Human Petri Dish or Elmer’s Glue Factory?

Captivated, Phin wants one of these but mom says "no".

The Edwards family has logged many miles in the past few weeks. First we went to Anchorage for a short but productive visit. Then, after three days’ rest/work in Sitka, we went to Illinois for Jon’s (Val’s cousin) wedding. I was skeptical about all this travelling with Phineas. At 6 month old how would he hold up? Despite my skepticism, Phin did pretty well. The only real hitch was the cold Phin developed about the time we returned to Sitka from Anchorage. At first it was just a little bit of a runny nose. But by the time we got to Illinois he morphed into a full fledged booger factory. Before this last week I was not aware that thick gelatinous wads of green goo (similar to half way dry Elmer’s glue) would come from Phin’s nose. Some mornings it looked like there were stalactites hanging from Phin’s nostrils. It was about as easy to wipe off as dried cement. He didn’t seem to care unless one tried to pick his nose. (Valerie immediately apologizes to all patients she had previously advised to use "a little saline and a bulb syringe" to clear a baby's nose). But our little guy is tough, and the cold did not slow Phin down. He partied with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives, friends and lots of strangers. He smiled, cooed, and flirted with anyone who would pay him a moment of attention.

The meltdown I was fearing did not start until we left Sycamore. Sad to leave? Phin cried half way from Sycamore to O’Hare (about 30 minutes of un-interrupted crying) where we spent the night to catch an early morning flight. Then Phin cried and fussed on and off on the two flights from O’Hare to Sitka. The fretting, cemented gel boogers, and fussiness were a small price to pay for all the quality time we got with our families and friends. Looking forward to doing it all over again, although still with a wee bit of trepidation.

Fall is creeping up on Sitka which means that the berries are ripe. Since getting back we picked about a gallon of red huckleberries and three of blueberries. Stocking up for those mid-winter pies and jars of blueberry jam.

Loving the pool.
Sharing the boogers (human petri dish)  with all. 

         Look, we are all dressed nice.  Grandma Sue can    

check the family photo off her "to do" list.

Phin sings while Grandma P plays the blues.

Taking a break from berry picking

Touch and feel the mossy trees.

Standard Edwards wedding atire and pose.

Buck!

Maybe, just maybe, there is a deer in that fog.

Buck season opened on Sunday, August 1. I went out early Sunday morning like a good little sportsman despite the spitting rain and intermittent fog. I thought that seeing three deer on the drive up was a good sign. That sign was quickly cancelled out when I got to a nearly full parking lot. I guess my early wasn’t early enough. But it is not all about coming home with some fresh meat. Part of hunting is the wilderness meander and spending time outside in silence. Sunday was also about getting my body used to carrying the pack.  On my hike in I ran into two guys resting. They were armed to the hilt (hunting rifle, shotgun, pistol), drinking cans of coke, and listening to a radio. At first I thought surely I will get out in front of these yahoos. As I talked to them I learned that they had started out at 2:30 in the morning, shot a deer around 5 am and were actually on the way back to their car. At least I knew that there were deer in the area. Shortly after I parted with the coke drinking early birds the clouds parted. Above me I could see a lone deer walking down the hill towards where I was planning on stopping for lunch. A good sign. I quietly stalked across the slope. Then, just when I reached the spot where the deer had gone out of sight and where I might be able to pop over a rise and catch it within range, the fog rolled back in. A bad sign. I ate lunch counting my successes then walked back to the car, stopping to look for animals the few fog free moments I had.


I was lucky enough to have a friend volunteer to watch Phin in the middle of the week so I could go hunting again. This time I shot a good size buck. I field dressed the deer and packed out the most weight I have ever carried. To top that off it was a friggin hot day. I would put a picture of the animal here but Val doesn’t like it when I show her pictures of dead deer so I am sure that she would make me remove a dead deer picture from our blog. It is not that Val doesn’t like it when I bring home a deer, in fact she encourages me to hunt because she likes the venison meat so much. For that reason, I am posting a picture of the venison meat because Val will not find this objectionable.

And on the other end on the spectrum of things to post, here is a cute baby picture for those who need their fix.  Phin has been doing well.

Maybe in a few years he will help his dad with the deer hunting.  This afternoon he went for his first ride pulled behind the bike.  The absence of screaming and crying indicates that he enjoyed the ride. 

Cheers!

The Edwards Family heads to Kake

"away we go!"

Part of my job includes being the “referral physician” for the village of Kake. Kake is a town of about 500 people in Southeast Alaska. It’s located 50 miles (as the raven flies) from Sitka. I work with a great team of two Community Health Aides and a Physician Assistant who manage the day to day care of the patients in Kake. My job is to provide backup, support, hospital care, and phone consultation to them. Additionally, every year I do six one week clinics in Kake. Brent’s come along with before. But this was Phinny’s first trip to Kake.

