More Glass Balls

Cape Douglas 1994. Me with some my first glass balls ever. I gave the big one away to Dan Mann and have never found another large one. PGS

Bath Time!

Ahhhh.bathtime at the Saltonstalls...full of splashing water, bath toys, the occasional "floater" and occasional tears when its time for Nora to get out.

Stu enjoyed his bath today as he soaked in the warmth and looked around.

It'll be fun when the kiddos can splash around together. Watching Nora play in the tub reminds me of what an amazing learning opportunity the water is-as she pours it, splashes in it...(ZAS)

Beachcombing

Alaska has great beachcombing - more coastline than all the other states in the Union combined and very few people ever visit most of the beaches. I imagine Alaska today is what it used to be like in Puget sound and on the coast of Oregon. I remember as a kid that my dad had a few glass ball fishing floats in his study that he found when we used to live in Seattle. I would hold them up to the light and roll them around on the carpet. My dad told me that they were very rare and my interest was piqued. I really wanted to find one of my own. Of course I never did - and glass balls sort of took on the aura of moon rocks.

Then I started to do fieldwork in Alaska and got to really beachcomb for the first time. Back in the mid 1980s the Big Off-shore boats were still throwing a lot of trash over board, and the beaches were covered with fascinating stuff. Russian bug spray with the directions in Cyrillic and in 'pictures' for what I imagined were illiterate Siberians; thousands of big plastic balls that people pay 50 bucks for in Maine and use as mooring buoys; Japanese Suntori whiskey bottles - almost always with a couple of fingers of booze still in them. After I had just finished drinking one up my friend Rick Knecht told me with a straight face that the Japanese always left a bit in the bottle for the Gods, but that some Japanese guys cheated and just peed in the bottle to make it look like a good sacrifice to the Gods. Never finished off the Suntori bottles I found after that, but once I did find a whole case of Kirin beer with the caps still on! But glass balls were few and far between. I think Rick Knecht used to find them all before I did. I did not find a glass ball on my own until 1994.

Then in one week near Cape Douglas I found 12, and I also figured out how to find them. And I have been finding them ever since. Two years ago I got to survey a remote island that had really good beachcombing. No one had been there in a year or so. The top picture is of Mark Rusk with our haul from just one afternoon (and we did some archaeological survey work too). We concentrated on the glass balls, but I remember seeing liferings with the names of boats, cool old bottles, plastic floaty toys - loads of stuff. Mark and I just cared about glass balls and we kept a running tally of who found more. I got a 10 ball lead at the start on a lone hike around the back of a lagoon near camp, while Mark did something usefull like supply the camp with drinking water, and I held my lead to the end. Note the 'rolling pin' style glass balls. We found 5 of them - and they are not common.

Glass balls were used to keep the edge of fishing nets on the surface. They come in many different sizes and shapes depending on where they were made and what species of fish was the target. They often are even marked with a symbol designating the factory of origin. There is a very cool book that spells all this out; and it is quite satisfying to be able to hold a glass ball up to the light and say - 'this ball was made in Saporro Japan in the 1950s'. Still the only big ball (over 12 inches round) I ever found was among those first 12 I ever found. I gave it away and have not found another since. Patrick

Mommies Helper Meg

The photo is of Stuart sacked out on Meg's lap today!

2 months since Stuey was born and I'm finding a groove with our new schedule. Ahhh...the dust from having a newborn is beginning to finally settle. Sleeping is going better-Stuart has 3-4 hour stretches many nights, which is fantastic. Amazing how far a little stretch of sleep can help my energy during the day.

On Wednesday I began a 3 day a week circuit training weight program. The curcuit is 24 stations at our local gym-45 seconds at each station. It hits all the muscle groups and is a killer workout. I'm excited to finally do some weight training again. Between that on MWF and teaching spinning classes T/Th, I'm feeling energized once again.

