Meeting and Passing

Homer Alaska - a little drinking town with a fishing problem. What an amazing place. We arrived here on Sunday, May 1st and have spent the last few days just "scratching the surface" getting to know our way around the town and meeting the people in the community.  Let me tell you a bit about it. It is also known as the "cosmic hamlet by the sea" and the "end of the road" as the road really does end here.

Homer Harbor

Homer is a town of about 6,000 people which historically has been a fishing village, but in the last 20 or so years has seen tourism and a well-heeled artist community play a big part in the evolution of this town.   It is nestled in Katchemak Bay, at the end of the Kenai penninsula. It  has a high bluff that provides excellent views of the surrounding bay and mountains and active volcanos and a 4 mile long "spit" that projects out into the bay.  The spit provides is where all of the fishing (commercial and sport fishing) takes place and where much of the tourist activity is centered.  We were lucky enough to have a clear day when 2 of the Volcanos, Iliamna and Augustine, were both steaming; quite a sight!

Steaming Mount Augustine

Steaming Mount Iliamna

The wildlife has been amazing.  It is like we are living in an episode of Northern Exposure. Not a day has gone by where have not seen a moose aorund town. Yesterday, as Ethan and I rode bikes to his school we saw one just lying in a church playground; Ethan had to ask if it was real or not. At first glance it could have been a huge rock sculpture, but luckily it moved it's head to support indeed that it is alive and well.   



Moose Dining at the Local "Trading Post" & Pawn Shop

The eagles are the other animal that we are seeing a lot of. In fact, we already are hardly noticing them, as they are similar in numbers and sightings to robins back home.

Now the people. Wow - what a wonderful bunch of folks we have met so far. Ruby and Tim are just great- they are the people we are renting from and our neighbors. They are eager to help answer our questions and also to offer up interesting tidbits of history and folklore about the town and state. The place we are staying in is a small, two bedroom apartment over Tim's woodworking shop.  The deck off our main entrance looks out over the town's movie theater and across Kachemak Bay.

View from the deck, just before sunset at 10:00PM

Hope, another person we've met, is a close friend of Ruby's who aslo helps her with cleaning.  She too is from Kodiak and is a very free-wheeling spirit.

Chris is the father of a boy who goes to karate with our boys. He works a consultant/trainer, providing  marine safety workshops to commercial fisherman throughout Alaska. We met him once at karate and ran into him again today at the local coffee house where we spent an hour talking and learning more about Homer and Alaska. Chris pointed us in the direction of his brother-in-law, Lee, who owns a yurt making business. We mentioned to Chris  that we would be intersted in working in exchange of adventure and he said Lee might be willing to take us across the bay for a weekend to set up camping yurts for his summer clients in exchange for the boat ride (both ways,we hope!) and a night or two in the yurts. FUN!!

We also met Leah, who lives just down the street and has a third grade boy who goes to Colton's school and also does karate. There is also the friendly bartender and clientelle at the Salty Dawg - the famous Homer Spit drinking establishment. We loved that she said it was great to bring in the boys, as long as they only drink soda and don't sit at the bar. She warned us that it is an adult meeting spot and that they my hear some new words (probably nothing they haven't heard on the playground or in the sugar house) - but well worth the experience.

On Wednesday, we went to visit Renn Tolman, whom we met back in Vermont, but who lives here in Homer.  Renn is a 70+  year old retired wooden skiff (boat) builder, who moved to Homer in the early 1970's by way of Colorado, and is originally from the Dublin, NH area. He frequently returns to NH and has a girlfriend there.  Though officially retired, he is helping his nephew build a 20' wooden skiff in his shop that overlooks the bay. Next week Renn is departing on a 65 mile boat trip (in one of his skiffs) across & up the bay, up to one of the active volcano islands.  There, he & his companions will camp then hike up 4,000 ft in elevation and ski back down the mountain. His work shop is decorated with the many newspaper & magazine articles written about him, charts and stories documenting the many amazing adventures he's taken arounfd Alaska in his boats, and in one corner are a few boxes of his book (on building wooden skiffs, of course); a book that is prominently displayed in every bookstore and gift shop in town.

Renn kind of reminds us of Peter, another fella that we met ( who looks a lot like Grizzly Adams) and who drives around town in a old green 1972 International Harvestor pick-up.  He tells us he came to Alaska to have a quiet and private life, and that is exactly how it has turned out for him, although he is more than willing to talk up the new kids in town when given the opportunity.

Every store you walk into has a smiling clerk and helpful folks. This is a very welcoming town and we feel priveledged to be able to spend the summer here. It has been gratifying to have and take the time to speak to the people you see each day, to learn from them, and to enjoy & hear of their experiences, stories and wisdom.