The Abandoned North, Part V – Flora and Fauna
Buttercups, stonecrop, and wild daisies Aleutian plants are generally small, unlike the monster-sized devil’s club and thimbleberries that festoon Alaska’s Inside Passage. The Aleutian Islands are at...
View ArticleThe Abandoned North: Part VI – Arctic Seas
My time on Adak Island comes to an end with the arrival of the Motor Vessel (M/V) Tiglax (also known as the Research Vessel [R/V] Tiglax). The Tiglax (pronounced Tec-lah, meaning “eagle” in Unangam...
View ArticleThe Abandoned North: Part VII – Amchitka Island: Military and Nuclear Devices
We have all enjoyed breakfast and dressed in waterproof, cold-weather gear before we arrive on the deck of the Tiglax. The crew has already used the boat’s crane to lift gear, including a bunch of...
View ArticleThe Abandoned North: Part VIII – Amchitka Island: Natural Beauty on a Small...
Some of the first things I notice when I arrive at Amchitka Island are all of the coral-reef colors of anemones, sea stars, fish, and kelp that can be seen below the dock in Constantine Harbor. It...
View ArticleThe Abandoned North: Part IX – Reintegration
The Tiglax, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife research vessel, is contracted for the duration of our work on Amchitka Island. However, we have no weather delays, and our long days allow us to finish our field...
View ArticleThe Upcoming Totality
A few of us are headed up to Wyoming today. The weather forecast is favorable to see the total solar eclipse tomorrow morning! It will be my first opportunity to see a totality. Even if you are outside...
View ArticleTotal Eclipse of the Sun
Yesterday, we got back late from a long drive – or was it a short campout? – to a wild place in the middle of Wyoming. We had gone there like hundreds of others to witness the total eclipse of the sun....
View ArticleThe Old Red Bike
This year for my birthday, my husband, Joseph, reunited me with an old friend. I’d been wanting to ride my bicycle to work, but the years had deteriorated it to the point I couldn’t ride it anymore....
View ArticleTribeless in McDonaldsland
Golden arches, a redhead clown, over a gazillion hamburgers served. McDonald’s — a prime symbol of Corporate America — and a big chunk of my cultural heritage. The white-privilege powers of my...
View ArticleA Balance Between Dark and Light
My daughter made my new favorite Christmas ornament, a balance of light and dark. (She sells these on Etsy at JailerCostumeShop). In the cold, starry darkness of Winter Solstice, life’s breath becomes...
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What I Didn’t Get to Say at My Mom’s Funeral
Of her three children, I am probably most like her. I’m proud to be hers, proud to be like her, proud of the spun silver hair I inherited from her, proud of the big, warm heart that I got from her...
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The Land of Rainbows and Volcanic Glow
Prologue Native Hawaiian ohi’a lehua forest along the Kilauea caldera on the Big Island of Hawai’i At the northern edge of the Pacific Ocean are the Aleutian Islands. They sparkle like jewels under...
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Day 1 – The Trip to Hilo
April 1, 2021 Dawn from our balcony at the Hilo Reed’s Bay Hotel The journey to Hilo lasted about eighteen hours and included two long layovers. Hilo’s airport had the flavor of a World War II-era...
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Day 2 – Volcano
Friday, April 2, 2021 We tried to sleep in, but the local time is four hours faster than Mountain Time, so it was a tall order. Before breakfast, we took a short walk around Lili’uokalani Park near...
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Day 3 – The Slopes of Mauna Kea
Saturday April 3, 2021 It was cold outside and fresh from a long rain when we woke up at 6:00 at the Volcano Inn. That early, I was the only one who decided to try the hot tub, and it was beautifully...
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Day 4 – Easter on the Kohala Coast
Panoramic view at Anaeho’omalu Bay Easter breakfast was macadamia nut cookies, fruit, and coffee. I “McGyvered” a coffee maker out of a sawed-off United Airlines water bottle and paper towels. It...
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Eulogy for Lani Lisa
Lani Lisa Lawrence was an old friend and one of the people who followed my blog. I planned to visit her in Tacoma when I visited Seattle in late May, but she died suddenly a week before I arrived....
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Day 5 – Return to the Kohala Coast
A panoramic view of Mahai’ula Beach by the historic fishing camp Driving can get tiresome day after day, so we opted to return to Anaeho’omalu Bay (locally known as A-Bay) rather than explore further...
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Day 6 – The East Coast of the Big Island
An enormous banyan tree shading some parked cars in Hilo A personable, magenta-haired barista at the Waimea Coffee Company made an açaí bowl and blue smoothie for us shortly after checking out of our...
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