Sharry Miller

Holding Together

I grunted softly and winced as Carol's probing fingers worked their way up my calf. "Is that spot tender?" she asked. "Uh, huh," I agreed. Unlike any other massage therapist I've been to, Carol likes to start her full-body massages at your feet. She says it gives her a back door way into relaxation. My tense, sore spots are generally focused around my neck and shoulders, but I'm willing to go with the flow and... Read more →

Audience Needed

With a sigh of relief, I went to bed early last night and cuddled up for a little quality time with my Kindle. I started reading Metal Cowboy by Joe Kurmaskie, a book of essays about his cycling experiences that he first published about 10 years ago. I didn't get far before my eyelids started to droop, but I did maintain enough awareness to mark a passage that rang true for me: "Some of us...need... Read more →

A Brief Respite

We had a lovely respite from the rain today, at least 12 hours, but I was up at 5:00 this morning. Rowan and I took advantage of the sun to run up to Worthington Glacier for a hike and picnic lunch. As usual, I had to share some photos. Read more →

Bead Earring Class

A great time was had by all as we struggled to learn to bend wire into simple p-loops and secure loops. These techniques were just two of the ones Denyse Brown taught us yesterday in her basic earring construction class. It was also fun to sort through my bead stash to find the perfect beads for creating our visions. Here's the class, hard at work under Denyse's tutelage: Here's a glimpse of our creations (Rowan... Read more →

Playing with Mnemosyne

In my last post I was wishing that Mnemosyne would come to my aid. You remember Mnemosyne, don't you? She's the Greek Titan of memory who gave rise to the nine muses. She came out to play with me two nights ago. I made it out to the shed to find the box containing my yearbooks. What I found in that box was much better. It was a repository of memories. I apparently saved every... Read more →

Memory

Memory is so important that the Greeks had a goddess to personify it: Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne was a titan (those above even the commonly known Greek gods), the daughter of Gaia and Uranus. She was the mother (with the help of Zeus) of the nine muses. In an effort to better myself as a writer, I just started a creative nonfiction writing class with Andi Cumbo. My first assignment, in addition to two readings, is to... Read more →

Shoup Glacier

Thane's mom, Carol, flew in last night to spend a few days with us (she lives in Wasilla, so we get to see her fairly frequently). Since today was absolutely gorgeous, we decided another skiff ride out to Shoup Bay was in order. It was quite foggy in the port this morning, but it all ran straight out the narrows; the side bays were nice and clear. Thane, Carol and Rowan in the skiff. Today... Read more →

Autumnal Day

Inexplicably, I've ignored one of Valdez's nicest things this year: Dock Point Trail. Just today I took my first walk this year around the loop . A perfect fall day it was, too. Not raining (at the time), but the air was cool and clammy on my bare arms. It was gloomy enough to give the forest a primordial feel which was only exacerbated by the dripping water, fading ferns and abundant mushrooms. As seems... Read more →

Imp

Impulse is intuition on crack. If Intuition is the prudent angel who carefully directs your spirit, Impulse is its mischief-making twin, the "imp" in "implulse." Impulse scoffs at the notion of second thoughts. Before you can apply a smidgen of rationale to your actions, Impulse has dragged you to the launch pad of adventure, where you find yourself staring bug-eyed at the bungee cord around your waist and asking, "How did I get here?" -... Read more →

A Ride in the New Skiff

Thane had arranged at the end of last year to have a new jet skiff built for seining this year. It finally showed up in Valdez in early August and he just fixed the problems it came with and got it running a few days ago. We took a romantic drive out to Shoup Bay today to break it in while looking for silvers (he'll finally get to fish silvers in Port Valdez tomorrow, probably... Read more →