We took Josh and Trevor to the airport today (waah!) and at the same time shipped out the fish for Hugh, Chris, Jeff, and some of Evan's to his brother. Although they had made reservations to ship it on the 19th, when we got there, we were told that Alaska Air had decreased the portion of the plane dedicated to freight so everything would be delayed by 24 hours. I hope the crew all gave the recipients the tracking number so they wouldn't make a vain trip to their respective airports. One of the hazards of shipping fish is that it doesn't arrive with the same punctuality as a passenger does... and we all know that sometimes even that is questionable.
Hugh was part of this operation, so much of this post will be about his remarkable ability to fall asleep. Two things are fun about that: one is just the image of Hugh sleeping in the mjst unlikely places, combined with the fact that he will talk and respond to questions in his sleep; and the other is Chris' glee about it all. I got to have both today.
The air freight office is around the corner from the passenger terminal. I went in to start the paperwork while the guys got the salmon unloaded. The paperwork was a bit of a challenge - apparently Hugh's and Chris' handwriting is illegible, even when it's typed. I think we got it all straightened out. Hugh and Chris were preparing for a trip down the street to the Alaska Commercial (AC) store that carries everything from avocados to power tools to fishing equipment. They were on a quest for fishing rods. On the way out the door, Hugh was holding the door for Chris who needed to step back in to check on something. Stepping back out 10 seconds later, he noticed that Hugh was in the same position. Looking more closely, Hugh had fallen asleep. He stood there sleeping long enough for the mile-wide grin to spread across Chris' face, for the women behind the counter to understand what had happened and to come around and look at him, and for me to go out and get a photo. Right after I snapped this, he started to tip over. We woke him up in time. Having just awakened from his nap, Hugh, still bleary and confused, asked Chris, "Where are we?" Chris told him, only later lamenting the fun he missed - he could have told him they were in Rome, or just arrived in King Salmon and it was time to go fishing...
Then we waited in the crowded terminal - around July 19, there is generally a loud, frustrated, and excited rush of people trying to leave the area to return home. It's a small airport, designed to be able to stretch to accommodate the thousands that pass through in the summer, but small enough to reasonably serve the area of only a few thousand residents. Hugh nodded off here shortly after he sat down. At least I think it was after.
Of course, he fell asleep again on the way back from King Salmon, but I didn't get the camera out in time to catch him asleep - so here he is, just waking up. After we arrived back at the cabin, I used up some of the meat we'd brought back from the freezer to make chili for today and spaghetti for tomorrow.
This doesn't look much like chili, but we've also been trying to use up the canned items that will not winter well - which is anything where the structure of the food matters. Not tomato soup, but definitely legumes, fruits, and vegetables. So we also had a black bean and corn salad, and chili is so good with salsa, so I made that too. And thinking earlier that we'd finally be able to have a bonfire on the beach (a lucky combination of weather and timing - I was wrong, though), I'd gotten some hot dogs. So this turned into chili dogs. Hugh hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, so he took a nap while waiting for me to finish getting dinner ready. When it was ready, Chris woke him up (I think threats of tickling were involved) and Chris says that Hugh bolted up and sat on the foot of his bed... and fell asleep.
I can't remember if this next photo was taken during dinner or after, but this was before we rushed off to town to fillet the rest of the salmon, but here he sits at the table, asleep.
We timed dinner for just after the fishing crew came in. Trying to remember all the final pieces of the meal (this was a complicated one with many parts), I glanced over and saw that Evan, a member of the fishing crew, seemed to have lost interest in dressing himself partway through the process. He had the sweatshirt over his head, but hadn't mustered the energy or determination for the arms to do their part. "A scarf," he explained. See why I like so much to be around this crew? 
After dinner - that was about 10 pm - Hugh, Chris, Jeff and I left for town to fillet the day's salmon while David and Evan did dishes (there were a lot - we may have finished the salmon job before they finished the dishes), and Roger was assigned the task of photographing the sunset (those photos will have to wait until I can get his card). On the way into town, Hugh fell asleep again. But this photo also shows Chris, with his head turned away to hide his smile. The thing is, he can't hide his smile by turning his head - his smile seems to reach his ears as well.
Roger fulfilled his job responsibilities admirably - it was really hard to pick just one of his sunset photos. He also stayed up to take pictures of the moonrise.
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