While walking Hamilton Loop in Craig, Alaska the other day, I saw an old friend. Here it is in the background: St. John or San Juan Batista Island, so named in the 1700’s by the first Spanish explorers to the area. And here’s another friend, known to science as Port Bagial, but known to me […]
Category: Mostly Alaska: Life as an educator and citizen
Stories about teaching and living in Alaska
Celestial Rain
As a resident of Craig, a small town in the southernmost tip of southern Southeast Alaska, I miss a lot of things that happen in the sky. You know, because it rains all the time. Well, not all the time, but you know what I mean. One hundred inches, give or take, per year, coupled […]
Weather watch
While substitute teaching in Crooked Creek, Alaska this past January, I couldn’t help but notice the weather. Mind you, Crooked Creek (known to locals simply as “Crooked”) is deep in the interior of Alaska, winding along the banks of the Kuskokwim River. So why was it 40 degrees. . .? The duplex I was staying […]
I meant to do that
While substitute teaching in Crooked Creek, Alaska, I sought and obtained permission to use the school’s four-wheeler. Riding a four-wheeler is to me a little bit like riding a pony: bumpy, sure-footed, and a tiny bit unpredictable. Not to mention the fresh air and the moderate exercise that staying on requires. One day after it […]
Bush mail
While there is in fact a grocery store in Crooked Creek, Alaska, it is worth noting that a small bottle of cooking oil costs twelve dollars. This fact and others like it make it advisable for one who is going there to have some groceries flown in. Seems like it ought to be a pretty […]
Of happy hens and homemade bread
Have you ever water glassed an egg? My husband pioneered this process in our family, and it allows you to store eggs unrefrigerated for as long as two years. Here’s what you do. First, get some eggs fresh from the hens that have not been washed (the eggs, that is; it doesn’t matter if the […]
Rhubarb fever
Yum, yum, rhubarb! I recently arrived home to Craig Alaska, and I found my rhubarb going gangbusters, with leaves the size of pizza pans and stalks that look like they really mean business. I also found a pair of “just rhubarb” recipe books on my dining room table. Wonder who put them there? Regardless of […]
First time for everything. . .times two
I am entering uncharted waters in two areas of my life. Mad venture #1: I am publishing a book! The odds are good that you already know that. I have ordered two proofs of said book from amazon, one with “premium color” and the other with “standard color.” The two copies have been printed and […]
The Warring of the Green
Perimeter check. Armed with only my gloves, a pair of pruners, and my tiny chainsaw, I set out to search my yard for plants that don’t play fair. Of which there are several. If I were to conduct a contest for the Plant-that-is-the-Biggest-Pain-in-the-Neck, the following, I believe, would be the winners. I will include photographic […]
The other Sleeping Lady
“I like seeing the Sleeping Lady,” says Elder Son, leading me to momentary confusion. He and I are sharing my car for a few days, and I am driving him to work. We are just passing the black cliffs between Craig and Klawock, a pair of sister cities on Prince of Wales Island. My son […]