4-Wheeling in Tok

ATVing, 4-Wheeling, whatever you call it, we did it the other evening for our “Date Night.” Here are some photos from the evening.

And yes, the hubby brought his gun. Just in case we encountered a bear.

I also learned that people who “bait” bears, need to put up a notice to designate a bear baiting area to warn others.

Fun and learning in the great outdoors!

How Does Your Garden Grow…in Tok?

I used to have a brown thumb. I’m not really sure if my thumb was actually a brown one or if my brain just wasn’t tuned into plants, and therefore I forgot about them, and therefore they died. As I child, I had a vegetable garden and loved plucking fresh veggies from the vine. But looking back now, I realize that in the same way parents end up taking care of a child’s first pet, my folks took care of that garden to make those vegetables happen.

Fast forward to today. I have a beautiful yard here in Tok, and the woman who lived here before me had the greenest thumb. There is evidence of extraordinary plant-life and edible things all over now that the snow has melted. And I’m intimidated. No, I’m afraid. Very afraid. Because I just don’t think I can live up to any of it.

I got a call the other day from a lovely woman who asked about the greenhouse in my backyard.

“Yes, I have one. Did you need to use it? You’re welcome to it!” I offered, feeling very neighborly.

Awkward pause.

“Well, I was going to see if you’d like some tomato plants. I’ve started some, and you could put them in your greenhouse…”

I was at a loss. Me, tomato plants, greenhouse? I couldn’t make a connection. Yes, I saw that cute little greenhouse in the back yard but hadn’t even thought of using it. In fact, when my husband started cleaning it out, pulling last year’s dead things out of it, I asked him why he was doing it.

“So you can use it,” he replied, all proud in that “I’m checking things off my To-Do list” sort of way.

“But why? I don’t…want to use it,” I confessed. Using it meant doing stuff with plants that I just don’t know how to do and am not sure I have time to do or the memory to remember to do. Or the energy.

“What? I cleared out this whole garden for you! I thought you wanted a vegetable garden!” He was visibly dismayed.

“Honey, I think I want the IDEA of a vegetable garden. I want the fruits of the labor of a garden without the labor,” I explained, just figuring out the truth myself at that very moment. I explained how the fantasy of a vegetable garden has been with me since childhood but that my parents probably did all the hard work.

“I thought you wanted it,” he said, now thoroughly confused.

“Well, I did plant seeds!” I reassured him. “Although I can’t remember what I planted or where.”

And that was the truth. I spent several hours carefully digging holes and putting seeds into the ground then meant to write down what I was planting and where but after a few hours, I had completely forgotten. So now I have a Mystery Garden.

I’m also noticing that my garden beds are covered with a green something – probably a weed, maybe chickweed – that will most likely choke any of the great things I’ve planted putting all that effort (and it was effort as I strained, panted, sweated, and cursed) planting seeds. I’m completely paralyzed since I don’t know what it is or what to do about it.

Yes, I know, probably just pull it out. But look at the picture!! It is like a blanket already! Then again, I do love pulling weeds. I could pull weeds for hours. I find weed pulling to be a very zen activity, and my brain is in constant and desperate need of zen.So maybe I really do have it in me to do this gardening stuff.

P.S. We have those tomato plants plus a pepper plant I purchased from Patsy’s on Borealis. Hubby is “hardening up” the plants (a new term I learned last night while reading The Edible Garden), and they should be in the greenhouse in a few weeks).

Anyone know what that green stuff is and how best (without bad chemicals) to rid my garden of it? And if it is edible, how best to harvest and prepare it?

Memorial Day Weekend in Tok

It has been a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in Tok so far. Some good friends of ours came to visit on their way to Haines. We built a fire pit in our yard, then roasted hotdogs and vegetable kabobs for dinner last night (yes, we called Forestry to make sure it was okay). Topped it off with S’mores.

Then we went on a 2 and a half hour bike ride today, halfway to Tanacross and back. There are bike paths leading in several directions from Tok/to Tok making for some easy and safe riding. What a beautiful day!

How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend?

More about the Ahtna Cultural Summit

As promised, here’s more information about the Ahtna Cultural Summit being held in Glenallen May 29 and May 30. Full schedule here as a PDF file to download. Cultural Summit Agenda

Ahtna Cultural Summit
Glennallen High School
Friday, May 29, 2009

8:00 AM Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00 AM – Welcoming Remarks – Liana Charley John, AHF President/CEO, Eleanor Dementi, AHF Board Chair

Invocation – Chief Ben Neeley
Elder Address – Robert Marshall

9:45 AM – Keynote Address Fred John, Jr. – Mr. John will speak on the topic of cultural history as it relates to loss, generational grief, and events affecting the Ahtna people.

10:45 AM – BREAK

11:00 AM – Breakout Sessions (By Age Groups)

11:45 AM – Recap  – Each break out session will report back to the entire group on what came out of the session.

12:00 PM – Lunch

1:10 PM – Ahtna Heritage Dancers

1:30 PM – Breakout Sessions

3:00 PM – BREAK

3:15 PM – Skit

3:30 PM – Closing Remarks Nicholas Jackson, Ahtna, Inc. Board Chair
Saturday, May 30, 2009

8:00 AM – Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00 AM – Welcome Liana Charley John
Invocation Second – Chief Fred Ewan

9:15 AM – Keynote – Robert Charlie, Cultural Heritage & Education Institute – Mr. Charlie will address participants on the urgency to revive the Ahtna language and culture.

