Breath is Enough

Breath Is Enough

I draw sweet air
Deeply and long,
As pure as prayer,
As sweet as song.
Where lilies glow
And roses wreath,
Heart-joy I know
Is just to breathe.

Aye, so I think
By shore or sea,
As deep I drink
Of purity.
This brave machine,
Bare to the buff,
I keep ice-clean,
Breath is enough.
           
From mountain stream
To covert cool
The world, I deem,
Is wonderful;
The great, the small,
The smooth, the rough,
I love it all,--
Breath is enough.
                  By Robert Service              
 Well, we're starting into our 3rd week here in Homer and things are still going better than we could have imagined.  We are enjoying every breath we take. The boys are still LOVING their new schools and making more new friends.

Homer Harbor

Tuesday we went for a drive out to the "Russian village" of Voznesenka, about 15 miles beyond Homer.  Great scenery, but we were disappointed in the "Russian" village.  House, yards, etc. all looked the same as the rest of the outlying areas of Homer.   At first we weren't sure we had really found what we were looking for, however, we were told later while getting a sandwich at the Fritz Creek store, that the only way you can tell that you're looking at one of the Russian's houses is if you happen to see one of the women out riding their 4 wheelers in the long, flowing dresses  & little hats they all wear.  The Russian women & girls are apparently the only ones in Alaska who wear dresses.

The weather earlier in the week has been nothing short of spectacular!  There was a stretch of about 4 days with absolutely clear, blue skies & brilliant sunshine and temperatures in the 60's.  Anna has even managed to get a sunburn while sitting on the deck reading.  We had ourselves convinced that the locals tell everyone how fickle the weather is in Alaska, just to keep people away!


We've done a LOT of biking this week, still trying to ride to as many of the errands as possible, and of course back & forth to school.  Anna has even done some additional "recreational riding" adding an extra 10 miles or so to her two (minimum) daily trips back & forth to Ethan's school. She's put over 60 miles on her bike this week!

This should make Auntie Barb happy; the boys have started guitar lessons this week.  We asked around at the music shop, feeling out what kind of teachers and instruments might be available for the summer, and guitar it is. Their teacher is Max - a young man of 19 who has a reputation for teaching 1/2 the kids in Homer to play guitar. Guess what Ethan's first song is - you got it; Smoke On The Water! Colton is working on Happy Birthday.

Tim has done a fair bit of fishing, though not with much success.  The salmon haven't started returning to the local rivers or the "fishing lagoon" on the Spit yet, so the only way to get at them is with a boat out in the open ocean.  With the warmer weather, we thought maybe that the one local lake where trout & dolly varden (arctic char) can be caught might thaw enough to fish in.  Tim tried it in the one small spot of open water, just to get out casting the flyrod, but an area the size of a bathtub isn't much to fish in!  Tim was pretty desperate to get flyfishing....

Ethan had his class field trip to the Pratt Museaum where he learned all about tidepool living creatures.  Anna was lucky enough to tag along as a chaperone.  This was a preperatory trip to get the children ready for the "beach day" this week.  Ethan has really taken to "tidepooling." Yesterday, after tiring of fishing, Ethan found welks, barnacles, chiton, millions of blue mussels and a tiger limpet.  As Ethan says - that was fun!
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Though delayed by one day to wait for more favorable winds, Colton had his 4th grade field trip on Friday; all 22 kids from the class went Halibut fishing for day aboard a 56' charter boat, the Ultimate,  that is operated by the family of one the boys in Colton's class.


Colton aboard the Ultimate

 What an incredible trip! The trip started with four parent volunteers (Tim included!) meeting the teacher and kids at the school to drive the kids to the harbor where they boarded the boat.  After a quick class photo, they were underway heading out to open ocean at the end of Kachemak Bay.


Mrs. Worsfold's 4th/5th grade class 2011



Colton and Kyle checking things out.



The Ultimate heading out to sea.

 The boat trip to the fishing spot was an hour ride, and by the time the anchor was set, "the natives were getting restless" and it was time fish!  The kids all teamed up with a buddy to work together on a rod & reel.  Typically, this boat fishes a maximum of 16 people at a time; a similar sized fishing charter boat out of Hampton Beach, NH or York, Maine would have at least 40 people on it if they could fill it!

Within 10 minutes of dropping the lines, the two girls next to Colton & Kyle pulled in the first fish of the day.  You can imagine  how jealous it made the boys to get out-fished by the girls!  Feeling they were being outdone, the boys got serious!

Colton, Kyle & Cpt. Rick

Very soon their efforts were rewarded and Colton & Kyle had their first (of many) fish on the hook.

Colton hauling in a fish, 150 feet up from the ocean floor

The kids fished  HARD and in less than 2 hours had their limit of two fish for every kid and adult chaperone on the boat.  A total of 58 fish in all! 

