Sun sparkled from every corner of Kachemak Bay, its brilliant aqua blue surface stunning my mom and I as we drove into Homer. From its intense color life exploded: sea otters floated holding their new fuzzy babies to their chests, puffins torpedoed through the air, and kittiwakes swooped and called. What an magnificent place we live in! Earth never ceases to amaze me with her abundant beauty.
My mom came to visit me last week, and after she helped me dig a garden and plant we drove down to Homer, made our way across Kachemak Bay to Seldovia, and enjoyed a few days in this incredible part of the world.
On our way to Homer we stopped by the seaside town of Ninilchck. where we pulled of the Sterling highway to see the beach. We wound down through the tiny village of Ninilchick where wooden houses squated along a grassy "u" of land embraced by a bend in the river. An abandoned bright turquoise boat shell advertised for boats.
On a clear day you can see right across to the ever-snowy Alaska Range, home to a number of volcanoes. Today, as the gray sky dripped, it was just the sea ahead of us, heavy and gray.
As we drove the length of the village to the beach we realized we were looking out upon about 20 white-headed eagles gripping the dark sand along the mouth of the river. The looked skeptically our way, some pulling their wings just slightly away from their body as if ready to soar should we come any nearer. One soaking fellow dipped his head into the river over and over. Several others soared above the bluff behind the village chasing and picking at each other.
Looking down a noticed a kaleidoscope of seaweed covered stretches of the beach: peach, scarlet, bronze, scum-green, and brown. Some smooth, some frilled, it added texture to the pebbled beach.
We chanced the local seasonal restaurant and ordered the local specialty:Alaskan Razor Clams, fried with a side of fries. Those clams sank like, well, fried clams in our bellies, and we left feeling like bloated pieces of detritus. That was the last of the fried food we'd eat for awhile!
We stayed at a super cute B&B in homer and ate an excellent dinner at the Mermaid Cafe. The next day we caught a ferry to Seldovia, and enjoyed seeing the sea life on our trip over. We found a lovely hike through the temperate rain forest to a pebbled beach.
The next day we took my very first fishing charter, what a thrill! This wonderful guy, Fritz who runs Alaskan Grace charter, took us out to fish for halibut.
The boat ride out to the Gulf of Alaska was incredible, and then he put some chunks of octopus on some fishing lines for us, attached to a weight about the size of my fist. We lowered the lines, and as I set in to wait, as it always the case when you fish, I turned to look at the captain to see what I should be doing with my line while I waited, and he said, "If they're not biting immediately we'll have to move!" I thought I was hearing things, when sure enough my line started to jounce. About five minutes of arm ache later (I was sure I was reeling in at least a 70 pounder) I had my first halibut!
Mom followed soon after an in literally 15 minutes we both had our limit of 2 halibut each. Wow. I've never experienced fishing like that before!
As mom's visit drew to close I felt so lucky to have been able to spend such a lovely time with someone I love in an awe-inspiring place. Right now teaching in Alaska feels like the best job ever, because I have 3 months to explore this breathtaking place with the people I most love!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
We've got people!
It's 11:32 pm on Memorial Day, and there's still plenty of light left in the day to finish writing my blog! I am definitely finding it difficult to sleep, but since it's summer and I don't have a job to report to for the next two months I just stay up late and nap lots. I definitely feel like I am living to the fullest, it pretty much rocks!
This week marks my one-year anniversary as an Alaska resident, and it was just this week that I've really come to realize we really have made some great friends up here in that short time.
I'll give you something to be pissed about . . .
Hugo, our sweet and huge grey kitty has been super sick. He's got a serious bladder infection, and unfortunately we didn't realize it until he was pissing all over the house and being what I considered to be a big gigantic butt. I was so mad at him, and just sure he was doing it because he was pissed at me for something or other, and then I realized he was really, really sick and trying to tell me something. Poor guy. Now he really has something to be pissed at me about, literally!
We were referred to this great vet (Diamond Animal Hospital) who is open 24 hours and doesn't charge extra for late visits. They patiently saw Hugo two days in a row after 10 pm and made sure he was doing ok and had all the right meds. Apparently, if a cat can't pee it can be a life-threatening emergency, so they were very attentive and patient through the whole process and didn't mind my numerous calls and visits. Thank goodness we had such a good vet up here when we really, really needed one.
If you ever need a farmer's daughter . . .
In my life-long pursuit of organization I sought out some gorilla racks on craigslist (big sturdy metal shelves) to help organize our garage. In typical Jen fashion I arranged to pick them up before realizing they wouldn't fit into our Subaru. What's a girl to do? Call a farmer's daughter!
Marnie was my co-worker this past year, teaching right across the hall from me. This is her first year in Alaska too. She pet sat for Matt and I over Winter Break, and was simply the best pet sitter ever--Jack LOVED her, almost as much as he loves me.
Anyway, she had this big 'ol truck with "Farmer's Daughter" written right across the back window. It is always so hard for me to ask for help, but I I'm trying to acknowledge more and more we are all connected and need to help each other through this life. It only took a phone call and next thing I knew she was hauling my big 'ol shelf in her big 'ol truck clear from one end of town to the other, and on Memorial Day Weekend too!
As we unloaded the shelves into my stuffed-to-the-gills garage I realized I truly have a friend I can call on in a time of need.
Paddle no matter what!
On Saturday we had a HUGE treat: we got to go white water kayaking on the Eagle River. How did we get so lucky you might ask? Well, we've got people!