Having my mommy helper, Meg, at the house in the mornings has been such a blessing! She has enabled me to go to the gym, have one-on-one time with Nora, and keep my sanity when Nora needs extra TLC. She is fantastic with Stuart and is really getting to know him as well. She'll say, "he seemed a bit gassy....seems like he is extra hungry lately....he really is looking around more....boy he has gotten big...." I"ll be taking her out East with me to see Patricks mom and my sister and other family for 2 weeks in May. She'll be a lifesaver on a transcontinental flight with a 20 month old and a 3 month old! Hopefully by then Nora will be excited at the prospect of watching a DVD...to help pass the time. Up till now she really hasn't watched videos-

Lately when Stuart cries, I get occasional flashbacks to when he was in the NICU and I would hear him cry and not be able to respond to him. For instance, he would cry when they were putting an IV in, or if he was hungry and it was taking a while to get his food ready-before I could nurse him. I hated not being able to reach out and hold him in the NICU. So precious and innocent he was-and yet I couldn't snuggle him against me. I want to some how make it up to him now. I feel badly that he had to go through all of that. I think the experience was just as hard, if not harder, on me than on him. I just give him lots of hugs and kisses.

My first night with him in the hospital (his last night there) was so blissful-I remember rolling him into our little room in his bassinette and I could bring him right next to me all night. I was in heaven and barely slept. I was so giddy with excitement to have my little guy right next to me. I never wanted to let him go from my sight again. To have him away from the beeps, monitors, lines, oxygen. He was where he belonged-next to mamma.

Katie Dog

Things are a little slow in Kodiak - hence more photos from the archive. It has been a mix of rain snow all day, and when I went cross country skiing at the ski chalet we already had a foot of new snow. But all rain here in town since midday. Pretty crappy weather - but hey, at least it is all snow up high.

In the old days I used to go skiing on days like this with Katie Dog. She went everywhere I went. Our new dog pack does not go skiing and has a proclivity for chasing deer (need to be leashed in deer country). And Roxy Dog gets carsick. So the new dogs don't go out skiing with me every day (they do get to go for a walk in Abercrombie with Nora and me on a daily basis). But Katie Dog did go every day. She was actually pretty amazing. Downhill skiing you could always tell which were my tracks because they had Kdog tracks down the center and looked like a dollar sign that went on and on down the hill. She was smaller than the current dogs, but could hold her own in deep snow.

Shoot a ptarmigan and she'd actually bring it back. She loved hunting and skiing. In the top photo Katie dog and I are ptarmigan hunting at Pasagshak pass in the snow. In the bottom photo Katie is enjoying life with then new girlfriend Zoya out at Termination Point (Spring 2000). At first, Katie dog had a hard time sharing me with Zoya. And Zoya wanted me to put her on a chain, and keep her out of the bed. But they did grow to love each other, and now Zoya is firmly a dog lover. I think Katie dog is partly responsible. Of course, the current dog pack is all over the bed. Zoya even calls Roxy and Jake, our two black labs, the 'bedroom fashion accessories'. Patrick

Patrick and Stuey

Patrick is getting more confident watching Stuey! He watched him for over an hour the other night when I taught my spinning class. Stu takes a bottle very easily, which makes it easy for Patrick to "babysit". Funny how some people don't like it when we call Patrick "babysitting" Stuart. People remarked to us with Nora, "Its not babysitting-its parenting...". In reality, however-you're sitting with a baby-so we think babysitting is an OK term. :_) (ZAS)

Archive Photo-Zoya's Kodiak Acting Days

Back in 2001, I was in a dinner theater comedy production of "Thataway Jack"...I was a mail order bride, Lucy. The play was quite funny and my character had to hit, slap, faint, scream...all of which took considerable practice! How fun it was-but very time consuming. Hours and hours of rehearsals. I'd like to someday do more acting in Kodiak-once time allows!

Salonie Creek in the Sun

Yup, more ski photos. But don't worry every day the sun is riding a little higher in the sky and each day there is about 5 minutes more daylight. The sun has even started to rise out of the ocean each day in front of our house after a winter of rising up over Spruce Cape. And it is supposed to rain later this week. I do believe skiing at sea level is coming to an end. Pretty soon it'll all be downhill skiing, hiking and Nora and Stu outside. So enjoy the snow.