One of the 58 halibut caught by the kids, sizes ranging from 10 to 15#

With the Captain & crew working as fast as they could to keep up, Tim and the rest of the adults helped where they could, re-baiting hooks, untangling lines, and making sure rods & reels (and kids) didn't end up overboard!  With a full catch in the fish-tubs, it was time for lunch; hamburgers cooked on the boat!  With extra time to spare, Cpt. Rick started in for the harbor.  On the trip back, it was time for the fish to get filleted, and EVERYONE seemed to be helping!  The two crew members did the actual filleting and Tim did the final rinse & bagging of the fillets, but the kids were hauling the fish (bear hugs, usually) to save the crew from having to get them from the tubs.  With the fillets off the fish, the kids were the ones to throw the carcasses overboard to the waiting gulls.

Once the fishing cleaning was done, there wasn't much left for the kids to do while we cruised back to the harbor.  Some went up front to the ship's bridge to visit the Captain.  It wasn't hard to tell who had been to the bridge and did more talking than listening.....

Since we were so early getting back to the harbor, Cpt. Rick took a small detour to bring the class to Gull Island for a quick lesson on, you guessed it, shorebirds!

The trip was a HUGE success, with every kid bringing home 8 halibut fillets (over $100 of fish per kid), everyone catching fish, and one boy even catching his first fish ever.  What a field trip!


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Saturday, the whole family attended an all day flyfishing class put on by the Alaskan Department of Fish & Game and BOW, a national organization , "Becoming and Outdoor Woman". It was AWESOME!! We started the class with a review of how to read the Alaska F & W fishing regulations - this is no easy feat.   Tim has now spent 2 weeks with his regulation book and he still has to refer to it daily. Most rivers are only open on certain days for certain species. We can't wait until the Anchor River opens this weekend for King Salmon. 


Tim getting some pointers from Steve



We then talked about fish identification- since you need to be able to identify your catch if you are goin got keep it within regulations. There are 5 species of salmon in Alaska. Do you know how to remember them all? Well we do! We learned a cool trick that we will share with you. Hold out your hand and spread out your fingers - go on - do it. Now - start at your thumb - rhymes with CHUM ( also known as Dog) the first one. Then your index finger - poke your eye with it - no - not really - but if you did your eye would get RED - also known as SOCKEYE (2). Your ring finger is the biggest - this is easy - KINGS - also known as Chinook (3). Next is your ring finger - many of us wear SILVER (4) on this finger.  Finally you have your pinky - easy - PINKS (5) also known as Coho! Cool right? Now you just have to do is memorize when they run , in what river and how many you're allowed to keep, if you can snag them, if you need a tag, and if you are allowed to get the heads out of water if you catch them out of season. These Alaskans take the salmon regulations very serious!

 

We then split into groups - kids in one, adults in another and had two workstations - one in casting and knot tying and one in fly tying.  We learned to tie a "jellyfish" (a legendary local streamer) and the ever trusty Woolly Bugger.



Alaskan Fly Tying Supplies - the fur is Polar Bear, only available for purchase from Native Artisans



Anna's 'Jellyfish' Fly



Unfortunately the wind did not cooperate for the group.  But have you ever known the wind to stop the Schaals before?  No - so after class we went out to the Spit to try our luck  - fishing for Dolly Varden.  Ethan hooked his finger ( barely) after about 3 casts - so he was done and just went tidepooling, but Tim, Anna and Colton all had fun getting the flies wet- but alas - no fish. Luckily we had a lot of Halibut left in the fridge so home it was for a late dinner.



Anna's Purple Woolly Bugger!


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Sunday we went fishing with Eli (5) and his Mom, Lisa.  Last Sunday, while fishing at the end of the Homer Spit we ran into Eli & his mom (Eli does karate with Colton & Ethan)  and we found out Eli hasn't been fishing much, but sure did enjoy reeling in one of Ethan's fish, so we invited him to join us this weekend.  Though we didn't catch many fish today, and we have definately come to the end of the warm, sunny stretch of weather, Ethan really enjoyed being Eli's big buddy, and is looking forward to getting together to play with him after school on Monday.  Since Eli's mom brought donuts, the boys were able to tough it out until Anna came back to retieve the guys after going grocery shopping.  After lunch, since fishing at end of the Spit wasn't too productive, Colton convinced Tim take them again after lunch to the fishing lagoon to see if the salmon had started to return yet; it  didn't take a lot of convincing.  Three more hours of no fish and the boys had finally had it for the day!
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 We continue to see daily moose and eagles and some other new wildlife we've seen are seals, puffins and sandhill cranes. Our count of days NOT seeing moose has increased to 2, though today we saw 4 different moose.  Anna had a great time at the Harbor hanging out with this little fellow, a young Sea Otter,  lovingly called Maurice by boat owners near the slip he likes to hang out in. We see Sea Otters Otters most days when we are down on the spit.

Maurice giving me a smile!

We have also been enjoying the not so spectacular pieces of everyday, reading on the deck, knitting, cooking together and even a bit of gardening. 





Ethan planting flower seeds in an old tree stump with Ruby



It is such a rare pleasure to have the opportunity to be togehter as a family, in such a beautfiul setting without the stressors of work and 'real life'.   We recognize this and know that our time in Alaska is precious. As Robert Service articulates 'the world...is wonderful; the great, the small, the smooth, the rough. I love it all.--Breath is enough'.  So no matter where you are, or what you are doing - breathe and enjoy.