July 4: If we're not fishing, how about a bonfire?

July 4 is the traditional peak of the Bristol Bay salmon run. But the fish don't always use the same calendar. We had a pretty good morning tide (especially at the beginning), compared with previous morning tides. We even had some hits behind us after clearing a section of net. Plus, we were excited to have this whole powerful fish-gathering team together at one time, so we broke into three boats, with Jake and Jeff working in the Grayling. David, Sarah, and Josh in the Bathtub, and my Ambi crew.

Fishing started to slow down, so Jake and Jeff joined us in the Ambi. This photo shows Jake and Jeff on the leadline (clever guys - they know that's where the fish will be at this time of the tide), and Rohan and Luka on the corkline. With so many people, I was free to just take photos - I think I need a lens cleaner.

We came back in for a short break as the tide was turning. Another Sarah, a friend of the crew members from Dewey (and a friend of mine), sent some delicious strawberry rhubarb jam (mmmm). Rohan used just a little bit of it in the chicken curry he made for us, but most of it was consumed, one knife full at a time, spread on the homemade bread as thickly as possible without loosing any to jam-slide. This all happened in one day. Here is the evidence.

Fish and Game has been giving us pretty regular fishing openings. They'll open us for one tide and then, before that tide is done, they'll open us for the next tide. For the past two days, though, they closed us after the single tide opening. At first, we are grateful because it means we can run to town and do laundry or take a shower or bake bread. But today, they told us to listen at noon tomorrow for the next announcement. That means we'll have at least two tides off. Uh oh. Well, OK, we're grateful because it means we can celebrate Independence Day with a bonfire and fireworks, and enjoy what turned out to be a beautiful day after the clouds cleared toward the end of the fishing period. Trevor came down from town - his boat was in and he was free to come and visit us. It was lovely to see him. Once we finished the tide, the crew went into town to get fireworks, firewood, and see if they could get the outboard on the New Boat running. (Yes to the first and second; no to the third.) We also decided that such a calm and beautiful evening would be good to send out Alex's ashes (mingled with some of his aunt's) in little paper boats with sparklers attached. Harry and Makenzie came down from the fish camp, bringing some of the crew off two other boats.

It is hard to complain about time off fishing when it means that we get to gather such a stellar group of people. It was an evening with a complexity of emotions because on the easy side, we enjoyed each other, it was a beautiful night, and a bonfire is always fun. On the difficult side, a boat had just gone down, sad and sobering for us who didn’t know them personally, and devastating for those who did, and this was the night for sending off the ashes of my son and my sister.

While the tide was out, we made our bonfire, and ate our orzo salad (made with Israeli couscous and pesto because we didn't have orzo and basil), potato salad, bratwurst and hot dogs, grilled salmon, and, of course - s'mores. Here is the whole group. There is Sarah all the way on the left with Josh in front of her, and going clockwise around the circle is Jake, then Tom off the Goat Roper, Leah and Andrew from Tim Cook's boat, my niece Makenzie, Luka standing up next to Makenzie, Trevor, and behind them, Roger. Going back to the second layer, Rohan is at the truck tailgate, David is standing behind Tom and Harry is standing next to him.

Those pallets must burn hot. I know when I tried to cook a marshmallow, it almost wasn’t worth the first degree burns I got. Almost. It looks like the hot dog roasters also found the fire uncomfortably hot. Roger is having none of this high tech metal hot dog prongs – nope, he is going with the tree trunk with a point whittled on the end. Alaska style!

And this is my beautiful, intelligent, kind, creative, and funny niece, Makenzie. She has been fishing with Harry for...5 years now? Maybe more. And before that, she was here as a setnetter. When I was growing up, us six kids were The Moore Girls. That included Harry, the only male and the youngest of The Moore Girls. When Makenzie and her sister were here with Harry getting the boat ready a few years ago, they realized that they are The Moore Girls V2.0.

Roger doesn't want to carry a cell phone. He has become our "go to" mechanic... and a lot of our stuff breaks. As Roger says, "In new and interesting ways," which gives a hint about how much fun he is to work with. It's almost worth breaking stuff on purpose just to see his reaction (though really, it breaks enough on its own - we don't need to). The crew is designing the structure to put around the remaining composting toilet to be put into service. I've had one at my cabin for a few years. David is the only other member of the crew that uses it (besides me). Roger said he thought that a certain amount of DNA had to be shared for that to be permitted. I think Roger is getting close - I'm pretty sure that after we fish together for another year or two, we'll share enough DNA so that he could use my composting toilet.

Luka is one of the new guys this year. He was a friend of Alex and in many ways, very similar to him. Coming down the beach with him the first time this season, imagining what Luka’s experience might be like seeing it all for the first time so strongly conjured Alex for me that I almost felt him sitting there in the cab of the truck with us. I really appreciate that when I’m apart from the group working on something, Luka will often find me and ask if I need any help. That's a valuable characteristic in a crew member.

