My 2009 berry picking tale

Most of my berry picking adventures deal with animals, specifically bears but nature trumped the animals this year. I was able to join my parents, brother Herman and sister Olga on a camping trip across Napakiak this year. First picture a 16 foot lund boat filled beyond capacity with camping and picking gear. To lighten the load we used their dome tent but still the poor 40 HP motor was pushed to the limit with all of us and a trip that would normally take about an hour took three and a half. We landed to the sound of cranes nearby. We put up the tent and as my mom was cooking, my sister and I took a short walk to see what we could find. The wind at the time was not bad...but by evening, wholly smokes was it really blowing! We took a walk and picked berries until about midnight and tried to settle down below the loud crackly sound of the tent's dome flap whipping in the wind. (this would be so much more exciting if I could add the sound here) By 4:30 AM we noticed that the wind was doing more damage to the tent's poles. One had snapped and tore the top. I heard later that the winds were gusting to 40MPH. We made a wind breaker and were able to sleep after about 30 minutes of tying off the broken section of the poles. The wind had not died down all the next day, which was maybe a good thing: No bugs. We got about 17 gallons altogether in two days, I got to bring home 6 gallons.

Rainy days, good for eliminating procrastination

Sometimes I notice delays tend to wait for me to finish up something I put aside until it is completed. For example the weather outside has been dismal, and after I had a bout of sickness I got so bored I started scanning the pictures I wanted for myself from my parents collection (some of which were mine from years ago). What do you know - the sun is peaking through the clouds. Maybe once I am done uploading them to a place I can retrieve them later we can actually go berrypicking. Speaking of berries, they seem late this year. I hope we get some because I am missing my girls. The picture added here is my grandfather with his wife Olga, my dad and his sister Nastasia

Happy belated 91st Birthday to Apa "Papasneak" Peter Nick

My eyes mist every time I see my grandfather "Ap'a Papasneak" Peter Nick pray thankfully before he blows out his birthday candles. This year he got discharged from the hospital after an episode of irregular heart beat and "A-Fib." His health in the past year has been a bit stable but about every month we are reminded that his condition will gradually decline. We are blessed to have him as long as we had...this year the great-grandchildren kept vigil at this bedside for a while as I finished cutting the chums and red salmon caught for drying at my parents fishcamp. The nurse asked during my session "where are his little grandchildren?" I replied smiling, "They are his great-grandchildren - I am one of his grandchildren." Her surprise was the normal response I am getting used to. Peter says his long life is due to his faith and active lifestyle and native foods.

Never fails the perfect moment for a good picture or camcorder and there is none to be found!!

I have been at my parent's camp for two days now with Nicholas and there was at least 4 times where Nicholas got us laughing and one of us would say "if only we had a camera or camcorder!" With him being a year old and just learning to walk on the uneven ground his expressions when he almost stumbled or the time he fell and decided it was a great place to lay around and feel the sand, getting head to toe dirty especially around his mouth where he has been drooling on account of his molars coming out...I just had to write it somewhere I will not forget when I get home. Now we are at my parents home in bethel washing clothes and getting more sets because apparently three pants in a day of a year old boy is not enough. If only I had pictures!

Drunks practically at your doorstep, sad fact of small villages

Sad, mad, loud, obnoxious young neighbor drunks mad at the world and everyone around them is not something I ever want to endure as I am trying to relax after a long day at work, yet this seems to be something I have to deal with yet again. In the past I have tried contacting the State Troopers with no response whatsoever. Russian Mission, like many other villages is a local option dry village, but every so often there are people who either buy bootleg alcohol or make home brew. Believe me it is nothing like the portrayal of people "partying the night away" that one sees on television where everyone is happy and relaxing. Most of the time they either end up sad and crying or mad and bitching away at anyone and everyone they see, both scenarios very loudly. Unlike the city where someone is able to take them away or one can walk away from the scene, in the village there is no where to go to and here in Russian Mission we do not have any peace officers -VPSO/VPO since our last one committed suicide. We end in a tragic cycle where gradually the drinking gets worse and worse, then a tragic death, then a period of relative quiet then gradually the drinking gets worse and worse...escalates, then another death. Sadly most do not learn from the previous tragedies..

Two times in as many days of being called old is so wrong!

Yesterday a small group of my family and I took advantage of the break of the rain and wind and went down river for a day of looking for wild rhubarbs and the annual spring picnic. My daughters were still abed as I was getting ready. During my third round to their bedrooms asking them if they were getting out of bed and joining us my daughter asked who was included in "us." I named my older sister Olga, younger sister Anita and her husband, Nicholas and whichever kids they are bringing along. That was when Maxine gripped "I am not going if there are only you old people." Ohh I was so annoyed! The nerve of her calling me old! I quickly gave her daughter back to her and said, "you better stay up, I am leaving now - OLD PEOPLE - humph!" She ended up reaching the boat just before me due to most of the workers not showing up until after two... I had a blast climbing the cliffs and enjoying the view and company of my family.

This afternoon the family reminded each other of Olga's upcoming birthday. My sister Anita asked how old she is and made a face when I said 41, asking if that meant that my parents will celebrate their 42nd or 40th anniversary this year. I shook my head at her and stated 42nd. Later my girls were making comments like "only 9 more years and she will be half a century." I am two years younger than she is and I was shaking my head. Of course I could not blame them for doing something I did at 18. I distinctly remember thinking my aunt as such a wise elder of 28 during my first year of college. As I grew I would reflect on that thinking, "this does not feel as old as i thought it was - I still feel more like a teenager than an adult." Oh well - such is life. Here is to all us "young fellas" who still kinda have a kid inside somewhere. I am so not THAT old!!! LOL

These days are nothing like the old days...or was I just not paying attention?

One thing I distinctly remember mumbling to myself as I got lectured was that I would not tell my kids "You have it so easy, why are you griping?!" The city has no funds for a VPSO/VPO and the kids are staying up later and later here. Also, there are a few people with vehicles who have no qualms about joyriding round and round the town way into the early morning hours, like tonight...or this morning however you want to see 2:20 AM. I gave up on sleeping because between the dog howling that sounds more like some person wailing in drunkenness or extreme despair than an animal, the loud ATV and motorbike and the occasional vague impression of some one's conversations outside I cannot relax. During these times I wonder how the village's internal clock got so hay wired that people think 2 AM is a great time to take a ride through the town. I admit as a teenager I occasionally stayed out late walking the few roads we have but we would never be so disrespectful of our elders or others to be loud enough to disturb their slumber. I find myself shaking my head because I now know how my parents and grandparents felt as they scolded me about staying out late, something I never thought would happen. I think I need a break from the village...a nice boat ride to get some wild rhubarbs should do it, weather permitting. Oh how I miss our fish camp downriver! The peace and quiet. (Darn, I sound more and more like my parents)