Goodbye, St. Paul: Pt. 2

Well, things are drawing to a close here; I leave in two days after spending almost 60 days here - crazy!

I definitely feel a little bittersweet about my departure, but I'm looking forward to seeing you, my peeps! And eating at a restaurant, and perhaps even going to the cinema! Oh, the choices, the choices! Will I be completely overwhelmed?? Will I be eaten alive by the BIG CITY??? We were talking to a guy about Hawaii last night, how he goes there every now and then and how the hot weather is good for his arthritis. If this place had hot springs I'd be tempted to accept that substitute teacher job.

Cheeseburgers on Saturday, anyone? Just let me know when and where!

I crawled around the breakwater after work today and found The Spot for a little nap. The puffins were flying around, the waves were crashing, the sun was on my face. Please forgive me if I come back an unbearably earnest, self-satisfied nature freak. Feel free to wipe the beatific smile off my face - someone will need to.

OK. I have no idea what photo's I've posted but I hope you like them!

Bye! See you soon!

Goodbye, St. Paul: Pt. 1

Pleasantries

Hi guys,

I realize I've been bombarding you with the gruesome and the dead, so here are some compensatory pix of flowers and the like, AKA "I discovered the macro function on my camera". But seriously...are these wee flowers not beautfiul?? Did I spell that right?? We have some arctic poppies, a violet, a white flower of some sort, a monkshood, and some wild celery (puuchki to the locals).

It's been an absolutely beautiful day today, an exceptional day. I walked to work with the full moon low in the sky, illuminating the sea with a golden glow, and then I sat drinking my PBR on the beach at about 7 pm, enjoying the sun on my face. When the skies are clear and the sun's out, this place is pretty incredible, and I'm not just saying that cause I've had 6 drinks. The skies are red tonight, maybe it'll be a sailor's delight tomorrow. Hopefully. Another reindeer has been shot so we're in for some heart 'n' liver treats for dinner tomorrow. We had a delicious potluck tonight - halibut cheeks w/ aioli from me, venison chili from Bob, and various veggies from everyone else.

Yes, it's been a good Saturday, and I hope you've had the same!

Tripe Nite 2008!

Ho ho ho!!!

Reindeer on St. Paul sure make for good eatin'! Terry the Vet and his son Troy shot two of these fine creatures last week and kindly went back out into the field at about midnight, with me and my bud Erin, to collect some tripe, which we naively promised to transform into a delightful appetizer. All went well in the end, but quite a bit of prayer was involved. And a suppression of our gag reflexes.
After some cosultation, we determined that we were looking for two of the four stomachs: the omasum and the rumen. Looking for a set of antlers and a bag of guts in the pitch-black arctic tundra with one flashlight isn't the easiest thing in the world, but we used our noses and eventually came upon what we were looking for. Satisfied, Terry the Pro got to work, we took the requisite photographs, and then we headed back to civilization, where it took us an hour and a half to clean the fucking shit.
Then we boiled it for four hours. It fucking stank like poo dragged through the asshole of Death. Some of the more adventurous Americans chowed down on the plain boiled tripe, but I had to disguise it with some spray cheese on a Triscuit. In the end, we wound up cutting it up into tiny strips and stewing it in a heavily flavoured sauce.
And...I'm happy to report that it was a hit! All the haters and doubters loved it!

We are currently in the process of attempting to make soap from the reindeer fat. The yarrow is drying, the fat is rendered, and the lye has arrived. Wish us luck!

Broken-Ankle Saturday

Dear friends,

I hope this post finds you happy, healthy and whole, as the lady in the white turban has said to me for the past 7 years. Well, I suppose she wasn't talking about a blog post but never mind.

The first photograph on this here entry is that of a fur seal pup in the arm of Terry the Vet. I cannot tell you where this photograph was taken in case the animal po-po comes after our asses, but I can say that it was part of a dramatic and heroic pup rescue performed several days ago. Hopefully the wee guy/gal was reunited with its mother and not tossed around like a football by some aggro bulls (which I witnessed on Monday - tragic).

Spot the puffin!

I busted my ankle on the way to work the other morning. Ouch! Having a sprained ankle sucks! I can't believe that my employer makes me walk to work in the dark! There are no streetlights here, obviously, and I like to hurry through a shortcut that involves many rough spots. Someone suggested that I call a taxi from now on. Ha! I think I will! Yesterday, I slammed my thumb in the door of a truck. I am a walking disaster these days, and it is all documented for your viewing pleasure.

KUHB, the voice of the Pribilofs, is blaring away with its usual eclectic mix of Ugly Kid Joe, the Cure and random hiphop. I am having a good day cause it began with pancakes, OJ and coffee, and now I'm listening to the radio and writing to you, my dear readers.

I hope you are having a good day too!