well, the bags are packed, what i can and cannot take has become obvious, and i need to go watch at least one more movie, and maybe finish a book. all in all, my alaska summer is coming to a close. there was a good bye hot dog roast for me with the kayak guides. there was a distinctly anti-climatic store closing at the liquor store, and byrne is in bed. we had a final puppet show, and there were hugs all around. i have some stout from the local brewery to drink, and some cd’s to burn. and a ferry to take and a plane to catch.
this is carsten in alaska, signing off.
my coffee is brewing, so this will be brief, but i know i havn’t posted in awhile.
my fellow kayakers had a goodbye dinner for me last night, and i have a total of 3 days left on the lake. mr. dylan is spinning on the record player, but its all about traveling places, and not staying in any one place. byrne and i are watching double features, all of this can only mean one thing…
its time to leave alaska. yep, thats right folks, the time is coming close, when the lower 48 has got to have to take me back. the key is getting there.
we have two revival shows of the liliputian puppet sideshow this friday. psychoanalysis after the apocalypse is coming around for another go. my coffee is ready. one of these days, the mug is going to finish up cracking, but not yet.
what am I doing? blogging.
it can only mean I have to be at work in half an hour, and need to go eat breakfast. A lot has happened since I last posted, the puppet show, various bears eating salmon not 15 feet from my kayak, and so on. I am fighting the good(?) fight with the biola financial aid department which just makes me all the more envious of those of you who have graduated.
and finally, before i go get breakfast, i should say that a few days a go, laura veirs came on and made me lose count while i was closing up the store. thought you should know.
off to the races.
well, its finally happened. I’ve avoided it for weeks, but I ultimately lost the battle. I got sick. Not that I’ve had much respite from the busy life of Haines, you understand. Its been a crazy week of juggling my schedule between Mountain Market and the kayaking, so that I could free up this weekend for the South East Alaskan State Fair, where I will be preforming, with others, as a Puppeteer in the Lilliputian Puppet Sideshow. My particular piece is entitled “psychoanalysis after the apocalypse.” However, apparently puppeteers are not a very rehersal minded bunch, and all of my theater instincts are screaming at me to run away, because a show this haphazard shouldn’t be preformed for any one. But, it goes on. I will report, after the fact.
Lets see, since I last posted, I have been to Canada for the first time, all the way up to the Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon. The best part about this was finding bread and cheese to make a man weep. Truly, I nearly did. Real German Volkhorn brot and bauern brot and oh me oh my. Also some great Guyere cheese that reminds one what cheese can be, if one is in the know. All in all, I spent fifty dollars on bread and cheese, along with some good honey and these amazing dutch waffle cookies which are not easy to find, and I usually have to have someone fetch them for me from amsterdam.
I also have seen my first brown bear. I was paddling along happily with a group on Wednesday when 600-700 pound brown bear came out of the alder not fifteen feet from my kayak. He didn’t seem terribly interested in me, or any one else however. He would look our direction, turn, and amble along ever so peacefully, as if we didn’t know he could catch up to our kayaks pretty easily if he so desired. There is something frightening about 700 pounds that can move like sprinter. I was counting myself lucky it wasn’t a sow with her cubs. Then we might have gotten charged. Which is a whole different blog post entirely. I expect more and more bear sightings this next week, considering the salmon are running in high numbers this next week.
Right, I must shower and breakfast myself. I put far to much cayanne pepper in my tea last night, in an attempt to shock my system out of being sick. It had the affect of making my throat feel like its been sanded and chalked.
oh, and I also went to the very last midnight selling of harry potter. but that is a post all on its own. havn’t touched the book yet.
I knew there was something I meant to say, but didn’t. The eagles are out in force these days. If you are very quiet, you can glide your kayak right under them, as they are drying out their wings. I prefer the younger, mottled eagles, before they have developed the white cap. The nice thing about bald eagles is that once one gets close to them, they are very unlike their iconic image. Much fiercer looking, with a kind of cruelty in their beaks that defies the sentimentality of patriotic symbols. Robinson Jeffers says the storm is tucked in their wings…
I know, I have been absent for a bit. But don’t worry, I havn’t forgotten you.
