Arenal Volcano 2006

Right now on Kodiak it is raining and 35 degrees. Not all bad because it is probably snowing above 500 feet, but nothing to take pictures of either. Decided to perk things up with a few pictures of volcanos that I have visited over the years.

Zoya, Nora and I visited Costa Rica and Arenal Volcano last year with our friends the Thorndikes. Arenal is an extremely active volcano and at night we watched red magma spilling down the sides. It has been in an almost constant state of eruption ever since it awoke from a long slumber in the 1960s and wiped out the village at its base. From this view it looks huge, but it is barely 5000 feet high - half the size of Shishaldin pictured below (but which looks much smaller). I guess snow cover warps one's sense of space while jungle and heat haze make stuff look majestic. No wonder Arenal is a must see for tourists visiting Costa Rica. (PGS)

Akutan Volcano

Akutan is a fairly small volcano on Akutan Island in the Aluetians. But unlike Shishaldin it has a huge caldera. This photo was taken from the highest point on the edge of the caldera and the hill in the center is the active cinder cone in the middle of the caldera. This volcano erupted the year before this photo was taken in 1998.

To climb the volcano we had hiked from the village of Akutan. My dog Katie might have been the first canine to reach the summit. It was very windy up on top and I held her close out of fear she'd fall into the volcano. It was a 700 foot shear cliff down into the caldera. (PGS)

Shishaldin Volcano

In late May, 2005 Gregg Rosenkranz and I climbed Shishaldin Volcano with two other climbers, Nancy Pfeiffer and Frans Mueter. Shishaldin at 9300 feet is the tallest volcano in the Aluetians. It is a perfect cone shaped stratovolcano and is often compared to Mount Fuji in Japan.

This is the view of the mountain from our base camp at 2500 feet. We had reached the summit the day before and skiied back down to camp. It took us four days to hike and ski to our camp at the base of the volcano from the village of False Pass on the East end of Unimak Island. Shishaldin is rarely so visible. Nancy Pfeiffer had tried to climb it once before but the fog had never cleared and they had to give up and go home.

Shishaldin is an active volcano and if you look closely you can see steam at the summit. The caldera at the summit was quite small - only a couple hundred yards across at most. And the steam was impressive! (PGS)

Gregg's 50-Something Birthday Party

Last weekend we celebrated Gregg's Birthday and what a fun bash it was! Gregg and his beautiful wife Lisa recently returned from South Africa and so were able to see their photos on Patricks screen saver during the night and hear more about their trip.
The menu was deer and goat ribs, Elk burger pizza with wheat crust (made by Jules Barklow-so delicious), artichoke dip, lots to drink and peppermint brownies with homemade ice cream and home made chocolate sauce.

The birthday boy left at 9 PM but the drinks flowed till 12:30. I was in bed by 10:30, however. Gotta sleep when the baby sleeps! Oh and Nora slept soundly from 7PM on. Patrick and I couldn't believe it! (ZAS)

Little Boy Baby Shower!! January 7th, 2006

Here I am with the baby shower cake. It was delicious-chocolate cake with oreo cream filling. My friends know me well when they placed the order for chocolate... :)

For my last baby shower, I had to stay on the couch for the most part because of my bedrest status. Needless to say, it was a TREAT to be able to walk around and truly socialize this time!

There were some yummy dishes including smoked salmon dip, cookies, torilla roll ups, muffins...

We even had a visit from the COPS!! Because of all the snow here, the roads were difficult to park on and we had to move our cars off the main road in front of Katie's house....they city hasn't cleared enough of the snow off to make it possible to park as normal.

We didn't get a picture of the police officer at the house, however. We weren't sure how he'd take to having his picture taken. :) (ZAS)

Pregnant Gals at the Party....

From Left to Right from due the soonest, to due the latest

Roxann White (my co-worker at the clinic and friend...due with a girl 2 days before me),
Me,
Kelly Longrich (due with a girl the first week in March),
April Laktonen Councellor (due with a girl in April)
Sara Loewen (due with a boy in mid may)

Not pictured Kim (Saunders) Dorner..due with a girl near my due date

Its a pre-made playgroup already! How fun!!
(ZAS)

Group Photo!!

On floor from left (Anne Oliver, Kathleen and Hannah Dunbar,Baby Isabella Haakanson, Balika Haakanson, Roxann White)

Sitting from Left (Joan Litzow, me, Alexis Jackson, Katie and Natalie St. John, Mary Jane Pediangco, Kelly Longrich, April Laktonen Councellor, Sara Loewen, Jenny Myrick)

Standing from Left ( Claudia Anderson, Carrie Worton, Alisa and Elias Abookire, Katie Oliver)
Photographer: Marias Yap

Marias is going to be my doula (aka labor assistant/coach/helper) during labor. I met her about a year ago at the pool "aqua tots" program with her son, Hayden. He is the same age as Nora. She has been a wonderful source of inspiration and comfort with regards to pregnancy/labor delivery ideas as well as good 'ole parenting support! She made my baby shower corsage....made out of a baby sock and baby booties. So cute and creative of her!! (ZAS)

