Columns

Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)

It Is Germane. Part 1

What does my recent sojourn in Florida have to do with my coming out? Reader, it is germane.

Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)
If warm weather and blue skies aren't enough to tell it's summer in Juneau, Slack Tide offers up 36 other sure signs of the season. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Slack Tide: 36 Signs Summer is Back in Juneau

The return of whales, salmon and tourists… and, of course, closeout deals on steer manure.

If warm weather and blue skies aren't enough to tell it's summer in Juneau, Slack Tide offers up 36 other sure signs of the season. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
The author takes a few shots of the sun and lantern-lit tent after sunset on a bear hunt earlier this spring. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: At the speed of sound

Being reflective is not about high ground. It’s not about your place compared to others…

The author takes a few shots of the sun and lantern-lit tent after sunset on a bear hunt earlier this spring. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Mary Goddard holds salmon filets wrapped in deer heart leaves. (Courtesy Photo / Bethany Sonsini Goodrich)

Planet Alaska: The gift of deer heart

Deer heart is one of the early and most abundant greens in Tlingit Aaní.

Mary Goddard holds salmon filets wrapped in deer heart leaves. (Courtesy Photo / Bethany Sonsini Goodrich)
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Gimme a Smile: Living in a time of greatness

We are living in a time of greatness.

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Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)

Coming Out: A living name

Names that live and breathe like we do, and that sometimes change like we do.

Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)
The author’s appreciation for steelhead has turned into something like reverence considering what’s happening to populations in the Lower 48 and Canada. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Silent steel

“You forget most of what ends up in the freezer, but those steelhead, they stick with you.”

The author’s appreciation for steelhead has turned into something like reverence considering what’s happening to populations in the Lower 48 and Canada. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Hoonah’s Alaska Youth Stewards helped make improvements to Moby and water the plants in summer 2021. (Courtesy Photo / Jillian Schuyler)

Resilient Peoples & Place: Moby the Mobile Greenhouse cultivates community

It presents opportunities to grow food knowledge and skills.

Hoonah’s Alaska Youth Stewards helped make improvements to Moby and water the plants in summer 2021. (Courtesy Photo / Jillian Schuyler)
A male red-winged blackbird displays his showy red patches and calls to a rival male (Gina Vose photo)

On the Trails: Birds and beetles at Kingfisher Pond

Something is almost always happening at Kingfisher Pond.

A male red-winged blackbird displays his showy red patches and calls to a rival male (Gina Vose photo)
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Slack Tide: Good day, sunshine

Good morning, good morning, here comes the sun king.

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A golden-crowned sparrow nibbled on elderberry flower buds. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Enjoying birds, blooms and more near the Mendenhall Glacier

The trail to Nugget Falls was a lively place in early May.

A golden-crowned sparrow nibbled on elderberry flower buds. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)

Coming Out: My second skin

I’m sloughing off those old pernicious ideas and wearing a second skin.

Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)
A white-winged scoter handles a prickly sea urchin. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: An April scrapbook of little observations

Spring wings and other things.

A white-winged scoter handles a prickly sea urchin. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
Michelle Bonnet Hale (Courtesy Photo)

Coming Out: Dodged that bullet

“You deserve your own process.”

Michelle Bonnet Hale (Courtesy Photo)
The author’s dog Cora rides a canoe on the Yukon River. Two-thirds of all the flowing water in Alaska makes its way into the Yukon. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska’s water crop is a natural resource

Alaska’s freshwater supply is so abundant the numbers are hard to comprehend.

The author’s dog Cora rides a canoe on the Yukon River. Two-thirds of all the flowing water in Alaska makes its way into the Yukon. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
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I Went to the Woods: Here they come

Tourism isn’t all good and it isn’t all bad.

  • Apr 27, 2022
  • By Jeff Lund For the Juneau Empire
  • NewsColumns
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George Divoky and his friend Matt Thomas pose in front of Divoky’s cabin on Cooper Island after repairing polar-bear damage in April, 2022. (Courtesy Photo / Craig George)

Alaska Science Forum: His 48th summer on top of the world

In the ’80s, 225 pairs of black guillemots nested on Cooper Island. Last year: 25 pairs counted.

George Divoky and his friend Matt Thomas pose in front of Divoky’s cabin on Cooper Island after repairing polar-bear damage in April, 2022. (Courtesy Photo / Craig George)
Nikki is an old favorite that we see near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center; here she is with a couple of new cubs. Black bears mate in early summer, but the fertilized egg is not implanted until fall; then gestation takes about seven months, resulting in a tiny cub that won’t emerge from the den until early summer. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)

On the Trails: Reproductive delays in mammals

By Mary F. Willson For the Juneau Empire Human animals have a simple, direct system: copulation and sperm delivery may lead to fertilization of an… Continue reading

Nikki is an old favorite that we see near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center; here she is with a couple of new cubs. Black bears mate in early summer, but the fertilized egg is not implanted until fall; then gestation takes about seven months, resulting in a tiny cub that won’t emerge from the den until early summer. (Courtesy Photo / Kerry Howard)
Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)
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Coming Out: Swimming to Hell

The self as examined by punk rockers and Sartre.

Jane Hale (Courtesy Photo)
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