Yesterday, Adelia and Chris Myrick, Philip, Jeff Gordon, Lisa and Gregg, and John Mahoney and I all cross country skiied up Salonie Creek and ate lunch in the canyon. Temperatures were in the upper 30's but the strong sun made it seem much warmer. I was the only one to skate ski, but the soft conditions made it a little tough and I ended up waxing my combi skiis and going home classic style. We made it up into the canyon at the head of Salonie Creek and I skiied another mile up into the deep canyon to where there are three large, blue ice pilars hanging down from the ravine edge like large stalagtites. Still winter up in the canyon - even powder snow!

The way home to the cars parked at the rifle range was the best part. We already had a nice set track to ski in and it was all slightly downhill. We just flew back in the sun with very little effort. Seemed like we were cheating somehow. Patrick

Spectacular cross country skiing!

I made it out for a ski this morning which felt so good!! The kiddos stayed at the house with Megan the babysitter.

It has been a year since I've skiied. Patrick and I went to lake Geneve, which is behind Lake Louise housing. We enjoyed the snow with Jeremy Larsen and Karen Bochenstein-2 new friends who recently moved to the island. The snow was good for classic and skate skiing and the sun kept us perfectly warm. Gosh it felt good to get on skis once again!
Karen and I are in the bottom photo together. (ZAS)

Smiling Stuart

Stuey's baby acne is beginning to clear, his baby cold is slowly resolving and he looks around much more now. He is beginning to smile spontaneously when he is awake also. (ZAS)

Spring is in the air

So its 37 deg. today and sunny and gorgeous and my energy is back today. Phew. That was a tiring few days. Noras spirits and energy has improved and I think she is hitting her stride a bit better as well.

Stuey's cold is on the fix and Patrick is changing night time diapers. YEAH!! That makes a big difference..not having to get out of bed at night.

No big weekend plans as of yet. Just hope to get outside lots....I have spring fever BIG TIME!!! (ZAS)

First Family Photos

Today our friends, John and Jules, came over and took our first family photos. We took some in the nursery and a few outside. John made silly faces to make Nora laugh as Jules snapped away.

Stuart is wearing the hat that my 99 year old grandmother, Nana, knit him and Nora is wearing the kuspuk that my sister bonnie made for her. (ZAS)

God must Love me

Why else would the skiing still be so good in late March? But it is bittersweet because I know that any day the warmth will kick in, it'll start to rain, and all the snow down low will be gone. My co-workers all will be happy, and I'll be devestated. But at least when the 'no snow down low' day comes, probably sometime in the next month, I'll still be able to downhill ski up high, the ground will be thawed for my archaeological survey down on the south end of Kodiak, and I'll plant my garden. I need to keep an eye on the bright side. Not that I'd mind if my garden got seriously frosted.

And speaking of the bright side - the skiing is great! Today after work I went up the Buskin with Lisa and John Mahoney. After the flood at the end of january cleared out the snow on the Buskin riverbed we have not been skiing up the river, but today we discovered that enough snow has fallen since the end of February to make the riverbed a viable corridor for skiing again. As you can see in the bottom photo, if you look closely, when the river flooded it created a trench through the 3 foot snow pack. So the riverbed is a bit like a canyon with high sided snow banks on either side. We skiied about 2 miles up from the lake and then did a loop back through the woods to where we were skiing a couple of weeks ago on the old over-grown military roads. Sure is nice to be able to ski after work in the sun.

Patrick

A true test of patience...

Wow the past 2 days have been exhausting. Yesterday was full of Nora crying LOTS every time I fed Stuey, and she was in a bad mood ALL day. From the moment she woke up she was grouchy, even though she had 12 hours of sleep. She has really been testing my patience...doing things she knows shes not supposed to do while looking me straight in the eye. This landed her several trips to time outs yesterday-not sure how much that really helped the situation.

Thank heavens for supportive friends and a loving husband. Yesterday I called Alexis in the afternoon in a state of exhaustion. Today Sara Bruce brought by some Chai Latte Brownies at noon, which hit the spot, as well as her timely words of support (ie...it will get better with time...).

I'm exhausted from Nora crying and needing me in between every 2-3 hour feedings with Stuart. We all have colds, which doesn't make things better.

Its almost as though it is a little known secret amongst parents of 2 kids that it is REALLY hard for a while, then it gets better. I knew it'd be a challenge and the past 2 days have really put me to the test. Exercise with the stroller (and my time indoor biking this week!!) has helped dramatically!!

