Back on the snow again

It's been almost 5 months since I last went skiing.  That's a long time for me, but we now have snow on the mountain and it is supposed to be cold for the next week.  So today I went for my first ski of the new season.

Yesterday when I climbed the mountain with the dogs there was not quite enough snow, then overnight we got another 3-4 inches of new stuff.  That is enough snow to make carrying the skiis up the mountain worthwhile.  My run was about 500 vertical feet but not steep and pretty long distance-wise.  Not the greatest conditions either with lots of drifts, big bumps, and bare spots.  But hey it is skiing and I did not hit any rocks.  Patrick

More Bruno and the Pack

Some more Bruno pictures!  Bruno continues to fit in with the pack.  We are undecided whether to call him Bruno or Bruester.  Nora seems to prefer Bruno - I call him Bruester the Rooster. Stuey and Zoya call him Brewster.

Yesterday afternoon I took him up Pyramid with the rest of the pack to check on the new snow.  I love how he has influenced the behavior of Tank and Sheba.  They are acting more like pack dogs.  All of them stick closer together and seem more in tune with the humans.

Bruno has a very good temperament.  He is still a puppy and does puppy like stuff (like chasing his tail), but also mellows out around the house.  He sleeps next to the various humans with the rest of the pack.  And then outside he perks up and has good 'walk' energy.  That's a perfect dog.

Patrick


PS I heart Brewster -Zoya

Meet the newest member of the pack

Newest member Bruno or 'Bruester' (with an umlaut over the 'u') chills on kitchen floor

Tank a tad bit peeved at the newest lad perhaps?

On Monday night we welcomed the newest member to our pack, Brewster!

He came to us from Bethel, where a family who intended to train him as a hunting dog changed their mind and turned him into the Alaskan Animal Rescue Friends (AARF) in Anchorage. Our friend Aubrey, in Anchorage, volunteers for the rescue organization and she knew that Nora was on the look out for a puppy.

 Every few months Aubrey would text me a photo of a possible puppy for our home. They all looked very sweet, but none looked like quite the perfect fit for us. One of our current dogs,  Sheba, is a hyper dog and we knew we needed a puppy with a mellow disposition to help balance out the pack energy. 

Then the text of Brewster came over my phone from Aubrey.

I showed the picture to Patrick. "that looks like a good dog!" Patrick replied. 

Brewster was looking up into the camera with sweetest expression and his head at a slight angle. Aubrey offered to take Brewster into her home for the day and night in Anchorage and give him a test drive of sorts. 

Sure enough, he was cuddly and calm. He was indeed an 8 month old, golden lab puppy version of Tank. 

I put the word out on FB to see who might be in Anchorage who could bring him over. Our friend John S was over there and offered to take Brewster as a piece of checked luggage. 

At 10 PM on Monday night, I went to the airport and in the baggage check area Brewster was delivered to us. I let him out of the kennel and he took off with me on his leash. Lots of sweet puppy energy.

That night, Brewster went out the dog door and discovered the lawn. He excitedly ran around the house and we fed him and showed him the water dish. 

At 11:00 pm, Patrick and I retired to bed. We heard Brewster in the living room. I heard clunking noises. I had visions of him chewing up my shoes. Patrick investigated.

Brewster had brought in 4 or 5 elk bones from the lawn and was chewing on them in the living room. He was in bone heaven. We gave him another 30 minutes to help calm himself down but he didn't. I suggested we let him in our room. Patrick said that would set a bad precedent and  he is right. 

Patrick ended up sleeping half the night on the couch in the kitchen with Tank and Sheba on top of him and Brewster in the kennel right next to him.  It was a long night for us. 

Last night went much better. Brewster slept on a dog bed in Stueys room with Tank and Jake. 

Welcome to our home, Brewster! I have already forgotten what life was like without him.

Zoya

Hike in Abercrombie at dawn (the sun had not come up yet)

Another hike to help 'meld' the pack

Learning some pack dynamics - Bruno went into a crouch

Sheba stays close now on walks to keep with the pack

Scouting for Birds

Yesterday my girl scout troop ventured out with 3 members of   Kodiak Audubon. Rich, Mary and Ellie brought binoculars for us to use and together we birded at Potato Patch lake and also Ft. Abercrombie. 

My favorite bird was the Bufflehead~a gorgeous black and white duck. The girls kept lists of what they saw on their scout notebooks. Most girls had about 10 birds on their list by the end of the afternoon. 

Rich, Mary and Ellie were so helpful and patient with us. 

It was a treat to spend the afternoon together!

