Walking While Black

Here's an excerpt for a beautifully written essay in Lit Hub on walking by a Jamaican connoisseur of walking. The whole essay is worth reading, but in these days police killing black males (and who knows who else that don't get headlines because nobody caught them on video), maybe this rather long excerpt will help people understand why African-Americans are angry and weary.

Garnette Cadogan first writes in this essay about learning to walk in Kingston to avoid an abusive step-father at home. Then again as a college student in New Orleans. Now he's in New York, having gone back to Kingston to visit his dying grandmother just before Katrina struck. An aunt in New York dissuades him from returning to New Orleans and to come to New York first. It helped she gave him the airline ticket. So now he's learned the rules of walking while black in New York, but he gets careless and, late to meet friends, runs to the subway station.

"After a sumptuous Italian dinner and drinks with friends, I was jogging to the subway at Columbus Circle—I was running late to meet another set of friends at a concert downtown. I heard someone shouting and I looked up to see a police officer approaching with his gun trained on me. “Against the car!” In no time, half a dozen cops were upon me, chucking me against the car and tightly handcuffing me. “Why were you running?” “Where are you going?” “Where are you coming from?” “I said, why were you running?!” Since I couldn’t answer everyone at once, I decided to respond first to the one who looked most likely to hit me. I was surrounded by a swarm and tried to focus on just one without inadvertently aggravating the others. 

It didn’t work. As I answered that one, the others got frustrated that I wasn’t answering them fast enough and barked at me. One of them, digging through my already-emptied pockets, asked if I had any weapons, the question more an accusation. Another badgered me about where I was coming from, as if on the 15th round I’d decide to tell him the truth he imagined. Though I kept saying—calmly, of course, which meant trying to manage a tone that ignored my racing heart and their spittle-filled shouts in my face—that I had just left friends two blocks down the road, who were all still there and could vouch for me, to meet other friends whose text messages on my phone could verify that, yes, sir, yes, officer, of course, officer, it made no difference. 

For a black man, to assert your dignity before the police was to risk assault. In fact, the dignity of black people meant less to them, which was why I always felt safer being stopped in front of white witnesses than black witnesses. The cops had less regard for the witness and entreaties of black onlookers, whereas the concern of white witnesses usually registered on them. A black witness asking a question or politely raising an objection could quickly become a fellow detainee. Deference to the police, then, was sine qua non for a safe encounter. 

The cops ignored my explanations and my suggestions and continued to snarl at me. All except one of them, a captain. He put his hand on my back, and said to no one in particular, “If he was running for a long time he would have been sweating.” He then instructed that the cuffs be removed. He told me that a black man had stabbed someone earlier two or three blocks away and they were searching for him. I noted that I had no blood on me and had told his fellow officers where I’d been and how to check my alibi—unaware that it was even an alibi, as no one had told me why I was being held, and of course, I hadn’t dared ask. From what I’d seen, anything beyond passivity would be interpreted as aggression. 

The police captain said I could go. None of the cops who detained me thought an apology was necessary. Like the thug who punched me in the East Village, they seemed to think it was my own fault for running. 

Humiliated, I tried not to make eye contact with the onlookers on the sidewalk, and I was reluctant to pass them to be on my way. The captain, maybe noticing my shame, offered to give me a ride to the subway station. When he dropped me off and I thanked him for his help, he said, “It’s because you were polite that we let you go. If you were acting up it would have been different.” I nodded and said nothing."

I first became aware of 'walking while black' in the summer of 1967 when I visited my Peace Corps  roommate from the summer before (on my way to the second summer of training) at the University of Missouri and he pointed out all his escape routes and the people he needed to escape from.  I wrote about that in a post about the University of Missouri football players speaking up about racism on campus last November.

I've had heard numerous examples like these over the years of how the United States looks very different to blacks than it does to whites.  Cadogan talks about these issues more elegantly than most.

One more thing.  Did you notice this line?

