Buskin Goats

After a week of completely soggy conditions we finally got a couple of hard frosts. And the snow set up enough for me to go skate skiing again. I had not gone skate skiing in almost 2 weeks! In two weeks it has gone from powder on a hard crust to corn snow. I skiied way up the Buskin and got above the canyon where I found these goats. It was pretty darn cool to look down on them from so close. I also noticed a few deer on the same snow free slope. I guess all the animals are moving to the south facing slopes to get the first greens of spring.

On my way back I also noticed that the classic cross country skiing up the river and into the canyon is done for the year. The river is now free flowing and no more ice bridges (bottom photo). Sad day. Patrick

Beauty and the Beast

The first crocuses appeared in our yard 2 days ago and spectacular spring skiing yesterday. Just remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I know which one I want to pour clorox onto. I swear, those guys were ready to go under the snow. I wonder if they bloom under the snow? Patrick

Beach Chariot

A couple of pictures from the day before yesterday when I took the kids to the beach. I also took the dogs. Nora and Stu love having the dogs on leashes out in front of the stroller (no photos unfortunately). I'm undecided whether the dogs on leashes make the stroller more like a dog sled or a chariot. It actually works pretty well and the dogs do help with pulling the stroller up hills. Only issue is that my hands get tired holding onto both the leashes and the stroller handle bar.

The kids love the beach. They fill cups up with pebbles, and they fought over who got to carry the backpack down to the beach. At the end of the visit when we packed up for home, Nora and Stu put quite a few beach rocks into the backpack to 'take home to mommy'. Back home they played with the rocks - setting them up on various window sills etc. Patrick

Whiteouts, Snowcaves, and Slush

Yesterday during the wedding shower at our house I headed up the mountain with Lisa and Gregg. Great snow, but pretty much a total whiteout. A most happy surprise to find a ready built snowcave waiting for us on top. It was such a white out that at first all we saw was a black square hovering in the air. We investigated and found the cave. We hung out inside waiting for it to clear up - it never did so we skiied on down. Once below about 1000 feet it finally cleared up so we could see. The bottom photo is of the avalanche debris coming out of the canyon into the old gravel pit at the bottom. Lisa actually did not pose in front of it - but I needed something for scale so I took her out of the photo immediately above and pasted her into the avalanche debris photo. I know, I know I'm a total cheat. But rest assured I always fess up when I cheat. Patrick

kids beach

Wow. What an incredible day. I was at a birth as a doula all day today-- and arrived back to the house just in time for the bridal shower that was underway here for Melissa Dover. Thanks to Anne, MJ , Patrick and Rose for getting the house together in my absence! I was helping with the throws of labor when the bridal shower started here at the house. So many wonderful blessings in one day. So much joy and love.

Patrick took the kids to the beach while I was at the hospital--and took the following video.

Zoya

Deer, avalanches and Sashimi

The top photo is from my ski on Pyramid yesterday. I love when I look back up the mountain after a run and see only my own tracks (click on picture to enlarge view if you want to see the tracks). Unfortunetly, it may look good, but the skiing was not all that great. We've recently received a dump of super wet snow and it was very gloppy. We need it to freeze up and turn to corn snow. Also note the HUGE pile of avalanche debris in the bottom left corner of the photo. Up high on the mountain a cornice broke off and created an avalanche that almost reached the road.

The next picture shows what you do not want to see when walking the dogs to Abercrombie Park. Lately, I've had to put the dogs on their leashes before we get anywhere near the park. Deer are taking over the neighborhood. We've even had deer walking through our yard. Late the another night, I had to chase one off with snowballs. I do NOT want my dogs chasing them. It gets a little hairy when walking on the ice in the park when they see a deer and pull me off my feet. Worse yet, when they see a deer in the yard and freak out barking and jumping at the windows. Needless to say, but I do not like urban deer.

