Over Now? Or hopefully more coming?

Tomorrow when I go to work my co-workers might very well kill me.  At work, I've been making jokes about sacrificing chickens to extend winter.  I also have been creating joke forecasts about snow just to hear them groan.  Now what I've been praying for has happened. Here on Kodiak we've gone back to March, at least, if just for the day.  And I swear - no chicken sacrifices.

Although I have to say, I can't see why everybody is so surprised.  Snow in May on Kodiak is not really all that of a rare event.  I remember Don Clark telling me about an excavation in Late May back in 1971 on the Afognak River where it snowed a foot.  And, he tells me, that year there was still 3 feet of snow under the spruce trees even before the storm.  Now that is far more extreme than what we have this year.

A few years ago in mid May we got 10 feet of snow on Pyramid over the course of 3 days - the most snow I have ever seen from one storm on the mountain.  But that storm was all rain in town.  Still every few years we do get a May snow storm.  People should not be shocked by what has happened today.

Also, I will add that Kodiak's long winters and maritime climate is one of the main reasons I live here.  If I wanted endless summer or warmth all the time I would probably live in LA or Hawaii.  I like long winters and snow in May - it's why I chose to live on Kodiak.  But I can also see how a person who might have chosen to live on Kodiak for different reasons might be a little tired of the snow.

All that said - I think I am going to hang a little low tomorrow at work.  No need to gloat over my prayer coming true.

Compare these two photos with the ones I posted below from this morning.  We got a lot more snow after it seemingly stopped this morning.  Perhaps we'll get another squall  and another dump of snow later on today? One can only hope!   Patrick

It's Dumping Out There!

After posting this morning I went for a ski expecting the snow to stop or turn to rain.  I got to the pass and the road was bare.  By the time I finished my ski (deep, dry powder from top to bottom on Pyramid) there was already 2 inches of new snow on the road.  Since this morning the temperature has dropped down into the 20s and it is now REALLY dumping.  My drive back from skiing was quite hair-raising, and I probably should not have been taking pictures while driving.  In my defense I did not look at the camera but kept my eyes peeled on the road, and I was creeping along in 3rd gear.

This is mid-winter driving conditions!  At Mill Bay cars were backed up at the bottom of the hill trying to get up the hill.  I passed a car going backwards down the hill and numerous cars coming off of Mill Bay Road (from Safeway) were skidding right across Rezanof.  We now have a good 6 to 8 inches of new snow at our house and it is still dumping!

All the new snow has me thinking about what I wrote this morning about my garden and winter.  Wouldn't it be great if as long as I was constantly planting my garden it would stay winter and keep killing what I planted?  Sort of like Sisyphus and the rock he has to keep pushing up the hill.  The only problem with this scenario is that I might not have enough time away from gardening to enjoy the snow.  Then I would be like Tantalus thirsty and hungry in his pool of water with fruit hanging all around and no way to get at either the water or fruit.  I'd be living in a world of snow but constantly working on my garden.  

So yeah I guess it's a good thing we have seasons.  And I do hope to eventually get my garden planted. but in the meanwhile I am going to enjoy the snow and I am going to root for it to keep falling!  

Patrick

Alive & Kicking

Yesterday morning it briefly snowed and the kids got all excited.  Nora had me check the weather on the " 'puter ", and the weather report for today was calling for snow.  Nora kept on asking if it would stick on the ground so she could go sledding.  I did not want to get her hopes up and told her it would probably just melt as it landed on the ground.  Then last night the updated weather report was calling for 3 inches of snow and even I got excited.

Later, I woke up around midnight and looked out the window and it was snowing!  Whoo Hooo!  Winter is still alive and kicking!  No weather report let down!

This morning we woke up to around 2 to 3 inches of snow on the ground.  I raced outside to take pictures of the sunrise, but of course it clouded up immediately before I could get a picture.

And then Nora woke up.  She was so excited.  Before she even ate breakfast, even before Mommy or Stuey got up, she was outside sledding.

What a treat.  Enough snow to sled on in mid May at the house.  As Nora put it, "we don't even have to drive to the pass to go sledding.  We can go sledding right here!"

Of course there is reason to temper my enthusiasm.  Spring has definitely arrived and the ground is already thawed.  I doubt this snow will stick around.  But you never know.  I've already planted my garden, but I'd be perfectly happy if it all died and I had to do it all over again.  For just a few more days of winter I'd gladly do it.

