May Blizzard, Are U Alaskan Enough? And Why I Did Not Nurse my Toddlers
So--there it was. A blizzard of 6 - 8 inches of snow fell on Kodiak May 13th, last weekend. Raising the question, "Are You Alaskan enough"? Clearly the answer is yes. If I have to wade out of the house...
View ArticleVideo Journey to Fishcamp, Ann Voskamps “dangerous” Book+the End of Cynicism
“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and to know the place for the first time.” --T.S. EliotI arrived at our fishcamp island...
View ArticleFishcamp: Closer to the Wilder World and the Economy of Cannabalism
My first week at fishcamp. Three glorious sunny days, now cloudy, cold and rainy again. But these days deliver all the happy firsts of the season: first hike up the mountain. First banya. First walk on...
View ArticleTusnami Trash, Introducing The Ugliest Eaglets, and Gathering Home
Yesterday, the first of the Japanese Tsunami trash came to our island. My son Noah found a large black plastic buoy adrift behind Bear Island, thousands of miles from home. Debris has found landfall...
View ArticleWallenda's Prayer Walk, Another Eaglet! and Rough Water Fishing (video)
This week I did something hard, something that pushed me to my limits. I did not walk from one country to another over a tightrope, but it did involve roiling water, and an intense struggle to keep my...
View ArticleThe 22 Hour Day, Women CAN Have it All, and 1st Giveaway!
It’s already gone----the longest day: 22 hours of daylight, 2 hours of dark-ish-ness . …. What did you do on that day? Did you do it All? And was it enough?This same week, the cover story for the...
View Article(Out)House Beautiful + the 12 Best Outhouse Magazines
Since we’ve enjoyed five months together here on Far aField Notes, I feel as though it’s time you visited our outhouse—the true mark of hospitality and friendship. We’re proud of our outhouse. It’s...
View ArticleThe Fishcamp Glory Particle and The End of Wonder?
Do you know those moments when the air shreds into a thousand gulls, When the clouds are on fire, when the mountains launch a ghosting moon, and the ocean lays poems of kelp on your beach?What do we...
View ArticleAmong Fin Whales, Olympian Perfection+ Does God Love Your Body?
This morning I sat in a skiff among whales, fin whales, the second largest whales in the world, as long as 90 feet, weighing as much as 75 tons, second only to the blue whale. They're not photogenic....
View ArticleThe Eaglets Fly, Curiosity Lands, and Why We're Still Looking for Home
The day that Curiosity landed on Mars was the day I saw the eaglets fly the nest. I was deeply moved by both. He is perched about 80 feet from his nest. The eaglet flies to join his parents on their...
View ArticleFin Whale Videos,A Hopeless Visitor+The Maddening Paradox of Faith
This last week, we took the evening off from fishing and skiffed across the bay to another uninhabited island. On the way over, we found ourselves in the midst of a pod of fin whales, and rode with...
View ArticleIsland to Island, Denali Bear Killing+Why We Cant Get Out of the Way
This week, we packed up our stuff and returned to Kodiak, flying from one small island, population 8, to Kodiak Island, population 15,000. Our luggage is cardboard boxes lined with garbage bags (for...
View ArticleExistence + Subsistence, 4 Deaths, And How Do We Live Well?
“I have been thinking about existence lately. In fact, I have been so full of admiration for existence that I have hardly been able to enjoy it properly.” ---Marilyn Robinson, GileadI am just back...
View ArticleBlown Away Videos+Why We Live Longer in Kodiak
It was gusting N.E. well over 50 mph today, my house on the cliff a direct hit. The windows bowed enough under the blasts to rattle the fancy glasses sitting on the sill. The water in the...
View ArticleBreaking the Sound Barrier, Twilight Zone+Why You're More Daring Than You Think
On the day I am jetting back from Georgia, hurtling 30,000 feet above the earth in a blessedly horizontal position, Felix B. hurtled vertical like a human bomb 26,000 feet from sky to earth, breaking...
View ArticleMarauding Bears All Over Town+The Wisdom of Garbage
“But when nothing is valued for what it is, everything is destined to be wasted.” ---Wendell BerryMore than a dozen bears are ambling and gobbling their way out of the hearts of Kodiak residents....
View ArticleAn Invitation to Harvester Island+Why We Can Still Love Life+Country
The news is out, the electoral college has spoken, and we have a new president. More than half of you receiving this will not be celebrating. I suspect some will be tempted to start packing . . ....
View ArticleRevolution of the Shameless Open Heart and Door
It will be Christmas soon. Time for a revolution. I won’t tell you what kind should happen in your own inner kitchen, inside your own bone house. I will only tell you of what happened in mine this past...
View ArticleCan the Stable Still Astonish? And 6 Christmas Giveaways!
How many Christmases have you survived? It's a heavy weight to carry----the expectations of tiny snowy villages on mantels, wreaths on every door, anxiety that your chosen gifts will not please, the...
View ArticleBlizzard Surfing + How We Carry On
It’s been blowing wild horses most of this week. I almost flew away today while hiking out to a point, where the icy waves lifted to mist, and the sun shot reds and greens through the spray. The wind...
View ArticleThe Grounding of the Kullik (video)+Is it Stupid to Hope in a New Year?
On New Year's Eve, when guests were still arriving at my house to game and toast and cheer their way from one year into the next, a 400 million dollar oil drilling platform, the "Kullik" washed ashore...
View ArticleBeyonce's Lipsync, Armstrong's Doping+ My Showtime: Why Did We All Cheat?
SHOWTIME! I bounded up on stage like I had just won the lottery on a game show. 3500 pairs of eyes looking at me, but not 5'2" me----a blown-up 25 foot me, my every cowlick now magnified X 100. What...
View ArticleKodiak Snowfall, SKYFALL+ the "Hobby of Resurrection"
Beauty! A lovely snowfall this week. Snow-attack would be closer, though, since a 40+ mph wind was behind it. The sea smashed and raged below my house, the cliff-facing windows were smothered in...
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