Finally, the bottom 2 photos show Mike's birthday sushi and sashimi from last night. I loved the wasabi 'leaves'. We took the kiddos over and had quite the meal. It was supposed to be a surprise but Mike sniffed it out in advance (he saw the order in Roxanne's handwriting on the wall of the Powerhouse sushi station). Zoya snuck out a little early with the kids, and I did not notice for a full 15 minutes (the kids were acting up and Zoya thought I'd like to stay). So I stayed an extra hour and then walked home. It was a beautiful evening - I wondered why we always drive places when walking is so pleasant. Patrick

Easter

We're a bit late writing about our Easter Day. So many things going on this week!!

We had a wonderful evening with friends here at the house and a dinner which included a potluck style meal--scallop ceviche, a shrimp-feta dish, a broccoli mushroom casserole, roasted deer leg, roasted veggies, wild rice, a corn pudding dish, yummy salad and dessert, of course. :)
Roxann and Mike brought some plastic eggs with stickers inside so we hid those around the house (well, actually in plain sight, but that was hard enough for the kids). Stuey, Nora and Cece ripped around the house with their baskets and squealing with delight finding the eggs. Simple pleasures.

Zoya

Another Public Lecture

Last week I did the adventure lecture thing; this week I do the archaeology geek thing. It's a wonderful life. To whet your appetite for my lecture tomorrow night here are two of the slides from the talk. I hope to tell all about the use of sea mammals through time on Kodiak. The lecture it is at 7 PM in the Alutiiq Museum gallery. Patrick

A note from Zoya
...Please come to Patrick's talk. I am so bummed I can't go because I'm teaching my childbirth class at the same time. I tried to think of ways I could abstractly relate sea mammals to birthing, but the stretch was a far one. I was thinking that perhaps I could convince my birthing class to attend Patrick's talk, but I don't think there are enough ways to connect sea mammals to human birthing. Oh well. at least I got to see his talk last week!! :) Zoya

Betty & Al

And no, 'Betty and Al' are not new aliases for friends who wish to remain anonymous on our blog. We always call Lisa 'Betty' when we go skiing because that is what it says on the back of her skiis. I think 'Betty' might be the hip term for women among the ski bum crowd at resorts. Hence ski marketers put it on their skiis in the hopes of selling more to women. I just like calling Lisa 'Betty'. And since Lisa is Betty - Gregg has to be Al. We got the latter from the Paul Simon song, 'You Can Call Me Al'.

If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you betty
And betty when you call me
You can call me al
Call me al

Anyway, the pictures are from our ski on Easter Sunday above the golf course. Pretty nice day for a ski in mid April! Patrick

Yet More Snow

Yup - we got more snow last night and I love it! Kind of weird because we got around 6 to 7 inches at our house but downtown got half that much and the airport only got around an inch overnight. I think our end of town got a blast of 'ocean effect' snow. It made for good powder skiing on the mountain. Patrick

It's White Out

This is what it was like on Pyramid around noon. When you ski in this stuff you tend to gravitate to anything dark. Your mind thinks, 'look I can see something - let's go there'. Basically you are in a world that is all white and has no bottom - except occasionally when you hit a bump or drop off of a lip. Up higher there were no dark objects at all and it was very disorienting. Patrick

April Powder

I'm in Heaven and probably everybody hates me for it, but I'm loving this freak snowstorm. Another 1/2 a foot - woo hoo. Today I went up Pyramid and went downhill skiing. I skiied up to the top and met Lisa and Gregg on my way down. Up high it was a total whiteout and I had to use my altimeter and compass just to find the way down. Sort of weird going blind and not knowing quite when you'd fall into a hole. It's even weirder when you ski by the viewfinder of your digital camera. That's what I did when I shot Gregg for this video. The quality is a bit jumpy because I shot the video at 15 rather than 30 frames per second. Also it was snowing pretty hard. ... .. Patrick

Goings on Around Here - and more snow

ISLAND TRAILS NETWORK TALK
Lots happening this weekend in Kodiak. Last night Patrick gave a presentation as part of the Island Trails Network adventure night. Patrick presented on his trip to the South end of the Island several years ago with 'Ricky' where they encountered lots of bears. It was fun to hear him present on it--and hear the whole story from start to finish.
Last year when he presented at the ITN meeting, I didn't go because I had heard the "rough draft" several times the week before. This time, he didn't practice with me around, so it was all new at the talk! I was so proud of him--with the energy and enthusiasm he has about his trips. His curiosity about the land and the world really is contagious--and I imagine it will be passed on to our kids. It is definitely contagious to me. I love learning from him. He has so much excitement and desire to know more how and why things happen in nature. I love it.

