Logbook: Nuiqsut to Wasilla, entry 3: A nearly empty jet

The jet out of Barrow was nearly empty. Ten people boarded. Among them was Alice Glenn @alyalyalice along with a young man who I had never seen before. I was not going to let a fellow Instagrammer go uninstagrammed. Alice introduced me to her boyfriend Alan from Florida. Not only had this been his first trip to Barrow but on this day he had taken his first snowmachine ride. He had enjoyed Barrow, Alan said. The snowmachine ride was great. Florida is even farther away in distance and climate than Mobile, Alabama, but Alan received his introduction to the Arctic from his beautiful girlfriend - and that made all the difference. 

Logbook: Nuiqsut to Wasilla, entry 3: smile from an old familiar face

As I climb the stairs to board Alaska Airlines and depart Barrow, a woman comes down the stairs. Lest there be any confusion, the smile referenced in the title is the one on the jet's vertical stabilizer.

Logbook: Nuiqsut to Wasilla, entry 2: Barrow - a surprise greeting from a man with a 29 day-old beard and his dad

The distance between Era Aviation in Barrow where I would land and Alaska Airlines were I would soon depart again is very short, but still I was a little concerned about the transition. I left Nuiqsut with much more than I had arrived with, including an ice chest full of frozen maktak and frozen bowhead meat, frozen Qaaqtaq and other Native foods, plus a polished blade of baleen Edward had given me. It was going to be a bear to try and drag it all, my two original pieces of luggage, my camera gear and computer over the icy road from one air service to the other.

Right after I stepped inside the Era Aviation terminal from the airport side, Roy Ahmaogak and his dad Savik stepped in from the parking lot side. They knew I was landing and would need help getting my gear from Era to Alaska Airlines and so came to give it to me. Roy's beard was now 29 days old. November has been the month set aside to grow beards to raise awareness and funds to fight colon cancer, so that's what Roy has been doing. Come December 1, he plans to shave it off. I plan to keep mine. Their help was greatly appreciated.

Macy - a cat of Barrow; a young woman of India who loved cats remembered on this day

Here is Macy again, peeking over the knee of Gabe Tegoseak.

In August of 2007, I made my first trip to India to attend the Hindu wedding of my niece, Khena Swallow, to Vivek Iyer of Bangalore. In their tradition, the reception takes place the night before the wedding. There, I met scores of Vivek's relatives, beginning right away with his cousin Ganesh, who immediately befriended me and shortly thereafter brought his sister, Soundarya, to my table. Upon seeing her, I felt a special connection, as though she were not a stranger but someone I had known forever. I dismissed this as nonsense. There was a third sibling there, Sujitha, of classic beauty.

I wanted to know all three, Soundarya especially, due to this feeling of connection. Yet I reasoned that the short minutes we would spend visiting this night and possibly a few more at the wedding the next day would be all we would ever spend together. I would return to Alaska and that would be that. The next day after the wedding feast, Soundarya invited me to take a walk, but called herself "Sandy." On that walk, we met a kitten and that was that.

We stayed in near constant contact after and became close confidants. She often sought my advice in her search for love. I lack such wisdom but did tell her a few relevant stories about courting Margie. I promised her that when she found her man, I would return and photograph her wedding. She found him. I kept my promise. And always, somewhere, there was a cat involved.

Three years ago yesterday, her husband Anil Kumar, lost his life in a car crash. Three years ago today Soundarya Anil Kumar, my beloved soulfriend and muse, chose to follow him. In March of 2012, I returned to India for Sujitha's wedding. Although nothing has come together yet, Ganesh, who I inspired to became a photographer, hopes to marry soon.

Somehow, I hope to return to photograph his wedding, too.

Macy, the movie-maker's cat; day of anniversaries

Cat. A subject familiar to this blog/Instagram thread, yet one not seen here for awhile. But here is a cat now. Macy, who hangs out with the young filmmaker Gabe Tegoseak. Gabe used to have another cat named Coco who I never met in real life but did see in a short movie Gabe had made in a filmmaking class taught by Dustinn Craig. Coco played the role of a very dangerous creature from Iñupiat stories whose name I cannot spell. I tried several different spellings to match the sound in online searches but did not find it.

Coco was a natural born actor and played the role well. Coco was terrifying. It was reported that half of those who attended the premiere showing peed their pants. I had long planned to photograph Coco on this trip to Barrow or that trip, but somehow never did. Coco has since gone the way of all flesh so now I never can. But I did photograph Macy.

In my last post I stated I would use this post subject to commemorate anniversaries important to me, ranging from the happiest of the happy to the saddest of the sad. Likely, the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy came to many minds when I used the word, "tragic." This was indeed a most tragic and sad event for me personally and for the US and the entire world and I do commemorate it this day, but I can't tie cats into it. I am going to eat dinner now. Afterward, I will post two more pics of Macy, one to commemorate each anniversary, cats being of great importance to both.