Beachcombing

Glass ball 'in situ' - the ultimate beachcombing find

Chirikof Island has some GREAT beachcombing.  The ultimate beach combing find is a Japanese glass ball float and we found 12 of those.  Here on the well-combed beaches of Kodiak you are lucky if you find one every few years.  Back in 2005 we found 120 on Chirikof.  However, in 2005 we went to to the island in April and the vegetation was down making it easier to find glass balls on the berms behind the beach.  Also it seems that lightly wind blown sand slowly covers the beach berm during the summer.  So if  you want to find glass balls the best time to look is in late Spring after the winter storms have re-exposed them on the beaches.

This year on Chirikof because of the stashed gear so far away from our camp at the North lake we had to make due without a lot of camp necessities.  But as Jack W put it, 'if you look for it - the beach will provide it'.  In this way we found a toothbrush for Sam and Catherine, I found a funnel for making coffee, buckets and we even made a spatula from a beach buoy.  Truly - the beach did provide.

I was a little surprised by the lack of modern beach debris.  I was expecting Japanese tsunami debris and we really did not see any that I could identify as such.  The beaches were actually quite clean.

Patrick

Camping on the beach

My survey pack complete with 1/4' screen and glass balls

West side beach - very little in the way of modern beach debris

On survey near the south end of the island

Summer Really Begins

Patrick's remote field season is over for this year. He was gone for nearly 7 weeks of field work and it took more out of me than I expected.

Since knowing Patrick, the longest he is gone for is 4 weeks -
four weeks is a very do-able amount of time, 7 not so much.

This summer, Patrick was gone for a 4 week chunk, home for a week (but busy...getting ready for the next survey) then gone for 9 more days. Back on the home front, I worked to keep up with my business and Nora's program and as the end of his travel neared, my patience waned. Particularly with myself and the kids.

As time went by, I missed Patrick's friendship and companionship more and more-especially in the evening for dinner time and after kids are in bed. One thing I treasure about our marriage is we have a fun time talking with each other and I missed that time terribly. Doing the household bare minimums with dishes and cleaning, Nora's program and my work took all the extra reserves out of me. At work I would have moments where I had wave of despair come over me,  I felt as though he would never return. Time was moving too slowly.

When I greeted Patrick here at the house upon his return from Chirikof, he was thin from his adventure. His face was scruffy from the field work, and his smile big and enthusiastic about being home. It felt so good to have him  at the house with us again and to know that he wouldn't be leaving any time soon. t did my "WOO-HOO" dance and said, "Now summer can really begin!!"A spring came into my step and I felt the weight of holding the fort down for the past 7 weeks come off of me.

Zoya

Quiet House

Tonight the house is quiet, in our normal, winter way. A small lull in the hustle-bustle of archaeology season.

Sam (left) and Catherine (right) on Chirikof island. 

Our friends Sam and Catherine left this  evening flight back to the East Coast. They arrived mid may in preparation for 8 weeks of field work with Patrick in Kodiak.  As I tucked Stuey into bed tonight he whispered "I miss Sam and Catherine" as tears came down his cheeks. He was trying to be brave and not let the tears come down but they couldn't help themselves. Stuey laid in his bed, with his small fleece dot blanet up around him, his head against Tank's body.

"I miss Sam and Catherine, too." I paused, about to shut the door, then thought better.
 "Do you want me to lay with you for a minute?" He shook his head yes.

I remembered that visceral sadness that occurs as a kid (and heck, even as an adult) when saying good bye to someone. Where the sadness takes over your body and you are lost in the moment and you can hardly think about a day going by without them there.

Stuey didn't know if or when he would see Catherine and Sam again and I had to explain that hopefully this winter we would see them both again in Kodiak and in Anchorage. I laid there for a minute, my head against his chest, his little arm around my neck.

As we laid there amongst the dogs, I looked up at his uncle's artwork on the wall. A jaws-like shark watercolor  and wondered why it was up in his bedroom as scary as it is.

Stuey and I  didn't say much and I thought about how much I love my kids meeting different archaeologists and people in our home. The experiences with our different friends and visitors brings a richness to life; one where new perspectives are considered. One where new foods are tried, new stories told, new friendships made.

It is the elixir of life, truly.

Zoya

Chirikof Logistics

Our arrival at Chirikof - unfortunately at the wrong lake

While on Chirikof we established 5 different camps.  Our original intention had been to establish one camp at a lake on the Southwest corner of the island and then to do day trips to all the sites we intended to visit and sample.  However, on arrival it was too foggy to land at our intended lake.  We were forced to land at a lake at the other end of the island 6 or 7 miles away, and at least 3 or 4 miles away from any of the sites we wanted to visit.  We almost returned to Kodiak to try for the correct lake on another day. But, in the end, we decided to stay and try and do the project from the North end lake.  The pilot explained that he needed to return anyway, and he could move all our gear at that time.