Phin hangin' on the ferry

Brent, the dogs, the boy, and I all loaded up on the ferry, and enjoyed our 8 hour boat ride to Kake. We love traveling on the ferry. The pace is slow, the wildlife viewing is abundant, and there’s a sense of adventure to rolling out your sleeping bag on the deck of the solarium and snuggling in for the night with the fresh ocean air all around. Phin seemed to take well to ferry travel, and slept more than either of his parents.

My week in Kake was busy as usual. I even agreed to do a Sunday afternoon clinic to accommodate the large volume of patients who wanted to be seen while I was there. There happened to be a funeral in the village that week. Out of respect for the deceased and his family, we closed the clinic during the funeral, and were present for all of the funeral activities.

Interestingly, the man who passed away was a former fire chief of the village. He died while hospitalized in Seattle, and his body was returned home to Kake on the same ferry we were on. Some of the family members were escorting the body. When the ferry arrived in Kake, the ferry crew of accommodated a truly Alaskan funeral procession. The procession was lead by the big green Kake firetruck (which had been taken to Juneau via ferry to meet the body) followed by the pick- up truck carrying the casket, then the family members walked off the ferry together. After the family walked off the ferry the crew waited a minute and then started their regular unloading process. On shore the procession from the ferry was greeted by the entire village. Tribal leaders were dressed in traditional regalia. There was drumming and singing. After the greeting at the ferry all the mourners loaded into cars for a funeral procession lead by a village police officer patrol car with sirens on. The car procession wound through the village streets ending at the widow’s home. It was impressive to witness the amazing outpouring of support for this family from the community and the unique Alaskan way that the procession progressed. Likewise, the memorial service, the funeral, and the funeral dinner were all crowded events with plenty of stories being told.

This is the second funeral I’ve been to in Kake. It’s hard not to sense that the town is aging. Many young people have moved away because of lack of work. The timber industry has closed down, few residents can afford to run their commercial fishing boats, the cannery and cold storage facilities have closed, downtown businesses are non-existent, and the one restaurant is closing down this week because the owner is moving to Juneau. As the referral physician, I see a select portion of town- mainly people struggling with chronic disease. In other words I take care of a lot of the aging and infirm population. This provides for a week of work that is not balanced with well child checks and prenatal visits. So, the weeks that I’m in Kake- attending funerals, and seeing oodles of chronic disease- get me feeling a little weary.

It was wonderful to have Brent and Phinny around. I wish I could have had more time with them, and I think they wish the same. Brent was as serious as ever about his berry picking duties. He brought home 3 gallons of blueberries, and even some huckleberries. Phineas turns out to not be the most helpful berry picking assistant – Brent reports that he whines a lot. We are fortunate to already have fresh blueberry jam stocked in the cupboard! They also picked “beach asparagus” and “goosetongue” which are seaweed or beach vegetation that grow in the intertidal zone. These are savory, salty, delicious treats that we’re delighted to now include in our summertime diet and subsistence routine.

berry picking next to the clinic

Before catching the ferry home at 6 AM we watched as four black bears looked for chum salmon in Big Gunnuk creek which runs through the town of Kake. It was some of the only time I had to just sit and watch wildlife but it was certainly high yield. Brent also saw several black bear when he was driving around with Phin, he even watched one berry picking from the same bushes he picked from. Brent’s wildlife highlight though was watching a whale breach from the kitchen window of the place we were staying. I hope this makes up for the many trips to come where Brent and Phin will see little more than rain from that window.

On the way home, we traveled through Juneau. We did our obligatory Juneau shopping at Cost-co, and met up with friends for a drink in the evening. The weather was a little too snotty, and all of us too tired for hiking and exploring adventures. Maybe next time.

Stay tuned to the Tongass Family Edwards Blog for stories and photos of The Main Family Trip to Sitka…

Extra pics follow.

Black bear in the berry patch

Plenty of blueberries to go around

This didn't last long

beach asparagas with goose tounge in the background

Phin finds some seaweed

View from the kitchen window

more later . . .  .

Celebrating Independence and Commitment

Happy 4^th of July!  I was hoping to post pictures of our cute small town 4^th of July festivities here.  I was imagining pictures of the fair, the parade, the fireworks, etc…

But, as it turns out, the 4^th of July weekend was not too photogenic.   It was a rainy cold weekend. We missed the parade because Phin was taking a marathon nap, and we know better than to interrupt those.  We did manage to wander (in the rain) to the booths.  There is a line of booths serving up totally unhealthy “fair food”.  It was hard to choose between the fry bread, crepes, Philipino food, smoothies, cotton candy, sno cones, and meat-on-a stick.  But we got our treats, ate in the rain, and headed back home.   The fireworks display was postponed until next weekend for low clouds and rain. 

