Playing Catch Up

Holy spring, Batman! How is it already the end of March?! There has been so much going on here it seems like just yesterday Bill's brother and Carissa were visiting...

A quick recap:

Bill had a birthday! He turned 37 years young and we had a blast celebrating his life and the fact that he's awesome. :) I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and could have eaten every bite by myself. So.good.

That's my horrible attempt to make a 3-7 on his cake...not great, but you get the point. There is a story behind the balloons...they've been on every cake I've ever had since I was 3-ish. It just wouldn't be a birthday cake without the plastic balloons!

Bill's birthday was also the day we ran out of propane. Wah-wah. So much for the pizza I had planned. But we did something much better. Bill had caught some dolly varden earlier that day so we hooked up the Coleman cookstove, battered the fish, and fried them up out in the shop. Delicious! We've decided that's the real way to cook fish. :) Just look at that happy face! And that delicious dinner!

Needless to say, we had quite the birthday success. :)

After that, the weather turned and we've had some of the warmest, most beautiful spring days lately! Here's a little montage in honor of our newest season:

So nice to have some warmer weather, see the lake without ice, and get running again! Most of these photos were taken on afternoon jogs through the tundra. Lovely!

As we head into April, it's time to think about birds flying, longer days, and planning summer adventures. Seriously can't wait to hang up my teacher clothes and have sweatpants Saturday every day! Springtime also brings the great wood roundup for the coming year. Bill and I have been spending time on weekends gathering wood for our steambath and for next winter. This is honestly one of my favorite things to do--the smell of the wood, the smell of the chainsaw, using my muscles to pack out the rounds...what's not to love? :)

What's your favorite thing about new seasons? 

Have a most wonderful weekend!

Weekends!

Last week was a bit of a stressful week, so Bill and I decided to take some time for ourselves this weekend. It was our Winter Carnival here in the village and while we participated in some of the events, we pretty much did our usual weekend wanderings out and about. We really cherish our weekends for the peace and quiet they provide. As teachers, we are ON all week long--we very rarely have a time when we can just be quiet and enjoy the solitude of this place, so on weekends we take complete advantage of our down time. Makes for much more pleasant Monday mornings. :) 

On Thursday of last week, we decided to go for a Honda ride and check out the Gorge. Bill had been there a few days before and had seen something really interesting occurring. The Gorge is an area where the water is usually flowing top speed, even in the winter, and is a reminder of the power of water. Not this winter...this winter, the first I can remember, there is an ice dam that has formed there. SO COOL. 

We love heading out to the Gorge in all seasons. Some of the best grayling fishing can be done here in the fall, winter gives a much different feel with low water, ice chunks, and a quiet that pervades even the most active of minds, while in spring, the water rushes through at top speed, turquoise blue and gorgeous to behold. We don't spend too much time out here in the summer--too much competition from the fishing lodges in the village. :)

Another one of our favorite things to do is shoot guns. I've killed a lot of cardboard in my day...a lot. Shooting is also a fabulous way to relax after a long week of being inside. You have to focus completely on your breath, what you're seeing in the scope, and the actual shot. It makes me slow my breathing, clear my head, and take things a little easier. Something that I struggle with sometimes. :) I feel pretty lucky to be married to a guy who loves to be out on the land and take me with him. I think that's one of the reasons we get along so well. Mutual love and understanding of the peace and calm received by heading outside. Sigh...I'm so lucky. 

We feel so fortunate to get out and play as much as we do. It is something that takes precedence in our lives and something we will do forever. 
We also got out this weekend and got some wood. We found a great stand of birch and cut and packed three trees worth of lumber. Birch is lovely as it burns slowly and you really get a nice even heat. My favorite fires are the ones that are started with spruce, but finished with birch. :) I'm still learning how to light a good fire--had some struggles this week with that--but I'm learning and will eventually get it down. 

We rounded out the weekend with a glass of wine last night (part of my Valentine's Day surprise from Bill) and a viewing of one of my old favorites--"In Search of the Castaways." If you haven't seen it, I wholeheartedly recommend it as an old Disney classic. Such a wonderfully cheesy story of adventure! :) Today is also day off of school and I plan to take complete advantage. 

Enjoy your week!

Life of Adventure

The one thing my husband always promised, is that with him, I would live a life of adventure. And, for heaven's sake, has he kept that promise! We've skied the Harding Ice Field, climbed countless mountains, pack rafted swift rivers, maneuvered steep passes, and canoed hundreds of miles together. We've traveled internationally and loved every second, but we've also spent years exploring our own corner of Alaska, learning everything we can about the land we inhabit. How lucky, right?! Some of my favorite adventures, though, are the ones that happen out our own back door. Out in the wilderness we are lucky enough to call home.

We live in a part of Alaska that is pretty special. We live on a huge lake surrounded by mountains, we have a river that is home to one of the largest salmon runs in the world, and there aren't many people to contend with. :) We often go out for walks on the tundra just to see what we can see. The land is ever changing with the seasons and always brings new excitement with it. In the fall, the tundra changes from green to absolutely exploded in color, while in winter, the grays, whites, and browns prevail. Spring is fresh, with no mistakes in it, and summer brings vibrant greens and bugs for days. I look forward to the change in the season as much as anyone else, if for no other reason than the feeling of a new start and a fresh outlook. As we settle into the bleakness of mid-winter, it helps to remember that spring is right around the corner, the geese will soon by flying, and the tundra will soften and green. Until then, the sunrises and sunsets will provide me with spectacular color, and life will move forward as it always does.

Happy Tuesday!

Scatter joy!

Hello. :)

My name is Kate. 

Kontrashibuna Lake in Lake Clark NP

I am a thirty-something teacher-adventurer-quilter-baker-reader-writer-backpacker-packrafter-canoer-wife-to-an-amazing-man, living in bush Alaska. I moved North to the Future in 2006 and honestly, at this point in my life, can't imagine living anywhere else. I grew up in a small town in Montana that did a most wonderful job preparing me for life in the bush. Although, had you told me in high school that I would move (willingly!) to a town smaller than the one I grew up in, I would have laughed in your face. Back then, I was headed for the glitz and glamour of New York City, baby! Thankfully, life doesn't always turn out the way you planned, and Alaska is where I headed after graduating from college. I moved North with the intention of staying and teaching for just one year, but here I am, nine years later, still in Alaska and just as in love with the land as the day I landed in Anchorage. 

Backpacking/Packrafting up Another River valley

Having said that, though, my life was turned upside down and inside out that first year. I learned so.many.things about myself that I probably never would have known had I stayed in Montana and worked at Barnes and Noble instead of jumping right into teaching. It was a hellish year, not going to lie, but I came out of it with a greater understanding of who I was as a person, and who I wanted to be as a teacher. That was also the year I met the man who, 7 years later, became my husband. He is honestly the most remarkable man I have ever met and I feel so lucky that he picked me. (Cheesy, I know, but oh-so-honestly true.) For now, I'll call him B. 

B and I both took to bush life like moose to the willows and have been ridiculously happy spending our lives in the relative peace and calm of village life. I know, I know...to go from dreams of NYC to a village of less than 200 people? You must think I'm crazy. I guess all I can say is that no one in NYC is lucky enough to wake up to this view every day, am I right?  

Good morning, Sunshine!

So here we are. This space will mostly be used for detailing the adventures B and I have had throughout the years, and the ones to come. Enjoy!