Katie St. John hosted the shower at her house-here she gets ready to take down the paper lanterns at the end to send them home with me. What a fun time it was seeing everyone and eating yummy food and cake! (ZAS)

Russian River Explorers

One last picture from our Russian River tour. From left to right: Ben Millstein (our local brewer), John Larsen, Paul Zimmer, Tia Leber, and Hans Tschersich. Missing is Gregg who had hurried off ahead and me (I took the photo). PGS

Russian River Ski Tour

Today I went on a cross country ski tour up the Russian River with Hans Tschersich, Tia Leber, Paul Zimmer, John Larsen, Gregg Rosenkranz and Ben Millstein. Gregg, Hans and I used skate ski gear while everyone went with classic gear. It was a little icier than we expected (powder blown away by the wind) but the river was pretty well frozen over. We skiied up from Bell's Flats to the canyon and then went another 2 miles up into the canyon. Magnificent, and no one got their feet wet.

The best part about going upriver is that going home is slightly downhill and much faster than the trip out. Here Hans flies on his way back to the 'stable'. (PGS)

More Snow

So much snow, so much skiing. I can't stop taking pictures and I just have to post more of them! In the Fall and Summer it was all hunting photos - now it is all SNOW. I'll try not to bore you with too many - and don't worry we will include the occasional Nora sighting to pique your interest.

This scenic is of the outlet to Buskin Lake. There are even a few spawned out silver salmon to be found in the unfrozen water in the foreground. (PGS)

From the Archives - Hawaii 2002

While in Hawaii Zoya, Ella and I went on a deep sea fishing trip. We caught a wahoo just out of the harbor and nada after that. But all was not lost - I had the twins to myself.

From the Archives - Hawaii 2002

It's been an amazing winter this year in Kodiak. I have never seen snow stick around this long as powder and not turn to an ice rink (I suppose this will happen later this year). Time for a tropical break.

Back in February 2002 Zoya decided to introduce me to her family. I got to meet her mom, Cindy, and her uncle and aunt, Michael and Silvia, and of course the other twin, Ella. Uncle Michael fed us very well - every night it was a different restaurant near the town of Kona.

In this photo it's just me, Zoya and Ella under the Tiki torches at the fancy hotel where we all stayed. (PGS)

Winter Wildlife

This winter has been a harsh one for the animals living outside on kodiak. Everytime I go skiing I see a bunch of eagles hovering around the open water at the outlet to Buskin Lake. They are feeding on the spawned out salmon still doing their thing in the frigid water there.

The bears too have been feeding on the salmon. I saw fresh bear tracks near Buskin Lake just two days ago, but the bears should mostly be hibernating by now (the cubs and sows hibernate earlier than the old boars - and bears will not hibernate at all if they have a ready supply of food). I believe some of the winter killed deer I saw had been eaten by a bear.

Soon when all the spawned out salmon are gone all the eagles and ravens migrate to the dump and to the roofs of the canneries for the slim pickings available there. Today I also saw the tracks in the snow where a snowshoe rabbit had been snatched by a raptor (probably an eagle) - so not all our birds are dump scavengers. (PGS)

Deer In Winter

While it has been a great winter thus far for me and other humans who like to ski, it has been difficult one for the wildlife who must fend for themselves outside. The deep snow and cold has really hit the deer hard. Driving out to the airport you see them all along the road, and a bunch of moved into Abercrombie park for the winter (less snow in the woods by the coast and warmer too). These days I have to put the dogs on leashes when I take them for walks - we see deer everytime we go for a walk in Abercrombie.

In this photo, a bunch of deer hiked up and over Pyramid mountain trying to get away from some snowmobilers. If we don't have a warm spell soon, it's possible that we will lose up to 50 percent of the deer living on Kodiak this winter. I have already seen a few winter killed deer - usually we don't see winter killed deer until late February.

The sad fact of the matter is that Kodiak is overpopulated with deer. Too many warm winters, and the regulation against hunting does (only legal to hunt bucks near the city of Kodiak) have created a population explosion. The numbers of deer have stressed the habitat, and the conditions this winter have created a 'malthusian correction'. Nature's way of getting the deer population back in balance with the food supply. (PGS)

Nora and Zoya ready for a 2006 holiday party

Nora, Patrick and I attended the annual Eufemio holiday party. It is always a good time with a big ham, a large cross section of Kodiak new timers and old timers as well as the local Balilika players-singers and guitar players (a Balilika is a Russian version of a guitar).

32 Week Pregnancy Photo

I'm 32 weeks pregnant now and feeling good. People have asked if I've told Nora about her little brother, and I haven't yet. Perhaps in the month before the baby is due I'll start talking to her more about it. She is only 16 months old and I don't know how much she'd comprehend at this point.

Stuart is kicking up a storm and I can't wait to meet him! I know the last 2 months will fly by and I'm just going to enjoy this last 1:1 time with Nora.(ZAS)

Sisters bring in the New Year, 2000-2001

Zoya, Anne and Ella bring in the New Year (2001) at 4002 Cliffside Drive. After spending Christmas together at Cathy and Mike's in Homer, Anna and Ella accompanied Patrick and Zoya back to Kodiak for New Years.
This was the last sister together before kids came into the picture!!! (PGS & ZAS)