"None of the cops who detained me thought an apology was necessary."

I can understand cops stopping suspects and being nervous.  But when they find out they made a mistake, why wouldn't they apologize?  Because they figure he's guilty of something else and deserves this?  Because they enjoyed getting their aggression out on him?  Because they think they don't have to?

When I did grievance work, I found that most people who were abused, simply wanted an apology, and if the offending supervisor had just said, "I'm sorry" the incident(s) never would have been elevated to a formal grievance.  I think African-Americans might be more sympathetic to cops if their encounters with them weren't so random, so demeaning, and if they were given an apology afterward.  Only the captain in this case acted with any decency at all.  After he'd been humiliated and mistreated and eventually was clearly not the person they were looking for.  The only thing he had in common with the suspect was his skin color.

And I'd strongly recommend reading the whole essay.  Walking down the street in most US cities without thinking about being stopped by the police is one of the privileges white people have that blacks don't.  This essay richly riffs on that theme.

Black Lives Matter Rally Anchorage

This seems to have been the theme for the Anchorage Black Lives Matter rally.











Here's part the crowd along Northern Lights and New Seward Highway about 9:30pm (yes, for you folks outside of Alaska, the sunset was still a couple hours away.)  The rally began at 8pm with representatives of the community and officials talking to the crowd.




Mayor Ethan Berkowitz (in the white shirt) talking to the crowd as everyone linked arms.














The police chief also spoke and here he is with the mayor listening to the other speakers.















Part of the crowd listening to the speakers.

















Lots of people had their cell phones and were talking pictures and videos, both the people in the rally, and later, cars driving by all the demonstrators and their signs.

More of the crowd listening.











Local NAACP member Kevin McGee, woman I don't know, Assembly member Forest Dunbar, and Mayor's staff member, George Martinez.








After the speeches, the crowd lined up along New Seward Highway and along Northern Lights and waved signs and chanted Black Lives Matter, and sometimes All Lives Matter.




 

I have to say that after last night's shootings in Dallas, I found myself wondering how safe going to this rally would be.  That's not really something I've dealt with before.  The only police I was aware of were the police chief and much later some officers who asked people to leave the median and go back to the side of the street where all the other protesters were.

And when people were lined up on New Seward Highway, I couldn't help think about some of the people driving by who would not agree with the sentiment of this rally.  And Alaskan's carry guns.  But many of the people driving by honked and waved in support and people kept calm and there was no violence.

I'm guessing there were 300-400 people there, though there could have been more.  People of a variety of racial backgrounds were there.  (I counted people along Northern Lights Blvd.  When I got 15, I just looked at similar sized clusters.  There were about 6 groups of 15 there.  Then I scanned the rest of the crowd and estimated from there.  Fairly simple, but it gives a reasonable ball park figure.)

If there were 400, that would be similar to a rally of about 10,000 in New York City.  (See my explanation of NY Equivalence in this 2008 post about a women's anti-Palin protest.  Populations have risen a bit and I haven't recalculated, but if NY's population increased about the same rate as Anchorage's did, it should be still pretty close.  The point is that while 400 people may not seem a lot, it's the equivalent of about 10,000 in New York City and that would be a big demonstration.)