10:00 AM – BREAK

10:15 AM – Language Learning Paths

11:00 AM – Organizational Reports

Noon – Lunch

1:00 PM – Skits

1:15 PM – Breakout Sessions

2:30 PM – BREAK

2:45 PM – Wrap Up

4:00 PM – Evaluation

4:30 PM – Adjournment

PDF file to download. Cultural Summit Agenda

Finding Things in Tok

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To continue the conversation about finding things locally rather than taking business elsewhere, I thought I’d compile a list of the things I’ve been looking for and seeing if we’ve got it in Tok and I just don’t know it (or am asking the wrong people). Would love some input or suggestions!

1. A place to donate or trade in toddler clothing. I’m going to the Clothing Swap tonight at 6pm at Tok School with a bag full of 18-24 months girl clothing but am wondering if this is a regular event or another place I can bring clothes my daughter is outgrowing. I have heard there is a woman in town who takes lightly-used children’s items to provide to families in need. I’d like to connect with her as well.

2. Organic produce. I’m desperate for fresh, organic produce–fruits and veggies–or locally grown. (Yes, I know, grow my own. I’m getting started on that.)

3. Range-free eggs. I’ve heard folks do have chickens and will offer eggs for sale. When/where and how do I find that out?

4. Professional organizer. I’m looking to pay someone for a few hours of helping me set up and organize my home office. I was paying someone to help but they aren’t available any more. I’d like it to be someone who has done this professionally as I can use some guidance on setting up for efficiency and productivity.

5. Pedicures. It is summer! Where can one get a really good pedicure in Tok? (Yes, I know, do your own. Not the same.)

6. Blackout curtains. It is summer! Per comments on this post, Fred Meyers may be the place. Someone else said Loews has great supplies for these must-haves, particularly for the toddler. (Update: Found the perfect ones at Fred Meyer but they’re out of them as they switch over to a new style. Those should be in soon.)

These are just a few things that come to mind immediately. Fresh baked bread was on my list (along with the comment that yes, I know, I should bake my own) but just learned that Three Bears has a bakery and fresh bread. Now to find out the schedule and types of breads they bake!

Will report back with any solutions –or feel free to suggest some here– as well as the baking schedule at Three Bears!

Ahtna Cultural Summit in Glenallen this month

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I’m hoping to attend the Ahtna Cultural Summit  in Glenallen Fri. May 29 and Sat. May 30 at Glennallen High School.

From the flyer:

The Ahtna culture and language are dying out like a fire that hasn’t been tended. If we are to save what is left, we must act now. Join us as we discuss what we can do to revive what makes us Ahtna Koh’taene.

One of the rich but often overlooked aspects of the Tok community is its proximity to a large number of Alaska Native villages and peoples. I recently had the honor of attending a dinner for a Northway elder, my first experience with traditional events and foods from this area. I sampled moosehead soup and muskrat (a mild, oily meat) although I didn’t get a chance to taste the beaver or beaver tail.

I was struck by the community aspect of the event. Everything is a community effort, from the event preparation to the serving to the cleanup in an organic way based on friendship, hierarchy, and other understood  roles. This is not “event by committee” that I’m more used to where it is like a homework assignment to do your part. I look forward to more experiences and learning from our neighbors.

Recently, I missed a tremendous event in Anchorage – the Indigenous Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change. I’m (not) surprised at how little national coverage this global event received, and it was right in our back yard! If anyone attended and would like to share some stories, I’d be happy to publish them on this blog.

On a related note, I’ve been sitting for over four years on a proposal to do a documentary film about traditional knowledge and global warming, always pushing it back as life happened. I’m feeling like the time is now to revisit this project. I’m open to speaking with interested parties about this.

Another related piece of news is that there will be some archaeological test digs in the Refuge this summer. I’m hoping to interview the professor who is leading them and bring some of their information and findings to this blog.

I feel like some doors have been opened here because the time is now for reaching out and communicating with our neighbors, sharing knowledge and resources, and telling our stories to a wider audience. Our world and many of our communities are in crisis. Now is the time to come together.

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• Indigenous peoples talk climate change at Alaska summit (cbc.ca)
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With Heat Comes Crime in Tok

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The community is abuzz with the recent wave of crimes above and beyond the “usual occurrances” of public inebriation and driving while intoxicated. We’ve heard that there have been four burglaries in “town” that seem to be a too-early harbinger of summer.

I’ve been told by a number of people that the summer weather brings more than tourists and that we should watch out for a rise in crimes, particularly property-related ones. Transience can mean Tok becomes easy pickings on someone’s crime spree. Warm weather also brings out Tok’s youth and with limited outlets for their energy, boredom sometimes breeds mischief.

Here are details from the incident at the Tok General Store the Trooper “crime blotter:”

Case number: 09-29519

Type: Burglary

Text: On on 4/16/2009 at about 1100 hours, Alaska State Troopers responded to the Tok General Store following a report of burglary. Investigation revealed that someone forced entry into the store during the late night or early morning hours and stole several new cell phones, knives, and approximately six dollars in quarters. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information should contact the Alaska State Troopers at 883-5111.

Author: FLW0
Received Thursday, April 16, 2009 5:16 PM and posted Thursday, April 16, 2009 5:19 PM

Some folks think this is the work of mischievous kids in the area.

What can we do as a community to help protect our businesses? Clearly a good security system is too costly for many small businesses. Keeping an eye out more vigilantly could be in order, like a community crime stoppers group. If criminals – or bored kids – think that we’re all watching, they’re less likely to carry out these crimes.

I don’t know how anyone else feels about it, but it seems to me that a crime against one person in a community is really a crime against the whole community.

What are your thoughts on or experiences with crime in Tok?