12 Jun

Trans Siberian Stories

Jesup North Pacific Expedition: Vladimir Jochelson, Norman G. Buxton, and Vladimir Bogoras

Jesup North Pacific Expedition: Vladimir Jochelson, Norman G. Buxton, and Vladimir Bogoras

Part of my research texts for my Isobel the Bear-Eater Project have been the writings of Waldemar Bogoras, who spent some time hanging out with the Chukchi in the Russian Far East. His work was part of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, and was published through the the American Museum of Natural History. Other authors in the same twelve volume series included Franz Boas and John Swanton. Bogoras recorded folk stories and daily practices, trying to get the whole culture down on paper. An impossible task, if you ask me, but I appreciate what he recorded.

Two of the stories Bogoras included particularly interested me. Both are listed as “Told by Qo’tirgin, a Maritime Chukchee man, in the village of Mi’sqAn, November, 1900.”* Read More

06 Jun

Raspberry lemonade

I woke up to sunshine and an 80 F forecast today. We’ve probably got some Junuary ahead, but summer has made an appearance in Seattle this week. This is my favorite time of year, when it is sunny but not overly hot yet. Mid-eighties triggers my Alaskan nostalgia, along with a strong desire to test whether I could actually sit inside the fridge if I took out all the drawers and shelves.

homesick-1

Freeze Frame by jaime

For now, though, I can put on my sunscreen and sit in the backyard with a cool drink and be as happy as a cat with a full basket of clean laundry to sleep on. Here’s what I’ve been drinking, so you can make it for yourself. Read More