walked to the bottom of our hill to the high school where we saw Maya Soleil, an Afro-World Fusion Music and Dance group. They were terrific.

Boiling

Last night at around 8 PM, I looked at the thermometer outside the kitchen window. True, it had the sun baking on it, but remember, this is Alaska. ALASKA.

It read 90 degrees! It was boiling. Fortunately, most of the living areas of the house are in the back where it's much cooler at night. Still, one bedroom, my study and the dining room are all doubling as saunas. If this keeps up, we'll definitely have to invest in a portable air conditioner.

I have set up a deck-top garden of tomatoes, herbs and lettuce. They are all wilting. I should figure out how to drag the outside hose up to the deck so I don't have to carry pot-fuls of water to revive these sad plants.

The weather report for the weekend predicts a high of 62, so I could be eating these words. But I don't think so, because I really, really like it cool and do not like the heat. Yes for the beautiful sunshine and bright blue skies. But let the temp hover - at the most- in the low 70's and I'll be happy.

You see, the water around here is about 400 feet deep, right off the dock and is probably a toe-numbing, frostbiting 45 degrees. Really. So if you can't swim to cool off, then bring on the low temperatures!

Salmon Derby

Last weekend, the annual Salmon Derby began. We drove out to Knutson Cove to check out the activity. I was hoping to see a fisherman come in with a king salmon and watch it being weighed. No such luck.

We did, however, have some yummy fries and a great view of the marina. Then we drove about 3 miles north and took a hike on the Lunch Creek Trail which goes into the forest but has great views of a waterfall and also steps to the beach.

Root Canal in Anchorage

Yes, the title of this post is correct. I'm in Anchorage and have just survived my first root canal. Not as bad as the term implies, in my opinion! The whole situation evolved quickly and before I knew it, I was booking a reservation on the "milk run" to Anchorage. In plain language, that means you hop from small town (Wrangell) to next small town (Petersburg) to bigger town (Juneau) before you actually get to your destination. The whole trip took 6 hours. It IS 800 miles away from Ketchikan, but next time I think I'd do what many people do and take a direct flight to Seattle, get off the plane (which you can't do on the milk run) and then get back on and fly direct to Anchorage.

I'm staying at Elmendorf Air Force base which is great - the galley is stupendous - it looks like a deluxe ski lodge restaurant. I snapped the bear photo above as I was getting off the plane - apparently they roam through the airport. Just kidding! It's a stuffed one - maybe you can tell by the glazed look - and part of a cool diorama in the airport lobby (only in AK!).

The other exciting part of this unexpected trip is seeing an old friend from PA whom I haven't seen in over 15 years. We met for dinner Wednesday night and then she was my tour guide as I attempted to buy jeans, books, and unusual cooking gadgets I can't get in Ketchikan.

The root canal went well - I won't get into a long tired description but I will say that the view from the office window of Mt. Susitna (aka The Sleeping Lady) and of a distant and fogged in Mt. McKinley was incredible. The mountains here are much different from Ketchikan. There are more snow-covered and much rockier. The Ketchikan ones are all covered with trees which means, I think, the snow melts faster.

Tomorrow, it's back to the island (but only two stops this time - Juneau and Sitka). I've loved being here in the "big" city - Anchorage is easy to get around and great - but I'm also ready to hike up and down hills (very flat in town here) and get back to my island life.

Plus, now that it's finally warm, I need to get my plants for the deck garden I plan to start. More later!

Sun Again

No, I'm not bored with the sun. I'm just thrilled to see it, again. And the forecast for this week is more and more sun. Yesterday it was really warm - and I realize it's been in the 80's in the NE - but here it reached past 70 on the thermometer outside the kitchen window which was not in the sun.

I'm on the home-stretch for Blogbook 2009 and it feels great to have created something and followed it through to the end. I continue to get emails from enthusiastic librarians which make me feel very happy.

After I'm done writing this morning, I plan to take out my bike and go for a nice long pedal along the water. Maybe I'll even see some of those whales others have seen spouting...

