Ketchup

A sweet winter so far.

We had a great visit from Micah, (our oldest of three) and his mate, Jerin. They made the trek to Alaska from NYC in time for Solstice. Both events we honored with due fanfare.  Dec. 21, 2012 unfolded near the heart of our deepest stretch of winter cold; sunny, sub-zero and incredibly gorgeous. Using his production knowledge and newly acquired camera and sound equipment, Micah spent a lot of his time filming the Chilkat and upper Klehini river valleys. Here's a little of what he caught.

Capturing the soundscape

Hannah also rallied north for the holidays.  Her senior year is focused on writing plays, staging and producing events resplendent with masks, puppetry, and spectacle. Off time, back home, she focuses on replenishing the reserve; catching up on reading, family, and being outdoors.

INCOMING!

Godzilla is ALWAYS in the tree!

Middle daughter Merrick, her honey Joe, and their first baby, Yarona Blue stayed south, happily hunkered down, following mama's chemo treatments focusing their energy and undisturbed time on being a new family. We missed them terribly but happy they have a comfortable setting for this oddly awkward first winter.

They're plucky. Can you tell?


A first New Year's Masquerade Ball was held at The Chilkat Center, put on by our radio station, KHNS. Good music by three local bands, the result of endless hours of practice, made dancing on the main stage a gas.

The costumes, refreshments and decor were decadent. Haines knows how to do winter. Here's Hannah and Jerin. You can tell by the swishing going on in the background that everyone, indeed, had a ball.

Da Band  # 1

To the nines!

I've spent January putting in snowshoe trail. There's not quite enough white stuff yet to hike up to my secret haunts even though I'm dancing nightly to encourage the Ice Gods. They're playing tough now that it's 2013.

This week we're seeing dank and drippy. Perhaps they're cooking up something spectacular for Feb-April. Hey, in these radical times, who knows what to expect?