And of course I gave a private collections tour to the Captain and Master of Sail (I think) and to the fancy French chefs who were visiting that week also.

Pallada

A large Russian sailing ship came to Kodiak last week. Twenty year old Russians were running around town! It was quite the stir.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110714/165189612.html

I didn't really get to see the ship myself. I was too busy chasing Abby around making sure she didn't fall off!

According to Don Clark, who grew up in Kodiak and is a renowned archaeologist, "Kodiak had ak-ak guns on Pillar, around the base & at site of powerhouse. Specially designed airplane with huge engines towed air target. One day some rounds fell short--into town." So, I was wrong!

Narrow Cape

Field of lupine with pillbox (HDOP 1 I believe) in the distance.

I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz running through the poppies.

Falling off the cliff.

Structure for the searchlights. Basically, my understanding is that there were controls in the pillbox to operate the lights. The lights rolled out on tracks. You could not get close to the lights. They were very bright, and I imagine quite hot, but not sure about that. The lights shined out to the ocean, which one probably couldn't see because of the fog and/or rain, in hopes of spotting incoming Japanese ships. Yes, ships. The defenses on Kodiak were built after Pearl Harbor (an attack by air). Kodiak had no anti-aircraft armament. I believe that the guns at Miller Point were from a WWI ship, so the defenses seem perhaps not only insufficient and impractical, but ridiculously expensive considering it was used for a few years. Of course, I am no expert!

Fossils.

The ocean is at least a half mile away, so that was a big wave or storm that brought all this driftwood up.

Half-day vacation

An actual warm sunny day in Kodiak! Haven't had one since last August I think. Thus, I took a half day off of work and we went to Pasagshak!

Ok, I like rocks!

That's a big boulder that broke away from the cliff.

Notice, I look naked. I felt naked wearing just a swimsuit!

I totally got sun poisoning. We played for a long time. I didn't realize it and then suddenly started to feel a little funny. Some water and snacks eased all symptoms of not being used to sun exposure.

We even squeezed in some fishing!

My lil' fisher!

Osher tour

The museum coordinated a week long educational tour for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UAF, which provided learning opportunities for midlife and older adults. I think I learned just as much as our visitors! On the first day I jumped at the opportunity to have a tour of Holy Resurrection Cathedral with Fr. Innocent. I have attended services there a couple times, but really wanted to learn more about Orthodoxy and the cathedral. To learn more about Orthodoxy in Alutiiq life..http://www.alutiiqmuseum.org/exhibits/electronic-exhibits/281-orthodoxy-in-alutiiq-life.html

Fr. Innocent giving a tour of the cathedral.

This icon is actually one of St. Herman's icons! I had no idea this would have still existed.

The icons in the clerestory are from the Woody Island church. Again, very surprised these are still around. I think the WI church burnt down. And of course, Holy Resurrection burnt down in the 1940s, but all or most of the icons and important objects were saved.

St. Herman's cross. I think Fr. Innocent said it weighed 11 pounds. St. Herman secretly wore it under his garments. If you recall, there is an annual pilgrimage to Spruce Island where St. Herman established a hermitage and school.

St. Herman's reliquary. Fr. Gerasim I believe is who retrieved the relics.

The next day the group went to Narrow Cape. Patrick is a wealth of information! I learned about archaeological sites, the local flora, and other miscellaneous facts about Kodiak. For example, the Fred Zharoff bridge was nicknamed Hoser bridge because the fire dog Hoser jumped off the bridge at the opening ceremony. :(

Stumps or Rockets

Uh, what is that art deco tower doing at the very end of the road on a remote island in Alaska? Oh, just a rocket launch (thanks Uncle Ted).

Apparently there was a homemade sign at the fork in the road that pointed to the direction of Chiniak that said "stumps" (damn Leisnoi logging) and then "rockets" for Narrow Cape.

Part of the Narrow Cape fault line.

Fossil Beach.

We were supposed to hike to an archaeological site, but it was too far. However, I now know where it is, so I will hopefully be doing some site stewardship soon.

Again, we were supposed to hike to the bunkers on Narrow Cape, but we took them to Miller Point instead.

I really wasn't supposed to be a part of this week long educational tour at all, but lucky me, not only did I get the grand tour with Patrick, but the next day I got to go to Woody Island with Herman Squartsoff!

The tide pool in the distance on Wood or Woody Island as it is now known.

The adage is "the tide is low the table is set". The bright green plant is sea lettuce - yummy. A little salt and vinegar even better. Soft in the hand, crunchy in the mouth.

Getting chiton off of rock with butter knife.

Underside of a chiton or urriitaq as I know it as. Chewy salty.

Octopus coming out beneath the rock.

You just take a stick and ram it in the holes until the octopus comes out. Some people use bleach, but really unnecessary.

Herman with octopus number 1. Number 2 was bigger.

Octopus hanging from the gaff.

You have to cut the beak (mouth) out. They DO bite!

I also learned an octopus also has three hearts.

A WWII concrete structure added on to at Camp Woody. So Alaskan!

Yes, that is a steeple on top. They are building a new chapel.

You never know what you'll see on Woody. I had never heard of this game!!

Our lovely little tour guide in her mini skiff.