Nasturtium

	From Online Etymology: "nasturtium (n.) mid-12c., "plant of the mustard family, like watercress," from Latin nasturtium "cress;" the popular etymology explanation of the name (Pliny) is that it is from Latin *nasitortium, literally "nose-twist," from nasus "nose" (see nose (n.)) + past participle of torquere "to twist" (see torque (n.)); the plant so called for its pungent odor. Modern application to a South American trailing plant with orange flowers first recorded 1704."
"While most edible flowers have a subtle flavor, nasturtiums knock your socks off with their peppery taste. Plus, it's not just the flowers and buds that are packed with a zippy flavor; the young leaves are tender and edible as well. Nasturtiums are popular with chefs and home gardeners because their colorful flowers not only dress up a plate, they're high in vitamins A, C (10 times as much as lettuce), and D." [From National Garden Association]
"This Peruvian native was introduced into Europe back about 1686. During the late 1700s, the famous Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus noted the similarity in appearance between the plant's brilliant flowers and the gold (and often blood-stained) helmets — called tropaea — worn by ancient Roman warriors. Hence the Latin name Tropaeolum." [From MotherEarthNews]
	In Observations on the Colors of Flowers (1899),  Eliphalet Williams Hervey writes that the stripes going down on the nasturtiums are  'honey guides' for insects. (pp 57-59)
Recipe from Horcticult We call this salad The Loro: Ingredients (serves two)  – 10 nasturtium flowers, rinsed thoroughly in cold water  – goat cheese  – 6 oz. baby greens  – 2 tablespoons almonds  – balsamic vinaigrette  – raisins  – 1 clove garlic, minced
	Recipe continued Directions:  1. Roll goat cheese into balls of about ½-inch diameter.  2. Peel away and discard nasturtium sepals, then gently pluck the petals.  3. Smooth petals onto goat cheese balls, arranging them into a floral shape.  5. Toss remaining ingredients  6. Salt and pepper to taste.  7. Garnish with petal-covered cheese balls.  8. Graze!

Launching Cars Off Cliffs And Rockets To Jupiter - Short Term Versus Long Term Thinking

Two stories on the front page of the Alaska Dispatch News Wednesday, July 6, 2016:

ARTICLE 1:  The one with pictures is an Alaska story about launching cars over a cliff as part of Fourth of July celebrations.

ARTICLE 2:  The one below is an international (interplanetary?) story about the Juno probe to Jupiter.

I don't want to read too much into these stories, but I can't help thinking they symbolize two ends of the continuum of human development:  Short term thinking at one end and long term thinking at the other end.

One article tells us about childlike, instant gratification.  That's acknowledged in the article:

"'Any little kid's dream is to roll a rock down a hill. This is times 10,' said Arnie's son, Dustin Hrncir."

And there's even some science in the video (at the online link above) when one person comments, "Gravity always wins."

And they say they drain the fluids before and clean up the mess after.


The other tells us about humans who have to do an amazing amount of calculation, planning, and then have to wait five years to see whether their launch was successful.  People who think this patiently and carefully,  make possible the cars launched over the cliff at Glacier View.

One group takes pleasure in solving incredibly complex puzzles to increase humankind's understanding of the universe, the other takes pleasure in fairly simple problems like launching cars over the cliff.

How we think is invisible to others, and often to ourselves.  We see the outcomes maybe, but not the thoughts.  We might know one man shot another, but we can't know if it was intended or not.  

Over the years, I've discovered that people assume everyone 'thinks' the same way, but there are lots of factors to consider when it comes to thinking and people combine those factors differently.

One of the big differences in this case is between short-term and long-term thinking.  Probably not too many people in the world today do the kind of long term-thinking folks at NASA do.  But any organizations that deal with long term projects - like expanding the Panama Canal, building a pipeline, inventing a self-driving car - have to think long term.

When I think, for example, of Putin's engagement in Syria, I know that Russians play chess a lot more than Americans.  Good chess players think long term - three or more moves ahead.  I'm sure that the Brexit vote is an intended consequence of Putin's intervention in Syria.  Move 1:  force people to flee.  Move 2:  they have few places to go but Europe  Move 3)  Europeans feel invaded by different cultures  Move 4:  Some EU countries, chafing under the EU regulations about refugees, start to look for a way out.  Move 5:  An internally fractured Europe can't agree on how to deal with Russian aggression on former Soviet countries.  Move 6:  Russia can do what it wants with little opposition from Europe.  Putin didn't necessarily anticipate Brexit, but something like it.

