Where I've Been

Good Grief, but it's been a very long time since I posted. Far too long. But I've been wonderfully busy.

Winter came to Coolin, Idaho and Priest Lake:

So we headed out from here:

To Canada, to visit with Lithus' family. The visit itself was lovely. The drive back to the US was technically, lovely, but a little more harrowing.

There really is road under there

See? Technically lovely.

But we made it, in spite of ourselves and the weather. To the new gig, with the new company

With a stop in Leavenworth, Washington, first:

Doesn't the whole place look like Santa threw up on it, in the very best way???? Yeah, I fell a little in love with Leavenworth. Apparently, Octoberfest is even better. Road trip in the future!

And then Christmas in Nevada and CaliforniaAnd now the adventure continues in Colville, Washington, because this is the last place we expected to be. Ain't it great?

The Brooks Range

The Brooks Range is the northern-most mountain range on the continent. We flew over it. :)

There are 2 little dots about 5 o'clock. They are bears. :)

Then there is the view of the helicopter, from the helicopter:

With apologies, this is a little more obscene than I'd intended.

Looking down from my seat

Lithus being all studly. Most pilots use white helmets. I like that he wears a yellow one; I know him when I see him.

Potlatch Take 2

We're backing up in time here (this won't be the last time it happens, either; you still haven't heard anything about last summer) and heading back to Galena. Remember earlier in the season I wrote about Potlatch? Well, my friends Dee Dee and Shirley invited us. We only made it one night out of the three but it was beautiful, emotional, and I would imagine, healing. 

It starts with a community dinner. And it is a community event. The elders are given the best seats. The adults have organized and prepared the food. The teens and tweens serve, dim sum style. Very small portions of huge amounts of food and everyone gets plenty. Several macaroni salads, soups and bear ribs. Yep. Bear ribs.

After cleaning up, the mourning ritual starts. The families come out, bound together by material and furs ~ bear, moose, and wolf furs are most common. The singers stand in the middle of the circle and/or sit just outside of it. They sing the songs for the dead; the families form the circle, dancing round. This continues for two nights. On the third night, the material and furs are sewn together and the families give gifts to the people in the community who have attended the potlatch.

I was honored to be there.

My friend, Dee Dee

Me, in traditional dress (from Shirley), filming for Dee Dee

Fourth of July Randomness

In light of the holiday, I thought I would spend a little time outside today. Enjoy summer. All that happy crap. So, I grabbed my camera and out I went. Sadly, I still haven't gotten close enough to the porcupine to capture him on film/digital/whatever it is in my camera now. Here's what I did get:

Really beautiful, fake looking clouds. And a mysterious looking ball thingy. Given that we are on a decommissioned Air Force base and it is so obviously not Epcot, I can't help but wonder what is/once was hidden in there.

The coolest birdhouse ever. Complete with denizen.

This...metal...wire...thing...attached to the fire hydrant. I got nothing here, people. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

And my personal favorite. Can't quite see it? Here:

Kinda makes you want to get on that bus and ride, just to see where you end up, doesn't it?

Galena, Alaska: The Airport and Base

Smoke Haze

On the way to work

dining "hall"

BLM-DOI HQ

(Bureau of Land Management - Department of the Interior Headquarters)

Fuel Trucks at the staging area

Gate E

Overgrown holding tanks

Back of the Galena airport