WLA Conference in Spokane

I just came back from three nights in Spokane for the Washington Library Association’s Annual Conference. I went there to promote Blogbook 2009, my international online teen summer reading project. I plan to publish my teen novel, Loulane Lambert’s Lists for Life, on its own blog beginning June 1. The book is written as a journal, so I’ll post entries each day until the entire novel is on the blog. See my website for more info.

But, I also came to Spokane to get off the island and have a bit of a getaway. I chose this conference because it was relatively close by, looked interesting (a number of famous authors were speaking) and also because I could get there easily. Spokane is only an hour plane flight from Seattle and the hotel shuttle picks up at the airport.

I was stunned by Spokane. It is a beautiful, tidy, accessible city located near several rivers. There is a mini-Niagara Falls right in town! (See video.) Numerous footbridges cross the river, and there are an amazing assortment of walking/biking paths all along the river as well as through town. Name-brand stores such as Macy’s and Nordstrom’s were next to well-stocked bookstores and even the local library! I want to move there! Check out the video of the falls below!

The conference was also interesting, and I was able to connect with quite a few librarians. Most were receptive, but I occasionally felt like I was a fish oil hawker trying to get people interested in my product. I had ironed on a Blogbook 2009 placard to the back of a pink t-shirt which I occasionally displayed (when I didn’t have it covered up by a sweater) as I walked through exhibits and attended sessions. I had printed out Blogbook 2009 information on business cards which I kept secreted in my plastic nametag pocket. At the appropriate time (I hoped…) I would take one out and talk about Blogbook 2009. One highlight at the closing banquet was a kind library director actually asking me for cards so that he could help spread the word.

Snowshoeing in April

No, this is not a delayed April Fool's joke.

In the town of Ketchikan, the snow is mostly gone, and I think it will get to the high forties, low fifties today because the sun is out. But this morning, my friend, Jan (and of course her terrific dog, Lenny - that's him playing in the snow!) went up north a bit where the snow is very slowly melting.

Jan had an extra pair of snowshoes, so I tried them out. The area where we were hiking had deep drifts, and it would have been impossible to hike there without snowshoes. We would have sunk right down in. Which is exactly what I did when I got out of the truck and tried to climb over a drift to find a flat area to put on the snowshoes. I sunk in almost up to my thighs!

Hiking

We hiked the Climbers Loop at Mission Trail Regional Park. It was one of the most strenuous hikes I've ever done - and that said after climbing up and down Ketchikan's hills for the past 9 months... Many paths were strewn with large rocks that made hiking even more challenging. Still, the views from the hills were worth it.

What does a Ketchikaner do on vacation?

Here's the proof of my newly acquired bad habits. Not one but two (and nested inside each were even more bags...) shopping bags.

But who can blame me (us) when the clothes choices are a bit limited on our island home??

San Diego

We've now been back from CA for over a week. We've seen snow storms and rain storms here. Yesterday we had a mini-blizzard. On the positive side, much of the snow is gone and I've even seen clumps of crocuses waving their purple and white heads in town near the cruise ship docks.

San Diego seems like a far off paradise... The San Diego Zoo was GREAT. It has to be the best zoo I've ever seen. And that includes the ones in DC and London. But we also discovered some amazing hiking trails at Torrey Pines State Park, where, at the end of the trail, I even got a chance to put my feet in the freezing cold Pacific!

Sports News

Up here in the Last Frontier, the sports news is about the Iditarod. So, I thought I'd let everyone know that Martin Buser, four time champ, has taken the lead. He breezed through the checkpoint in the tiny town of Takotna. Apparently, the folks in Takotna are so friendly that the mushers are often tempted off the path with homemade pies and soothing tunes playing on the stereo at the community center.

But Martin was not to be deterred by any fruity desserts or lulled by soft tunes. He spent less than a minute in town before jumping back on his sled and taking the lead.

Figuring out who is ahead is actually hard to do because of the mandatory 24 hour rest requirement. Many chose to rest in Takotna, while Buser did not. Once he chooses to rest, he may not be in the lead.

The course is 1,100 miles with around 700 hundred of them left after departing Takotna. Stay tuned for updates!

