June 5: A little B&E among friends

Eddie, George, and Dave-called-Joey came to my rescue today and broke into Debby's cabin. They sent me on a search for a saw so that when I returned they were nonchalantly standing around the door that was now hanging open. They wouldn't say how they did it. Then they asked me to go get a phillips head screwdriver, and suspicious about what they would do this time, I declined.

I had parked the truck up on the beach access road because the tide has been very high and they gave me a lift to it... in a truck that looked a lot like our other truck (because it was our other truck - it's running great. Stopping is another matter, however).

I headed on in to town only to discover that it was lunch time when everything shuts down at fish camp. I have finally come to understand that this is how it needs to be. Their crew starts at the end of April and goes till the end of July, working 7 days a week, from 8 AM to 8:30 PM. Except for the beach gang and they work those hours, plus if we're fishing, they're out picking up our fish whenever we're fishing which is often when the rest of the camp is sleeping. They maintain that pull by bolting their food at lunch and dinner and then going down for a 30 minute power nap. That's how they get through the season.

When I was in town, I learned that the EPA was in town as well and holding a hearing about the proposed Pebble Mine. They have just completed their assessment of the environmental impact of a large scale mine in the Bristol Bay watershed. So I spent the whole day in town, took furious notes at the 4 hour meeting, and am eager to report on it. But it's late now. It was another beautiful evening - this was the sunset that I caught just as I was returning from town.

And Sonja - I think the way the strong wind cleans up the mud flats is it stirs up the water and anything out there that isn't nailed down gets pushed toward shore. The sand is heavy and doesn't get stirred up so much, but the mud is silty and goes into suspension more easily. And once in suspension, it gets knocked into shore.

Tomorrow: I'll catch up with a report on passion and other power.