Spring Visitors

We threw a couple of burgers on the barbeque this past weekend. After about a half hour we noticed that distinctive bark from the neighborhood dogs that a bear was in the area. Both of us went out on the deck with our camera and took the following video of our visitors. These two were here last year, of course the cub was a bit smaller and mama was better looking. It was good to see them back again this spring.

Thirsty Farley

Had a little bit time this rainy evening to put together video of our cat Farley. He has taken to getting his drinks not only from his water dish in the morning but also from the tub facet. The house is quite in the morning usually, but every now and then we hear Farley licking the faucet. First time it happened we thought it was an animal under the house. Anyway he is a rascal. Enjoy!

The Big Dig

Once we got ourselves dug out at the cabin we headed north of town to dig out our friend Karen's car so she could get to work. Although it was quite a lot of snow piled up on her car Patricia and I made a good time of it. Afterwards we headed up to her house to see what we could do to clear the snow from her deck. But we were beat so then headed home for a cup of hot tea.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Put together a video short of the snow we've been having this past week. Enjoy!

Home For Christmas

Short video of our Christmas Holiday together.

A Grandma For Christmas

Here is a 2 minute video of the Christmas evening play at Calvary Bible Church titled 'A Grandma For Christmas'. The children did a wonderful job of presenting this play to us and our visitors.

Bearly Visiting

We had a few visitors today that seem to want to hang around the driveway. It's always an exciting moment when we discover that a black bear sow and cub are wandering around our property. Patricia was able to take a video of them walking around...just click the title of this post to view the video.

Winter Gang

Here is a video of the neighbor dogs that like to play in our driveway from time to time. This particular day I am out shoveling the deck and the gang shows up wanting to play fetch. I dropped the shovel and decided to film their visit. They were looking for some attention but more than likely it was treats. Don't worry they did get their treats.

Summer Storm

This storm came rolling in from across the Alaska/Canadian border late this evening. As you can see the storm front was huge, the thunder was quite long and loud. We drove down to the water front just down the road from the house and took this video. These type of storms are pretty rare around here so when it happens they really grab your attention. We drove back up to the house to unplug the electronic equipment just in the event the storm knocks out power.

Totem Bight Dancers

Above is a video taken this summer when we attended an event at the Totem Bight State Park of the Xaadas Takanlang Haida Descendant Dancers. The Northwest Coast Dancers are performing one Friday per month through September at Totem Bight Clan House. The Haida dancers perform traditional and contemporary songs in traditional regalia with the guidance of Gloria Burns. We learned about Haida culture, lineage, and storytelling, blessing, honor, and lessons conveyed through dance. Here are a few pictures of the totems at the park.

Thunderbird and Whale: A similar carving of this Haida mortuary pole was originally from the old village of Klinkwan on Prince of Whales Island. The pole was first copied for Totem Bight by John Wallace during the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1990 Nathan Jackson was commissioned to carve a second replica.

The intent of the carving is to illustrate the mythological conception of thunder. Thunder is created by the beating of the bird’s wings, and lightening by the blink of its eyes. This huge bird lives high on the mountaintop. The whale at the base of the pole symbolizes the mountaintop where the bird rests before devouring his prey. It is said that whale bones may be found on many mountain tops that have been carried there from ages past.

Halibut Pole: This Tlingit pole honors the Halibut House people of the Nexadi clan. The original pole stood in the park from the CCC period until 1970, when it was replaced by carver Nathan Jackson.

The Clan House: A community house or clanhouse of this size could have housed 30 to 50 people. Although it is doubtful a clanhouse existed on this site (originally a fish camp), this design is representative of the type in many Indian villages built in the early 19th century.

Inside is one large room with a central fireplace surrounded by a planked platform. The walls and floors were hand-adzed to smooth the surface and remove splinters. The dwelling served as living quarters for several families of a particular lineage. Each was allotted its own space but shared a common fire. Housewares, treasured items, and blankets were stored under the removable floor boards, and food items were hung from the beams and rafters. The members belonging to the house would be headed by a house chief of the same lineage.

The carved house posts supporting the beams inside symbolize the exploits of Duk-toothl. He is a man of Raven phratry wearing a weasel skin hat who showed his strength by tearing a sea lion in two. The painting on the house front was designed by Charles Brown. It is a stylized Raven with each eye elaborated into a face. Designs on the house fronts were rare, and occurred only in cases of great wealth.

On the front corner posts sits a man in a spruce root hat with the crest design on his face and cane in hand. He is ready for a dance or potlatch.

Eagle

Patricia & I had company today while eating lunch, sitting in the truck looking out over the Tongass Narrows. There was a juvenile Baldheaded Eagle perched on top of a delivery truck resting his wings. Finished off my taco salad and decided to get a video of the young bird before he flew off in search of lunch. The video is not as good I would like but it’s worth a look. Enjoy!

Orca Feed

On the way home from work when out of the corner of my eye I noticed some thrashing about out in the middle of Tongass Narrows. Pulling off on the side of the road I jumped out of the vehicle with camera in hand. It wasn’t long before discovering that the thrashing around was a pod of Orca’s feeding. Although they were out too far to really get some good video I still gave it a try. Last year about the same time when a pod came through Mountain Point area the camera was at home, this year I got lucky. Sorry for the camera shake it was difficult to shoot without a tripod to support the camera.

Big Horn Sheep

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Here is some video footage of the Dahl Big Horn Sheep we came across while visting the Rockies (click on the image to view the video). The opening shot is when they popped up in front of us, 20-30 feet away through a key hole opening in the rocks. As they saw us they made a run for it across the the mountain side; sorry for the camera shake it was hard keeping them in view.

Chipmunks

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These little guys were quite the sight. They would run around your feet and chirp at you begging for treats. Should've bought some peanuts instead of that protein bar. Anyway hope you get the idea about how these little critters make their living during the tourist season. Sounds just like a place I know.

Much Ado About Nothing

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Here is a clip from the weekend outdoor play called Much Ado About Nothing that we all attended. Much Ado was written by William Shakespeare in 1598 in which the comedy of Much Ado derives from the characters themselves and the manners of the highly-mannered society in which they live. The main plot of Much Ado revolves around obstacles to the union of two young lovers (Claudio and Hero), the plays sub-plot, the "merry war" of the sexes between Beatrice and Benedick, is much more interesting and entertaining by comparison.

It was such a beautiful warm day with every seat taken by out of towners and people from Ketchikan folks. The above video is of the men coming in to town and dismounting from their imagery horses. Couldn't have asked for a better day to spent with family.

Frank & Janet

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On July 1st, Canada Day, we went down to the Alaska Marine Highway ferry terminal to meet up with Frank & Janet who have come for a visit. Patricia's Aunt & Uncle from Ottawa, Ontario. Here is a video of Patricia greeting them upon their arrival at the terminal. They will be with us for the next 5 days for which we are excited to show them the sites around town in Ketchikan.

Walk Around Lake

After we get thorugh the forest and past the pond we come to a place where the Lake grass and lilly pads are in abundance. As you can see the sunlight this evening has higlighted this area of the lake. It another place along the Lake we find ourselves walking much more slowly to take in the scenery. Here is a short video of the trail leading to the Lake grass area. Patricia and I both enjoyed the walk and are looking forward to a repeat to this day.