Rohan is the other new guy this year, also a friend of Alex – and in particular, when Alex really needed a friend. Rohan likes the hard work and the challenge - and he's good at meeting them both. In addition, he increases his own challenge by jumping in to do extra stuff like cook for the crew. I think we're sharing that responsibility, but I'm no so sure we're sharing it equally - he thinks more about people needing to eat a meal when I'm more likely to think that everyone can make themselves a sandwich.

This is my brother, Harry, the youngest of The Moore Girls. He drifts with Makenzie on the Janice E, named for our mother. Harry has traveled great distances over his lifetime and has had enormously varied experiences. He started as the long-awaited boy child after five girls, and made his way through those many experiences to become a beloved husband and father of three great kids, not to mention beloved brother and son. Harry has always been hilarious - he was just born that way. And he has made himself into someone I am so proud and grateful to have as a brother.

Here is Tom, silver-throated First Mate of the Goat Roper. We love when Tom comes to visit and I always feel like I've drawn a long straw when he and his crew will sing.

And Sarah!! Since I didn't get to have a daughter to raise, at least I got to have as a daughter-in-law someone I would have chosen - if it were up to me. Sarah doesn't quit, no matter how much she doesn't like the waves and no matter how tired and even scared she is. And she is the heart of the crew. It's only after she arrives and organizes us that we play games that make us laugh so hard we cry.

I was so glad that Trevor came down the beach during the tide off and joined us for our bonfire and cookout and fireworks. He was a roommate of Alex's and one of the first kids from Alex's school to come up fishing. The first year he wanted to come, we didn't have room on the crew, so he stayed with us and worked with us for a few days, and put up signs ("6'4", 220 lbs, smart"). He got lots of calls and found a position in less than a week. He's done the same thing each year, and this year it looks like he has found someone that he'll be able to fish with next year and who will help him get into other fisheries.

And this is the new Trevor, crew of the Goat Roper. When I heard Trevor sing I began to suspect that Cap't Phil's hiring procedure involves a singing interview.

Jake! He had just arrived the day before. We're trying not to make much of the fact that as soon as he arrived, we pretty much had to stop fishing. He spent the first half of the season as a deck hand on a yacht sports fishing out of Sitka. It seemed like the perfect gig for him, even though we missed him for the first part of the season. I have said it before and I still believe it: I disagree with the human resources wisdom that tells us that everyone is replaceable. Actually, I think that no one is replaceable. Sort of the same way cloves can't be replaced in a cookie recipe. We can find a substitute that will make a fine cookie, but it isn't the same cookie. I was very glad to have Jake here and I miss Chris, Patric, and Hugh, the rest of the Montana contingent.

Jeff has been with us for... this is his 4th year. He doesn't say much, but as fast and as thoroughly as he learns, I think that if we needed him to take over and run the whole thing, he could do it. We met him because he sent a letter to permit holders looking for a job fishing. We were part of a cold call. It was a really good letter. I remember particularly appreciating him saying that he would be able to return in subsequent years. Stability in crew is a really great thing. I was worried that someone else would have hired him first, but now I'm pretty sure that he was just waiting for us because this is where he belongs. He fits in perfectly and we are really lucky to have him.

I am writing this several days after the 4th and today (the 7th) we put Josh on a plane and sent him back to NOAA in Kodiak. Don't think I did that enthusiastically. Like Alex said, Josh is A Beast. And not only is he A Beast, he is also a son to me. The Josh picture that is burned into my brain was in 2007 when we still didn't have a ranger in service, but we had a lot of fish out in the mud flats. We decided to push the Bathtub out, trailing a line behind, fill it up with salmon, run the line through a giant pulley, attach it to a truck (or two) and pull the Bathtub, full of 5000 lbs of salmon, in to be delivered. Josh led that group with a look of determination that spoke the truth. They got the fish in. He had a whole elaborate vision for a photo series involving the ranger and fireworks and maybe even little firework tanks. But Josh is really the shining star of this photo.

Ah David. Everything I could possibly ask for in a son... well, he did leave the toolbox out. On the other hand, he had it out to fix my door. That is David. Responsible, reliable. And funny, smart, and so very kind. Of course, when he was a kid, he was a kid. At some point many years ago, he started to tell me that I could go up and he would finish up the tide. And it was great because I had complete confidence that he would do it as well as I would.

This is a great crew. I feel so lucky to have the accumulating experience in people who are such a great pleasure to be around. Coming fishing every year is how I refresh ... everything. It is the North Star of my life and it is hard to express what it means to have this set of people as part of my North Star.