We have been moose hunting, and that means away from electricity and cell service even. ( I read a good article about wilderness rescues being more common now that there are more devices to call for help on, but for us anyway, it’s still a note to the kids about where we plan to be, and when to call the Coast Guard should we not return, and so far, that’s just fine.) Anyway– the fog and rain cleared for a few glorious and breezy days and in between we learned dear friends had eloped, that the heavy weekend rains set another record, and that a neighbor had caught a bear in his pantry — it opened the back door at night and walked right in– and that he discouraged it from coming back again (after chasing it out of the kitchen) by rubbing peanut butter on a cannister of bear deterring pepper spray and leaving it in the yard. The bear bit it on his next visit, and we can only imagine the ensuing hullabaloo, but he has not returned for a midnight snack since. I figured I’d share a week in photos at least, taken while coming and going hunting– from my last morning coffee at Sara J’s before she closes for the season to Chip walking (!) while we hunt in the woods. I did come in yesterday for the Back Country show on KHNS. I’m hosting the country show again 1-3 on Thursdays ( except when I’m not, as I’m on standby to head to Juneau for Eliza’s baby, due two weeks from Sunday) and a noon yoga class on Main Street, and the assembly candidate’s forum last night, and may make it to the KHNS annual meeting and fish chowder dinner (there’s beer, too) at 5:30 tonight, depending on the weather, and the Bamboo big 60th birthday party tomorrow. Rain is no fun when you are sitting in a tree stand. Here’s something else I wanted to share, that was startling, and that I will write about more when I’m not so scattered– but the sunny fall days brought it all back, in an emotional way I would not have anticipated. We have been staying at our cabin, and when I went to light a fire I grabbed a box of old newspapers from under the stairs, and I found this:
I could not crumple it up and burn it, so I kept it. It seemed wrong to destroy it somehow. And also, it made me think how fortunate we in Haines still are, that while, sure, there have been a bunch of new rules, and there are some young people in the service now –or out again even– in the time that has passed– as a result of all this, life here is still peaceful enough that a kid with a rifle on his back walking down Main Street doesn’t cause alarm, especially in moose season, and that the best reason to lock your door is that a bear may open it.
