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.

“What Were You Thinking About for That Long?”

That’s what Chip asked me when I told him I swam hard for an hour straight  in the pool this morning. “You don’t want to know,” I told him. The harbor project was on my mind, particularly preserving the beauty of the waterfront.  But there are...

Thank You Fireman Al

I wanted to say something at Fireman Al’s retirement party yesterday. Something about how he saved my life, and something about how he not only responds when living people need help in an emergency, but that he is the one who shows up when they die, at home, in bed,...

Happy Wednesday!

  I was on the radio yesterday, doing my weekly country show hosting in between two obituaries ( William H. Seward impersonator and history buff John Venables and fisherman and artist Jay Miller.) I thought that my editor Tom would not be pleased that I was...

Sunday’s Thought

“Believe today in all the good you have done, in all the good you have been, in all the good you are each and every day you wake to what God has called you to do.” – Bishop Steven Charleston

Happy Third of July

It’s a good thing it rained all day, because I didn’t mind hanging out in the kitchen peeling and boiling potatoes and eggs and chopping celery and onion and mixing in what looked like a gallon of mayo and mustard and relish for the classic Firemen’s...

Silver and Gold

Yesterday was my birthday. I’m 56, and very happy to have made it this far, thank you very much. I was sitting on the porch with a bunch of women friends gathered for Zumba and wine (my daughter is an instructor and gave the short, easy class for  we –...