Hey again,
In the last email I commented on a couple of things which I would now like to expand upon. First, concerning the wild ducks and geese that was donated for the feed for the board members. I made the comment they ended up in a soup sans certain usually deleted parts. As Patty was reading the copy I printed of that email she informed me that the duck and goose soup came complete with the heads. She states she gracefully declined to partake of the dish. Second, after all the hype I wrote about campfires, lazing away on the beach, etc.... We found out there was a fund raising at the fire hall that Saturday and ended up washing cars (and 4 wheelers) instead of lazing away the day. (At least this year it wasn't snowing like last year.) The result from that was the cold I mentioned turned into what I am now sure was pneumonia. This in turn caused me to miss four days of work. The good news is now, almost two weeks later, my cough is almost gone. Poor Patty however is barking in the other room as I write. Of course being the male of the household naturally I was much sicker and needed much more TLC. I guess one good thing is that Cathy informed me that she and her over 6 foot local "friend", and some other friends went out onto the beach that Friday night, built a fire, and roasted smores in a new way. They assembled all the ingredients, wrapped them in foil and roasted it like that. She says it's good, and I guess I'll have to try it. At least some folks got to enjoy that weekend.
The much anticipated breakup of the ice did not happen again this year. Each day there was just less and less ice on the sound with now there is loose slush along the shore with intermittent flows of ice coming down from Kobuk Lake. It is hard to believe that just over three weeks ago we were out on the ice with our 4 wheelers catching sheefish through holes over three feet deep. Monday after work I road to front street on my 4 wheeler and stood in front of bayside restaurant with three others from work casting treble hooks. We were snagging one and sometimes two or three herring on each cast. A lot of folks eat them here in different ways but we just collected a five gallon bucket full in about 45 minutes which were destined as dog food for a local sled dog team. The herring had to be packed down there by the thousands and I am not kidding about hooking them on every cast. Off in the distance there were hundreds of seagulls diving taking their share of the bounty. Just the day before two of the folks with us was doing the same thing and caught five sheefish that evidentially were also partaking of the feast.
Sunday Patty and I just to get out for a bit took a ride on a hill overlooking town. There we watched a flock of swans fly over and down on the west side of town in the marsh were probably over fifty or more swans swimming, diving in unison, or doing what appeared to me to be mating dances. As I stated in the last email there is now an abundance of waterfowl and different types of birds in attendance made all the more conspicuous when you consider that all that were present for months were the site and raucous sounds of the ravens.
Tuesday I flew out to village of Ambler again to do some record reviews. Most of the Arctic tundra is now free of ice with patches of white visible here and there. All the rivers are free of ice although Kobuk Lake, which is the body of water east of the peninsula Kotzebue sits on, is still mostly covered with rapidly thinning ice, open leads snaking their way through it. The village itself is free of ice and snow. It is one of the most beautiful villages in the region as it is set along the banks of the Kobuk River in gently rolling hills complete with trees. The smaller vegetation there is sprouting rapidly to take advantage of the brief growing season and the midnight sun. The air is permeated with the fragrance of renewal. I heard something there I had not heard since leaving New Orleans, something I did not even realize I missed until I heard it. In Ambler the air was replete with the sounds of songbirds. We do not get them here in Kotzebue I guess as we do not have the trees they take shelter in. I opened the window to the room I slept in and as it is daylight now for 24 hours straight, I was lulled to sleep by their gentle sound. I took a walk the one evening I spent there gazing at the sometimes simple and sometimes elaborate abodes ranging from simple log cabins with earth chinking the cracks, to two story affairs that could rival homes in any city. It was shirtsleeve weather and also a time of year before the mosquitoes appear. It was pleasant soaking up the sights, smells, and sounds. Then when I came to the edge of the village and gazed out at the gently rolling forested hills leading up to snow capped peaks in the distance.........I just stood there staring and reflecting on how I came to be here at this place, seeing what a blessed few get to see, feeling what a blessed few get to feel, and thinking why me?
Carlo
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Last updated:
08/29/05