Stormy Weather

Today in the 'jibber' bowl on Pyramid - snowing like crazy

 The weather really is stuck in a rut.  There is this big jet that's been hitting southeast Alaska and then bending over backwards towards us.  One storm after another has been coming in on the jet.  Pretty much rain and 39 degrees all the time.

Funnily enough for a while there the rain guage at the Kodiak weather station was broken so it did not look like it was raining all that much.  One morning after moderate rain all night, and yet only .03 inches of reported precipitation  I gave them a call and they admitted that it was broken.  Maybe that's why until a few days ago we were still below normal precip for the month of January.

But I have not minded the storms because it has been snowing pretty good on Pyramid.  In the last few days we got 2 to 3 feet of new snow on the mountain.  We now have more snow on the mountain than we had ALL LAST YEAR (albeit not all that high of a bar).

So dismal in town but snow on the mountain - It looks like the 'cup is half full'  Patrick

Spruce Cape today in the rain

40 and raining, and writing

Its perpetually 40 and raining here in Kodiak but I'm making the most of it by writing a lot, work and park walks with the dogs. And playing basketball on the muddy court out front with Stuey.

Patrick wants me to write on the blog more~ i can tell. He says, so kindly, with sparkly blue eyes, "Zoya, I put photos for you to write about on the blog". I tell him that yes, I"ll write about them soon, but I don't.

This past summer, fall and now winter, I've been a blog disappointment. Its not that I haven't been writing, it just hasn't been on the blog.

I'm on week 2 of 5 of a Creative Non-Fiction writing boot camp class. I write 3, 300 word passages a week as well as one passage closer to 1000 words. And read/respond to classmates work.

It'd be an understatement to say I'm captivated-I love it. The classmates come from all walks of life-are mostly female (1 poor male soul in the group), from all over the country but all share a love for writing. At first our teacher struck me as someone who might be too modern or edgy for my liking, but from the feedback she has given thus far-she gets us as writers.

The bootcamp gives different writing prompts and stories unfold which I didn't even know were inside of me.  Moments in my childhood, life which I want to capture and explore.  When I get home from work I excitedly log into the computer to see what my classmates have written.

I'm trying to resist the urge to take another class this spring. I'll hold off and just focus on the blog and newspaper articles. Its been over a month since I've written for the paper as well.

And this picture was taken by a new friend, Emmy, who is renting our house next door. SHe likes dogs and we had fun in Ft. Abercrombie!

Zoya

Another Rafting Video

I forgot to post this video that Philip made of last Sunday's paddle on Virginia Creek.  It is a much smaller creek than the one we did the day before.  Based on the warm, wet weather it looks like we might be doing some more rafting this weekend too.

https://vimeo.com/151341256



Virginia Creek at Flood Stage from Philip Tschersich on Vimeo.

New Year outing with troop #118

First gathering of the new year with my scout troop~a hike out Spruce Cape Point! 

The high winds which have dominated Kodiak's weather made for a spectacular show of crashing waves off the point. Trail mix and hot cocoa warmed our tummies as we tucked ourselves under the shelter of trees and talked about our winter plans as a troop. 

Zoya

Whitewater!

Yesterday was another dreary, windy, rainy day.  Truly BLAH.  I'd rather we got snow, but at least it rained hard enough to make the rafting worthwhile.  Also I suspect that it is snowing up high on the mountain - so all is not lost.

And truth be said, the whitewater kayaking was a lot of fun.  Philip made a video that shows how much fun we had playing in the wet H2O (rather than on top of the dry stuff).  And thank you Philip for not showing how much I went swimming!

Patrick

https://vimeo.com/151267118



Sargent Creek Rainy Day Boating from Philip Tschersich on Vimeo.

Blah

Winter has been a little warm and wet lately - Grey and totally blah.  Zoya commented that it's sad we haven't had a decent winter in a few years and how it is unfair to the kids.  She's right.  Maybe it's time to go white water rafting.