Good thing we did decide to stay because the weather got even uglier and we would not have been able to get back for another 4 days. We would have been stuck in Kodiak.  This also meant all our gear was stuck at the North end lake.  The hike to the first site 3 or 4 miles away convinced us that the north end lake would not work as a base camp.  It was just too far away.  So we opted to move our camp on foot with just the bare minimum of gear closer to the area where the sites we wanted to test are located.

Jack and I returned to the North end lake and got what we would need to spend 3 days in a minimalist camp.  It is amazing what one can do without!  We dumped the Coleman stove and fuel, camp chairs, hatchet for splitting wood, all but one of the tents, coffee percolator and cream, water filtration system, and all but one change of clothes.  We brought one tent for Catherine and Sam, and Jack and I shared the big cook tent teepee with woodstove.  We found it very easy to set up such a stripped down camp, and we did all our cooking and water boiling on the woodstove.

The heaviest stuff  we had to carry was the samples we collected and the food.  And after 2 days and still no plane we moved on to camp 3 next to another site we intended to sample.  By this point we were almost out of food, and if the plane had not returned on the 4rth day and ferried our gear, Jack and I had intended to return back to our gear cache at the North end lake for food.  The round trip journey would have taken a full day.  Finally after four days we had our camp and all our gear at the correct lake!

Jack and I later did a 2 day bird survey from camp 4.  I also had to collect a faunal sample from a distant midden on the other side of the island.  And so we took gear for 2 days and carried it on our backs.  The weather was spectacular for our hike and it was so hot that we did not want to cook on the woodstove inside the tent.  So we set it up outside the tent on the beach!  It worked great.  This was our 5th and final camp.  Our packs got very heavy when filled up with faunal samples for the hike back to the main camp.

Patrick

Our first camp in a swamp

Jack negotiating cows on the way back to the North end lake to get gear and food

A minimalist Camp 2 in the dunes 

Camp 2 almost packed up - note 'coffee filter' and buoy 'spatula'

The haul down the beach to camp 3

Camp 3 at West Point

Camp 4 at SW Anchorage - finally at the correct lake with all our gear

Minimalist survey with Jack - too hot to cook in a teepee

Walking the cliffs and looking for birds

Chirikof 50 Years Later

Chirikof 1963

Same place almost exactly 50 years later

Same spot in 1963 looking towards round rock

Same view in 2013

SW Anchorage in 1963

SW Anchorage 2013

Archaeologists first visited Chirikof in 1962, but the first comprehensive survey took place in late July 1963 when Dr. Don Clark and Dr. Bill Workman visited the island.  So our work this year - with Patrick, Catherine, Sam, and Jack - took place just shy of the 50th anniversary of that survey.  We brought 3 photos from 1963 with us to Chirikof and on the last day we tried to match the old photos up with the current landscape.  We barely completed our photos in time - literally a moment after I took the bottom photo the weather socked in and it rained hard until we got picked up.

At first we had a hard time matching up the photos.  Then I remembered that in 'the old days' all cameras came with a fixed 50 mm lens.  I just happened to have one for my SLR, and I ran back to the tent to get it.  With the 50 mm lens attached the frames became uncannily easy to match up - the frame is virtually the same!

It is amazing to see how much the place has changed in 50 years.  I actually think the place is better vegetated and that the landscape is eroding less than it was in 1963.  It also looks like the 4000 year-old Old Islander site might still be there - just buried under the sand.  Patrick

Back from Chirikof

Camp 3 and lupin from our recent trip to Chirikof Island

It's hard to believe but we are back from our archaeological project on Chirikof Island.  During our last 24 hours on the island it rained so hard I thought we'd see all the animals lining up two by two on the beach to board an ark.  Our teepee had a pond in it.  We just barely beat the fog on departure.  And now we are in Kodiak and it is sunny and warm with not a cloud in the sky.  There are lots of people and cars - even a Safeway where you can buy food.  We came from a remote uninhabited island and have arrived at the urban metropolis of Kodiak City - severe culture shock.

Above is a photo of our third camp on the island.  We only had 2 1/2 sunny days.  The island is severely overgrazed by cows and lupin is taking over the island.  It's poisonous so the cows will not eat it.  And so the beautiful purple flowers are taking over the landscape.

More to come. ... .