Sharon W. presented on a glacier exploration trip and Philip T. presented on his kayak trip from Homer to Seward. All amazing adventures. I can't imagine hiking up a glacier, crossing crevasses nor can I imagine spending 6 weeks in a kayak. Its fun to see more about these amazing trips people do.

MELISSA & FISHER!!
Melissa D. is in town from California for two weeks, so we have enjoyed catching up. She is staying next door and I enjoy our coffee hour in the morning when she walks over in her pajamas. Melissa left Kodiak 1 year ago, and is engaged to be married this August in California.

T & R
Thomas and Rose K. have been in town with us for a week-and today Thomas took off for his fish and game job. He'll be back in a few weeks before leaving for his summer post in the field. Rose will be here in town until she leaves with Patrick and the archaeology crew for digs.

SNOW. STILL.
BIG snowflakes fall as I write this--winter hangs on. Its so wild. There is so much snow on the ground and it continues to snow--I believe there was one day this past week where spring was in the air. The temperatures got into the low 40's and I had small hopes for some signs of spring. At least its not raining!! The snow keeps things bright.

Zoya

Public Lecture Tonight!

The Island Trail Network is having a Membership Drive/Fundraiser tonight at the High School Common, and I am on as a public speaker. I'll be talking about a float trip I did down the Sturgeon River with my brother back in 2004. Needless to say, but we ran into a LOT of bears. Other talks include a glacier travel ski trip on the Alaska Peninsula and a Prince William Sound kayak trip. There will also be a silent auction. It ought to be fun, and you get free big Al's pizza with your yearly membership. The price of admission is signing up for or renewing your membership to ITN. So see you at 6 PM at the High School Commons. Patrick

Power Post

I love eating at the Powerhouse. The food is great and the views of the channel like nothing you could ever get in the lower 48. Where else can you sit and watch sea lions cavorting while you eat sashimi? And inevitably there is an eagle on the fence looking in at you - checking out the human world from outside. I wonder if he/she is interested in us or just our food? Patrick

Walks down the road

As of late, we go on lots of family walks. I love the simplicity of these walks. Walking right out the door, down the dirt road and to the stack of bouys which are in the yard in a neighbors house. Something about walking slowly with the kids is such a wonderful reminder of what the true pace of life should be. Slow and reflective. In today's fast paced world, its easy to lose sight of that. Our culture tends to value speed, efficiency and results. Walks with the kids are always full of questions, laughter, splashes into the puddle and almost always have a cry or two thrown in (mommy, pick me up !!). Good times on Cliffside road.

Zoya

MJ came over during the weekend and we made white chocolate blondie bars--yum!!! We forgot the sugar and they still turned out well!
Photos from walks down the road.

Beautiful Buskin Lake

Today we snuck out for an hour ski at Buskin Lake. There wasn't an iota of breeze in the air, the snow was crisp and fast and the company was perfect. We met up with Jeremy Larson who had just arrived and skiied for a bit with him before we broke off and made our way on our skate skis. He had his dog Belle with him, who would scamper back and forth between us and Jeremy. Her bounds of excitement were so fun to watch. Made me remember how fun it is skiing with dogs.

I regret I haven't skiied more this past winter, but yet am glad I have skiied as much as I have. Since it has been so long since I've skate skiied, it was a bit painful and tiring to get back into the skate ski rhythm. It is a whole different use of muscle groups. Patrick took a few short videos of me skiing so I could practice my "gait analysis" skills and when we got back I quickly looked at them. It was too painful to watch--I was HORRIFIED by my form. Lets just say, there lots of room for improvement!