Patrick

There but for the grace of a bad call.... ..

As a family we generally don't do blogposts about sports, but as a sometime fan of NFL football I feel compelled to report on something I noticed that the national sports media seems to have overlooked. 

The sports media is all super excited by last year's Superbowl runner up the Seattle Seahawks who have finished their season on a strong note after a slow start.  Yet I'd like to point out that but for the grace of a few bad calls they would not even be in the playoffs.  The team no one is talking about - the Detroit Lions - and not the Seahawks should be in the playoffs.   And to set the record straight as a Washington 'Pigskin' fan (rather not use the official name) I could really could care less about whether Detroit or Seattle made the playoffs - I am unbiased between the two.

My insight and the reason for this post is how capricious is the difference between the 'team of the moment' and the 'team that went home'.

Seattle ended the season with 10 wins and 6 defeats.  Detroit ended up with 7 wins and 9 defeats.  And yet but for a bad call Detroit should have beaten Seattle (click here for story).  Detroit also later lost a game due to a Hail Mary (click here for story), and possible bad call to the Green Bay Packers.  With those victories Detroit would be 9-7 and Seattle (on the other side of the bad call) would be 9-7 too (as would Green Bay too).  And in that scenario Detroit with the head-to-head wins over both would own the tie breakers and be in the playoffs.

Just food for thought - and go Pigskins!

Patrick

Total Drama

It's been pretty icy for skiing lately, but still nice to get up in the mountains.  A few days ago I tried something different and used the 'dramatic' setting on my point and shoot camera.  It certainly pumped up the pictures.  The ones I took on the normal settings looked totally blah.  I guess sometimes you just need some drama!  Patrick

New Years 2016

This morning in the dark rain and high winds (blowing 50 sustained with gusts to 60) we trekked a bit  up Monashka Mountain to a spot to cook camp breakfast. Patrick set up a tee pee and we nestled inside and cooked breakfast, hot cocoa and apple cider.

Part of the excitement for me was trying out my christmas gift from Patrick-an MSR reactor to boil large quantities of water in. As I told my girl fiend on the hike back to the car about the gift-I feel like I have 'arrived'. 

"What do you mean?" My friend asked.

"Patrick never would've given me that as a gift 10 years ago. I'm much more into the outdoors than I used to be-especially with girl scouts"

The reactor worked wonderfully to boil up cups of water in just a couple of minutes! And together we cooked up polenta, thai curry, chicken and dumplings & shepards pie...all yummy freeze dried meals. 

Bellies were full, hearts were warm and it felt good to start 2016 outside with friends and family! 

I'm thankful for friends who are up for a hike, no matter what the weather!

Zoya

Last day of 2015

Yesterday I went for a skate ski up in the mountains.  It was pretty icy, but the scenics were worth it.  When I first started out it was still sunny.  Then it got more and more grey as a big storm moved in.  The last day of the year and the day before the storm.  Right now it is blowing 40 sustained and raining hard.  2016 begins with a storm.  Patrick

Anchorage for Ski Lessons

Nora and Stuey with Ski Instructor at beginning of first lesson - note ski jumps in upper right corner

A low grade fear of mine is that Stuey and Nora would never learn how to or enjoy downhill skiing.  Kodiak does not have a ski lift and my attempts at teaching have not gone well.  Why is that kids never want to take advice from parents?  That said I've also had a hard time teaching Zoya to downhill ski.  Maybe it's just easier to take advice from neutral parties.

Last year we even went to Anchorage after Christmas so that they could take lessons at a real mountain.  Only once we got there we discovered that all the lessons had long been filled up.  It seems ski lessons are a popular activity over Christmas break. So this year we booked ski lessons well in advance at the Hilltop Ski Area on the outskirts of Anchorage.

