Well this weekend was a busy one to say the least! Last week was full of sleepless nights as the village teens enjoyed the daylight until 2:00 am nightly, but I finally caught up on Friday. Getting a solid 8 hours was vital because Saturday was full of the good old hard work Bush living requires. No complaints here, of course, I love the life and I love the Bush.
Rainy and chilly, this Saturday morning was spent on the river. The chop was light and the wind was moderate. We decided to head up all the way to "Old A" or Old Andreavsky. This is an old village site before there were the towns of St. Mary's and Mountain Village, and the final resting place of a friend's family.
Tying up logs or pushing them from the current to the shore we then sawed them into manageable pieces about five feet each. Loading them in the boat we then moved on until we were full then tied off more to tow home. Unloading and transporting the the sections in a cart pulled by ATV, we then stacked them into 2 piles 5 x 10 x 5 feet.
That is lot of wood, but it was only about 1/3 or 1/4 of the total wood we gathered since breakup.
Getting another good night's sleep and waking up with a stiff back I happily suffered through the unforgiving benches at the local Covenant Church for a few hours. The singing was great and the sermon was led by a teacher from Kentucky. I think he said he was a coach and a high school shop teacher back home and his presentation skills showed years of group engagements. This particular work team was visiting from Colorado, Kenai, Kentucky, and Ohio I believe. Often these "missionaries" will visit our village and do work around the building, lead studies and groups, or preach on Sunday. I always enjoy meeting new people and I love to hear the first impressions of Alaska from them. It reminds me of my first tie here...
After church I pounded out some homework then took a great midday steam with a friend, which we call maqii (maq-ki). Feeling relaxed and rejuvenated I went back to homework and prepared for the evening opening of subsistence salmon fishing. We all hoped the Kings would run soon and we were not disappointed!
The legal time when fishing was to be opened for personal use was 8:00pm, so we headed out to the spot we planned to drift over around 7:30pm. When the clock struck 8 we tossed our nets and spoke a quiet prayer. By 8:30 we had a king in the boat and it was all worth while!
All together we caught 4 kings, the biggest about 55 lbs, and 2 shefish. Getting home at around 1:00am I wrapped up my fish and froze them whole, gutted and headed of course. I can't wait to share a little piece of my life and adventures with my family. I just can't wait...
Try smoking and then canning salmon- and then send the cans as gifts to your family for Christmas. They are so so yummy. Your family is sure to love them. I make mine all dainty and pretty with fabric and such and send them with holiday care packages to almost all of my close relatives. They love getting little Alaskan gifts... or at least that's what they tell me. :) And they all loved jarred smoked salmon.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas! Except I eat all mine before they get to the family... ;) When do you can yours?
DeleteI can mine as soon as they are caught and finished smoking (after about a day- I use applewood). I just use a small pressure cooker and glass jars. It's really easy and only takes about an hour and half. It's a great way to save freezer space in the bush as well- as opposed to a bucket of dry fish. :)
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