Early August Getting Ready for Winter

Here's what I was up to in early August - canning salmon! Starting from the bottom, a couple of random traffic pictures in Anchorage on a beautiful clear day, Chugach Mountains in the background. Next is a picture of frozen whole king salmon in my landlord's freezer. I rented an upstairs bedroom in a really neat house just a couple of blocks south of the Park Strip in Anchorage from a really neat guy, Tom. The next picture is of Tom and his buddy, Doc, working on a new landscape for the front yard. The next five pictures are views from my deck. I bought straw flowers, lavendar and a pretty purple flower for half price at Lowes. The mountains are just visible over the roofs and through the power lines. A condo unit was started in the empty lot behind Tom's house about mid-August. The next 8 pictures are of my canning process in Tom's backyard. I bought silver salmon from a commercial fisherman from Kasilof and what beautiful fish they are!! I was surprised to have a much company as I did that day, but I found out that if I just dedicated a little piece of fish, that everyone was happy. So no worries. I filleted the first salmon I canned, but then, after talking to Doc, decided to leave all bones and skin and it made the process so much faster. Also more nutritious! I also wanted to go blueberry picking (a bear diet is a berry berry good diet, eh?) but I was a little chicken to go by myself. So Tom suggested that I run an ad in craiglist, which I did, in the platonic section. I got a couple of responses, one from a fellow named Greg Boyd, who lives in Gakona, about 4 hours east northeast from Anchorage. He invited me up to his place for a few days, and so I went to visit with him. It rained pretty much the whole time I was there, so we didn’t go berry picking at all. I still had a great time and learned a lot while I was there. Greg is a hunting and fishing guide during the summer and fall and a scrimshaw artist in the winter. He’s been guiding in Alaska for 30 years. I left Greg’s on Friday before Mary Jo came into Anchorage the following Sunday – I spent Saturday getting ready for our trip. Greg, before I left, suggested that Mary Jo and I come by his place and that we would go fishing if the weather was nice. I really really like Greg. A lot. I really really like where he lives too. It is absolutely beautiful; it feels like the “real Alaska”.