Zoya

September Float Hunt Video

This past week I have archiving archaeology video notes and it inspired me to create a hunting video from my September float trip.  The newer versions of imovie are too complicated for me, and the version of imovie that I do use is so old and outdated that I rarely make movies anymore.  But here is a new movie made on the old software.  Enjoy!

 https://youtu.be/nmFivr5FwyM

Halloween 2015

It sure was fun joining in on Nora and Stuey's class halloween party. I dressed up like Kelly Mcguillis from Top Gun, thoroughly embarrassed Nora with my big blond wig, but hopefully made up for it with a  bowl of freshly popped popcorn. 

Nora didn't want her picture taken with me. I didn't take it personally. On the car ride home I asked why. Was it my outfit? The aviator sunglasses?

"Its the wig mom. I would have been fine if you hadn't worn the wig." She explained. 

Now I know. Next year I'll get pre-approval on a costume before wearing it to the party. 

On the back of STuey's jail suit it read "Busted Bad Boy". On the front it said, "Crime don't pay". Lots of chuckles from his costume!

On Hallween night, several girlfriends and myself went to the Chart room to catch up and listen to live music. It was a very quiet halloween scene there, which we appreciated.

It was fun to get out a little and see a few other adult costumes. Marias was a butterfly. :)

Zoya

Dribblers a family, community tradition

MOUNTAIN VIEWS
by Zoya Saltonstall
Published in Kodiak Daily Mirror on October 29th, 2015


The sharp whistle stopped every one in action. You could almost hear a pin drop in the gym. The small mob of basketball-playing elementary boys convened in the center by the adults. The unknowns were hanging in the air. For the players, the parents and the coaches. This was the start of  Little dribbler basketball tryouts.

With paper numbers pinned on their chests, the boys were split into three groups and sent off to various parts of the gym for  drills. They took turns doing layups. Passing drills. Dribbling skills. 

I have to play my cards well so Stuey doesn’t know just how excited I am for him to finally be playing organized basketball. I hear the stories of sports pressure gone bad. Parents who so desperately want their child to play a certain sport and in the end it pushes them away from it.

I’m taking the opposite approach. I’ve tried to be completely chill with how much I love basketball. 

My love for basketball began 30 years ago, as a little dribbler myself. Sweaty, hot games in the middle school. Enthusiastic parents sitting on the bleachers up high, screaming out during games. Cheering. Sometimes yelling at us or the coaches or the refs. T-shirts with awful contrasting colors and team photos where the coaches stand behind us with ’80s hairdos. Painfully learning how to play the game.

I remember it feeling so good to win. And so good to make a basket. 

Then middle school basketball where I have zero memories. Perhaps there is a picture in a photo album somewhere that could jog my memory. Those years are in many ways a memory void. If my middle school basketball coach is reading this, I’m truly sorry. I just don’t remember. Perhaps  we really do spend the rest of our lives trying to recover from or forget what happens in middle school. 

“Do you want to coach?” I  was asked by city Parks and Rec when I signed Stuey up for dribblers. “Oh, no! You don’t want me coaching!” I chuckled. I would have to get Cliff Notes for basketball coaching and it wouldn’t be pretty. 

I prayed to my lucky stars that they found enough coaches so I wouldn’t have to. 

At tryouts, I was glad to see five coaches milling around the gym. My stars came through for me. With clipboards and pens in their hands, the coaches had semipensive looks on their faces as they watched the boys play. They intermingled some, took notes on their papers, and watched some more.    

Three of the five coaches are familiar to me. One was a Kodiak High School classmate back in the 1990s. One was a prior coworker who has a great sense of humor. One was an old boyfriend.

I am curious who will end up being Stuey’s first basketball coach. In real estate they say “location, location, location.” In sports, it’s really all about the coach. The coach is the one who instills confidence, gives the framework, and yet pushes just the right amount. It truly is an art. 

The next 45 minutes were awash with ball handling drills. Chest passes. Bounce passes. Stop-pivots. Dribbling around cones. Layups on the left. Then on the right. Moves that will become so practiced, and so routine for these boys as they learn the art of basketball. These skills that will build their foundation. And becomes threads of their existence and beings. 

Before I know it, tryouts end. The hour flew by. We learn that we’ll find out team assignments at next practice

As we leave the gym, Stuey runs ahead of me to the car.

“I’m glad I knew two people from my class!” Stuey yells. 

“Yes! That was really fun, Stuey! I reply. 

My heart thumps with basketball joy. 