Its been rainy the past few days, till yesterday it began to clear up, and today was as blue a sky day as it could be. I’ve been working everyday since sunday, out on the lake eight to ten hours at a time, with yesterday’s thirteen being the capstone. I come home drained most days, and need to have several cups of tea before I am worth anything. I think Byrne is starting to get annoyed that I’m falling asleep during most things that arn’t ‘open water’ or ‘irreversible.’ No work till noon tommorow, which is the best news I’ve heard all week.
We had three trips today, but I didn’t need to go out on the second one. The cotton wood was blowing across the lake, like snow in the middle of summer, so I took out a kayak and paddled out by myself and found a little patch of beach on the side of the lake which has the waterfalls. I managed to get my kayak up on the sand and clammbered out, yelling hello to make sure that any bears in the area heard me and weren’t suprised. I clambered around on the waterfall and laughed at cotton wood till I had to turn back, and lead the next trip. Mostly, I tried to see. The only draw back to this was that the wind had come up by the time I headed back, so I had to contend with some choppy waters. But that is fun all in itself.
In a bizarre situation, the first trip I took out had a biola grad in its midst and turns out the whole family has their feet firmly in Biola, with one daughter an alum, and another having considered Biola but declined, but was debate partners with Danielle Howe in highschool. Rebecca Nations, if any one knows her. It was very, very weird.
Byrne is in bed and the clouds have come up and I am going to walk on the beach. I keep waking up with my hands hurting and stiff, and it worries me. There better be nothing permanent.
Time is a quixotic archeologist, and the things he decides to unearth, dust off, and set up for display are always suprising.
so, yes, I am very lazy sometimes. which is why I havn’t posted in a week. so there are also some stories piled up. first off, fourth of july…
because wednesday’s are the biggest days for all of the tours and guide offices here in haines, it was out of the question that any of us would be having any sort of holiday this fourth, as it fell on a wednesday. The cruise set has no respect, apparently. Any how, so my chances at holiday celebrations didn’t materialize until after I had been at work for ten hours, and got back at about 7:30 pm that night. Byrne was going to the party held by his co-workers (a subtle distinction:I work for Chilkat Cruises and Tours, Byrne works for Chilkat Guides) and I tagged a long. There was a mass of people down by the docks,with kegs and salmon and all sorts of food to be had. To understand this situation you have to keep in mind two things: one is that it is raining and very cloudy. This perturbs no one. The second is to understand the drinking habits of Haines, Alaska. Haines has the highest percentage of consumption of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer any where. Full stop. Now, if you are like me at all, the first thing you think of when you hear Pabst Blue Ribbon is Ed Hopper in Blue Velvet. I didn’t realize any one actually still drank the stuff, besides deranged ahsmatic psycho rapists. Well, it turns out this town does. So everyone is standing out in the rain, drinking great quantities of PBR, and setting off fireworks. This is a situation where it is better to be sober than not, because you can’t pay for this kind of entertainment. The best part being the trio of shifty young men trying to set off a potato gun on the beach. Everytime the police would come by, bleating that fireworks weren’t allowed (an exercise in pointlessness) they would quick hide it in the grass, looking innocent. Apparently, the engineering behind a potato gun had proved too much for these enterprising fellows, and they gave up fairly quickly. But, what to do now? Well, there are plenty of aersol cans containing hairspray and engine starter around, and we have lighters, so…
Well, there is nothing quite like a crowd of drunken Alaskan’s all armed with blow torches, hooping and hollering. Byrne and I kept moving around, trying to make sure we weren’t behind any of them. People were writing their name in flames on the sidewalk, people where singeing eachother’s backsides, there was a dog who took particluar interest in fireworks and kept running towards any hint of fire and explosion. It was a pyro maniacs convention gone intoxicated. It was also the most forthwright expression of American freedom and values a good patriot could have hoped for.
This also lead me to dream that I was setting people on fire in a major airport. I was struck with deep remorse, and was going to turn myself in, right before I woke up. Nice to know my moral sense is still active in the subconscious.