It just started to snow hard and the wind is blowing the snow around.  How cool is that?  At least we've got one more day of winter here at Cliffside Drive.  Patrick

Dance Recital Practice

This week is dance practice week for our little squirrel and fish. I fear that this will be Stuey's last year of dance, as he has just recently started to realize how he is the only boy in his class. He loves the big stage and really enjoys performing. So hopefully he will continue with either dancing, acting or something of the sort.

Patrick is very, very, very hopeful that Stuey will stick with dancing, as he would love to see Stuey be the male lead in the local nutcracker performance. (the male lead is typically brought in from out of town).

Zoya

Another Idea for Nettles

I took this photo way back when Zoya first got back from Australia but then I forgot to post it.  In it Zoya is showing off another use for nettles - omelet filling!  Zoya made the omelet like she usually does only for filling she used sautéed nettles.  I think I would have preferred nettles AND ham inside.  But I must admit the veggie omelet with just nettles inside was VERY good.  When she made the omelet she sauteed the nettles first - cooking them in oil and then steaming them at the end with the addition of hot water (just like in my nettles and ham recipe from earlier in the month).  She then put the nettles aside and cooked the omelet in the same pan.

Just posting this picture has me thinking that I better go and collect some nettles today after work.  The nettles are only tender in May!  Patrick

Spring Ring~Isle Bells Spring Concert

Yesterday was the spring performance of Isle Bells, the community handbell choir which Ella founded and conducts. It was beautiful. Ella and I were part of a handbell choir 20 years ago in Kodiak and several (5)  of the old members from the high school choir play in Isle Bells.

Yesterday the group played a piece from Phantom of the Opera which was a tune the bell choir played in  high school and it brought major tears to my eyes. As I listened to it, I was taken back to our trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. 13 of us teenagers went to Russia to do performances in several towns. And visit places, take the train, subway, stay with locals. We had to learn some Russian and all about Russian culture.

Listening to the music yesterday,  I was struck by how strong the emotions flooded me--the years of all of us girls together on the bell choir and how the tunes struck such strong chords in my soul. "Think of Me", "Phantom"....
I was crying so hard during the Phantom Medly, I had short gasps/sobs and had to avoid eye contact with the choir, as to not cry harder.  The emotion of it took me by surprise. I went thinking I'd be "stronger than that"...to be able to listen to songs we played so long ago and not be that affected by them.

It just goes to show how incredibly powerful music can be.

Isle Bells--thank you for bringing such beautiful music to Kodiak!! What a group of talented musicians.

More Powder

 Powder Day On Pyramid

A few more pictures from up on Pyramid yesterday afternoon.  Up top I ran into Maya, Brooks, and Philip.  We got to put down the first tracks of the day in the North bowl. I had to head home early after the North Bowl run, but they stayed and skiied some more.  They later reported that on their way home they discovered that a bear had walked in their tracks from earlier in the day.  I wonder if I had looked in the right direction on my ski back to the car if I could have seen the bear walking in their tracks?

This is the view from the top of the North Bowl - you can see Maya and dog in the lower left and Philip and Brooks at the end of their tracks in the distance.

Weirdly enough but it was flurrying snow flakes from a clear blue sky the whole time we were up there.  I tried turning on my camera flash to catch the flakes, but it did not really capture the flakes any better than without the flash.

Philip skiing up for another run on his split board snowboard.  He puts the 2 halfs together to make a snowboard for the run down.  And then at the bottom he takes them apart and make them into skiis for the skin back up the hill.

Snow on the trees and fog in the distance with a bright blue sky overhead.  Pretty hard to beat.  Philip took the picture below of me coming to a stop at the bottom of the North Bowl run.  As you can see I look pretty excited by the skiing!  Patrick

Powder Day In May

Today it was stunning up on Pyramid.  I expected rain and got powder and sun.  How can you beat that?  I could not stop taking pictures and will post a few more tomorrow morning.  We actually ran out of blog space and had to buy more space from google.  I guess that means we've posted a lot of pictures on the blog!  But it will be 24 hours before we can make use of the new blog 'memory'.

The top photo is of the new snow on some spruce trees with the sun creating a halo effect through the fog.  The photo below is of our tracks in the North Bowl on Pyramid.  It's not often that you get mid winter powder type conditions on Pyramid in May!  Patrick

Cinco De Mayo Birthday Party

 Last night we celebrated Zoya and Ella's 36th birthday with a Cinco De Mayo themed party. Marie made two Mexican Spice Cakes for the birthday cakes (that is mango on top!).

