My Samaritan Lodge "Bonus" Daughters (Warning! Spiritual Content Ahead!)

Isaiah 54:1 "'Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; For the daughters of the desolate one will be more numerous than the daughters of the married woman,' says the Lord."

I promised to introduce you to some of my co-workers and friends. These three beautiful women have become my dearest friends and adopted "bonus" daughters.

Natalie works in the Tanalian Dining Hall and is a remarkable pastry chef. She is reserved without being shy, calm, affectionate and funny. She is also my favorite Banana-grams partner! We greet each other every morning with an enormous and enormously lengthy bear hug. It's the best possible ritual and I don't know how I started the day without her all these years!

Natalie, Katie and Val

Katie is the assistant cook at the Bunker (staff dining) and my next door neighbor. She is a spunky, focused young woman whose dream is to serve with Samaritan's Purse full-time. She packed her first Operation Christmas Child box as a 6-year-old and determined then and there that she wanted to work for SP. She's another hugging buddy and often lifts me off my feet when she sees me. We frequently curl up on her bed or mine for a good long chat at day's end, though those have slowed down a little since she started dating one of my fellow guides Carlin!

Val's husband Jay is a resident of Port Alsworth, Alaska, and works full-time for Samaritan Lodge as a Jack-of-all-trades, though his background is in landscape architecture (Atlanta, GA). I call him our SL Transformer, for he drives all our heavy equipment as if he's part man/part machine. Val is in-and-out of the lodge along with their Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Susie Q, and has become another Banana-grams addict and adopted daughter. She has a quirky and playful sense of humor, feels things very deeply, and is a gifted artist. I'm hoping to pull out my watercolors and spend a Saturday painting with her before summer ends.

I once told God: "If I'm going to remain single, then you had better send me on Adventures." Well, He has sent me all over the world on incredible adventures. I have ridden in rickshaws and on riverboats in Asia. I have flown in rickety airplanes in Africa. I have hung over the edge of the Andes Mountains in a Toyota Landcruiser. Now, I spend my days on floatplanes and small boats in Alaska.

But, I haven't always been reconciled to my singleness, no matter how loaded with adventure. I have mourned the lack of a husband and family -- and if I'm honest, even railed at God at times. But I have grown content and secure in the knowledge that He loves me. And I know that He's good. And the words of Isaiah 54 have come true for me out here on the frontier: for though I have never borne children, I have many daughters. 

A Great Day with Greta!

If the woman on my left looks familiar, it's because she's world famous for her work as a commentator and television personality for FOX News. She's been dubbed one of the "100 Most Powerful Women in the World".

Friday morning, Greta Van Susteren joined our veteran couples for a day of fishing. Franklin Graham handed her a rod and pointed at me: one of the 100 least powerful women in the world.

Fortunately for both of us, she didn't ask any questions about politics, and (providentially) she caught two fish right off the bat. To say that I was relieved is an understatement!

Though her intellect and political savvy is certainly intimidating, Greta is lively, open and and not the least bit intimidating.  This petite fireball is as low maintenance as they come. She is also an engaging story-teller and has a wonderful and often self-deprecating sense of humor. She instantly found common ground with the veterans and their spouses.

To my utter surprise, both of these photos made it onto Greta's blog today (see Gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com). The first one was taken by Franklin Graham as I was trying to dodge out of the photo. A comment on one of the threads said something like: "Looks as if the other girl is afraid she's going to be slapped by the fish!"

The second photo was actually the lead photo this morning along with the caption "Check out this pic! (and by the way, the women can fish!). 

Having my photo on Gretawire was certainly a highlight, though by 3:30 pm I was supplanted quickly by photos of hairy carnivorous mammals: bears, not presidential candidates!

Many of the photos show the veterans and their spouses having a wonderful time in Alaska. It's terrific publicity for the Operation Heal Our Patriots program and a wonderful "shout out" to our veteran couples. Thanks Greta for a great day!

Berry-Picking Time!

It's August, and berry season is about to begin in earnest. Everywhere you look, low or high, you find small globes of orange, red, black, white or blue fruit forming. This week, I'll throw a few dozen zip-lock bags into my pack and add "berry-picking" to the agenda on all my guided outings. Last week on the hike to Tanalian Falls, we found exactly four ripe (and very early) alpine blueberries. Each person had just one absolutely perfect blueberry.

When we go out on the Jay Hammond (our 34-foot boat), we often beach the boat temporarily. We stop just long enough to drop off a guide and our guests on a short gravel beach at the start of a trailhead to an unnamed waterfall. A ten minute climb upward through long grasses, Devil's Club (or Devil's Walking Stick), berry bushes, and other dense shrubs leads to a small but beautiful fall.

This past week, the current bushes were full of fat cherry-red fruit. In a few more weeks, the low-bush cranberries, high-bush cranberries, blueberries (or bilberries). blackberries, raspberries and lingonberries will be producing fruit.

The Dena'ina (a native tribe indigenous to the Lake Clark area) make Nivagi or "Indian ice cream" with berries. The traditional dish is made with "berries, lard (preferably moose or bear) or oil, such as seal oil, fish or animal meat, and a small amount of sugar" (Tanaina Plantlore, Priscilla Russel Kari, 1995). As delicious as that sounds, I think I'm going to stick to Ben & Jerry's!

I've become fascinated with local botany and enjoy telling folks about various plants and their many uses in the Dena'ina culture: for food, for medicine, and often, just for fun.

Last Friday, on our hike to Tanalian Falls, we discovered a dead birch branch covered with fist-sized, nut-brown, ear-shaped protrusions. Were they mushrooms? Was it a strange type of fungus? What was it? Upon my return, I turned to my Tanaina Plantlore book and found that they were Birch Polypore (Arboreal Fungus) or in the Dena'ina language K'evajegha, which means "against the ear".

With great delight, I learned that the only recorded Dena'ina use for the Birch Polypore was as ammunition for a child's popgun! You can be sure that I'll highlight that fun fact on my next hike. And if I can find a pop-gun, I'm going to give it a try...