July 19-20: Time is short

And that is true in two senses. In less than a week, all the crew except me will return to their far flung places - Washington, California, North Dakota, Maryland, Maine, and eventually, New York. Will already left for home today (and even after only a week, we miss him!) and I'll go a couple of days after the last of the crew.

The other sense is that it's late and we will leave early tomorrow for our Katmai trip! And on the way, we'll stop at the airport to pick up Rohan's parents (who are also my friends), and Jean, who has known me longer than anyone other than my siblings and my mom. They will get the maximum culture shock available: they will just deplane and we'll hustle them into the truck (someone will have to ride in the back!) and to the skiff. David will run us across Naknek Lake to Fure's cabin, part of the National Park Service, where we'll stay overnight and then on to Brook's Lodge the next day to watch the bears fish up on the falls. We'll return Monday night and soon after, I'll post a few photos from that adventure, as well as photos from today's activities at the Fishtival in town, including Beargrass, an afternoon of remarkable local musical talent, as well as tales of sharing the beach with bears and... a wolf!