funny things and such

Starting to miss home a bit. I wonder whether or not I will regret that statement. Home can be a curious place of ups, downs, and all arounds. I do miss my roommates. They just returned from their own adventure in Iceland and I would very much like to hear about it directly from them. I miss the ocean, the warm Atlantic Ocean. I want to surf in it. I want to swim in it. I want to roll around in it like a dog in their own poop. Where I am now I do get to live on the Pacific, however the water is hardly above freezing temperature. One can only be in it for so long. Being a Florida boy, I have every excuse to be cold. I also miss my family. All my brothers have moved out and we seem to be turning into that strange form of slightly older people who take on real responsibilities and other weird things. My parents are spending more time together though, and that is something very nice to think about. I miss St. Augustine. I miss the bent and broken streets with the Spanish architecture that never seems to get old despite actually being quite old. I miss all the slightly unusual people who live there. I think when I return I will go for a walk, or something.

But hold on. That paragraph should not be taken as anything close to saying that the Alaskan adventure has lost its gleam nor its northern lights. This place is still plenty interesting with all its mustaches, mountain hikes, hysterical bars/bands, sea planes, camping, black bears, eagles, folky locals etc. The sun does not like to set much and its difficult to track where it goes so you never have to worry about there not being enough time left in the day to do things. Also, I am serious about not being able to track the thing. Every time I feel like I can see it going one direction, I swear it turns around and goes the other way just to spite me. It makes telling north from east a bit complicated.

Leading people on the zipline tours never appears to get old either. Every group of tourists is different and even if they are not great zippers and come flying into my platform at 30mph, I get to do things like prussic break them so hard that they launch upwards into the cable. Now how could that ever get old to anyone? Most tourists are good zippers though as long as they get taught right. Kids can be a doozy when they are so light that they can't make it across the lines. This usually results in having a guide having to zip out and pull them in. Grown ups do it too. Just imagine what its like when you get a 250 pounder stuck in the middle who refuses to move. My arms still hurt. It does make for a fun challenge though. Lots of times you get incredible people who laugh at all the bad jokes and even contribute some of their own. These are my favorite. Another fun type are those with the sudden fear of heights who forgot they had a fear of heights. Its tempting to manipulate this fear into humor when you are always working at height. I promise I am not that mean, but when you work with tourists constantly, it is important to always make yourself laugh most. It keeps one's wits about them.

Worthy Alaskan Moments

Caught My First King

Okay so after months of watching the King Salmon run up our creek. I finally got one. Today I had the day off and walked out to one of the points that extend into our cove. There were several musky dudes fishing near by and I could tell by their behavior that they come out to this spot often. Its a way of carrying one's self I think. Anyway I nestled into my own little spot and started casting. My primal peripherals allowed me to see the glances I was getting from the fishermen and fish on each side of me. I casted my hook. Then I casted again and again.... but that was all that was necessary. As I was reeling in my third cast, I felt an enormous yank down my rod but was hesitant to believe I had fooled a fish. (I am a master of hooking the bottom). We fought for about 10 minutes. She was strong and every time I thought I had her, she would take off again, spooling line from my reel. One of the fishermen came over and offered me his gaff. This made pulling the fish out of the water and beating her to death quaintly simple. All said and done, I am happy to have caught my first Alaskan King Salmon and look forward to eating it this evening.

Note: a female "King" salmon should really be called a "Queen" salmon.