Patrick

Tough Moments

The past two months have been more exhausting than I thought they would be. Patrick has been gone on field work, and I"ve been working to stay on top of Nora's program.

This week it started hitting me-the mental exhaustion....and I found myself getting shorter and grumpier with the kids than normal. Patrick is due home in 3 days, so close yet feels far away.

This morning we got up early, 6:45ish. The kids asked if I would make pancakes, which I agreed to.

Stuey helped me and I was enjoying the time with him. After I ate my pancakes, and the kids had theirs, I went and got ready for work. As I was getting ready, there was intermittent small arguments between the kids that I  played referee to.

Then the kids asked if I would help brush their teeth; one asked for me to get their clothes. I looked at the clock and it was 8:00 and I hadn't had a moment to sit down and even drink the coffee that was warm in the carafe. Thats when things started going downhill...

I chugged my coffee (standing up), got the final things into bags for morning camp for the kids and out the door we went. By that point, I wasn't happy. I resented that I hadn't had a chance to sit down to enjoy my coffee...primarily because I was helping brush teeth, get clothes; all things that THEY should be doing. I felt like a servant this morning.

On the way to camp, I told them how bummed I was that they asked me for help for the small morning taskes. Frankly, I was bummed at myself for ever helping them get their clothes, brush teeth because then it sets a standard that mom and dad can always do that. I told them that there would be no more me getting them water, brushing teeth, getting their clothes, etc. Too exhausting. It makes me feel like a chicken with its head cut off!

The icing on the cake was trying to do Nora's program with her this afternoon. So many times she said, "mom, this is hard. I can't do this. I"ll never pass this level". And then once I caught her writing on a sticky note "I'm not good at this", which really bummed me out. I told her, "Nora, don't write words like that. If you tell your brain things like that, then your brain believes you." I emphasized to her that our brains (and muscles) only grow when they are challenged to push harder, out of what is easy.

I told her that when I teach fitness classes, they are NOT easy and its sometimes not fun to push beyond what is easy. She kind of understands that; I can tell.

This afternoon, I was done playing cheerleader. Just fried. If this mornings craziness episode hadn't happened, perhaps my tolerance for the afternoon program would've been better.

(I wanted to quit the program. Todays session AND altogether. Its crossed my mind several times this past week. Fortunately today I got an e-mail from Nora's teacher letting me know that we'll be done in mid September. Perfect-I can do it. I needed to hear that there was an END date to it all, and that it would be shortly after the start of school. Her teacher is beyond positive, encouraging and supportive, which really helps me power through.)

 Nora insisted and wanted to finish her program today. I had already turned the lights off, locked up my office. Nora stayed on the floor in the fitness room, going through the motions of one of the exercises she knew was on the program for today. Yes, it was touching that she was so committed, but I was emotionally fried. Very ready to have my husband home after so long in the field.

So with Nora's incredible insistence, we finished her program today. She didn't do any eye rolling or any more saying that it was too hard. She powered through. We walked down the hill home. She picked me some orange hawkweed flowers (a local invasive species...orange flowers) and said, "here mom. These are for you." It was so thoughtful of her.

As we walked I told her more about how hard it is to learn new things and do new things. But that is when we grow. When we do things that aren't easy. I'm glad for us to have a chance for these conversations at least.

As we turned up Cliffside road, Nora said, "Mom, I think walking and talking made us both feel better." She was right. I smiled and told her I agreed. My walls of disappointment/anger/etc... came tumbling down some. And I knew we would get through it.

This evening my friend Julie called and I started crying. Felt badly because I haven't talked to her in months and I completely unloaded about trying to stay on top of it all, etc. She is a doctor and has kids and understands the complexities of making personal time, family time, work, etc. It felt really good to just let it all come out and express how hard its been.

So, no, these aren't the most upbeat posts. But they are the reality of family life, parenting, etc. I think the reflection and honesty is so important. Its when growth happens. And frankly, they're the most interesting ones for me to read later on. The REAL descriptions of life. Sure the posts where everything is A-ok are fine, but the ones where times are harder are just as much a part of life...and tend to be quite humorous later.  Its always good to be able to look back and laugh! And realize how far you've come....

Zoya

Dancing and Leaning In

DANCING~

Last weeks 4th BBQ involved some impromptu dancing and recently I was thinking about how fun it is to do intergenerational dancing. The group included 5 girlfriends along with about 5 kids, including two of the neighbor girls.

You could tell the younger girls had a blast. Their excitement and smiles were so raw and genuine!!  I brought the stereo out on the outside deck and we all grooved along, jumping up and down together.  There was a very occasional light rain drop or two which came down from the grey clouds and cooled us off.

