One last proxy hunt

Drama moon as we hiked in before dawn

Yesterday Brooks, Adelia and I had an eventful hunt.  We started out hiking before sunrise under a full moon.  I took a picture of the moon on drama setting and it looked darn near apocalyptic.  Up high we saw deer right away, and down in the bottom of a bowl there was a big buck.  On my last 2 hunts prior I had only seen one spike - it is hard to find bucks in October after they have moved down out of the alpine - and so we were all quite excited.

We made a plan to loop around and get closer him, and we were speedily moving that way when we ran into a huge sleeping bear.  I did not see him until he woke up about 10 yards away with a BIG hiss and explosion of steam and snot.  Brooks who was just behind me said I levitated 10 feet to the left.  The bear went right and crashed away through the bushes.  We watched him join the buck down in the bottom of the bowl.  He was so big that he just looked like a big black ball with no legs or ears.

We got to the point where we thought we could make a stalk on the deer, but he had disappeared.  The bear was there off to the side sleeping, but no deer.  Still we were fairly sure he was down there bedded  somewhere in the alders, and so off Brooks went to find him.  Lots of does and fawns ran away but no big buck.  Adelia and I watched the bear wake up and skedaddle.  We joined Brooks down at the bottom of the bowl.

And then we got a big break.  Brooks barely caught a glimpse of the big buck skylined as he exited the other side of the bowl.  Somehow he had snuck away without us catching a glimpse of him.  And so off we went in chase.  We got to the top and there was the buck out in a field 500 or so feet below us out in the main valley.  He KNEW we were chasing him and was looking back right at us.  I got within extreme shooting range and Brooks was trying to get closer when he took off running.

Leaping and bounding we watched him run for literally a mile.  And that should have been the end of the hunt.  Actually it should have been the end of the hunt when we first saw him sky lined leaving the bowl.  He ran and ran, and Adelia and I tried to keep him in view with our binoculars.  He got to some trees and was about to enter when suddenly he turned around and ran back towards us! Then he ran back towards some other trees, and then back towards us again. And then he stopped and just stood there about 700 yards away at the bottom of the ridge.  We think he wanted to go back to the does in the bowl where we first found him - drawn to them like a magnet.

So we decided to try and get closer to him again.  We got out of view and walked down the backside of the ridge and he just stood there.  Unbelievable!  We kept on peeking back over the ridge until we were close enough to shoot.  And then, finally, after over 3 hours of chasing, we had our buck down!  Of course we had chased him so far that we had to hike down into a different valley from where we parked our car.  But that was part of the adventure.  We had to hitchhike and catch a ride back to our car.  The first car that came along picked us up - thank you Nate!  Patrick

A nice 3 point sitka blacktail deer

It truly was a team effort

Now it is time to hike home!

Girl Scout Adventures~Flag ceremony

Group pic of the girls before flag ceremony. 

Getting ready to present the flag. 

COAST GUARD APPRECIATION DINNER FLAG CEREMONY
Last night my Brownie Troop #118 did their first Flag Ceremony, where they presented the Flag at a local Coast Guard Appreciation Dinner. At yesterdays Brownie meeting, we practiced with the flags and the girls practiced their roles of carrying the flags to the front, putting them in the holder and the leader announced the time for the group to stand and do pledge of allegiance. Fortunately another parent with lots of prior experience in scouts helped with this part of it, as it is all very new to me! We practiced over and over again until the girls felt confident.

When the time came this evening to do the formal ceremony at the dinner, the whole scene struck a soft chord in my heart.

To begin with, the event was VERY formal for Kodiak and all the Coast Guard active duty were in uniform. Their significant others were dressed to the "T". The dinner started and my 6 Brownies were called in to do the ceremony.

When the time came, everyone in the reception hall stood and Nora was in charge of carrying the  American Flag up to the front. She weaved through the sea of uniformed men and women and she was careful to not let old glory touch the ground.

On the other side of the room, another Brownie, Abigail, carried the Alaska Flag to the front. The leader, Shelby, did the annnouncing in her confident,  strong voice. I could hear her even in the back of the room. I was so proud of her for projecting out so confidently in such a big and crowded room.

Everyone in the room put their hands to their hearts and said the pledge of allegiance in unison. I was a little choked up with pride inside and could barely say the words of the pledge out loud. The whole moment of our 6 little brownies leading the Coast Guard Appreciation dinner in this formal, important ceremony was enough to make me explode with joy inside.

After the pledge, the crowd clapped. The girls walked to the back of the room and we exited. Nora said that as they walked out, she could hear people saying, "They're so cute" and several people in the crowd gave the girls High 5's as they left the hall.

