The Zeiger Family Homestead Blog

It’s beginning to look like I may need to apologize for the goat comment. The first week of March, after an ambiguous beginning, turned into a series of wild weather events, with heavy snow followed immediately by extreme thaw, and storm after storm. Pretty typical weather for spring in Southeast Alaska, actually, but still!

A snow squall races up Lynn Canal on Sunday (Mark Zeiger photo).

The cabin creaks and moans like an aging tall ship rounding The Horn. Branches stand impaled a foot or more deep in the trail. The wind holds water in the bay, making it uncrossable at the usual spots two full hours after the 13-foot tide level. The tarp covering the woodpile will not stay put.

I don’t really think I called this weather down on our heads by making light of an old weather marker. But then again, maybe an apology wouldn’t hurt?

Years ago, when the movie Independence Day came out, my brother, Dave and I decided to go see it. I mentioned this to our sister, Beth, in a phone call. She’d seen the film. Chuckling, she offered this advice:

“SuSPEEEND disbelief!” (more…)

Saturday, we hiked out to go to town. Aly had a library meeting, we had a dinner date with friends, and in between, a whole lot of laundry to do.

We’ve been very lucky this year. Our bay crossings haven’t been as windy as they usually are at this season. Normally, because of the bay’s high sides and low passage over to the Chilkat River, bay winds tend to be stronger than those we experience on the edge of Lynn Canal. We’re often confronted with more wind on the crossing than we’d expected. This year, more often than not, we’ll gear up for the wind we’ve got on the canal only to find (to our relief) that the bay is calm.

Saturday was not one of those days. (more…)