The shortest day of the year has just passed us by—and we didn’t have to be awake long to see the daylight portion of it pass. Up at the crack of dawn means about 11:00 AM. And you’d have to be sick to go to bed at sunset (about 2:45 PM). It’s been a little cool up here this week. It was -36 F a couple of days ago on my drive in—crispy cold. But we’ve been keeping busy and warm, looking forward to the holiday break as everyone else has. Today we begin creeping upward in day length (a whole minute!). The sun is skimming low across the southern horizon, and it looks like a Christmas card outside with the snow sparkling in the tree branches.
Category Archives: Alaska
A Dictionary Moose
We’d been having a gorgeous fall this year—lots of sun, warm, but with enough rain to keep the risk of fire low. As 1 September approached, I found myself wishing for some cooler temperatures and some cloudy weather so that when moose and crane season began the chances of the mighty hunter would be improved. Last year we’d had similar weather—clear blue skies and bright sunny days had the cranes flying too high, and bright nights near a full moon seemed to have kept the moose from ambling about during the day. I’d hunted a lot, but hadn’t done much more exciting than lock myself out of my truck at a remote hunting spot. More on that later. In sum, our weather was nice for humans but not very good for bringing wild friends home for dinner.
Ten Years of Dip Netting at Chitina
Very shortly after I returned from fieldwork in Russia this year, Rose and I packed up and headed for Chitina to catch enough salmon for another year of tasty fish. Copper River red salmon, recognized as prize gastronomic fare, is available to Alaska residents through a “personal use fishery” on the Copper River while the salmon are running. A household of two or more can catch 30 red salmon or 29 reds and a king. The latter combination is about as good as fish eating gets, raw or cooked.
Fart Fans and the Home Electrocution Handbook
A loud “Bang!” made me jump at my desk. It seemed to have come from the window.
“Bang!” It came again.
I got up and looked out. Rose stood out there waving and winding up to throw another snowball at the window. She had arrived a couple of minutes early to pick me up.