The younger girls would squeal with excitment when songs they recognized came on and they would jump  up and down with even more enthusiasm. Dancing is becoming  a lost part of culture, seems as though more people are inhibited and intimidated to dance in front of others. I'm thankful for friends who are willing to throw these inhibitions aside and dance together.

 Its fun to turn up the tunes, push the furniture aside and go to town. Dancing is so good for the spirit, soul. To feel the beat, get the exercise and share in that time with others. In a digital age where so much social time can be spent in front of screens, dancing is a far step away from that.
A real, true connection with others.

I am glad Nora is growing up seeing people all dancing together...at our house, at weddings, our halloween party, any chance we have.

(and as I write this I listen to the song Pompeii, by Bastille.)



LEANING IN~

This past week I read the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg.

The description of the book from Amazon is
"Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential.

Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TEDTalk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which became a phenomenon and has been viewed more than two million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto.In Lean In, Sandberg digs deeper into these issues, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to cut through the layers of ambiguity and bias surrounding the lives and choices of working women. She recounts her own decisions, mistakes, and daily struggles to make the right choices for herself, her career, and her family. She provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career, urging women to set boundaries and to abandon the myth of “having it all.”  She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women in the workplace and at home." 

I had resisted reading it for quite some time--I thought it was going to push a "don't-stay-at-home" agenda.  A few weeks ago my sister Anne sent me an e-mail about some quotes from it and I was dying to read more so I could respond to her e-mail.

The book was fabulous on so many levels. Sheryl gives so many examples of how women step back, away from opportunities instead of leaning in and sitting at the meeting table (instead of off in the corner). She talks about how to be a savvy business person, negotiate, acknowledge wrongdoing, set goals and navigate the world of raising kids and working. After reading it I watched the TEDtalk she did in 2010 which ended up being a short recap of the main points in her book.

When reading it, I thought about raising my daughter in todays world-and how can I show her that she too can lean in, step up and be a leader in whatever she so desires.

Sheryl is a hard core business woman. Seriously hard core. I have absolutely no desire to ever work my way up the type of ladder she has. I'm happy being a small local business woman. That said, her advice is pertinent to any type of job-big or small.

Zoya

Fourth of July~Departure to Chirikof and Fire Fun

The archaeology crew departed a day late for Chrikof- an island far, far off the South end of Kodiak. The island is a 2+ hour float plane ride each way and is very remote. Patrick remembers the last time he was there, he didn't hear any planes overhead or see any boats for days on end. 

First there was a day of mechanical delay, then there was fog at Akhiok (on the south end) which delayed their departure for several hours yesterday.  

When I called the float plane service to see if the group had taken off for Chirikof, the person at the desk-Jo-offered to call me when she got word that they landed on Chrikof. I took her up on this, as it is such a long trip and with the prior mechanical delay, I was on a little higher alert about the air travel than normal. Her phone call of safe arrival was well received...I was able to imagine the crew setting up camp and headed right into their survey work.

Yesterday morning at the float plane dock.

 Later in the afternoon, friends came over for a 4th BBQ.

I planned it very last minute, waiting to see how the weather looked. In Patrick's absence, friends agreed to  help with the fire, so we lit the outdoor firepit.

The weather cooperated (barely!). There was just an occasional tiny sprinkle but no full on rain until late in the night. I was glad the rain held off, as the kids had so much fun lighting off fireworks, going for walk down the road, playing on bouy swing, hitting the birdie around with badminton racquets....and us girls dancing outside for a bit on the lawn later in the evening.

Spencer and Stuey lighting the fire

 There was a 13 year old boy in attendance, Fisher, who brought a small set of fireworks which was absolutely perfect. He was very cautious with the little kids and was strict about the kids standing back when he lit them off, etc.

Green smoke!!

 The kids enthusiasm about the small fireworks display was contagious and added a fun energy to the evening. Here in Alaska it gets dark so late that we have to do them in broad daylight! These pictures were at 6:15 or 7:00 pm. So much fun, none theless. The wild noises the tiny explosives make were half the fun and sent the kids screaming with excitement.

Fourth Fun on the back deck

Fisher lighting the kids sparklers

Stuey and his sparkler

Zoya

Off to Chirikof

2000 year old faunal midden with ground squirrel bones

Tomorrow I am off to Chirikof Island with Sam, Catherine and Jack to test archaeological sites and conduct a bird survey.  I last visited the island back in 2005 when we surveyed the entire island for archaeological sites and assessed site conditions.  The whole island was badly over-grazed by feral cows and the archaeological sites were getting trampled by the cows and eroding away due to the lack of vegetation to hold the soil together.  The cows have totally changed the island's ecosystem and the archaeological sites are getting destroyed.