 I"m excited to be part of these new adventures for Nora and I to have together. And to lead girls on such novel experiences for ALL of us.

Zoya

Kodiak Prehistory in Recent Decades

 Thursday evening at 7 PM I am giving a presentation at the Alutiiq Museum about how Kodiak archaeology has changed over the last 30 years.  I have been around doing Kodiak archaeology for the last 28 years so I figure 30 years is about all that I am qualified to speak on, but I do also give a brief run down on the history of archaeology on Kodiak (this part seems to mostly focus on Kodiak's own Don Clark). Anyway in this post I show my favorite 5 slides from the talk - and I am not showing the slide that outlines what I think are Kodiak's most important archaeological discoveries in the last 30 years.  You will have to go my talk if you are interested in my opinion on that!  Patrick

Some Recent Panoramics

This past weekend while hiking with Stuey in Abercrombie Park I took some panoramic photos.  Prior to this most of our photography together while on hikes has been close ups of plants. Stuey was intrigued with stichting photos together.  His camera does not do it automatically - so today he borrowed Nora's camera and has been trying to do them himself.  So far so good, but he still has not quite got the frames to all fit together.  But he is way gung ho about it and I am sure that Stuey panoramics will be on the blog shortly.

I also created some panoramics by myself while on a Columbus Day hunting trip with Brooks H.  We did not get a deer, but it was such a nice day and the scenery was spectacular.  I was a little bummed about no deer - the whole purpose of the hunt - but Brooks chided me, 'which would you rather no deer or no elk?' Put that way I was very happy to enjoy the deer-less sunshine, and reflect back on our successful elk hunt.  Because he is right - I'd much rather a quick elk than a quick deer.

Patrick

Sunrise on our Columbus Day deer hunt

Fall Underway

For so many weeks now, I've thought, "I should do a blog post" but was either too busy or not in the right mind set to write. Its interesting how for me the conditions for writing have to be JUST PERFECT. The kids generally can't be up, and it has to be a time of day when I'm not needed or having things asked of me. And when I'm not too tired or just getting ready for bed. Tonight, it was a perfect combination of forces... :)

FALL
This fall has been unusual in many regards; Patrick was gone for survey work and hunting for much longer time than normal. The fall has been milder than normal. We've had several house guests including Thomas and Mike E. We've canned fish later than normal, thanks to Thomas' subsistence persistence. And halloween is completely sneaking up on me already! Costume preps are in the works! Also, both kids LOVE school. On weekend days, Nora is very excited to go back. I attribute this to her multi-age classroom (grades 2-5) and small class size (14 students) and a very fun, energetic, fabulous teacher. (Ms. Schmitt is the cats meow!). Its been great to have Nora so motivated and eager to do homework and she takes so much initiative with her schoolwork (and really lets me help her with homework!).

WORK
My recent struggle has been scheduling and not overbooking myself, but help is on the way. Starting in December a physical therapist, Kelsea,  will be taking over my town client physical therapy practice, which I'm very excited about.

Since starting my physical therapy practice nearly 5 years ago, Kelsea will be the first PT to partner with me at A Balanced Approach.  She is moving here in December and is excited to work full time as a PT. She is the PT who came over in May to see Kodiak and then decided to move here.  She is a gem and so easy to talk with and communicate with. Any contact with her via phone, e-mail or text brings me a sense of peace, which makes me know inside that I made the right decision in hiring her. I know that she will have the same affect on clients at A Balanced Approach, which I'm thrilled about!


HANDWRITING CLASS
I'm about 4 weeks into teaching handwriting to Nora's class and thrilled with the progress the kids are making. Frankly, I"m blown away! The student's focus is improved and their writing endurance has improved as well. They're able to write and do fine motor activities for much longer without their hands tiring. I'm starting to expect more from them as they get more comfortable with me and I understand all that they are capable of.

For instance, starting today I'm insisting that when they write their name on top of their handwriting practice sheets, that it is as neat as possible. If I see lower case letters that are out of the lines, or upper case letters written in the middle of their name, I have them erase and re-write. I remind them that when they write their name, it should be with pride. It should be written neatly so a complete stranger can read what it says. I think they get that, because they don't argue with me on it.

When I give them these corrections, they don't seem upset or complain about it. I think its because these corrections are sprinkled with LOTS of positives and stars written on their work. With each handwriting group, I'm peering over their shoulder watching their every dotted i and crossed t. They know that I"m watching and that I care. And that I"ll comment on the good AND bad. I rather enjoy it and seeing how beautiful the students are starting to write.