When George W. Bush intervened in Iraq, I'm not sure he had even thought out his initial move all that carefully.  The media and Democrats can say what they want about Trump's comments on Saddam Hussein, but it's clear that he kept Iran and internal terrorism in check.  I don't think Bush thought through what would happen when that check on Iran and internal Iraqi dissent was removed.  I'm not endorsing Hussein's methods at all.  His rule was brutal, tyrannical, and cruel.  Not anything an American presidential candidate should laud.  However, a chess player would never have invaded Iraq without anticipating the aftermath of Hussein's fall.

I think a lot of Trump supporters are getting instant gratification through Trump's expressions of their anger and prejudices.  A lot of short term thinking.  Like the people who voted for Brexit, I think the people supporting Trump would quickly find their lives worse off rather than better.  Because they haven't thought out what the next moves will be.

In an Alaskan aside, I heard officials in the Matsu Borough this morning upset by the magnitude of the cuts caused by the Governor's line item vetoes.  I have to say that their representatives and senators have been among the loudest calling for no new revenues and greater cuts in spending.  They  seem to be getting what they were asking for.  (I'd note the one Republican conservative representing Matsu who has been more reasonable on these issues - Colver - is the target of the Republican party's wrath.)


Generalizations are always tricky

But let's be thoughtful about both groups.  Making assumptions about people based on one act in their lives, often leads to miscalculations.  I'm guessing the NASA folks can do incredibly childish things when they're unwinding and having fun.  And I'm guessing that the Glacier View folks have a lot of talents that aren't obvious in this video and story.  Many probably didn't have the kind of family lives that would launch them into good colleges that would enable them to develop their innate abilities to the fullest.

And, assuming they really do clean up all the mess as they claim, off their own property, what is the harm?  It does look like fun.

Say What? When The Outrageous Becomes Normal [Updated]

Sometimes I can't quite believe what I'm reading in the newspapers.  The ideas are so wrong, I wonder how reporters can just drop them into an article as though the thoughts were normal.  If they are the new normal, it is even more disturbing.  I'd like to think the writers are ironically dropping these little bombs intentionally, hoping the readers will react as I'm reacting.

Here are some examples from Tuesday's Alaska Dispatch News.

Example 1:  Sources on the story about Trump's orthodox Jewish son-in-law.  (Yes, that thought is itself pretty bizarre) (originally from the NY Times, which has more than the ADN reprint.)

"Mr. Kushner’s role was described in more than two dozen interviews with friends, colleagues and campaign staff members, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could disclose interactions that were supposed to remain private. Mr. Kushner declined to be interviewed." [emphasis added] 

I can't help but translate the bolded part in my head into:  "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I have no integrity and I just can't keep a secret."

I don't blame the media.  This is how the rest of us get glimpses behind the scenes.  From people telling secrets.  But which secrets should the media pass on and which keep to themselves?

There are also some serious journalistic problems here.

• How do you know it isn't made up?  Maybe the sources are just playing with the journalist.  
• How does one confirm something like this?  From other anonymous sources?   There are ways, but how many journalists take the time and trouble?
• How do you know this isn't planted information.  What the source is really saying in that case is, "Hey, stupid journalist, I'm going to tell you I have to be anonymous,  and you're going to be excited because you're getting juicy gossip, but really my boss wants this information to get out and I'm using you to do it."

On the other hand, legitimate whistleblowers who reach out to the media as a last resort when there are illegal, dangerous, or otherwise important information the public needs to know, are playing important public service roles.  If they are right. 
And  whistleblowers often legitimately fear serious financial and physical harm, even death if their identity is found out.

[UPDATE July 6, 2016 3:30pm:  Here's a more legitimate situation of an anonymous source in an LA Times story today about misrepresentation of the success of missile tests in January:

"The closest the interceptor came to the target was a distance 20 times greater than what was expected, said the Pentagon scientists, who spoke on condition they not be identified."

Why is this different? The person is revealing that the government agencies and private businesses have been lying about the performance of potentially life saving equipment the government's already spent $40 billion in since 2004 (over $3 billion per year.) The story quotes a second scientist and the first acknowledgement from the agency that there were actually problems.]

