Basketball at Midnight

I’ve been hanging out here in Homer, the halibut capital of the world, for the last couple days. It’s a funky little place, and the people at the hostel are pretty cool. I got myself out of Anchorage as fast as possible: the hostel there was eerie and unsettling. The first day here, I met up with Meghan and Leaf (or Lief? Leif?), an 18 year old vermonter in a kayaking course, and a 29-almost-30 guy from, most recently, Key West, looking for some time to relax. The three of us went out to a beach and had a bonfire and split a pint of whiskey, waiting for the complete sunset (which wasn’t until midnight! There’s about 20 hours of light each day!).

Yesterday, we cooked up a roast for the hostel and I made a fresh raspberry pie (Meghan picked the berries), and this morning at 7, a few guys and I went clamming on the beach and are going to cook up a chowder and a scampi for dinner. Oh right, and Halibut tacos. We w ere inspired by a tourist trap sign advertising them. There’s an off chance I’ll be going to a small island with a few folks tomorrow, but otherwise I’ll be headed north again soon.

I also went out to a townie bar and sat with the old Alaskan natives. Quite a bunch of characters would pack a bar at 2:00 pm. The guy I ended up sitting next to went to Wash U in 76-78 for a masters in fine arts/ sculpture. Back then, the masters labs were out in Tyson, about 40 miles west of the city. He moved up in ‘83 to do construction here. As he said, “I guess I don’t use my degree much… well…. maybe a little bit in carpentry, but really…. not much.”
Until next time!