In a little less than two days, I'll be leaving on a jet plane surrounded by a few friends and family. Destination: Naknek, Alaska. Time: 4-6 weeks.
I'm excited and calm, wary and happy. My sister, brother, our good friend, and I went together last summer, so I am familiar with the atmosphere and life at a fish cannery. We worked, struggled, laughed, slept, and earned during that month last year. This year, my brother, sister, and I will be joined by a cousin, two of her friends, an old coworker of my brother's, and another friend. I am tickled to know we will have so many comrades working alongside us. I am intrigued to see what laughs, trials, and experiences this group will share.
My only fear for this year is that my tendinitis will worsen because of a constant use of my hands. I recently began physical therapy and have had intense sessions often over the last week and a half. With this therapy breaking up the calcium deposits (scar tissue) and the tips from my therapist (who happens to be the bishop of my parents' ward :) ) I am well on my way to healing and prevention. I think as long as I am true to the doctor's prescription, I won't have too much difficulty.
Well, off I soon will go with a full day of travel and many weeks in the wild frontier of Alaska where bears and moose roam, King Salmon swim (and are soon caught up in a net, dumped into a tender, unloaded at a dock, and processed for canning or freezing...), mountains tower, tundras dominate, and I drink in the beauty of the green landscape and gray river beyond the dock from my chilly bunkhouse at the AGS facility 1 mile from Naknek, 3 miles from Bristol Bay, and 40 miles to the Bearing Sea. Wish us luck!
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