Walking with my son, aka Younger Brother, on this mid-November day, I was startled to see snow on the top of Sunnahae Mountain. I immediately felt cold! Younger Brother kindly pointed out that the cold sensation might have been augmented by any number of other factors, including the wintery-flavored wind, my lack of a hat, […]
Category: Mostly Alaska: Life as an educator and citizen
Stories about teaching and living in Alaska
Fall flowers are nice too
“Let’s talk about the flowers that bloom in the spring,” my mother would say whenever someone started to drift towards coarse in their mode of conversation. As my sister Laura reminded me, one of us was pert enough to once ask her, “why can’t we talk about the flowers that bloom in the fall sometimes?” […]
An Alaskan ferry tale
These days, Prince of Wales Island is a really happenin’ place. We even have our very own ferry, with daily service to Ketchikan, which, in the local parlance, is our “hub.” In the bad old days, the Alaska Marine Highway (AMH) would occasionally throw us a line, in the form of a weekly ferry in […]
Water, water, everwhere
I have lived in many Southeast Alaska communities, each one smaller than all the others, and the availability and quality of the water has been a mixed bag. We lived in Coffman Cove for four years in the early nineties, and the “better not drink the water” notice was up more often that it was […]
Holding on for dear life
This morning, I woke up wearing a furry feline hat. No, I have not gone into the business of turning pets into designer fashion. What I mean is I woke up to find my beloved, twenty-something cat Socks wrapped around my head, claws lightly gripping my forehead. My perimeter-breach alarm was just beginning to chime, […]
Today just might be a harbor day
I don’t know about you, but for me, a day of clear skies and a gentle breeze can sometimes bring a suitcase. What I mean is when I wake up and see a “beautiful” summer day, I feel that I would be an ungrateful clod if I didn’t get out and take advantage of the […]
Shanghaied!
My husband called me at 3:00 a.m., furious. “I’ve been Shanghaied!” he shouted. Here’s the back story: when I was principal in Kake, Alaska, Husband often came up to spend some time with me. During one of his visits, I had a conference to go to in Juneau, and we decided to fly there together. […]
Adventures with log trucks
Like many communities on Prince of Wales Island, Coffman Cove got its start as a logging camp. When we moved there in the early nineties, it was well into its first decade as a city with a population of about three hundred. In 1991, the Coffman Cove cut-off consisted of twenty miles of what was […]
A zen for all seasons
Whenever I need a moment, I drive to a tiny overlook in the west side of Craig. There is room for two cars, but more often than not I have the space to myself. One of my favorite things about Craig is how small it is: I can drive to this spot, almost all the […]
The tenacity of salmonberries
The salmonberries move in when the trees move out. In Southeast Alaska, and no doubt other parts of the Pacific Northwest, salmonberry bushes are a common sight, especially in areas that have been clear cut by logging. (Here in Southeast Alaska, the trees will grow back naturally, and the berries will in turn subside, but […]