Surprises in the Land of the Midnight Sun
Alaska continues to surprise.
The latest being lilacs in September. Has to be the first time I’ve ever reached for a lilac blossom while autumn leaves swirled in the air. There’s a bit of a clash between fragrant spring pink and damp birch leaf yellow. As if some pages are missing. According to our daughter — where our two-week visit is about to conclude — the lilacs bloomed in July, Alaska’s regular staging. And now here they are again, bursting with color on the high tips of the bush.
It was salmon processing in the garage this week. A stellar season for dip netting reds (sockeye) from a boat on the Kenai. The limit was 15 per head of household and 10 for each family member. Which meant a total of 75 fish for our Alaska family of seven. This was besides any hook and line fishing from the bank — which often yielded 20 a night (ten pounds apiece) at up to six per person.
By night I should clarify anywhere between midnight and 4 a.m. Alaska, Land of the Midnight Sun.
Our son-in-law said the salmon were so thick in the river sometimes the minute the net was over the side of the boat and in the water you had one. They made a haul. The first round of canning yielded 61 jars. Lifted from the pressure cooker with old tongs his grandmother — who raised him and taught him to can — handed down.
In addition to the jars of salmon there are multiple fillets slow smoking in a stainless steel commercial refrigerator converted to smoker, ready to become tasty jerky. And there are the melt-in-your-mouth fillets we’ve grilled for dinner. One of the grandsons — not always happy about being carted to the river in the middle of the night — muttered between bites, “Now I know why we had to go fishing so much.”
The Swan Lake fire on the Peninsula has swelled to over 162,000 acres with close to 30 percent containment. Some days smoke wafts our way — and other days, salt tang from nearby Cook Inlet. Depends on the direction of the wind. We’ll have to travel through the 30 miles of affected highway this week. Yesterday gusting winds knocked trees — weakened by fire — onto the road “creating hazardous driving conditions,” according to the KPB (Kenai Peninsula Borough) alerts. A wonderful service keeping us all up-to-date.
Heard the Northern Lights are supposed to be showing at home tonight. Figured maybe I could catch a glimpse up here — close to the source you might say. But when I stepped out just now it was raining. And you know what. I’m not complaining.