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.

Of Moose and Meditation

James Audubon  observed, “When the bird and the book disagree, believe the bird.” The book says moose eat the same way giraffes do, with their heads up high, plucking willow leaves, but I watched a cow standing up to her belly in a swamp sucking grasses...

Of Moose and Marten

These days remain so glorious and full what with running and back forth to moose camp, doing the laundry, cooking, packing the cooler, and starting all over again– and I had two obituaries to write this week in between trips, there’s an assembly meeting...

What Days are These?

Is it okay to call these glorious, dry, warm Fall days “Indian Summer?,” my friend Teresa asked as we looked around from the top of Mt. Riley the other day. There we were, in shirt sleeves, in September– with dry boots too–   She meant if using...

Something Funny and a Good Blog to Share

 I was more than a little apprehensive about my trip to ANWR to begin with. Then my cab from the airport in Fairbanks to the hotel was smashed into just as I was paying the driver. It felt and sounded like there had been an explosion. My driver was an elderly gal who...

Arctic Explorer? Yup. That’s me.

Who knew? I know I said I was working, and I am, or I was, feverishly to make a deadline on the new book (it’s still looming) but in the meantime I took a raft trip down the Kongakut River in the Eastern corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) from...

Working on a Book!

I do want to let you all know, that I’m on hiatus a bit with the blog, because I am busy working on a deadline for the next book and my brain feels a bit like my desk looks: The good news is that nearly everything I have been thinking and doing and living since...