In the Kushner case, these are folks who are supposed to be loyal to Kushner, yet, if these weren't intentional plants, they disclosed information that was supposed to remain private.  What kind of person does that to their friends or to their boss?  This sort of thing poisons a group as people try to figure out who leaked what, and innocent people are suspected along with the guilty.  

Example 2:  Tim Kaine's 'one job only' (from the original LA Times piece)  The article is about how Tim Kaine is now ('a' or 'the'?) shortlist favorite to be Clinton's VP candidate.

"On NBC’s “Meet The Press” last week, an appearance facilitated by the Clinton campaign, Kaine offered a quick summary of his experience: mayor of Virginia’s capital of Richmond, its lieutenant governor, governor, Democratic Party chairman and now U.S. senator. 

But, he added, 'I have got one job and one job only right now, and that is to work hard for Hillary Clinton.'”

If I were a Virginia resident, I'd be wondering when I lost half my Senatorial representation.  As a US citizen, I'm wondering why we're paying this US Senator who seems to have abandoned his Senate job to campaign for Clinton.  OK, I realize this might be taken out of context, but dammit, he's being paid to be a US Senator and he should be careful about what he says.


Example 3:  In an article about Amazon dropping 'list prices' (Again, originally a NY Times article)

"Amazon wants to be so deeply embedded in a customer’s life that buying happens as naturally as breathing, and nearly as often."

Do I really have to say anything about that truly appalling thought?  We've gone from 'the customer is always right' to 'the customer is totally brainwashed.'


Of course, these are just little symptoms of this trend of the outrageous becoming normal.  The biggest offense is Donald Trump's long stream of racist, sexist, and other forms of nasty istics.  That his bombast is cheered by some as refreshingly honest might be a topic for another post.

Parade And Fair Photos - Anchorage July 4, 2016

I've been to the after parade activities on the Park Strip, but I'd never made it to the parade before.  Here are some pictures of the parade and of the folks enjoying themselves afterward.

There we're lots of dogs.

But one of my favorite parade groups was this one:

There was lots of patriotism (or is this the ornithology truck?)

Girl Scouts.

Nurse/midwives.

Beauty pageant winners.

And lots of musicians.



















Brits and their cars

Lots of food choices

Politics. Which is appropriate for the 4th of July.

Religion.  Of course the First Amendment gives them the right to be there, but this is a secular holiday celebrating a government that should be separate from religion.  And I have problems with religious groups that give out free books to children as a way to proselytize.

 Over by the big flag pole, where the Star Spangled Banner was sung along with the Alaska Flag song (including the verse that Carl Gato worked so hard to block), and the Declaration of Independence was read, these appropriately dressed folks had a very Martha Stewart looking picnic.  She did have some problems sitting down on the ground with those big hoops under her dress.





And what parade is complete without horses?  These representing Rodeo Alaska.

We even had marchers from the Salvadoran community.  

Salmon Back In Campbell Creek

My three year old granddaughter had two goals for her first trip to Alaska.

• To climb a mountain and touch a cloud.
• Go biking with grandpa.

Sunday she got to climb up a mountain at Arctic Valley and a cloud touched her.  

Yesterday some friends brought a child carrier and hooked it to my bike, but they didn't have a helmet for her.  There were some tears.  We did a little short practice ride and that was ok.  Then when she was in bed, her brother and I went out and bought a child's helmet.  

This morning we had our ride scheduled.  And even thought it was raining, we were headed out.  And when we crossed one of the bridges on Campbell Creek, we stopped to see if the salmon were running.  And low and behold, they were.  One of the wonders that makes living in Anchorage so special.  

I wasn't sure my little camera would be able to catch the fish through the reflection and under the water, but with a little computer help - higher contrast and saturation - you can see them just fine.  Riding in the light rain was great!  We both had a wonderful time.  