 There was lots of dancing, friends over and Mexican food. The top two popular dishes that people brought were shrimp ceviche and pulled pork.

 Happy Birthday Zoya and Ella! Patrick

Walks & Awards

The whole point of this post was to post a picture of Nora receiving her student of the month math award at Saint Mary's so that my Mom (Nora's Grand mom) could see it.  Normally Nora wears a uniform to school just like Natalie is wearing on her right, but that was a special 'dress of choice' day at Saint Mary's.

It's definitely spring on Kodiak.  The crocuses are almost past and it's getting to be time to plant the garden.  Today I plan on driving out the road to gather beach peat for the potato patch.  And on the way home I'll stop in at Sutliffe's to pick up seed potatoes and seeds.  This year I think I'll grow mixed garden lettuce, carrots, snap peas, beets, and kale/broccoli.

Another thing about spring is that it stays light in the evening and we've been taking more walks down the road and into Abercrombie with the dogs and kids.  Stuey and Nora like to ride their bikes while I walk.  Last fall Jake had a bum leg and we had to stop taking him for long walks - I feared his long walk days were over.  But it seems he has made an impressive recovery.  As my physical therapist wife says, 'nothing like a little rest to do wonders'.  When I have some sort of ski injury I always have a hard time heeding this advice, but there is no denying that it worked with Jake.

I took the picture above of Zoya and Stuey when I was leaving for my Chief Cove deer mortality survey on Monday.  I always like to put a picture of Zoya and the kids on the camera when I go some place.  It's sort of the modern day equivalent of the family photo in the wallet.  I figured if the weather had turned south and I had been stuck in Chief Cove for a few days that at least I would have a picture of home to look at while I waited to return.

And finally - Nora receives her award!  Patrick

Skate Skiing in May

Here on Kodiak it has been pretty warm of late (relatively speaking of course), but our snow has been hanging in there.  At the pass on the road to Anton Larsen Bay there is still a couple of feet of snow at the road (see bottom photo).  And today I went for a skate ski right from where I parked the car.  I barely beat the bad weather that rolled in just as I finished my ski.  I had the windshield wipers on as I drove back to town.

It looks like we only have another week or so left of skate skiing at the pass, and it has to freeze the night before you go or else the snow is not solid enough for crust cruising.  End of days for cross country skiing on Kodiak.  Good thing we'll be skiing downhill on high into July!  Patrick

Scrumptious Meals by Alisa

During my stay in Tasmania, I was in awe of Alisa's incredible cooking aboard the sailboat, Galactic. She cooks in a very small kitchen, and is used to cooking in all sorts of weather conditions as well as on limited food supply in the midst of crossings.
During my stay, Alisa always had the most wonderful meals planned for Mike, the kids and myself.  I felt truly spoiled. She would start the kids, Mike and myself off with a cheese and cracker tray and crack open a bottle of wonderful Australian wine, or make a simple mixed drink for the grown ups. Then she would cook as I sat at the galley table and played with the kids. It was such a treat to watch her, smell the aromas floating through.

Sidenote: (Alisa and my girlfriend, Balika, are two female chefs I highly admire-because they are used to cooking on a boat. This means they can scrounge together whatever is in the fridge to put together an incredible meal. AND cook in a small space with limited utensils. Balika grew up fishing with her mom and I got to appreciate her cooking when we did a boat trip in France with her family in 2010)

 One mid day lunch consisted of toasted ham and cheese sandwiches along with a green salad with boiled eggs atop it.

 For breakfast one morning she made crepes with yogurt and jams inside. They came out so beautifully and tasted delicious. This was her first time making crepes on the Galactic. It was a recipe a French friend had shared with her.

 The fridge on the Galactic was built into (under) a counter. To access it, Alisa takes the lid off the counter, and reaches way down inside to obtain ingredients. She has the organization of the fridge and her kitchen down to a science. Everything has its special space! Here Alisa is reaching in for more ingredients.

 Another delicious creation was PIZZA! She made the dough by hand and made a veggie pizza as well as Canadian Bacon and Pineapple. For dessert was a homemade lemon tart!

 And in really rough waves, the oven tips, which I got to experience! On the fishing boats I'm used to from growing up, the stoves don't adjust to the boats angles. It was wild to see how cooking can still continue admist the oceans movements.