The other recent surreal experience was TAM class. For my job at Mountain Market, I need to be have certification to sell the booze. This meant I had to go to the Techniques of Alchohol Management class. This was held at the American Legion building on Monday. My first problem was that I unthinkingly put on a German military shirt before going, which lead to me sitting very uncomfortably surrounded by militaristic Americana. But truly, the class was like something out of John Waters film. The woman who taught the class had projection that would make me weep if I had it in an actress, and elongated all of her words into small arias of nasal vocalization. The cross section of people there was also fascinating, including the people from whom you had the impression that they didn’t have any place better to be. They insisted on regaling us all with tales from the alchohol business, which were long and pointless. There was the fellow across from me who had recently fallen off his motercycle and sat there picking the largest scab I have ever seen. Happily, I got my card, and am now a certified member of the alchohol selling community. Oh, and it tastes good.
Must be at work soon, so I’m off to another rainy day on the lake. Don’t drink and play with fire.
To whom it may concern: two days ago, I ate my last packet of Indo Mie noodles. It was the most delicious of sorrows. In its honor, I listened to an album of South Sulawesi strings, with a piece from Makasar to accompany the final bites. It was a breakfast of bittersweetness, with a dash of ginger.
No other noodles in a package compare. These Thai brand noodles I bought will hang their heads in shame.
some times, things suprise you. for example, when at mountain market, just as I was considering how awful the country top 40 chart is, shockingly, wilco’s ‘impossible germany’ and laura viers’ ‘galaxys’ played back to back. this was unexpected, and I was shocked into remembering that decency does happen when you are unawares, every once and awhile. reminded of all sorts of things, really.
another thing, is the fish. fish so fresh, its still suprised about being caught. ladies and gentleman, I imagine very few of you (maybe those of you for whom wilco and laura viers breaks through) have had fish this fresh, like butter. halibut that will make you sigh and keep silent. rockfish that might kill you while you gut it, but it will love you when you eat it.
do yourself a favor. open a bottle and turn on some wilco. but forget the fish, it won’t be as good.
the last of my cafe vita coffee is simmering on the stove, spoon is to loud on the stereo, and I am sore.
I left off at the tumulteous night of monday, before going out on my first day as a kayak guide tuesday morning, not knowing what to expect in the least. I was due to report in by 8:30, and of course, woke up plenty early. Byrne was leaving the house as I got up, so I had the place to myself for bit. I scanned the wall of cd’s and the other wall of lp’s, wondering what would fit this kind of morning. I settled on Wilco’s Being There, dropped it on the turntable and jumped to the song Monday. The song lets you take on the world.
Off I went, with my jacket, life vest (PFD, for those in the know) gloves and a certain amount of wild eyed determination. Showed up at the yard, and immediatly began moving kayaks, piling up life jackets, etc. I met up with my fellow guides, all the males seemingly larger and more bearded than myself. Admittedly, being larger isn’t a difficult feat. They were all very friendly, and seemed happy to welcome me.
We drove to Chilkoot lake, which, simply put, is spectacularly gorgeous. It was also our first sunny day in a few. We unloaded kayaks, and got lunch set up for the people coming on the trip. A trip either eats before or after they go out, so lunch is always ready for somebody. My boss let me know that I would be going out on the first trip, since Tuesday we had two trips, but both large groups of over thirty persons. So, off I went, hoping that nothing serious was going to occur, or that if it did, I wasn’t the guide closest to it. The first trip went without incident, except for needing to adjust someone’s rudder pedals in the water. The lake is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with waterfalls shooting out of rocks hundreds of feet above us, and sometimes it’s so still, the lake is almost glassy.
As soon as I docked after the first trip, I was informed I was turning right around and going back for the second. Two trips in a day is certainly doable, but tiring, and I was awfully sore that night. Nothing compared to yesterday, however. Wednesday’s are our biggest days, because its the day the cruise ship comes into town, meaning we started at 6:30am and went till 7:30pm. This is a long day. This morning, there isn’t a part of me left without ache, after yesterday’s four trips (happily, no guide had to go out on more than two. A trip is about four and half miles total) And of course, we have another trip this afternoon.
So, a series of sneaks just finished, my coffee is running down, and I need breakfast. The kayak guide job boils down to getting paid to be out on a beautiful lake everday, the price being a few days of being awfully sore. I will be sure to relate future stories of mayhem and dismemberment as they occur. So far, the worst part is the mosquitos, who are bigger than you, and meaner.