I did have Friday off, so we took advantage of the only nice day on the weekend to go for a big hike.  We put the little guy in the backpack and hiked up the Gavan Hill trail, which is a steep hike through the rainforest up to a lovely alpine area overlooking town and the sea. It’s a challenging hike; one I haven’t done in a long time.  It felt good to get the burning muscles that ached for a couple of days later.

           

Today (Monday) is our 2^nd wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we dropped Phinny with a friend, and got out for a short sea kayak adventure.  There is a chain of islands outside of Sitka that were connected by a causeway years ago.  In the 1930s there was a big military buildup on these islands.  Today there are lots of “hidden” bunkers and other ruins of the buildup that one can find by hiking around the islands.  So we set out on our kayaks to check it out.   While hiking through the overgrown forest and stumbling upon concrete bunkers with trees and vines growing all around, I felt a little like Indiana Jones (or the Scooby Doo crew).  I wish I had taken some pictures to share with you.  But I didn’t.  So if you’d like to know more about this historical aspect of Sitka, take a look at this website put together by a young high school teacher in town: www.sitkaww2.com.  Next time we go out there we’ll bring a camera.

I’m grateful to have a husband who wants to get out and go kayaking on our anniversary.  In fact, I’m grateful for all sorts of wonderful things about my spouse.  He’s been a tremendous partner, and I look forward to many more years with him.  We got a call this morning from our friends Anne and Wim, who wished us a happy anniversary, and challenged us to stay married as long as them- 53 years and counting.   Here’s to at least 51 more years!

Enjoy these pictures of my guys from our Gavan Hill hike.  Maybe next year we’ll have some charming 4^th of July photos to share.

Deep Thoughts by Dad

"You are still our dad!"

This father’s day I am father to more than just the two dogs. For the better part of my “adult” life I never thought I would have a kid of my own. So this morning I can’t help but stop and reflect on what becoming a dad has meant to me and the surprises it has brought. I’ll spare the blogosphere the sentimentalities, but I’m happy to share some of the more surprising findings of fatherhood.

1. Diaper changes are fun, really. I thought diaper changes were all business – you take the dirty diaper off, wipe, hope you don’t get peed on if diaping a boy, then replace the diaper. But, the business side of the diaper change seems almost secondary. Phin smiles, “talks” and engages when he is on the changing table. During diaper changes I talk back, sing a song (Peanut Sitting on a Railroad Track), and play with his toes. I am always happy to change a diaper because of the quality time I get with Phin.

2.  Phin’s daytime cycle is similar to the change of the seasons. As a stay-at-home dad I get dialed into Phin’s rhythm. There is nap time, bottle time, happy-play time, and maniacal time. Like the seasons these proceed in a predicable order. However, also like the seasons, the length of any time and transitions are unpredictable. Is this nap going to last 20 minutes or 2 hours? – I never know. It’s like waiting for fall’s end to be marked by the first snow or freeze of winter. Like unusual warm weather in February Phin can wake-up from a nap happy and cheerful not needing a bottle. And like a snowstorm in April (or May) Phin can finish a bottle and go straight to maniacal for a while before his happy time begins. It is not chaos (which is what it seemed like when it was another person’s kid) and that is what surprises me. There is a pattern in there somewhere.

3.  I lack patience. Phin turned four months on June 17. In those four months I have pointed out to him countless pieces of heavy construction equipment, usually a young boy favorite. But at this age he can’t begin to fathom the front end loader or bull dozer. I have taken Phin on several drives hoping to give him his first brown bear sighting (those reading this who know Sitka also know that seeing a brown bear from the road is not unusual.) Phin is in a rear-facing car seat so it would be very hard for him to see a bear from the car. Even if he could see a bear from the car to him it would probably look a lot like our big red golden retriever Rogue. I have also taken Phin on walks on the beach when there is a big minus tide because these are the best tides to look for interesting ocean-dwelling critters. Phin has no idea what a starfish is. Why do I do these types of things? I rationalize that I want Phin to develop his consciousness of the world during these experiences. What is probably really happening is that I am being impatient and want him to grow-up.

