photography
Inupiaq 101
Ice fishing
Click the panorama below for the full size version:
Walking stick
When you walk out on the sea ice, a walking stick is crucial. The tip is used for testing for good ice to step on. What’s good ice and what’s bad ice is pretty simle–good ice is thick enough to walk on. You walk with the stick horizontal–if you fall, the stick provides something to hold onto, to pull yourself out with, and (very important!) it keeps you from falling all the way in. Falling all the way in, aside of the obvious unpleasantness of submersion in very, very very cold water, is a dangerous thing because of the current. I’ve heard of several folks’ lives being saved by their stick.
Ed took me out with him for a little ice fishing, let me borrow one of his walking sticks.
So what’d I spend my afternoon doing? Working on a walking stick :-)
Christmas celebration at the Diomede School
From the helipad
From the north the sea ice keeps coming from the Chukchi sea.
In the south the sun sets over the Bering sea.
Sea Ice
From times past
Thanksgiving top trip
Happy Thanksgiving!
The northern lights
Fourth try’s the charm.
It helped that it was a wildly-rare calm night. When it’s windy I have to hug the tripod to keep it from blowing over. This would work dandy if it weren’t for the fact that my body temperature drops to violent-shiver-level quickly when I stand still hugging a tripod in the wind for anything more then 10-15 seconds.
Silver and gold
A lot of sky and ocean
Sea grass
Crescent
