Once again Spring arrives in Alaska–or it tries to arrive.  It’s mid-June now and it’s still no more than 55F.  We’ve planted our greenhouse with tomatoes and cucumbers and the usual root crops outside, but they are growing slowly.  The ferry Matanuska rams Ocean Beauty Seafoods dock and then things start to warm up……  Here’s a You Tube video of the crash.

One morning we get a call from our neighbors about a moose running down our beach.  Now, we haven’t seen a moose in the past 6 years here…..and all of a sudden we’ve several (see below).  This one swims from Petersburg to Kupreanof, then decides to swim back but……look what’s coming.  At this point, she again turns around and heads for Petersburg Creek.  We call the harbormaster who in turn radios the tug/barge and the moose escapes……

Here’s a You Tube video:

Then our friends arrive.  A high school buddy of mine made the third ascent of Devils Thumb and 30 years later his son arrives hell bent on flying this magnificent peak which towers 9000′ above us here.  Chris is an extreme paraglider and methinks he might want to include this trophy in his collection.  The three guests strap GoPros on all surfaces of this plane and off they go…..   I’ll post their flight here at a later date.

This winter I completed my faering project and while Chris, Hanna and Karson might be extreme youth, they are no match for us old geezers in a viking boat!   Every Syttende Mai here in Petersburg, I challenge the moribund Norwegians to a rowboat race and this year has three heats:  1.  open class, 2. wooden rowboats, and 3.  faerings… which I handily win.

This year we have a lot of moose in the yard.  These three  came galloping through one morning like a bunch of camels.

then a wolf!  He walked up within 30′ of the house, then sauntered off.

and finally a bear.  We’ve had a dozen sightings over the past two weeks.   Unfortunately, a local kid cruising the narrows spotted one of our bears and beached his boat and killed a boar, taking only the hide….until the local game warden informed him he must also harvest the meat.  I hope he chokes on bear steaks….not exactly a delicacy.  What a waste!

Here’s a photo Martina took coming back from Juneau–looking SW–still lots of snow this June.  The blue dot is Petersburg, and we’re the red one across the narrows.  Frederick Sound is at the bottom, Sumner Strait at the top.  Hope the weather warms up–stay tuned!