Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting
What do you want out of life?
To make a difference.
That's nice.
Yeah, but I'd settle for a new car instead.
Driving by Bruce's drive
I have a wonderful neighbor, named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me, such as: Mark Twain said, "Nothing helps scenery like bacon and eggs.”
"Whale! Whale!" I cried in an excited duplication when spotting a humpack whale, a cold-blooded kriller. It and others were feeding frenziedly on krill and small fish — up to 3,000 pounds each per day. It was an early morning boat trip in Crescent Harbor in Sitka. I felt like Tarzan of the whales as whale tails (flukes) sliced the water's surface. The weather wasn't perfect. That was fine. If it had been, I'd expect it all the time.
Southeast Alaska, known as the Panhandle, is a long, narrow strip of coastline and 1,000 islands. Most communities have no roads connecting them, so residents depend heavily on ferries. The Alaska Marine Highway System connects 35 communities. Routes stretch for 3,500 miles, from Bellingham, Wash. to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in the Aleutian Island chain. It includes the Inside Passage, a spectacular cruise ship destination featuring mountains, glaciers and fjords. The ferry is the lifeline for the smallest communities. It brings things, carries people to hospitals and clinics, sports teams to games. Alaska has a budget deficit due to declining oil production. As a result, ferries have been removed from operation, ports cut, and staff reduced. Angoon, Tenakee, Pelican and Gustavus aren't receiving any ferry service at the present. Pelican, population under 100, had been getting one ferry a month, year round. Haines and Skagway receive service once per week and Hoonah twice a month. Many residents of these communities travel to Juneau to shop Costco and/or Fred Meyer. A visitor stopped at the visitors center in Haines. It seemed appropriate. He was driving to Anchorage and wanted a map. He was given a free map and departed. He returned not much later and asked if he could get a map with all the roads. Alaska doesn't have that many.
Putting my one cent in
A good friend, Julie Shook of Haines, told me that for her 60th birthday, her sister had given her 60 pens, 60 bandaids and 60 coin wrappers for pennies. At a gas station, a young man tossed a pocketful of coins into the air. I picked them up. A man told me he'd hurt his back picking up a penny. I can't stop picking up pennies. Find a penny, pick it up. All day long, you’ll have good luck.
Pothole Park
One of my favorite places on earth is Chilkoot Lake in Haines, Alaska. I see bears, eagles, ravens, magpies, Steller's jays and dippers there. The park road to the lake is laden with potholes. Not small potholes. I walked around one. It wasn't the biggest pothole. I found that task too daunting. I walked around a medium-sized pothole four times and I'd made a mile.
It's a small world unless you have to paint it
I was at a banquet in Sitka, Alaska, visiting with Leslie Pierce of Barrow, Alaska. Leslie said, "You're from Minnesota. Have you ever heard of New Richland or Matawan?"
I had. Leslie is related to the Pierce and Dinnen families from the Matawan area.
Nature notes
November isn’t the favorite color of many. We have an average of 39% of possible sunshine in November, our cloudiest month. December, the second cloudiest month, gives us 42%. Those two months save us money on sunscreen.
Crows gather in flocks to circle the wagons. More eyes make for effective predator detection.
There is the Farmers’ Almanac (since 1818) from Lewiston, Maine, and there is the Old Farmer’s Almanac (established in 1792) from Dublin, New Hampshire. The two publications are useful and entertaining, and make great gifts. They serve as reminders to get out there and enjoy nature.
Canada geese like lawns for two reason: goose food and safety. The grass provides the food and a lawn makes it easy to detect predators. They provide fertilizer in return.
The eastern chipmunk is about 10 inches long including its tail. Its cheeks can stretch to three times larger than the chipmunk’s head. I’m often told that its name came from the sound that the animal makes. However, the common name may have been "chitmunk" from the Odawa word jidmoonh or the Ojibwe ajidamoo. A male chipmunk is called a buck; a female is a doe; a baby is called kit, kitten or pup; and a group of chipmunks is a scurry.
Meeting adjourned
Be kind and wave at people you don't know. They will spend the rest of the day trying to figure out who you were.