‘And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the self-same day Noah said, “Well dang, it’s fall in Southeast Alaska.”’ Genesis 7 (mostly), King James Version. Lots of firewood seasoning articles tell you never to burn anything that’s more than 20% moisture and to stay […]
Part III in a series on outstanding volunteer-supported assets in the Capital City Awesome snow event this week. Were were scooping knee deep powder off the driveway when a neighbor drove by, rolled down his window and yelled, “Forget that! Get your skis!” He was headed for Eaglecrest, Juneau’s community […]
I originally wrote Plant a Week as a resource for children and parents of the Juneau Community Charter School. Generally we’d have a sample of the weekly plant and talk about it in class on Fridays. That afternoon the write-up went home with the kids in the school newsletter. They […]
When was the last time you went a whole day without hearing or seeing anything negative? What would it be like to move unhurried with no ‘breaking news’ at all for weeks or months on end and trace a thousand mile arc where, most of the time, you were your […]
Cases of canned fish and a full freezer are wonderful things in fall but spring, being the season of renewal, is a time to draw down the larder in anticipation of re-stocking with fresh salmon. We try to pace our supply to run out in early June. In years when […]
Remember a few years ago when one of the local chain stores in Juneau tried selling Atlantic farmed salmon from down south? Oh, the hue and cry of public outrage. So they stopped. We should marshal that activism to put the brakes on firewood that comes from Outside. Forests all […]
A cord of wood is a quiet winter comfort representing centuries worth of stored solar energy from ninety-one million miles away. Woodshed Nation releases that energy gradually knowing that whatever happens in the world outside, a home with a few cords won’t freeze for lack of fuel. It’s February, we’re […]
There were two excellent natural gas articles in the paper at the end of February. One was that AEL&P/Avista’s plan to bring natural gas to Juneau is on hold indefinitely. AEL&P is Alaska Electric Light and Power, our hometown power company that has been phenomenal since 1893. They’ve been innovative. […]
Back in the early eighties, when Juneau’s waterfront was between the mining boom and the cruise ship boom, Puggy Nelson and I would ignore the ‘No Trespassing’ sign, go around a chain link fence and walk out where the abandoned docks rotted on their pilings. There at the end of […]
Part V in a series of outstanding volunteer run assets in the Capital City Do not turn away a poor man, even if all you can give is half a date. -Muhammad When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be […]
“I’d like to know how my meat became cooked, how it was processed, who cut it up.” Kotzebue middle school student, from ‘Eating Alaska’ Sitka film maker Ellen Frankenstein’s documentary Eating Alaska cuts right to the core of how we think, and don’t think, about where our food comes […]
Wealth is different things to different people. When September rolls around two of the best things in the world are a freezer full of fish and enough seasoned firewood for two winters. All told it’s around a thousand dollars for what you need to go on wood safari: chainsaw, […]