The American Revolution As An Exit From The British Empire

In response to a comment on a post about Brexit a couple of weeks ago , I noted that the North American colonies'  break from England was also a contentious exit:

"I know the British establishment felt the same way when the North American colonies voted for independence. Our US history books paint it as a singularly good thing, but there was just as much angst in the colonies over it. Perhaps this vote gives us a new perspective on 1776. Or not. At least the EU is not sending troops to prevent this."

So it seemed appropriate to write with this view in mind for the 240th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

In the meantime, it became clear that others had made the same mental leap when I saw a tweet that mentioned "Amerexit."

"Happy #Amerexit my ex colonial chums

— Hari Kunzru (@harikunzru) July 4, 2016"

I don't want to belabor the point, but merely remind those who celebrate the Fourth of July this year, that at the time of the Declaration of Independence, there was much opposition and the conflict was bitter.

Here's an excerpt of a letter the former Massachusetts governor, Thomas Hutchinson wrote in response to the Declaration of Independence:

"I should therefore be impertinent if I attempted to show in what case a whole people may be justified in rising up in opposition to the powers of government, altering or abolishing them and substituting, in whole or in part, new powers in their stead; or in what sense all men are created equal; or how far life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness may be said to be unalienable. Only I could ask the delegates of Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas how their constituents justify the depriving more than an hundred thousand Africans of their rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and in some degree to their lives, if these rights are so absolutely unalienable. . . 

From a disposition to receive willingly complaints against rulers, facts misrepresented have passed without examining. Discerning men have concealed their sentiments, because under the present government in America, no man may, by writing or speaking, contradict any part of this Declaration without being deemed an enemy to his country, and exposed to the rage and fury of the populace.”  [emphasis added]

Pennsylvanian John Dickinson, who had enjoyed great popularity when he led the opposition to the Stamp Act, could not bring himself to sign the Declaration.  From the History Net:

Yet on July 1, 1776, as his colleagues in the Continental Congress prepared to declare independence from Britain, Dickinson offered a resounding dissent. Deathly pale and thin as a rail, the celebrated Pennsylvania Farmer chided his fellow delegates for daring to “brave the storm in a skiff made of paper.” He argued that France and Spain might be tempted to attack rather than support an independent American nation. He also noted that many differences among the colonies had yet to be resolved and could lead to civil war. When Congress adopted a nearly unanimous resolution the next day to sever ties with Britain, Dickinson abstained from the vote, knowing full well that he had delivered “the finishing Blow to my once too great, and my Integrity considered, now too diminish’d Popularity.” 

"Indeed, following his refusal to support and sign the Declaration of Independence, Dickinson fell into political eclipse. And 234 years later, the key role he played in American resistance as the leader of a bloc of moderates who favored reconciliation rather than confrontation with Britain well into 1776 is largely forgotten or misunderstood. 

To be a moderate on the eve of the American Revolution did not mean simply occupying some midpoint on a political line, while extremists on either side railed against each other in frenzied passion. Moderation for Dickinson and other members of the founding generation was an attitude in its own right, a way of thinking coolly and analytically about difficult political choices. The key decision that moderates ultimately faced was whether the dangers of going to war against Britain outweighed all the real benefits they understood colonists would still enjoy should they remain the king’s loyal subjects. 

Dickinson and his moderate cohorts were prudent men of property, rather than creatures of politics and ideology. Unlike the strong-willed distant cousins who were leaders of the patriot resistance in Massachusetts—John and Samuel Adams—moderates were not inclined to suspect that the British government was in the hands of liberty-abhorring conspirators. Instead, they held out hope well into 1776 that their brethren across the Atlantic would come to their senses and realize that any effort to rule the colonies by force, or to deny colonists their due rights of self-government, was doomed to failure. They were also the kind of men British officials believed would choose the benefits of empire over sympathy for suffering Massachusetts, the colony that King George III, his chief minister, Lord North, and a docile Parliament set out to punish after the Boston Tea Party of December 1773. Just as the British expected the Coercive Acts that Parliament directed against Massachusetts in 1774 would teach the other colonies the costs of defying the empire, so they assumed that sober men of property, with a lot at stake, would never endorse the hot-headed proceedings of the mob in Boston. Yet in practice, exactly the opposite happened. Dickinson and other moderates ultimately proved they were true patriots intent on vindicating American rights."