This too will pass. There are SO few moments of the day where I'm not needed by the kiddos in some capacity. I think thats the hard part. But it will get better as they get older. (ZAS)

This photo was taken several weeks ago....just now got around to posting it!

Radiocarbon Dates

Enough of babies, skiing and the Apprentice - I figure it is time for some science on the blog. Time to present the radiocarbon dates from last spring's Olga Lakes Survey. WARNING - FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY.

Archaeologists use various methods to date what they find. But the best method is probably radiocarbon analysis. Basically this method relies on measuring the ratio of radioactive carbon (C14) to stable carbon (C12) in a sample of organic carbon, usually charcoal. Living organic objects incorporate carbon into their organic structure at a fixed, known ratio between C14 and C12. But once they die the radioactive carbon 14 decays and turns back into Carbon 12. Thus with time a sample has less and less C14 in it. The half life of C14 is about 5700 years - so if you have half the expected carbon 14 in a sample then the sample dates to about 5700 years old. Archaeologists use this method to date what they find. Only problem is that it is expensive - about 400 dollars a date. No cheap dates in archaeology!

Anyway, last week I was excited to finally get back the results of the samples from Olga Lakes that we sent in for analysis. One of the dates from a sample taken from the black layer in the profile seen in two of the pictures above dated to around 6100 years ago. The black layer is actually charcoal and it probably represents the floor of a tent where a group of intrepid Alutiiq people lived while they visited Upper Olga Lake to fish for salmon and trout. This is the earliest evidence for Alutiiq people fishing on the inland lakes of Kodiak. We knew that at that time they were fishing at the mouths of rivers, but we had not found any sites older than about 5400 years on the inland stretches of these lakes and rivers. Now we know Alutiiq people were using the interior areas of kodiak far earlier than previously suspected.

In the top photo Mark and Catherine are collecting charcoal from a test pit. We generally dug these pits into the hearths of old houses to collect charcoal samples. In this way we were able to date many of the old villages that we found while on survey. All of the villages we found were less than 1500 years old. It seems that prior to that date the Alutiiq just visited the inland lakes to catch fish and then take it back to their villages on the coast. They did not build inland villages until relatively recently (last 1500 years).

In a little over a month I will be returning to the Olga Lakes to finish our survey and to excavate a 1000 year old house. We know it's a thousand years old because we already radiocarbon dated it;-). Patrick

The Apprentice Discussion

My favorite show, The Apprentice, was on last night.

This is a comment made by one of my family members (who wishes to remain anonymous) regarding the Apprentice

"All I can say is WOW about last night's episode. I don't think anyone should hold it over Tim for not trying to get the girl back or keeping her on their team. It was professional of him to just let James make the decision, instead of putting up a big argument. (I just can't believe James sent her -- i have yet to see alot of leadership out of that other girl on that team -- I would like to see her as PM on a project). The last thing Tim wants to do is look all emotional over losing her, although he is starting to look pretty pathetic. There was a small part of me that wished she would be voted off, just because her voice is so scratchy and she seems a bit hyper, but all in all I don't think Angela was going to be a strong enough leader.
Can't wait for Sunday to see more :)......"

My thoughts-
I agree with my family member...I thought it was good of Tim to be professional about keeping his girlfriend on his team.
At this point Christine or Frank seem to have the best chance at winning. Christine is a sharp cookie and Trump seems to respect her opinion.

Looking forward to more discussion on this! :)

Double Stroller Adventures

This weekend Patrick and I took the kiddos out in the double stroller. Patrick's mom, Emmy, sent us the stroller and it is just perfect. It fits through the front door of our house, which is perfect for when the kids fall asleep in it!

Saturday we took it on the main Ft. Abercrombie trail out to the point. It was a bit icy, however. On Sunday I used it on the bike path with Alisa and it was much easier to push. .

What a fantastic workout it is. Holy smokes. I"m 6 weeks postpartum now and ready to really get back into shape. This week I'll start spinning and going for walks with the stroller. Hopefully the last of the baby weight will come flying off between those two efforts. (ZAS)