Sharry Miller

Loving Wild Plants

View of the Copper River from the road to Chitina. As I pedaled, I peered at the brush along the bike path, hoping to spot some lamb’s quarters. Unfortunately, 14-mph botany isn’t much easier than 55-mph botany. All I could see was alders, fireweed, alders, yarrow, alders, and, oh, did I mention alders? Alder saplings are quite prolific along Dayville Road. What, you may ask, is lamb’s quarters, and why was I looking for it?... Read more →

Beautiful Bodies

The human body is a marvel. Simple yet complex, vulnerable yet resilient, it is built to move, to reach, to strive. -from the Body Worlds Vital/Anchorage Museum poster Thane, Rowan, and I had the opportunity this weekend to visit the Anchorage Museum. Our intent (I was later informed that it was only my intent) was to see the Body Worlds Vital display. I'd read about this display of plastinated human bodies, and thought it would... Read more →

Alaska's Changing Environment

Bright fuchsia stands of fireweed lined the road this morning as I drove to work. This ubiquitous Alaskan flower leaps into full bloom late every summer, but it seems that this year they went from unnoticeable to half-bloomed-out overnight. It seems early this year, too, but I think I say that every year in a denial of the passing of summer. An Alaskan old wives' tale says that when the fireweed are bloomed out, summer... Read more →

Let the Vaccinations Begin!

I went to the doctor today to have my shoulder looked at again. I fell three weeks ago and tried to wrench my left arm off - my shoulder hasn't been right since. I got a steroid shot in the bursa a few days after it happened, but it didn't completely take care of the problem. Anyway, the point of my visit today was to say it still hurts, isn't is strong as it should... Read more →

Miracles of Modern Technology

I always feel like I'm aging myself (because I am) when I marvel about the wonders of the modern world. I remember when... learning to use a computer meant writing 10 lines of code on an original Apple (no, I'm not quite old enough to be familiar with computers that took up a whole room). we taped ourselves on cassette tapes to mail to Grandma so she could hear our voices. Skype - who'd a... Read more →

Relay for Life

Dozens of pairs of hands reached for tissues as Becky told her tale. She'd been first diagnosed with cancer when she was 12. Two month-long treatments involving massive doses of radiation had caused so much damage in her body that she later ended up with cancer in her thyroid. Recently she found a lump in her breast and chose to have a double mastsectomy rather than risk the cancer spreading or recurring. Becky is just... Read more →

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 →

Baffling Glass

I'm baffled. Frustrated and baffled. Last week I fused this plate. You can't really see it in the photo (boy, I say that a lot), but the blue and black glasses have a piece of clear fused on top of them (the odd mottled pattern is air bubbles trapped between the layers) and the center square is slumped down about 1/4" below the black rim. I think it's a pretty cool plate, so I decided... Read more →

Gold Creek Hike

As we set out on the Shoup Bay trail, I commented to Rowan, “Isn’t it nice that we don’t have to worry about poison ivy when we hike in Alaska?” We’d just seen our first poison ivy while on our rafting trip in Idaho, happily only from a no-contact distance. Then, just a mile or so down the trail, we met Urtica dioica. According to The Boreal Herbal by Beverly Gray (a fascinating book I... Read more →

On Mules and Self-Destruction

We watched four mules die that morning. The morning started innocently enough under a bright Idaho sun. Just upriver from our camp at Mackey Bar was a footbridge over the Salmon River. It provided the perfect combination of height above water, a relatively calm spot in the river and deep-enough water for jumping. The evening before, the kids (and a couple of dads) in our group had fun jumping into the river. After breakfast, the... Read more →