Catherine is in charge for this trip - I'm just the camp logistics guru - and the goal is to test the old faunal  middens and see what birds the prehistoric inhabitants ate (and discarded in their middens).  Then we will compare what we find to what's out there today.  Hence the bird survey aspect.  How exactly has the ecosystem changed?  For instance, did the prehistoric inhabitants have access to puffin colonies or other ground nesting species that the introduced foxes and cows have since eradicated?

After our first survey we determined that ground squirrels have lived out on Chirikof for at least 2000 years.  The United States Fish and Wildlife Service had planned on eradicating them because they believed that Russian fur traders had introduced them to the island and wanted to return the island to its 'natural state'.  Our work proved that the ground squirrels pre-dated the Russians, and, hence, the USFWS did not have to eradicate them.

Anyway, it'll be good to get back and see how things have changed.  It'll be REALLY nice not to be in charge, and the beachcombing will be GREAT.  Patrick

Mark collects charcoal to date a midden that turned out to be about 500 years old

White-fronted geese near our camp - probably migrating through on their way to summer nesting grounds

Awesome beach combing - a day's haul of glass balls

Applesauce and shy lions

Stuey was a lion in his play but when the time came to go on stage he was too 'shy'

Tomorrow I am off on another archaeological project - this one to Chirikof Island - in the meantime I have been at home with Stuey and Nora.  Last Friday I went to Stuey's play at the Baptist Mission and Nora's potluck at Salmon Camp.  They were scheduled back-to-back.  Ah the joys of kid event scheduling - this is a first world problem - but sometimes it does seem that everything kid related has to be planned.  Whatever happened to old fashioned messing around in the woods?

Stuey was a lion in his play.  I barely caught him in his costume.  All the people watching made him very shy and he ended up watching the play from the audience.  I kept on waiting for him to make an appearance that never came.  Oh well.  Patrick

Nora singing the 'salmon song' at the Salmon Camp potluck

Nora making apple sauce

Walk with Stuey and Macro

New Sitka Spruce buds

This morning I went for a walk through Abercrombie with Stuey and the dogs.  Stuey was excited to go for a long walk 'to the bunkers' and so we went all the way around the lake.  We hiked for an hour and a half which is VERY encouraging.  I can't wait for the day when we hike out to Termination Point or up Mount Monashka, and after today I think those days are not all that far off.

On our hike today I played with the macro feature of my little point and shoot.  It is kind of cool how things look when you look at them super close.  Patrick

My nemesis - Pushki flowers

Fly pollinating the pushki flowers

Strawberry flower and 'bugs'

half blown dandelion

Garden Green

Peas, onions and some carrots

Since we got back from Old Harbor I've been doing a lot of weeding in the garden.  This year in anticipation of being gone so much I really simplified the garden.  I planted very few things and what I did plant does not need much maintenance.  And I am happy to report that the garden is doing GREAT.  In years past I remember that things were barely growing by this date.  And last year it was a weedy mess.

Radishes have turned out to be a great addition to the garden.  I actually do not like radishes and only planted them because they grow quickly and I wanted something to grow quick to please the kids.  And the kids (especially Stuey) have loved harvesting the radishes.  And I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I like radish greens.  Also I made really simple 'refrigerator' pickles out of the radishes and they taste GREAT.  Basically I just created a 'man recipe' (ie completely improvised) and put coriander and fennel seeds, salt and some sugar in a jar with sliced radishes and then topped it up with apple cider vinegar.  They turned out excellent.  Patrick

Lettuce, carrots, radishes (mostly harvested) and some swiss chard

Partially mulched potatoes and newly planted kale

Nasturtium leaves

Wrong tires for Nasturtiums

This week I took 4 tires into the car shop to get my studded tires replaced with my all weather tires. (Yes, I know-I"m a few months late on this task. Its been busy!) The car shop called and said that the tires that were in the back of my car would not fit my Volvo. When I got home I looked around the shed area and there were no other sets of tires that would  fit my car. Then I remembered: The new flower planters.

I went over to the house and saw the stacks of tires that Patrick made as flower planters this spring. Evidently my all weather tires are part of that pack, with Nasturtiums alive and thriving in the tires. 

The tires probably would've only last 1 more year anyhow, so the plan is to get a different pair of all weathers and let the nasturtiums keep blossoming away. 

Patrick and the archaology crew returned home on Monday and its been great to have the house full of friends from afar. 

Zoya