Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Waiting . . . .

It has been a very long time since I blogged and I don't really know why.  It is easy to not blog - the vast majority of the world does it.  I could say it is because late winter is not particularly good for photography with the bad weather and the flat light coating everything with a gritty greyish tint, turning even the best composed photo into a something best deleted and forgotten.  I could say I've been busy, 85 days and counting without a day off, with a coworker who was missing in action with a sore shoulder for 350 hours of those 85 days, leaving me shorthanded during the busiest time of the year.
When I think about it though, what really has kept me from writing anything is the waiting.  Waiting for winter to begin - sure, we've had some wind, gusts to 150 mph last week that had shed and roofs tumbling all over the island, blowing three containers into the Bering Sea and breaking moorings in the Small Boat Harbor.  When I think of all the things blowing around that day, it was the caribou antlers blowing like tumbleweed down the middle of the road that was the most strange.  We've also had snow, in small amounts, that has melted away before amounting to anything.  I got out my snowblower one time all winter, just to see if it ran, and that was it.  With April around the corner, this will go down in the books as the winter that wasn't . . .
We've also been waiting to see what will happen at work.  The company I work for was sold and has been consolidated with our sister company, Westward Seafoods.  Pretty much every single thing about the sale have been positive - I have friends that work at Westward, they offer a benefit package that is equal or better in some ways, yet the whole process will involve an incredible amount of change, and we really don't even know for sure if we will have jobs when it is all over, and we definitely don't know what our family income will be.  So we're waiting.  Since the place we are employed was the company sold, it is disconcerting to be faced with changes we will have very little control over, no matter how positive the experience has been so far.  Since Goldfish and I both work there, our eggs are in the same basket.  We hope for the best while we are waiting . . .
The island, meanwhile, does not wait and does not wonder.  It moves through time as it always has, and winter is giving way to spring.  I saw the first bird at the feeder the other day, eating seed that has been sitting untouched for months.  We have just a couple more days left in the season, and our first plane loads of processors fly beginning Monday, heading home for a two month break.
This shows a tumbleweed shed, hundreds of feet from the nearest house, still in good shape with the doors closed.  I wonder every day when I drive by what the contents of the shed look like after being tossed by the wind . . . . I'm not sure who the owner is, the big blow was over a week ago, and the shed sitting waiting . . . 

8 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Good to hear from you again; I enjoy your photos. Being from West Virginia, I'm impressed by both the beauty and the starkness of the place. We have the first, but not the second. Like the shot of the church, Russian Orthadox I assume. We found one sitting in a little village in the middle of nowhere in Ohio one time. Hope all goes well with your job, been there, done that. I'll be looking for your next post.

Betsy, Ivory Rose and Tusker said...

agree, your blog is always enjoyed, pictures and words. love the caribou antlers as tumbleweed.

Unknown said...

Hey little bro, I didnt' know that there were caribou on the island. I hope all is well with you. Good to hear from you. Miss ya

Rick Fortin said...

Curiously, I see on March 23rd Westward was advertising for processor employees for Summer 2011 in Dutch Harbor. Hope everything shakes out good, we'll throw a few prayers your way...

Alaska Steve said...

Sis, the caribou are on the next island or two to the west, the antlers were in some hunter's yard, not secured. I see someone rescued them and they are now draped over a rock beside the road.
Rick, Westward is always looking for processors, it's an on-going process . . . thanks for the prayers!

Lori said...

I was so wondering what was going on with you. I missed your blogging - so let's just not let that much time lapse again; especially now since I am really concerned about you and Goldfish and your employement. Please keep us posted or send me an email (I've sent you some cards, but don't think you have opened them).

No good photography this time of year - no, I don't believe that because all you post is amazing no matter what - every picture tells a story and that's why I've loved your blog all these years (plus I admire your words of wisdom).

I will keep you and GF in my thoughts and prayers and honestly believe that good things happen to good people - like you guys!!!

Trevor said...

Amazing the power of nature when it crumbles our little man-made things. I'm crazy excited about this Maine trip! Hoping to give you a call this weekend!

Love,

T

Bloviating Zeppelin said...

Steve, I can completely understand your tenuous position.

It's what the nation faces: uncertainty. Yes, there may be a path envisioned but, because of your realization of reality and what has occurred in our recent path, you distrust change. We all do. Change isn't just a word, it's a mantra or a death threat. It can take every bit of your world and turn it upside down and, further, eliminate everything you thought you once possessed.

I completely understand.

It's like aiming for a goal but, while you wait, you know there is a sniper somewhere, just waiting for you to expose a hand, a leg, your head. . .

You know that, literally, your entire concept of reality could change, disappear, be subsumed, in but a moment.

So yes, I understand. I've worked for 35+ years at my current department, I've worked for two others and still, at 60+, I can't retire and I can't predict the future. The new kids are VERY pissed at me for having not moved aside. But, now, it's predominantly every person or family for itself.

And that is, sir, how YOU need to look at and examine YOUR situation. You can't worry or fret about others. You'd best worry about how things will impact YOU and Goldfish.

That's, these days, pretty much the best you can do.

BZ