Thank you to Alisa for so many memorable meals shared upon the Galactic. (And I still think she can do a cooking show of some sort! A "Cooking with Alisa" aboard the Galactic.  I would TOTALLY watch it!)

Zoya

Flyswatters on Kodiak's Beaches

Yesterday's blog post got an interesting comment about the flyswatters. It seems someone is mapping and recording all the flyswatter reports from Kodiak's beaches! Initially I was a little leery to hit the hot link on the comment fearing my computer might catch a nasty virus.  But eventually I did hit the link and a Google map of Kodiak popped up with the various sports teams logos at all the places where the fly swatters have been reported found.  Very cool.

I emailed the guy who has created the website and he sent me the link to the following story.

(or if, like me, you prefer to write out the web address rather than click on the above hot link)

http://www.ktva.com/home/outbound-xml-feeds/More-Tsunami-Debris-Washes-Up-on-Alaskas-Shores-149609545.html

It seems that the fly swatters and nerf balls are not related to Japan's Tsunami, but are probably from a container that fell off of a ship.  Anyway it is cool that someone is mapping all of them, and it is a very good way to highlight all the marine debris that litters Kodiak's beaches.

Here is the link to the interactive Google map - and never fear - I checked it.  No 'hot babes' or Viagra ads pop up on your screen.

www.tinyurl.com/AlaskaFlySwatterMap

You can also email the guy who has put the map online.  He even put all of our flyswatters on the map!

kodiakbeaches@gmail.com

So as you get out and about this spring and summer keep your eyes peeled for the fly swatters with sports teams logos.  And then report them.  It will create a very graphic reminder of Kodiak's Marine debris problem.  Patrick

Deer Mortality Survey

By 9 AM yesterday I was well on my way in a floatplane to outer Uyak Bay to help ADF&G (The Alaska Department of Fish and Game) with a deer mortality survey.  Every year Fish and Game walk the same transects along the same coastline and counts how many deer died there the previous winter.  This gives them an idea of how harsh the previous winter was on the local deer population.  Find more dead deer than usual and it was a relatively bad winter.  Find very few and it says the deer had good survival rates.

I've volunteered for ADF&G on these surveys in the past, and it is also a good chance to check on Archaeological sites in a remote part of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge.  So by 9 AM I found myself winging along over the snow of Kodiak's interior on my way to Uyak Bay.

As we circled to land I looked out the window and recognized an archaeological site.  Those weird 'pimples' near the middle of the photo represent the remains of 500 year old multiroom houses.  Later we got to look over the housepits from the ground, and it was amazing to think that there was once a large village at the locality.

In the picture below is a REALLY BIG housepit at another prehistoric village site.  This is the site where I collected the nettles for last night's dinner.  This house depression is so deep and large that I believe it may represent the remains of a Qasiq or 'Men's house'.  This is where the community would have had community celebrations and men and boys would have hung out repairing tools.

I joined ADF&G employees Donn, John, Tyler, and Teresa.  John and Teresa did a transect south while Donn, Tyler and I went north.  Our goal was to find all the dead deer within 100 yards of the beach.  In the photo below is a 'puff deer' that we found on the beach.  Most of the deer we found were on south facing slopes in thick brush where they holed up to get out of the wind.

Once we found a deer we GPS'd its position and to the best of our ability recorded the sex and age of the dead animal.  We also broke open a long bone and checked out the condition of the marrow inside. The color of the marrow indicates how the deer was doing when he died - you can get an idea if they froze to death (marrow healthy) or starved (marrow depleted).

While on survey we also found lots of cool beach debris.  It appears a container of sports memorabilia fell off of a ship.  We found hundreds of toy nerf balls and flyswatters with the logos of various sports teams.  I desperately wanted to find a University of Wisconsin badger flyswatter, but the best that could do was the Ohio State Buckeyes.  I also carried a Texas Longhorn swatter for a bit.

Anyway, the above photo shows our loot at the end of the day.  We only collected the good balls and I filled my pack with presents for Nora and Stuey.  It's not often that I get to bring a 'store bought' type present home from the wilds of Kodiak.

Here Tyler and Donn walk home along the beach with a set of bear tracks going the other way in the sand on their right.  The bears are just starting to wake up from hibernation.

All and all it was a great day.  I was very happy to have Zoya home to take care of the kiddos while I went and played! And oh yeah, we found more dead deer than usual - but John C still has to punch the numbers and compare them with years past.

 Patrick