I live and write on Lingít Aaní, and gratefully acknowledge the past, present and future caretakers of this beautiful place, the Jilkaat Kwaan and Jilkoot Kwaan.
The Beauty of October

The Beauty of October

  (NOTE: If you want to listen to this post, please click on the audio on my Substack version of this. It is free.)     “An experience of the beautiful can change the heart. A thank you note. A sunrise. A poem.” – Rev Dr. Robert Allan Hill The first...
A Good Alaskan Summer Moment

A Good Alaskan Summer Moment

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” ― Henry James Chip took the little kids and big dogs for a walk while I tidied up, watered the flowers and called a friend in the hospital. He...
Sunday’s Thought A Homily for One

Sunday’s Thought A Homily for One

On Wednesday at noon I went to mass. A lot has been happening that I am grateful for. I thought I was a little late, but it looked like I was early. I peeked in the chapel and came back to the vestibule, and saw Father Ko (please call me Michael) a missionary from...
Riding My Bike. It’s Good (Even When It’s Not…)

Riding My Bike. It’s Good (Even When It’s Not…)

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as you ever can. -Attributed to John Wesley Chip and I rode in the Kluane to Chilkat International Bike...
Checking In

Checking In

Joy is not made to be a crumb.- Mary Oliver Hi, I have been thinking of you. I have been in Tenakee for most of March, shoveling snow! So much snow, every day, and working on and on off on a couple of  projects, a how-to write an obituary book, a collection of essays,...
A Good Story about Justice and Mercy

A Good Story about Justice and Mercy

The Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration was just what I needed — I know it’s only one small chapter in the book of time bending toward justice, as Martin Luther King Jr. said—but it felt bigger. The event, on a Tuesday morning at 9:30 in the Haines School gym,...