Kodiak resident Zoya Saltonstall is a mother of two and a physical therapist. She loves black labs and chocolate.

Politics take back seat to night drive

MOUNTAIN VIEWS
By Zoya Saltonstall
Published in Kodiak Daily Mirror on October 22nd, 2015

Mom, wait. I’m confused.  I thought our mayor is a girl, not a guy” my daughter, Nora questioned me. 

It was a rainy windy Thursday evening. Nora and I were getting settled into our chairs at the toasty borough assembly chambers. 

We arrived 25 minutes before the borough assembly meeting started and sat in the front left row by the window. The assembly members trickled in, conversed with each other and sat in their executive assembly chairs. Nora asked who everyone was and what their jobs were. 

I explained how we have two mayors in Kodiak: a borough mayor and city mayor. Jerrol Friend is our borough mayor. Pat Branson is the city mayor and that was who she was thinking of. I explained the difference between city and borough and how our family lives in the borough. 

This was Nora’s first time being at such a public meeting. She was curious about what a public meeting is like and since she cares about the future of Termination Point, I figured this would be a good one for us  to go to together.   

I remember my fascination with elected public officials as a child. My very young self saw it all as a little king-queen-ish. My late father, Dave Herrnsteen, was on the Kodiak school board for several terms and borough mayor for a term back in the 1980s. I don’t remember his time as borough mayor, I was too young. On the school board I remember him coming home with super-thick meeting packets he would read through. And he would frequently get pulled aside at the post office to talk with neighbors and friends about school board subjects. 

Half an hour into Thursday’s meeting, Nora started showing signs of fading — slumping over tired and sending me looks of disgust for still being there. Her eyebrows were furrowing at me. The clock was approaching 8. It was a school night and she (thankfully) relishes her 8 p.m. bedtime. 

On the drive home, Nora was very much convinced that borough assembly meetings were the most boring things on earth. What was exciting to her was that it was her first “night drive” this fall. Seeing the street lights and oncoming headlights of traffic was a novelty. Simple joys for 10-year-olds. 

I tuned into the meeting on public radio KMXT as we drove home. By the time we left the meeting, the Termination Point testimony hadn’t yet started; there were several awards and reports presented. Not terribly exciting. But important, yes.   

After Nora was tucked into bed and as the rain hammered against my kitchen window, I  followed the assembly votes on the Termination Point negotiations as they rolled in. The next morning when Nora woke up, she was curious what the outcome was. 

I explained how the four votes in favor of negotiations were reflections of the people who filled the borough assembly chambers two weeks in a row. The two votes opposing the negotiations left many puzzled. 

That rainy Thursday night was an eye-opening borough assembly meeting for Nora and me, but for different reasons. 

For Nora, she learned about the difference between the borough and city mayor. She saw first-hand how meetings can be boring.  

For me, I became even more grateful for engaged, responsive borough assembly members. These elected officials who can look constituents in the eye, email back and have dialogue and interaction. 

And most importantly, assembly members who vote on behalf of the  wishes of the community. 




Kodiak resident Zoya Saltonstall is a mother of two and a physical therapist. She loves black labs and chocolate.

Nora's Photo Safari Pictures

As promised here are Nora's photos from yesterday's Near Island hike.  I was impressed with how she incorporated the moon into her landscapes.  She also did a nice job with catching and using light and shadows.  Some of her black shadows add a lot to her picture compositions.  Patrick

Near Island Photo Safari with Nora

This morning while Zoya and Stuey attended 'lil dribblers practice Nora, the dogs and I went on a photo safari to Near Island.  The light was gorgeous.  I have not yet downloaded Nora's pictures (you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see them), but here are the best ones that I took.

While on our walk I checked on an archaeological site.  I like to check on the condition of local archaeological sites - see if they are eroding or if people have been digging into them.  Anyway while checking on this particular site I noticed a really cool prehistoric tool just laying there on the beach.  The tool was a utilized blade (basically a knife) and it was made of red and yellow chert that is only found on the Alaska Peninsula.  'Blade' tools are only found in Kodiak's oldest sites - sites that are about 7000 years old or older.  Wow!  And it is actually the second utilized blade I have seen at the site.

After finding and taking a photo of the artifact I had to explain to Nora why we had to leave it there on the beach.  I explained that it belongs to the landowner, and that if we took it home we would be stealing it.

I have to admit this site has piqued my curiosity.  It looks like it might be a really OLD site and worth checking out with a formal archaeological excavation.

