At play where the midnight sun holds court
Building a Home Part 1: Background and Framing As summer transitioned into fall, the rains continued. I tried to cover the site as best as I could, but plenty of water managed to pour down from the tarps and onto the floor inside. I would need dry weather to begin work on the roof and … Read more
One idea from native peoples across the world that has stuck with me over the years, having read a number of anthropological works, is knowing your environment and how it functions. They are familiar with all aspects of their world and how everything interacts, ranging from the tools they use to the things they interact … Read more
In 1967 at the age of 51, Dick Proenneke decided to leave the industrialized world behind and take to the wilderness, with the aim to test himself in the harsh environment of Alaska. After scouring the state to find an ideal location for a home, he settled on a plot on Twin Lakes, in what … Read more
In the 1960s, oil was discovered in seemingly endless quantities in Alaska. The state had it made and perhaps there were many that thought that this would be the end of any energy worries for the state. Yet, somehow the opposite occurred. Far from freeing Alaska from its dependency on fuel sources, oil strengthened the … Read more
The practice and principles made so much sense. Why doesn’t everyone do this? Why plant ornamentals when you can plant things that give you food?…
My love for flying in Alaska began with watching bush pilots. During our NOLS semester, we were resupplied once every week and a half or so by Kirk Ellis and his Supercub dubbed “The Hulk.” Most of that period, we were over 50 miles from the nearest road requiring the food drop offs by plane … Read more
This summer we kept pigs with our friends, Andrew and Eva. Neither Alana nor I had any experience with keeping farm animals. The arrangement was that we would get three piglets and keep them at Andrew and Eva’s since they already had a pen. In the beginning of May, we arranged with a local farmer … Read more
Last winter, Alana and I set the goal of be able to produce or independently source (ie not purchasing) 80% of our food within 5 years. Given this objective, we set out to create a large garden space in which we can grow vegetables for both seasonal and year-round use. With Alaska’s cold climate, we … Read more
Living in Alaska for many people means living in a place that is very far from any kind of family due to the many that originate from elsewhere in Alaska’s urban areas. For me that holds true as well. I was raised outside Chicago, IL and almost all of my family and friends are still … Read more
The summer of 2020 was terrible for fishing in the Interior. Fish runs were very low in many fisheries, like the Yukon, Tanana and Chitina, making closures a norm throughout the summer. I had been very successful fishing in 2019. I had limited out at Chitina, catching 25 salmon, and I had started set netting … Read more