My birthday, pre-season June 20, Day 21

Started this day on a great note. It was such fun dancing. And coming back we got to watch a big red moon set among the processors' lights. Can you see the Williams' buoy on the mud flats?

When we wake up, we'll have some breakfast lox (yes, I did ship salmon back from Seattle to Alaska. And if I hadn't, I wouldn't have had as much chance to eat it yet) and I think I'll make salmon cakes - similar to crab cakes but with salmon. I'd have made salmon pillows, but I couldn't find puff pastry or chevre. And probably a Moroccan chicken dish, and maybe an Israeli couscous dish that David and Sarah discovered. And Pavlova for dessert - with kiwi and blueberries. I'm big on birthday dinners.

More after I wake up to the day.

The weather was beautiful today; the crew industriously almost finished the insulation on the bunkhouse and on the crew cabin. Still have some left, so they'll finish the crew cabin and then work on the walls of the Space Hut. I think that'll improve everyone's comfort considerably.

Paul and I talked for the last two days about the possibility of him going home early, like tomorrow. He is a great crew member and I hate to see him go. He has a knack for offering to help at just the right time and meaning it. He is a quick learner, a hard worker, funny, and insightful. But he feels very strongly that this isn't the right place for him this year. Of course, he didn't know this is how it would be for him when we took him on as crew, and I think he would make himself stick it out if we really needed him, but we have quite a strong crew this year, so fishing-wise, we'll be OK without him. But we are all sad to see him go, and I'm really hoping this is the right decision for him. He'll keep in touch (and now we'll have someone in Seattle we can contact and say, "Quick! We need another throttle cable - will you go get it and send it!!??") So today was bittersweet for me.

I've attached a couple of other photos. The solstice will occur in a couple of hours. The sunset attached here is from the 20th - it was about 11:45 pm. That's our Grayling in the foreground (ground?) and the Bathtub in the background. The Ambi is out of commission with a non functioning throttle, until Trina arrives with it in hand on Thursday.


And I always like the diversity here - the moon is about 3 hours away from setting in this photo, with the tender in the background - they are heading out on this tide so they'll be in place to receive fish from the drifters on the morning's tide. If they didn't get out on this tide, they might not be in place in time, because of the height of the tide. You can see the tire tracks on the beach freeway in front of the cabin - they are a testament to the time of the season, and the four-wheeler buzzing down the beach. Those vehicles are perfect for around here - they don't get stuck. If they do, you can just about lift them out. If you can't, just wait for the tide and it will float it out. Usually.

After our dessert of pavlova, I headed back to my cabin and heard the pair of swans that live on the pond behind my cabin. Could it be any more perfect?

We'll be doing running sets in the morning. We're due to open at 9 am, in 15 feet of water. I did hear today that Norm Anderson, one of my favorite people in Naknek, took a skiff from Dillingham to Naknek and didn't see a single jumper. We might not get the fish showing everyone has been expecting quite yet. But to me, the astonishing part of that news was taking a skiff from Dillingham to Naknek? It's about 60 miles to fly between the two villages and even longer by boat. You can see the distance in the map - remembering how big Alaska is. That would be a looonnng skiff ride. Farther than from Seattle to Olympia - maybe even farther than Seattle to Anacortes. Yikes!

And while we're here looking at this map, you can see Lake Illiamna - Kokhanok is a village on that lake and the lake is the destination of the salmon that swim up the Kvichak river, the largest red salmon run in the world. Lake Illiamna is where the Northern Dynasty Mining Company is proposing mining for copper and gold. I think that most of the villages have decided to oppose the mine because they are worried about the same thing I am: the health of the salmon run. At the same time, those who support the mine do so because it promises year round employment and it is darned expensive to try to live out here. With the rising cost of everything, and the persistently low price we get for the salmon, families can't pay their fuel bill anymore (gas in town here is $4.50 per gallon and the service station owners are not getting rich) so people are leaving the villages for Anchorage, forcing schools to close (a minimum of 10 children is required to keep the school open), which leads to other people leaving. Having the mine would give people work so they could stay in their villages and have work. Possibly, though, at the expense of the salmon run. Both issues - the health of the salmon run and the ability of families to make a living and stay in their communities - are very important to all community members. But some prioritize the salmon and the security and traditions that go with them while others priorities the employment and the security that goes with that. Before very long, community members - family members even - begin to think they disagree strongly. This controversy is very hard on these small communities.

The other river that we fish from is the Naknek river. Those salmon run up to Naknek Lake which extends from just outside King Salmon to the Katmai bear preserve. It's such an adventure at the end of the season to put the skiff on a trailer, drag it the 20 or so miles to the lake where we can put it in and run to Brooks Lodge to go visit the bears. David was the adventurer who made that happen the first time. I was afraid - sure it wouldn't work and worried that we would fall off the edge of the earth. And yet, here we are.

In a final happy birthday event, Bob completed the installation of the composting toilet. Now I just need to read the directions to figure out how to use it. Joy! A bathroom all to myself! I'm already thinking about how to decorate it.

Liz