(4) I am patient. When it comes to impatience, it’s limited. Val points out that I am quite patient. I don’t mind waiting for Phin to finish a bottle, waiting out his nap time cry until he falls asleep, or waiting the extra ten minutes it takes to get out the door with a baby. I am enjoying the little guy for what he his – little, cute, my son, etc. This enjoyment is what makes me blubber “I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!” As much as I’m inpatient for him to grow up and ask a zillion questions about front end loaders, I’m so happy having him in his little baby stages too. I think what I am saying is illustrated by when Phin outgrows an article of clothing. It is a little sad to put the tiniest pair of pants in the give-away box. Especially when that pair of pants used to seem huge. I am glad though, that when he fit into that pair of pants, I was hanging out with him doing the daddy thing. This is the patience I am talking about. It is not necessarily being in the moment because I am not always in the moment. It is just the experience of being with this little guy around.

(5) My little guy can fart and belch like me. This does not need explanation. I will add that it is nice to have him to blame for my own noises.

We in the tongassfamilyedwards household are having a happy father’s day everyday!

Bonus pictures from a trip to Pirates Cove follow:

Val and Phin enjoy face time on the beach

Phin hams it up for the camera

With so much to see Phin refuses to nap.  It took a long walk and lots of back pats to get Phin to take a very short nap.

Val plays on the fishing nets strung from the trees. 

Summer Tips

I've survived the first three weeks back to work. But who wants to hear about work? Brent is doing a superb job of caring for Phineas and me. We've been doing our best at getting out and about on the weekends. No wild and crazy adventures yet (unless you count the ill advised off road ride we took the stroller on last Sunday); we're just enjoying some long walks and hikes.

field diaper change

Brent has been in subsistence mode as best he can while watching Phin and doing some legal work. Our subsistence activities consisting of hunting, fishing, and gathering take a lot of time – something that is hard to come by with a wee one. Although time consuming, subsistence is one of our shared priorities. The process of collecting and processing our own food is often fun and meditative (try taking to Brent when he is fishing or collecting berries – he wont respond). Best of all, we think that the foods we gather taste better than most store bought food. As the year progresses we hope to share our subsistence activities with you through this blog. Right now, it's spruce tip time! Spruce tips are the soft, bright green, tips of the spruce branches that come out in late May. Once you have a large pot of tips collected, you boil them for a while- strain the juice, add sugar, boil again (there really is no recipe as far as we can tell and our results vary with some batches better than others), and then jar the syrup and dream of pancakes in January.

 

Another local subsistence delicacy that we've been enjoying is black cod tips. Our neighbor does commercial fishing, and after a recent haul of black cod, he welcomed Brent to come work his way through a fish tote of black cod heads. The tips are a rich delicious piece of meat around the neck of the fish. It's time consuming to cut them out, so there is not a commercial market for them. Phineas kept Brent company as he cut his way through piles of cod heads. Now we've got cod tips in the freezer, and we've been enjoying them marinated, grilled, and wrapped in seaweed with rice.

 

 

 

I've posted some pictures here of "Devil’s Club" as well. It's a plant that grows like crazy here in Southeast. It has prickly thorns, and big broad leaves that grow quickly up and up towards to sun. It is also the symbol of the healthcare organization that I work for. Devil’s club is used by the Tlingits (Southeast Alaska Natives pronounced "khhleen-kit) for medicinal purposes. Mostly I've seen it as an ointment or salve. People use it on sore muscles and superficial burns, and actually- any kind of skin condition. I can't attest to its efficacy, nor have I seen any harm come from it. So enjoy the photos of Devils club. When I look up at it from underneath, I feel like a fish in a pond looking up towards the lily pads on the surface.

 

We've also posted some "cute kid pictures" for those family members who are demanding them. Enjoy the summertime. Something tells me it's going to go fast.

blue and blue

a nice place to feed the baby

Off To Work We Go!!!

It was bound to happen, Val's maternity leave came to an end and she went back to work.  The week before maternity leave ended we went to Anchorage to visit family and friends.  The "primates" (i.e. the Main boys) dubbed Phineas "Little Monkey", a name we are sure he will grow into as he learns to walk and then run. 

With Val at work I am now taking charge of keeping the Little Monkey alive.   The picure above is my proof of life photo from Tuesday.  Overall Phin and I are doing well but my expectations for the day need to be adjusted dramatically.  Our daily highlight is walking to the hospital for lunch with his mommy.  The dogs get to go too.  I have also squeezed in time to clean more cod tips and to make our first batch of spruce tip syrup.  All these projects leave little time for updating the family blog.  These pictures will need to fill in some of the details . .  .

PHINEAS MEETS THE MAINS/PRIMATES

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Rogue, Isis and Phineas face to face.

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Our first time using the berry picking blanket.

Mmmm beer . . .

Phin watches while his mom switches out the studded bike tires.

Phin turns three months!!