"what's new in barrow?"

this is the question that cheryl has asked me a few times from chile... pretty much the standard answer is "not much..", then an update on what the animals have done recently. The picture of fisher is what he's been doing lately. the one legged dog made it onto the couch a couple day ago, and from the looks of it, even toola knew it was abnormal.















the snow is still here around the house a little, but only where there were drifts. here's the back yard on may 18 and then again on may 27. the week between the photos is when lar and mar were here and after they left, the warm weather went too. the snow has melted a bit more this past week, but it's really just the piles.





























and just for good measure...a gage picture in the super stylish sweater and hat that our friend lara made.

Gage rolls over...almost!

OK- this is getting sappy...I know! But I wanted to share...he likes his activity mat :)

Scratching his head...

Hi All
Well, another video for the site: this time it is Gage scratching his head. This was a new thing about a week ago...I am just behind on adding things to the blog. All is well in Chile. I did my presentation today and have another day of premeetings before the scientific committee meetings begin. We are getting used to where we are living and the places around us... have found the supermercado and all of the other places I don't remember the names of. All else is good. Gage ALMOST turned over tonight. That video will be added next... (how exciting!).

Chile 08!

We made it and Gage was an angel on the plane-- for ALL of the flights. The people of Chile LOVE babies...especially Gage. It is pretty funny-- they pretty much go apeshit over him (excuse the language...I can think of no better term). The ladies start talking and who knows what they are saying except it is nice and baby type stuff... Gin says it is the guys as well as the ladies...but I think that is cos' it is Gin wheeling him around ;)
All is well- we are tucked into our nice little apart-hotel. Tired as heck though and start early tomrrow, so I will share one video and call it a night. Another tomorrow...
CR

lar and mar go to barrow

this is ken now...lar and mar were here last week. cheryl and gage left for chile saturday morning and lar and mar left for home in the evening...that means i'm here with the animals and the birds outside. in the week that lar and mar were here the snow melt was pretty dramatic. it really was the last three days of warm sunny weather that made the snow vanish..and the water appear. along with the water, the birds are here in full force. there are loads of geese and gulls around the house and even more snow buntings and lapland longspurs eating the birdseed. and i'd say that the disappearing snow has also brought the reappearance of lemmings as the owls have been dining near the house with some regularity again. out on the roads we were able to see some golden plovers and red necked phalaropes among other shore birds that our not so good identification eyes just labelled as birds. after the winter when the only things we see are the once in a while raven or owl, it's nice to have some others to see. oh we also got to see an american kestrel right outside the house that apparently has been terrorizing the snow buntings around town lately.

New Gage Pictures

Figured it was time for a Gage picture fix :) Enjoy!

A week of whales

This week has been busy- we have had nine whales landed in the last week and a half and have been very busy at times! Right now, things have slowed down and I have some time to type...though motors become legal to use tomorrow so I suspect things may get busy quick. Gage is asleep in the crook of my arm. He has pretty much outgrown his 6 month old clothing... we are now in 6-12 month! He isdrooling and teething quite a bit- a pretty new development for him... no teeth yet though. We have also noted that he is putting a lot more firm weight on his feet and will stand a lot longer with support... he is a happy baby...we just need to get him into his crib!

Ken built a birdhouse this week and one of our males moved in almost immediately. I am in the middle of smoking about 15 lbs. of bowhead meat right underneath it...he hasn't seemed too happy!

Finally, National Geographic has been up here all week, filming the butchering and Craig and I doing our work. It was ok, but got a little annoying after a while. We will see how things turn out...hopefully they will make a cool film.

Leave some comments! I don't know if anyone is even looking at this besides me!

I am aiming for saturday postings...a not too difficult interval to meet, but, judging from my diary attempts, I will be lucky to get them posted once a week. This past week we had a visitor from Fairbanks, a big goodbye party for Mark, Layla and Luke and two cases of the stomach flu. We also had two bowhead whales landed (Sunday and Monday). I will add pictures as I get them organized. Cool at the beginning of the week, then very windy and a closed lead towards the end of the week. Cannot say I am too bummed out, as we both needed a weekend without whales and a few days to recuperate.

We said goodbye to Mark, Layla and Luke last night. It was a bummer- it was so nice for us to have another couple with a young child to hang out with in Barrow. They were super cool and will be missed- we hope that we will have a chance to visit with them in Juneau and maybe take a vacation or two somewhere fun :) The party last weekend was a lot of fun- the pinata did get used...though some serious whacks were needed (and a knife...thanks Craig!). Lots of people and lots of fun at the house.

The bowheads were on Sunday (ouch) and Monday. The Monday whale was over an hour away by snow machine! I was recovering from the stomach flu and it was a rough day for me (but it would have been more rough if Craig hadn't covered for me on Sunday!). A male, 28'10". Busy at work getting ready for the IWC meeting. Mar and Lar arrive on May 18th. That is about all for this week.