It's summer in Alaska! And do you know what that means? Bugs.
Lots of bugs. And said bugs are big as well as relentless. No matter how
much bug repellant you put on, they still dive bomb you! Thus
why man invented bug nets. Can't imagine me wearing one? That's ok. I'm
sure it's not flattering at all. ;) Oh, and the spiders are huge. Enough
said.
Guess how we celebrated Summer solstice. We (Mackey, Syd and I)
jumped off a waterfall! Not something I'd normally do, but it was
definitely fun. :) And positively freezing cold! so afterward we went in the banya (sauna). And don't worry, for all the skeptics out there I did get the jump on video. :)
I have found new meaning for the phrase "Search and Rescue
Barbie." There are two Jack Russell Terriers up here at the lodge. A
male named Otto and a female named Barbie. Barbie was bought to breed
with Otto, but he's too old now to produce puppies, and Barbie's very
high-energy and rather annoying to everyone. Anyway, Josh and Brian were
going to a nearby Island to check out some stuff and they decided to
take the dogs along. They both went off into the forest and Josh and
Brian had to leave them there. Otto found his way back to the near-side
and was barking, so Luke picked him up, but there was no sign of Barbie.
A day or so later Syd and I went hiking around the island calling for
her, but no luck. She was on that island for about 5 days when Jordan
finally caught sight of her on the edge nearest the harbor. Syd and I
went with Jordan to go get her and bring her back. Speaking of which,
she's up for sale now if anyone really wants a little Jack Russell
Terror, I mean, Terrier. ;)
The fish up here are still amazing. :) Did you know that Alaskan
Residents get as many fish as they want for subsistence every year? One
day the whole crew went out on the boat and we caught a bunch of salmon
with gill nets. And they also tried to get some Halibut on this rope
that they dropped with anchors and buoys, but the only things we caught
were starfish and a skate that was about 4 ft diameter across! I wish I
had taken a picture, but I completely forgot I had my camera with me.
July 1st was the opening day for Ling Cod season and the
clients brought home a bunch! Ling cod tastes absolutely wonderful! And they're pretty common to catch. Especially big ones. :)
Yesterday I went out on the boat to go fishing and actually ended up
staying in the cabin for most of the whole trip. I guess I haven't been
on rough seas much yet, but I was feeling pretty sea-sick. And I thought
I was over motion-sickness. Oh well...
A new member of our crew
is a guy named Garrett. He had to bring his whole family with him and
now they are living at the lodge. He and his wife have an adorable
4-year-old daughter. She does ballet, is phenomenally smart, and paints
nails very well. :) An they also have a little boy who'll be 3 next
month. He's Batman, Superman, Captain America, Thor, and Iron man. All
at the same time. ;) I wonder if he'll have an identity crisis in his
later life. But really, they are both sweethearts. And guess who gets to
play with them when she's on break... ME! :D
Now it's story-time. Once upon a time a girl named Shawni had to use buckets as stools to
reach the higher shelves in the kitchen. One night after dinner she was
trying to reach tea on the shelf above the stove. Oddly enough, the lid
on the bucket moved and her right foot when straight down into the
bucket. This particular bucket happened to be filled with mayonnaise.
And the moral of the story is: make sure the lid
is
on the bucket really tight before standing on it. Yep. Luckily my foot
only went down in one corner so we were able to salvage about half of it
by putting it in jars. We got rid of the rest except for
a few cups that I decided to use to try out a "new" hair treatment. And
you know what? It took out a lot of my frizz! Who knew? :)
Let's see, what else can I tell you? Well, we finished
renovating cabin 1, I found a sewing machine (now I just have to find
time to do a few projects), I got a package from home (thanks mom), and I
went kayaking for the first time ever. :)
It's really great
up here. If you ever have a chance to get to Alaska, please do. If you
need some motivation, look at my pictures! (once they get up on
facebook, which should be soon...)
I love you all and miss you! See you in September. :)
[Insert fun signature sign-off phrase]
Shawni
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