As parents Zoya and I are well aware of the old adage about 'leading a horse to water,' and fully realized that booking the lessons was only half of the battle.  We had to do the 'selling' part very carefully.  Do we tell the kids about the lessons?  Do we even call them lessons?  A big part of the 'sell' occurred during cross country ski trips to the golf course in the weeks before Christmas.  I told the kids that they'd get to use real gear and ride a chair lift up a mountain when we went to Anchorage.  I think the idea of a chair lift ride ended up as the best 'sell'.

Finally the big day arrived and we drove through the gates to the ski area.  Three HUGE ski jumps rose above the spruce trees and Stuey and Nora's eyes lit up.  That's what Stuey wanted to do.

At the ski school we went through the whole very serious process of signing our rights away and gearing the kids up with ski equipment.  The boots looked very tight and uncomfortable, and I had some bad flashbacks to the ski lessons of my youth.  I kept repeating silent prayers to myself that the kids would actually enjoy the lessons.  Ski schools had to have gotten better in the last 40 years, right?

We met Pam their instructor and she explained how these days they teach the kids to ski without ski poles.  She then took the kids out to the bunny slope rope tow.  After a few trips up and down they graduated to the chair lift.  Things were working out!

At the end of the day Zoya and I watched from the bottom of the ski slope for the kids to appear at the finish of their ski runs.  Suddenly there was a fuchsia Nora snow ploughing across the slope.  A few minutes later we found Stuey's bright green snow pants as he snow ploughed straight down the slope.  They were skiing, and better yet they seemed to be enjoying themselves!

A few days later as I waited to pick up the kids after their last lesson I noticed a little placard on the wall near the ski school sign up area.  It read, 'Friends don't let friends take ski lessons from friends.'  Very true, it seems lessons were a good idea after all.

Patrick

Driving to the airport on Boxing Day - off to Anchorage for ski lessons!

Nora rocks it at the end of the first lesson

Stuey at the end of the first lesson

Some Cookies Nora and Ilsa made at the Robinson's

Lunch with Marie and Brian at the Spenard Roadhouse

Christmas Feast

On Christmas Day we went for a hike in the rain and wind in the morning and ate a feast with friends in the evening.

For dinner I cooked up Yorkshire pudding, roasted asparagus, mashed potatoes with leeks and garlic, roasted carrots, and a HUGE sous vide elk roast with onion gravy.  Zoya and Nora set the table and made everyone place tags with little drawings.  My favorite was Gregg's which had a deer with a red nose on it and said, 'Please don't shoot me' on it.

Every year (if successful) when we butcher the elk everybody gets one or 2 BIG roast that are supposed to be for big dinner parties.  They all get named something like - 'Mike's Festivus Roast' or 'Patrick's Solstice Roast'.  The one we ate on Christmas said, 'Saltonstall Party like your Lamar Odom Roast'.

We did not do that, but we certainly had a good time.  Patrick

Nora and Stuey's presents to us - art from class at St Mary's!

Hawaiian Beaches and Lava Flows

Just two weeks ago I was on the big island recharging my Vitamin D batteries for the winter, as well as drumming with 7 other women at a Women's drumming retreat. 

The trip was more spectacular than I imagined: the fruit more delicious, stars brighter, volcanos even more awe inspiring and the drumming more beautiful than I ever envisioned. 

I flew to Kona with few expectations and left feeling inspired and rested. 

On my second day in Hilo, I took an 8 hour volcano tour which took us first to Rainbow falls, then to the recent lava flows-where they flow into the ocean.  Then to an underground lava tube, as well as to scenics of the volcano at night. And the stars-so spectacular. 

The best part was soaking it all in, enjoying it with no one else to worry about. Being a singleton on a small group tour was lovely. 

Zoya

Christmas

 For the first time in my memory the kids did not wake up at 5 AM on Christmas morning!

The night before we went to the St Mary's Chruch Christmas Eve service.  Nora and Stuey each had  a short reading in the service and there were lots of beautiful readings and holiday songs sung.

This was the year of "no toys, no battery operated anything" under the tree and it was lovely. Books, pajamas, sweaters, knives….simple.

Zoya