Matt's co-worker Dave invited us to Kayak with him, supplying us with all the gear from the kayaks to the dry suits to the paddles (even the ridiculous helmets).
We were in this neat-o inflatable kayak that was impervious to rocks and rapids alike. Freezing glacial-melt bursts over the sides of the kayak every time we broke through a rapid, making my blood pump a little faster. Then we'd reach a lazy, calm stretch where we could just float along and enjoy the stunning mountains and lush greenery, and we'd round a bend and be off again, paddling no matter what the river threw at us!
Dave taught us to surf the rapids, a crazy phenomena where you paddle like hell up the river towards a current until you find the quiet sweet spot and can kind-of just sit still in the middle of all that torrential glacial melt pouring downhill around you.
Towards the end we stopped to scout the "bigger" rapids ahead to see if we wanted to brave them. Matt and I decided that in the impervious kayak we'd definitely try it. What a rush! We actually went down a big set of rapids backwards, but the kayak that wouldn't tip just turned sideways, and then we just kept on going right through all those fun rapids!
A much anticipated arrival
My mom arrived late Sunday night, and we are so excited to have her! She is an amazing work horse of efficiency, and has already helped me double-dig my front flower garden. Tonight we ate Chipotle Orange BBQ Salmon Tacos (super yum!) with our neighbor Tracy and celebrated all our people, those who are no longer with us, and those we are lucky enough to still have filling our lives.
Well, the mosquitoes are swarming--even here indoors at my computer. I think I've killed at least 45 today, and 17 of those have been in the past 30 minutes. Maybe it's a sign that I should go to bed! Definitely a sign my posts are way too long. New goal: cut to the bone!
I almost forgot! I added some pages to this blog: a book review page of books by Alaskan authors or about Alaska, and a travel guide put together by Matt and yours truly. You can find links to them right at the top of the page under the the picture of Glacier Bay National Park.
Until next time,
Jen
This week marks my one-year anniversary as an Alaska resident, and it was just this week that I've really come to realize we really have made some great friends up here in that short time.
I'll give you something to be pissed about . . .
We were referred to this great vet (Diamond Animal Hospital) who is open 24 hours and doesn't charge extra for late visits. They patiently saw Hugo two days in a row after 10 pm and made sure he was doing ok and had all the right meds. Apparently, if a cat can't pee it can be a life-threatening emergency, so they were very attentive and patient through the whole process and didn't mind my numerous calls and visits. Thank goodness we had such a good vet up here when we really, really needed one.
If you ever need a farmer's daughter . . .
In my life-long pursuit of organization I sought out some gorilla racks on craigslist (big sturdy metal shelves) to help organize our garage. In typical Jen fashion I arranged to pick them up before realizing they wouldn't fit into our Subaru. What's a girl to do? Call a farmer's daughter!
Marnie was my co-worker this past year, teaching right across the hall from me. This is her first year in Alaska too. She pet sat for Matt and I over Winter Break, and was simply the best pet sitter ever--Jack LOVED her, almost as much as he loves me.
Anyway, she had this big 'ol truck with "Farmer's Daughter" written right across the back window. It is always so hard for me to ask for help, but I I'm trying to acknowledge more and more we are all connected and need to help each other through this life. It only took a phone call and next thing I knew she was hauling my big 'ol shelf in her big 'ol truck clear from one end of town to the other, and on Memorial Day Weekend too!
As we unloaded the shelves into my stuffed-to-the-gills garage I realized I truly have a friend I can call on in a time of need.
Paddle no matter what!
On Saturday we had a HUGE treat: we got to go white water kayaking on the Eagle River. How did we get so lucky you might ask? Well, we've got people!
Matt's co-worker Dave invited us to Kayak with him, supplying us with all the gear from the kayaks to the dry suits to the paddles (even the ridiculous helmets).
We were in this neat-o inflatable kayak that was impervious to rocks and rapids alike. Freezing glacial-melt bursts over the sides of the kayak every time we broke through a rapid, making my blood pump a little faster. Then we'd reach a lazy, calm stretch where we could just float along and enjoy the stunning mountains and lush greenery, and we'd round a bend and be off again, paddling no matter what the river threw at us!
Dave taught us to surf the rapids, a crazy phenomena where you paddle like hell up the river towards a current until you find the quiet sweet spot and can kind-of just sit still in the middle of all that torrential glacial melt pouring downhill around you.
Towards the end we stopped to scout the "bigger" rapids ahead to see if we wanted to brave them. Matt and I decided that in the impervious kayak we'd definitely try it. What a rush! We actually went down a big set of rapids backwards, but the kayak that wouldn't tip just turned sideways, and then we just kept on going right through all those fun rapids!
A much anticipated arrival
My mom arrived late Sunday night, and we are so excited to have her! She is an amazing work horse of efficiency, and has already helped me double-dig my front flower garden. Tonight we ate Chipotle Orange BBQ Salmon Tacos (super yum!) with our neighbor Tracy and celebrated all our people, those who are no longer with us, and those we are lucky enough to still have filling our lives.
Well, the mosquitoes are swarming--even here indoors at my computer. I think I've killed at least 45 today, and 17 of those have been in the past 30 minutes. Maybe it's a sign that I should go to bed! Definitely a sign my posts are way too long. New goal: cut to the bone!
I almost forgot! I added some pages to this blog: a book review page of books by Alaskan authors or about Alaska, and a travel guide put together by Matt and yours truly. You can find links to them right at the top of the page under the the picture of Glacier Bay National Park.
Until next time,
Jen
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