Cutting whale for the Thanksgiving feast

This is maktak from the whale Larry Aiken lost his cell phone for when he threw the harpoon into it. Larry is here in the Iñupiat Heritage Center too, along with his captain George Adams, Wayne Toovak and other crewmembers cutting bowhead for the Thanksgiving feast.

I was going to use a picture of Larry cutting with these men as as a carry-over from breakfast, but I think I need to be sure the whaler women also get credit they so greatly deserve. On the right is Diana Martin, Iñupiat Heritage Center Museum Curator. She is an expert on the weapons, tools, clothing and other implements from her culture reaching back into time immemorial. As curator, she watches over and cares for the Heritage Center's growing collection of artifacts. Today, she has also been watching over her daughter Katherine who she has been teaching the Iñupiat ways of food preparation. She has also taught her how to prepare the backstrap from caribou into the superstrong, waterproof thread used to sew ugruk seal skins into the boat cover for the umiak used in the spring hunt.

Text added at 5:40 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - day 56 and counting.

The toddler figures it out

As it turns out, all this button pushing and knob turning, door opening and such that Lynxton has been doing and scaring us half to death with and driving us crazy - it's just been his effort to figure things out. Now he's got the microwave figured out, he knows that you open the door, put in an item of food, press a few buttons from the upper panel, then press the lone button on the second to lowest panel, the microwave comes on, makes noise, starts turning inside, you step aside, patiently wait until it dings, then you press the great big button at the very bottom. The door pops open and grandma or grandpa takes out the food item. Then you close the door. In fact just before he closes door, he says "Doh da do!" - "Close the door!"

I never wanted to be a man called "grandpa!" because I never wanted to acknowledge that the process of growing old applies to me. Now, sometimes, I feel like I could enjoy being a full-time grandpa. I still don't want to acknowledge that the process of growing old applies to me, though. Somehow, having young people in your life kind of keeps you feeling young - when you're not too exhausted to feel anything but exhausted.