May 2006 Archives
(Yeah, you guessed it, this isn't Keith. Not yet.)
I flew to Venetie to help host an end of year celebration with C.J., the home visitor I hired a few months ago over there. As there are only two flights out a day, the last at 3:30pm, I had to spend the night. I pitched my tent in C.J.'s front yard.
At nine that night I headed out on the four wheeler with her and her husband, to hunt duck. Their black lab, Pepper raced along with us. And then she raced at us, right under the four wheeler, in fact. Abumpy thud later she rolled out from under the wheel and took off running again, as though nothing had happened.
When C.J.'s husband brought down the first duck over Black Fish lake it took a bit of convincing, but Pepper paddled out to retrieve the body and brought it right back. C.J. took the bird into the woods a bit and started ripping out feathers. Her husband brought down another Spoonbill, Pepper retrieved, and I stepped up to pluck.
The body still warm, the shot holes still bleeding, I yanked out down and feathers and cleaned off the whole body up the neck, wings and tail. I got pointers from C.J. and did pretty well. New skill number 27: duck plucking.
Despite some rude Orioles fans heckling us, my sister, a home visitor from Venetie, a program manager and myself enjoyed a great game of baseball.
All the way from Anchorage on the bandwagon?
At least there's a bandwagon to ride, buddy.
(Not to mention, Fort Yukon is no Anchorage.)
It happened May 11 this year. The ice flowed out much more peacefully than we had been warned, but still folks flocked to the river to check it out. I rode down on the back of a four-wheeler with a co-worker. We watched as people placed sticks at the water level to monitor it. Flooding is very common, and people who live very close to the water's edge check on the river night and day.
It was only finally on May 11 that Keith and I could be absolutely certain which way the water goes around here. To the right. It goes to the right.
Before leaving Seattle and my toddler classroom a thoughtful parent gave me a few presents for my journey. The socks were perfect, in fact one of the pairs is my absolute favorite of all the warm socks I brought up here. The socks however, do not deserve their own entry. It's my "Alaska steak dinner" that I promised a photo of. And here it is, I'm enjoying my rope of pepperoni on our Ski-Doo on a sunny Alaskan spring night. It sure beats deep fried beaver belly. Thank you thank you.
Sent from little blond angels in Seattle, fresh roasted beans zipped North, and were handed over the counter at the Fort Yukon post office this afternoon. Just a sniff of the beans and our faces just lit up. It had been Folger's and tea till now. Caffe Umbria, bringing cheer to Arctic Circle sno-go drivers. We raise our mugs in utter appreciation.