Looking for a Crocus

Happy March and Happy Snow! These pictures show Gates and Robert on the way home from the indoor soccer tourney on Sunday. We had a quite a blizzard last weekend, but now - Tuesday, March 3, it's nearly all gone. It's in the forties and raining...

Last week was a busy week with the winter performance of the Ketchikan Theatre Ballet, the Ketchikan Community Concert Band and a performance by 60's Woodstock-ite, Richie Havens. Fortunately, all these events, including the soccer games, were at Kayhi - right at the bottom of our street. We got quite a workout some days going up and down the hills 3 or 4 times, but it was still very convenient.

I have my eye out for the hint of a crocus pushing its bright face through the leftover snow. Let me know when you first catch a glimpse!

Puzzled at the Mainstay Gallery

This month, I decided to enter a piece in the exhibit, "Puzzled," at the Mainstay Gallery in town. I picked up a "puzzle" piece - a piece of paper with black and white forms on it which resembled a quilt. There were two other "puzzles" but they didn't appeal to me as this one did because I used to make quilts.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and then it came to me that a quilt is like a book - in both you are fitting things together. In the middle of the night, I wrote this little poem - "A quilt is fabric joined with care. A book is words, with none to spare."

Next, I copied the puzzle piece and then cut out the black shapes. I traced these on pieces of fabric I had once used for quilts. After I glued them on, I worked on the words. I used the title and the first lines of my teenage novel, Loulane Lambert's Lists for Life.

The photos show the progression. The opening is March 6 - all the artists get to "place" their piece in the puzzle. Even though I'm not an artist, I really enjoyed the creativity that went into this.

Crepes?

You read right - I have finally attempted crepes. It's Gates' birthday, and that's the surprise dessert. I don't have a crepe pan, but I do have a trusty old 8 inch iron skillet - the kind that could break your toe if it fell on your foot - and high hopes that I can do this.

The recipe is truly French, as it's from my friend, Michele's, grandmother. My first biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to swirl the batter easily to fill the pan. The second was that the batter would stick to the pan, as maybe I hadn't "seasoned" it sufficiently with enough oil.

As you can see by the photos - my first crepe attempt was a success.

Anybody out there remember the chain of creperies in the 1970's? They were called The Magic Pan. I used to love their Chicken Divan crepes. Hey, I've got some leftover turkey and gravy, maybe I can concoct lunch ala Francais... Later, amis!

Rainy Day Quilters' Show

Yesterday I walked down the hill (in high 20's - low 30's temps...) to see the Annual RDQ Show. I was expecting a couple of quilts hanging up. The show was amazing! All different categories from lap quilts to wall hangings to beginners to bed quilts with hand quilting and machine quilting were represented. It really made me want to drag out my ol' bag of scraps and see what I could do...

Years ago I made a log cabin quilt which took forever to cut out since it had over 1,000 "logs" in it. Then some college friends and I made quilts for our children. I've also made some for wedding and baby gifts - but none for many years. Maybe this is the year to begin again! It certainly was inspiring, that's for sure.

The photo with the stars is a "Last Frontier" quilt - I had to take that one. The top left was one of my favorites, and the one on the right is just a room shot.

I continue to be amazed by the incredible talent of these Ketchikan-ers!

Avalanche

No, we didn't have an avalanche. (Although, we did have a mudslide at Mile 5 on North Tongass Highway on Tuesday... blocked the road for about 5 hours.)

But we did have an avalanche expert, Jill Fredston, come and talk about her new book, Snowstruck. She also talked about what she does when she's not rescuing people caught in avalanches - rowing with her husband (in a separate kayak) on long distance trips in all sorts of chilly waters like around Norway to Russia. Her hour program consisted of gorgeous slides and her witty commentary. Apparently, avalanches are a big problem in certain areas - like Alaska and the West - where there is considerable snow and steep inclines.

The night was very cold as I walked to my car after the program. I was glad that it was not snowing...

Radio Show on KTKN

I am sitting in the front office of KTKN listening to Robert participate in a live hour-long radio show on this local Ketchikan radio station. The topic is National Dental Health Month and also dental history, one of Robert's favorite topics. He is sounding great, with minimal mumbling and some terrific historical tidbits.