When the students come into the library for hand writing hour, they make a beeline for the table and get right to work. They are better at angling their papers and holding their papers down with their left hand. Their grips on their pencils are softer and more relaxed than they used to be. All the pieces are starting to come together.

The thing that I find fascinating is that every student has things to work on. I think I expected that there would be a few students with "perfect" handwriting, but it really isn't the case. When it comes to letter formation and fine motor drills, different student have different abilities. One student may have trouble with spacing between words, another with letter formation, another with heights of letters...I think the students see that I'm not every picking on any one or two people because all of the students need the good and constructive feedback. Hand writing progress takes so much time and  repetition; I'm thrilled to have 2 sessions a week with Nora's class.


Zoya

PS More later on Brownies and other fun fall endeavors!!

Survey and hunt accommodations

After the survey we used the tent on the elk hunt

While on survey Mike and I shared a tent heated by a wood stove - both made by a company called Titanium Goat.  Together the stove and tent weighed around 5 pounds which is pretty light for such a roomy and well-heated shelter.  Later on during the hunt all 5 of us fit inside the tent.  Mike and I did most of our cooking on the wood stove and just used the little propane canister stove to heat water for coffee.

We had some stormy days, and the tent handled pretty severe winds with ease.  When we were tent-bound for a few days at least we were warm and dry.  We stoked the wood stove and read books.

Patrick

Our spacious set up

Drying wood for the stove while tent bound

When the weather was glorious we left the front door open

We had our worst weather at our last camp - we got hit by some pretty serious gusts and it rained more than a couple of inches

Survey Scenics

Paramanof Bay with Ban Island in the distance

During our archaeological survey Mike and I got to check out some beautiful places on Afognak Island.  We did most of our traveling by inflatable kayak (Innova Helios II) and they worked great.  We used doubles so that we could dump our gear in the forward 'hatch'.  Because we were on survey we also had to get in and out of the kayaks a lot to check out possible site localities on shore.  The kayaks also gave me an appreciation for the importance of beaches with good places to land.  I noticed that localities with multiple beach aspects where kayaks could land in a calm lee in a variety of wind directions tended to have sites.  I think such beaches were a more important consideration than fresh water streams or many of the other resources we tend to think prehistoric peoples 'just had to have nearby' their villages.  Patrick

Paramanof Bay and Ban Island with the Alaska Peninsula in the background

North Shore of Izhut Bay

The beach where we camped at Izhut Bay

Izhut Bay arch

Dead pink salmon litter the bottom of a lagoon that we surveyed

Pauls Lake reflections

Stormy weather at Perenosa Bay (we did not kayak in this type of weather)

Ban Island rainbow

Mapping a village

Strange Things

We saw some strange things on Afognak.  I think the strangest was when we were attracted to a particular beach because a bunch of crows and eagles were making a commotion.  On arrival we noticed that all the water was this weird milky color.  I was thinking, 'bird poop?'  But then I noticed thousands of needlefish or capelin (small minnow like fish anyway) darting around in the water.  We also noticed that some of the crows had minnows in their beaks.  The birds had been attracted to the minnows by the beach.  And I think the milky water was fish sperm and that the minnows were spawning in the beach gravel.  I must admit late September does seem a little late for needlefish to spawn.

Another thing we saw that really is not all that weird is amazing coral and tidepools at low tide.  I don't usually walk exposed beaches at low tide and I was surprised by the profusion of pink coral and anemones.  Also lots of chitons, mussels, and other things to eat in those tidepools.  By the time the boat was late picking us up I was beginning to wonder if we might need to hit the tidepools to find dinner.

Mike and I found very few old archaeological sites during our survey.  Almost all the sites were less than 500 years old - and all them look like they eroded into the ocean after the 1964 earthquake.  In 1964 Afognak sank on the order of 5 feet into the ocean and the coast line suffered severe erosion.  Dead spruce trees in the intertidal zone killed by the 1964 subsidence event were a common sight.  Due to the periodic episodes of severe erosion (every 400 years or so when there is a HUGE earthquake) I just don't think archaeological sites last all that long on Afognak Island.  Patrick

Scenes from the elk hunt

Mike's Elk

 This year we got lucky and found the elk on our first day of hunting.  We hiked up into the alpine and camped and then the next day we had elk down before noon.  We all fully realize that this is not the way it usually happens.  Last year we put in a hard week of hunting and well over 60 miles of hiking and did not get an elk.  So we'll take 'lucky' and a full freezer.