Dickinson's letter opposing the Declaration can be read here.

There are a lot of differences between the situation in 1776 and the one today.  I'm not suggesting the Brexit decision was a good one or that the Declaration was a bad one.  I'm merely saying that in both instances there was great uncertainty, a lot of emotional attachments to both sides, and a great deal of conflict.

The colonies were breaking away from the country that owned them.  Great Britain is backing out of an agreement they choose to enter.  In both situations there are people who see the rules coming from 'outside' are restricting the freedom of the nation and its citizens.  And in both cases the consequences of making a split were uncertain.   And those who signed the Declaration faced hanging if the British caught them.  Those who pushed for Brexit merely face the scorn and ridicule of the world's media.

For Americans, it's important to remember that what we take for granted as a great moment in world history was hotly contested and the outcome was not at all certain.

Happy Independence Day.

Where Are The Oldest Buildings In Anchorage?

According to the Crow Creek Mine brochure, they're at Crow Creek Mine.

The sign says, "Commissary 1898."  Of course, there was no Anchorage at the time and I'm pretty sure that Crow Creek Mine didn't become part of the Municipality of Anchorage until the Borough and the City merged to become the Municipality of Anchorage in 1975.

So, we could argue that the oldest building in Anchorage ought to be the oldest one put up inside the city limits of Anchorage at the time it was built.  Or that the oldest buildings that are within the boundaries of the present Anchorage qualify, as Crow Creek Mine has.

Here's another of those buildings at Crow Creek Mine.  Took visiting relatives there Saturday because one of them wanted to pan for gold.

For $20, you get a gold pan, a shovel, a bucket, gold panning lesson, and a little seeded gravel so everyone goes home a winner.  I decided to be the observer.  But our family got some gold.

More importantly, they had fun.

Here's a bit of old pipe that was lying on the river bank.  

We also did the hike in to the tram afterward and checked out the Winner Creek gorge before heading home.

Spruce Coming Back In Parts Of Kenai After Spruce Bark Beetle

After Seward, we camped at Ptarmigan Creek campground.  This used to be full of huge old spruce trees.  Then in the 80s for 15 to 20 years there was a massive invasion of spruce bark beetles.  From KDLL interview with National Resource Conservation Service forester Mitch Michaud and John Morton, supervisory biologist with the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge:

"A spruce bark beetle outbreak isn’t unusual — we tend to have one every 50 years or so, but the severity and duration of this one were significant. It’s still seen as the biggest outbreak in North America. . . "  [emphasis added.]

With so many trees dying, there was a great danger of fire, so many trees were cut, and at the campground.  Sort of like Bob Marley with a  buzz cut.

But all around the campground area there are hundreds and maybe thousands of young spruce trees pushing up.  There might have been giant die-off, but the seeds were patiently waiting in the soil.

Most of the green in that picture is spruce.  There's a hemlock in the middle foreground and some deciduous shrubs and trees, but maybe thirty or forty spruce trees too.

Seeing things over a span of time helps give perspective on how nature works.  We can get that perspective by living a long time in one place or by reading observations of indigenous peoples in the area and scientists and others who track this sort of thing.

But according to the KDLL interview, it's not the same all over.  Near Homer the spruce doesn't seem to be coming back.

"That’s partially due to fire, which is another huge driver of change in a forest. Again, fire is not an unusual or even necessarily unhealthy occurrence in a forest, but the changing fire pattern is having an effect. Grass grows back quicker than trees, and burns more easily. More-frequent, more-intense fires on the southern peninsula are leading to more grassland growing in than trees."