Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy

Clear blue sky today. Blankets and sleeping bags blowing in the breeze, dry for the first time in a while. This will be short, as I plan to go out and enjoy it for a bit before dinner.

This is one of the boats that brings us and our supplies here, the Weather or Knot. It also offers taxi service for kayakers and guided boat tours. Note the landing gear on the front. It pulls right up to the beach for easy loading and unloading. Today, it (well, Captain Dawn, really) picked up (out of the ocean) and dropped off (on the beach) ice for me since there’s none to be found on the beaches and I’m getting low.

It’s going to be busy the next few days, orienting the new cook, heading out, taking care of business in Anchorage before heading home to our own glacier. You may not hear from me until the weekend. I’ve got a camera full of pics that I look forward to sharing then.

Mike and I went canoeing in the upper lagoon last night. We didn’t leave until about 9 p.m. or so because 1-I had to clean up dinner, and 2-we were waiting for high tide. The passage connecting the upper lagoon to the lower lagoon where the lodge will be and where we’ve been canoeing is essentially a river with a current. As the tide comes in, the current carries us up to the lagoon, while we’d have to paddle hard at other times. In fact, I’m not sure we could paddle up to it at other times.

This lagoon is at the base of the Pedersen Glacier and is full of giant icebergs. We canoed through a maze of them! Mike took pics, but I can’t download them to this computer, so you’ll have to wait until next week for those. It was quiet, still, and COLD. A seal checked us out and gulls hollered at us. Bufflehead ducks entertained us with a funny song as they flew past. I can’t wait to show you pics–it was very cool!

Not a lot of time today, so more when I can.

So how does the camp cook keep food cold without electricity, a fridge, or a freezer? She keeps three coolers stocked with ice.

So where does the camp cook get ice out in Bush Alaska? She picks it up off the beach, of course!

See?

There are bits of icebergs washed up on shore after high tide and a perfect wind. It’s not always this abundant or close to camp, but the forces were with me. I filled three coolers and three extra tubs. The ice will last several days, and then I’ll have to go hunting again.

This is my world while I am here.

I am serving as camp cook while the crew awaits the arrival of the real cook. This is a wilderness lodge. There are no buildings here as yet, so the crew is camping. This is the cook tent. Notice the blue chest on the right and the brown cabinet. That is where food and all yummy-smelling stuff is stored, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, and any other toiletries the crew brings in. We are in black bear country, so keeping a clean camp is a top priority. Food is never eaten in tents where we sleep. The cook tent is cleaned and secured after every meal. All garbage is taken out to Seward by boat.

Tonight we are having spaghetti with Italian Sausage Tofurkey and salad. I’m contemplating some sort of garlic bread, but there is no oven and I’m not sure I’m up for skillet toasting that much bread. We’ll see how much time I have.

I overheard a couple of harbor seals yesterday. Do you know what harbor seals sound like?

Sea lions sort of roar and bark. So did the elephant seals we saw in California in January. These two harbor seals gargled. Seriously, go get a glass of water and kind of hum with your mouth open while you gargle, and you can be a harbor seal. Funniest thing I heard all day, and I’m here with some pretty hilarious people.

I’m sorry I don’t have a seal image to go here. I might have one when I get home. In the meantime, I’ll give you this:

This is why we are here. Mike is helping to build the new lodge. This will be a staff lounge.

This is where the lodge will sit, with a view of Pedersen Glacier across a lagoon. We were canoeing on the lagoon when I overheard the seals.

Canoed in the lagoon tonight. Watched a black bear eating grass along the rocky shore. Watched a sea otter and harbor seal watching us. And discovered that the red salmon are running up the lagoon to a creek that will take them to a freshwater lake to spawn.

Forgot to even take the camera. Oops.

I’m having trouble with images, but I thought I’d share this:

We had an amazing humpback whale sighting on the two-hour boat ride out. The whale was skimming the surface of the water with its head out, presumably filtering krill from the water. Its mouth was open and we could see the baleen through binoculars. The head was out of the water for long periods, and the whale was moving pretty fast. We had five people on board and none of us had seen this behavior before. We had great views of the head, blow hole, and then the back and tail when it went under.

Way cool!

More when I can, thanks to a generator and satellite internet.

Things might get quiet around here for a time. Or not. We’ll see. I am here:

This is Aialik (say “eye-AL-ick”) Bay in Kenai Fjords National Park. Alaska Wildland Adventures is building a new lodge, the Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge, and I am going out to cook for the crew, move rocks, haul water, etc. for ten days. There is occasional generator power and satellite internet, so I may be able to post bits about the adventure from there, but I don’t know how fast or convenient the service will be. It’s possible this blog will be silent for a bit. In case that happens, I’ll leave you with this:

Pedersen Glacier, which is the view from the lodge.

That’s not such a bad thing to have to look at for ten days, is it?

What’s on my nightstand? Eggs, by Jerry Spinelli.

Jerry Spinelli and I have something in common: We are both graduates of Gettysburg College. That means we’re pals, right?

Great book. I’m a long-time Spinelli fan.

What else is on my nightstand? The Crazy Horse Electric Game, by Chris Crutcher. Sorry, but Mr. Crutcher’s site isn’t working for me at the moment, so I’m linking to a bio at teenreads.com instead of his Web site.

Would you believe this is my first Chris Crutcher book? It’s true. A gripping tale.

The Handwork Studio in Narbeth, PA, now has an online needlework community for kids: My Handwork Studio. I’m a member! Laura Kelly is a genius. In another life, I want to be her. Actually, I want to make puzzles for this community.

This is Peggie. In addition to embroidering, Peggie makes bobbin lace. I’ve wanted to learn that since I first learned to tat, and I’m going to beg her to teach me.