June 14: Oh good! Maybe the weather is getting bad

At breakfast this morning, I was gratified when the crew agreed that the worst looking food is often the best tasting. This was said over plates of scrambled eggs with black beans, crumbled bacon, and salmon. Tasty, nutritious... needs a sprig of parsley.

Even though I knew we really needed to get the skiffs ready to go into the water, even more than that, I wanted not to get too far behind in these updates. So we identified some things that they could work on while I updated the blog:

* the new composting toilets need to be installed and if they are to be installed outside, those structures need to be built

* the wash down system needs to be set up, leaks in the line found and mended

* the signs need to be put up. As commercial setnetters, we are required to clearly mark the end of the net with the permit-holder's name and permit number, as well as place a sign on the cliff in front of the site with the same information. Those signs had to be placed

* the chairs need to be set up to create the photo that matches the mural that the kids at Alex's school painted in his memory. I'm not sure how they knew exactly what it looked like, but I want to take a photo with the components of their painting to show them how close they were. Instead of the more typical process of painting from a photo, it will be a process of documenting the accuracy of their painting - or maybe their understanding of Alex. I am so grateful for this mural, that these students were in Alex's life and knew him, and that he remains with them, and with other students even after those who knew him have graduated and moved into the next stages of their lives. Here is a photo of that mural. (Thank you, Alok.)

(The words were from Alex's last email to me, "I guess I'm slowly learning that I am who I am and have always been. I suffer the same existence, but I live this suffering very differently.")

While I typed along, Luka and Rohan did the dishes (a giant task even though we are only 6) and then Luka (with Jeff and Trevor) began the installation of the composting toilets, Rohan (with Trevor and Jeff) put up the signs, Trevor, Rohan, and Luka - all of whom were friends with Alex - put together and placed the chairs for the mural photo, and Roger (I think with everyone's help - except mine) led the installation of the water system, to discover as he was leaving for town with the others that the holding barrel had split and was leaking from the bottom. So he stayed behind and mended the barrel... and while he was at it, put an extra coat of Splash Zone on my rain barrel, and tried to stop the leak in the dingy Rohan and Luka were in yesterday. (That dingy has a name. It's "skook.")

In town, we made a lot of progress on getting the skiffs ready to launch. We got in all the skiff stuff - my basic rule is before you go anywhere in a boat, you need to have a way to make it go, a way to make it stop, and a way to get the water out. I should add to that a reason to believe that water won't come in below the gunwales. They got the power roller and its power pack into the Ambi, installed the battery, the light and radio hooked up and working, the outboard running... and the power pack seems to be frozen up. But I think Roy will be able unfreeze it - nothing dreadful happened like running it without oil. So we're very close on that one. The New Boat may be as close to ready; we just haven't tried it yet. We probably have a day on the Bathtub (if we don't have many problems). So... a productive day, almost ready to fish. My brother sent me a note saying that the latest forecasts are predicting an earlier and larger run that expected. Good news... eek!! Here is one of Trevor's photos of Roger knowing it must be in there somewhere while Jeff, Rohan, and Luka plan out their next project.

I asked Rohan to head back to the cabin a little early so he could make us chicken curry!! We were all eager to get home to that. On the way back to my cabin, I found it emotionally startling to see the chairs perfectly placed, looking out into the vast landscape of tundra and sky, looking so much like like the mural itself. Grateful for what might be a turn toward more typical weather, weather that is better for fishing, and weather more like what is in the mural, I went out before the delicious curry dinner to take my first shot at a shot.