Still the perfect hunt would be 4 days of hiking and camping and then a guaranteed elk by the beach on the 5th day.  But when hunting nothing is guaranteed - ever.  And after 2 weeks of archaeological survey I was SO ready to go home early.  I've never been happier with a quick elk hunt.  Patrick

All the meat once we finally got it to the boat

Searching for elk - this year it did not take us long to find them!

Half the meat is inside the electric fence - the rest is on our backs

And this load is nothing - earlier John carried his camping gear, a hind quarter, and a front quarter all in one load for 3/4 of a mile down to the electric fence

The Refuge is a beautiful place to hunt for elk

Long Survey Short Hunt

Moon setting behind Pauls Lake at sunrise

Yesterday I got back from a 2 and a 1/2 week sojourn on Afognak Island.  For the first part Mike S and I conducted an archaeological survey by kayak.  It was supposed to take 10 days but some big storms delayed our progress and it ended up taking 13 days.  The second part of the trip was our annual boat-based elk hunt.  That part was supposed to take 8 days but a storm delayed the boat's arrival (by 3 whole days!), and then we got our 2 elk within 24 hours of arrival.  So the hunt ended up taking just 3 days.

By the time the rest of the elk hunters arrived by boat Mike and I were getting a little loopy.  The only person we had interacted with in 2 weeks was the floatplane pilot and each other.  We had literally seen no one - not even any planes or boats.  We heard the jet once, saw a logging truck, and even a logger cutting down a tree - but that's it.  For the last few days we had been stuck inside the teepee in hibernation mode while the storms raged.  I think our social skills and mental condition were a little scary to the others when they picked us up.

Our archaeological survey was very successful.  We found 10 new archaeological sites (mostly villages) and examined another 9 previously known sites.  Basically we doubled the amount of known sites for the area we examined.  Patrick

On survey with all of our camping gear and food

Drama elk hunt crew shot - at start of hunt

Brooks with one of the 2 bull elk we harvested

The Morning Jet

Strange to admit, but I'm in love with the Alaska Airlines morning Jet.

The power of flight-its a long time fascination of mine. Even though there is physics and hard science behind flying, its hard to believe that planes really can fly. People board with utmost confidence, fasten their seatbelts, hear the safety briefing  and then ta-da! Plane takes off into the air. Even thought I don't suffer from flying anxiety, I can FULLY appreciate how someone could!

Recently my start time (8:30 am) at the Coast Guard Base  means that when I drive by the runway, there is a  high probability that the morning jet is taxing to take off or already mid air. As I approach the airport past Boy Scout Lake,  I think, "Will the jet be there? Or taxi-ing? Or will I have already missed it?"The highway curves by the airport then right behind the runway.

This is a rather ridiculous, simple pleasure I fully realize. I don't deny that. But there is something about the jet parked on the tarmac, with people walking up the stairs and onto the plane. Or the plane pulling out from the gate-with the traffic controller guiding his departure from the ground. Or in the winter when the plane is lit up with lights and its raining or snowy out....
I really could go on and on.

 For some reason, I get excited for those people to be on a journey somewhere.
I get excited for the power of flight.
I get excited for the possibilities of the day.

As I drive by with my music playing in my car, the jet takes off into the sunrise and I speed on towards work. Its a moment that just never gets boring. Everyone is taking off into their day.

Zoya



(And no- I didn't take that picture above. Several times I thought of taking a picture with my iphone, but then thought it would probably be best to not take pictures while driving. Thank heavens for google images!)

Teaching Handwriting

This week I started teaching handwriting in Nora's class at St. Mary's.  I"m tickled pink--yes-call me a handwriting nerd. In many classes around the country, handwriting and cursive is no longer a significant part of curriculums as many students start typing earlier.

Handwriting requires hand-eye coodination, fine motor control and focus which is unlike typing on a keyboard. There are so many benefits to the brain as well as fine motor function with spending time on handwriting. I worked in the school system as a physical therapist for my first year out of college and am excited to use the handwriting  knowledge that I learned for Nora's class.


Teaching to Ms.Schmitt's class was so fun! The kids were  kind and thoughtful and worked hard. Plus, they were super receptive to my advice and I handed out grippies for their pencils which they liked. They said, "Ms. Zoya-this helps my hand not get so tired when writing."

Its such a treat to have time like this in Nora's classroom-to get to know her peers and her teacher more. I also liked when the principal walked into room, the students promptly got up from their chairs and said, "Good Morning Mr. Brian". I found it to be a classic, respectful type of move to have the students do.


Zoya