Patrick

 Dorsal surface of a utilized blade made of red and yellow chert imported from the Alaska Peninsula

An Ode to Inflatable Kayaks and Canoes

I do a lot of rafting, kayaking and canoeing here on Kodiak, and I generally use inflatable boats.  Other options include 'hard shell' (i.e. the traditional sea kayak or canoe), heavy inflatable rafts, or even the super light-weight alpacka type inflatables.  So which is best? Is there small boat that does it all?  I'd answer the question with an emphatic 'NO'.

There are a wide variety of paddling opportunites here on Kodiak.  We have white water paddling, flat-water lakes and rivers, remote fly-out hunting trips, remote fly-out camping trips, there are trips where you combine hiking with paddling, and there is sea kayaking close to town.  There is not a boat that is perfect for everything.  But there are boats that are perfect for particular activities.

If you only do white water kayaking near town then get a hard shell 'creek boat'.  If you only sea kayak near town then get a hard shell sea kayak.  But if you want a boat that packs up easily and fits in a floatplane or packs away easily in a skiff then inflatable boats are a better option.  And if you really want to go lightweight and carry your boat on your back then the alpaca type raft is what you want.

Each particular type of boat has its downsides.  Hard shells are bulky and difficult to transport.  Inflatables are not as fast as hardshells, and do not track as well in the wind.  Alpacka type rafts are an extreme version of the inflatable type - they are super lightweight and packable, but are also very slow and the least 'water-worthy'.  Full on inflatable rafts are very heavy, draw more water, and pretty much only good for floating the bigger rivers or for use on flatwater with an engine mounted on the back.

I personally like mid range inflatables because they are very versatile.  I can pretty much do everything in them except go on long, extended hiking trips (the sole domain of the alpacka).  Furthermore my inflatables are very tough.  I can drag loaded boats down shallow rivers, and grind against barnacle covered rocks without fear of damaging the bottom.  Try that in a fiberglass or thin skinned boat!

Inflatables are also very easy to get in and out of and carry a LOT of gear.  My family much prefers the open cockpit of our inflatables to the closed holes of hard shell kayaks.  I have gone on extended archaeological surveys where we fit 4 people and all the gear into 2 inflatables - and, better yet, we also still fit into one floatplane.  Inflatables are also about 1/2 the cost of a comparable hardshell.

I do own different types of inflatable rafts (my choices are all made by Innova).  I have inflatable sea kayaks, canoes, and even a self-bailing river kayak.  I have found that each of these is a little better than the others at doing something.  The sea kayaks are better on flat water while the canoes do better in rivers.  However, I have also done everything with all of them.  I even did white water in the inflatable sea kayaks, and did an archaeological survey along the coast of North Afognak in the inflatable canoes.

So if you are looking for something versatile for exploring Kodiak - an inflatable is not a bad way to go (click here for an interesting site that compares different inflatable kayaks and canoes).  Patrick

Family sea kayaking on a day trip along the coast of South Afognak

Moving an archaeological field camp across a lake

Extended archaeological survey on a river

Extended archaeological survey by inflatable sea kayak

Whitewater fun near town

More whitewater fun

Float hunt trip - carrying the meat and gear downriver

Waiting on Snow

Hunting season is over, but we still do not have enough snow for ski season to begin.  It's 'waiting-on-snow' season.  In the old days it seemed that hunting season blended seamlessly into ski season without any break in between.  Not so for the last few years - these days I'm just praying that we will get a ski season eventually.

It has been very warm all fall, but today there was a cold west wind blowing and a dusting of new snow on the mountains.  For the first time in a while the daytime high temperature was not in the 50s - did not top 40 even!

In the meanwhile, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hiking up hills to stay in shape.

Patrick

Photo Safari in the trees

On Sunday with Zoya at her class the kids, dogs and I went on another hike.  We all brought cameras and it turned into a photo safari.  Stuey's normal camera had a dead battery so I lent him mine.  So instead I brought along a higher end, non waterproof camera (our Canon Powershot GX1).  I think it gave me an unfair advantage.  It was eye-opening how a camera with a larger sensor takes so much crisper and brighter pictures.

It was a misty, rainy sort of day so the theme of our walk was trying to capture the trees in the old growth spruce forest.

Back home I took the best pictures that each of us took and put them in this post - mine first.  Nora had some pictures on her camera from the day before and from the last couple of weeks - so she got a few extra photos.  Stuey's photos, like mine, are all from yesterday.

Nora's Photos

Nora has been doing a lot of close ups.  I really like her sense of composition.

Stuey's Photos

Stuey's pictures really captured the 'mood' of the day

Patrick