Zoya

Loving Life

I can not complain – snow-wise it has been a good winter and GREAT spring. We have lot of snow. Today when I went skiing up the upper Buskin I experienced powder conditions. That rarely happens in April. We have about a foot of snow at our house and I gather there is over 4 feet of snow on the ground at sea level over at Anton Larsen Bay. Wow! It seems more like early March than early April. I intend to enjoy it while it lasts.

Photos: Top - deep snow on the upper Buskin River. Middle - the canyon from the bottom up. Bottom - intrepid cross country skiers and their dogs cross Buskin Lake.

Energized Day!

Phew! My illness has quickly passed-THANK HEAVENS-and today my energy was back in full force. Wow-did I ever have energy!! It was almost as if I was making up for the lost time from my two sick days. I buzzed around from client to task with so much energy today. At lunch I enjoyed an impromptu meal with my friend Mary at Monks Rock. I had ordered a homemade veggie burger to go (DELICIOUS-BTW) but with her there, it made so much sense to sit and catch up (as opposed to doing my beloved paperwork)--talk about birthing, kids, etc. She is bringing in a midwife from Cordova to deliver her baby this next week-very cool. The midwife from Cordova also works as a fisherwoman. Mary extended the offer for me to meet her sometime this weekend--which would be awesome. She seems to enjoy coming to Kodiak for home births.

Monks rock definitely seems like the latest and greatest happenin' lunch spot. Pizza, calzones, sandwhichs. Amazing lattes. The latte I had there was fabulous-served in a glass mug (LOVE those!!) so you could see all the wonderful foaminess of the milk. (Hmmm...now that I think of it, perhaps my energy has more to do with latte and less to do with my illness recovery....)

And late afternoon I picked the kids up at Sarahs, which is always fun. They run to the door saying "Mommmy, Mommy".

To finish a great day off, I started leading the next childbirth preparation series tonight. I am so blessed with a wonderful group of moms and birth partners. What a fun time it is-to share, discuss and help the couples find answers to some of the questions they may have about birth.

The top photo is of Nora and her recent stick figure drawing of our family. I believe this is her first stick figure drawing representing all of us. Its fun to see her little squiggles and lines taking shape!! :) Magna Doodles are the best.

Zoya

April Fools

Oh well, we tried. This morning's post was our lame attempt at an April Fools joke. Yesterday, Zoya was sick and NOT in Anchorage. The photo we posted this morning was from the live cam at the AVO website and doctored in Photoshop. I basically threw a plane wing (from a 1960s slide I recently scanned) onto the picture. It looked so Sci Fi and fake that Zoya and I thought everybody would know it was a joke.

Problem is - the post was too believable for a good April Fools joke. Everybody who've I've talked to so far who read it also believed it. And worst of all, when I got to work a fellow employee who had just returned from vacation had taken a picture of the volcano from her airplane window. A photo remarkably like the one we posted this morning and coincidentally taken at the same time (both around 4PM). Her plane actually did fly a big detour to the windward of the volcano. So our joke post really was real life.

Zoya and I find it funny that Alaskans have become so blase about the erupting volcano that they just accepted our post as the truth. In Alaska commercial airliners really do fly around erupting volcanos.

Anyhow, here are 2 more photos from the AVO web cam of Redoubt volcano at dawn yesterday. Again I doctored them big time in Photoshop. The originals are pretty grainy and dark, but check out the website (see earlier post from March for web address). It is pretty cool to see a volcano erupting live. Patrick

Redoubt Just Steaming

Check out this photo that Zoya took of the volcano on her flight back from Anchorage. When she showed it to me I was amazed that commercial planes are allowed to fly so close to the volcano. But Zoya tells me the pilot assured them that what they see coming out of the volcano is mostly steam and not ash. The planes don't fly after a major ash eruption because the ash damages the plane turbines, but steam is fine. The pilot also informed the passengers that just to be totally on the safe side they fly upwind of the volcano. So I gather all the planes to Kodiak have been flying a huge detour to the West over the Alaska Peninsula to fly around upwind of the volcano. The detour also means cool pictures! Patrick