I'm so glad I live here.....

This has to be the most beautiful place in the world! Southeast Alaska - who knew the weather was so nice here? When I thought of Alaska before, I pictured a frozen tundra with penguins and walruses sliding around on ice. Boy was I wrong! Here on Prince of Wales Island, the 3rd largest island in the States by the way, the weather is usually beautiful and the fishing is grand. Year round temperatures are between 30 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with a good deal of average rainfall per year. The result is a true temperate rainforest, with beautiful old growth yellow and red cedar, hemlock, spruce, and alder trees, along with a selection of just about any kind of wild berry you can think of as well as an exotic array of wild mushrooms twice a year.

On any given day in the spring, summer, and early fall, one is likely to see a pod of killer whales, humpback whales, sea lions, or seals coming to share in the salmon harvest that is so plentiful here. The native Alaskan people still practice the traditional fishing methods of beach seining to get their yearly supply of fish to last through the winter. Sockeye, Dog, and Coho salmon are plentiful at different times throughout the spring and summer, and other fish such as Red Snapper, Rock Cod, and Halibut can be found as well if you go out a little further and fish the bottom. The Sitka Black-tailed deer are everywhere, and they are delicious. Vastly different from deer that I've eaten in Texas that had that gamey venison flavor, Alaskan deer taste more like a fine veal. It's the best meat I've ever had. The only other residents here are black bears and timberwolves, which one doesn't see very often. The wolves are pretty stealthy, and not a big fan of the human. The bears however are hungry, curious, and plentiful. It's not unusual to see them fishing or picking berries, mama bears out with their cubs playing on the beach. They're smaller than the grizzly bears I've always seen on TV, and they don't have much interest in bothering the humans.

My house is right on the beach, and I have to use a skiff to get to the town of Klawock, which is a 5 minute boat ride to go grocery shopping, gas up, etc. My island, Wadleigh Island, is virtually uninhabited year round, with mostly summertime travellers coming to stay for 2 weeks or so in July or August. The rest of the year, I'm just about alone out here, which is fine with me! It's the most peaceful place I've ever been. I have learned alot from being here, from myself as well as the beautiful people of Klawock. I have never met a nicer bunch of folks than the people who live in this tiny fishing village , pop. 1000. They are mostly Tlingit or Haida, and most of them have lived here all their lives, and are descendants of multiple generations of residents. They still practice many of their traditional cultures, and they are vigilant in making sure that their children know of the ways of their people as well. The rest of the world seems but a distant memory to us here....the island moves at an island pace. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. We don't get too upset about it, because tomorrow is another day, and there will be another plane coming in eventually!! The mail and the groceries will get here when they get here. We take care of each other, and live in respect to each other and the land. It is a community in the truest sense of the word. It's pretty cool to live somewhere where there is one policeman who doesn't even put on his uniform every day, unless he has to when the phone rings!!! The rest of the world should take an example.....