I was really disappointed that I didn't have my camera to record this momentous event. But then I remembered I had my cell phone. Then I further remembered that my phone had the ability to Bluetooth information from one device to another. Since I lugged my laptop down here so I could work while Robert spoke, I was able to figure it out - how to transfer images from the phone to the laptop! Whoopee! The image above is one of those!

Just so you don't unrealistically think I am a true computer magician - I wouldn't have a clue about this except for the fact that last week Gates got a new phone because his old one had a crack in it. The ATT store was able to Bluetooth the contacts and photos from the old phone to the new one...)

Here's to more brushing and flossing making healthy strong teeth!

Also - this tidbit: Did you know that dentists are responsible for (among many, many other things...) cotton candy, a camera and even Welch's grape juice...

23rd Annual Wearable Art Show

Last night I went to Feast Your Eyes, the 23rd Annual Wearable Art Show, an Alaskan tradition. (I've never even heard of such a show, but apparently they have one in Sitka, too, so it must be an AK tradition.)

Artists design costumes and then they, or models of their choice, parade the creation (accompanied by their selected music) down a long, lighted runway for a true Last Frontier fashion show! The creations were unique and original as designers used materials such as coffee bags, yogurt lids, plastic utensils, as well as more traditional items such as feathers, sequins and bows. There were 41 costumes in the two hour show. Here are some photos of The Phoenix, the coffee bag creation, as well as the final encore with all models on the runway together.

Snow, snow, snow - and even more?

It continues to snow. I read in the Ketchikan Daily that Juneau just broke their own record for the snowiest winter. I know Ketchikan has broken its records, too. This week was a crazy weather week with sun, rain, fog, mist, and snow all occurring within a 30 minute time span on Monday. Did I mention that if you don't like the weather here, wait five minutes? (Local advice!) Monday night we had a big "blow-in" which means windstorm. The wind whipped all night, and then on Tuesday the rains came and washed away most of the snow. I was excited to see the sidewalks again which meant that I could soon be back on my bike, zipping off on errands.

Not to be. It has been snowing (was supposed to be rain...) since 7 AM and does not look like it will let up - ever.

I have to say, it is beautiful. Everything is white, and the way the snow sticks to the pine trees behind the house is gorgeous.

Punxy Phil said 6 more weeks of winter. As usual, I guess he's right.

More snow and ice and rain

I guess the weather here in AK is just like the rest of the northwest and northeast - snowy, slushy, icy. Just when it was beginning to melt a bit, and I actually thought I could get back on my bike for errands, we got about 6-8 more inches yesterday. Then the rain came and made it heavy as lead to shovel and also a slushy mess. It was beautiful while it was coming down - complete with a lot of wind, making it blizzard-like for awhile.

I've been a bit remiss with my postings - down with the flu for awhile - but I'll do better now that I'm back to my old chipper self...

Back in AK

We had a whirlwind trip East including just getting out of Seattle before the big pre-Christmas snowstorm hit the West Coast. All told, we made over 20 connections via planes, trains and automobiles. We went skiing in NY state, caught up with family - including a train station visit with my friend, Debbie and family - and a lovely lunch with my college roommate and my goddaughter!

Robert left Syracuse the Saturday after Christmas and didn't arrive back in Ketchikan until New Year's Eve. He "overflew" which is local talk for when the plane can't land at the appropriate airport. Robert - the not-so-happy-flyer - landed in Cordova, Anchorage, Sitka, Juneau, back to Seattle and then finally Wrangell - 83 miles north of Ketchikan. That's where he threw in the towel and hopped on a ferry (6 hour trip) home. Gates and I left on Tuesday and we got in - miraculously - that afternoon. Ours was the second plane to land in 3 days. I guess it happens a lot. There was three feet of snow on the ground when we pulled into town. Ketchikan is made for rain, not snow, so there's bit of a pile-up here. The town is doing all it can, but there is just SO MUCH SNOW. And some say we're getting more tonight...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and will have a very Happy New Year. Now that I'm back, I'll be better about blogging. XOXO