with love from field camp

i'm on the wood river right now, just outside of dillingham, counting spawning sockeye as they swim by. basically i sit in a metal "tower" perched 25 feet above the river, and click a little button with my thumb for each fish that swims by. yesterday afternoon - in one ten-minute time span - i counted over 1,900 reds. it's insane. it's like watching a river marathon from above, and i can't help but cheer them on. these are the survivors. they've lived a life at sea, escaped commerical fishermen, and are coming home to die.

the "camp" i'm at is also totally plush: running water, laundry, and as you can tell, nearby internet. (blogging! it feels kinda silly . . .)

cool things that i'm learning:
1. how to drive the skiff FAST (oh yeah!) and then pull up like a professional at the gravel bank;
2. how to botch a good skiff landing even when i thoroughly rehearse the steps in my head beforehand;
3. how to set the net for beach seineing (my favorite!);
4. how to tie a clove-hitch knot;
5. how to fake that i understand when science people talk science talk;
6. how to make betty crocker meatloaf;
7. how to spend entire days reading books and eating soup and taking naps;
8. how to say "roger that" over the side-band radio; (simon's favorite quote from my training: "i want to say 'roger, roger'. when do i get to say 'roger, roger'??")
9. how to fully appreciate the virtues of the dillingham radio show "open-line" - which is similar to "bush lines" on kbbi only you get to call in yourself and talk on air. (it is mostly a lot of happy birthdays, but sometimes a real jaw-dropper will come along. my partner, graham, said he once heard an old man call in ordering his wife to come home. it went something like: "charlene. YOU.COME.HOME.NOW. you're married, and i'm your husband." on air . . . can you imagine? painful and funny at the same time, and very alaska.)
10. how to dive into a moving skiff while standing off-shore in a foot of moving water. snippet of conversation from yesterday's boat pick-up:
me: (half in boat, one leg in, other trailing in water, butt in air, face planted on bow seat)"hi."
graham: "i could've pulled in closer."
me: "pretty gazelle-like, huh?"
graham: "yeah. sure was."

anyways, all is well - alive, and happy, and learning.