The grayscale winter colors of snow and shale make any other hues in nature’s art gallery all the more appreciated.

Once again, we are on standby with the mail plane. It’s been more than two weeks since they were last able to fly here, and it looks to be a no go today as well. First it was too windy, with northwest gusts to 35-40, then when that calmed Kodiak had a massive snowstorm with 24 inches in 24 hours, more than our friends and family can remember seeing in one fell swoop. Then it cleared up and got calmer but with temperatures in the low teens and frozen over inner bays it was too cold for the planes to fly – they were worried about icing. Now it’s warmed up to almost 40 degrees and the water is a sheet of gray silk, but, unfortunately, so is the sky. “It’s down on the decks – I can’t see anything,” we emailed to the office this morning and they replied, “same here.” We’ll check in with them every now and then to see if anything has changed, but kind of doubt we’ll see a plane today.

So, here we are. Enjoying a real Alaskan winter, more cut off than we have been in recent memory (we don’t even have a skiff in the water, just kayaks), and loving the feeling of not needing to be connected to town. Who needs mail or groceries, parts or supplies, when we have our loaded pantry, fully stocked with canned salmon and venison, rice and pasta, various canned goods, potatoes, cabbage, and carrots, with enough kale still surviving in the greenhouse for occasional harvest, sprouts growing on our windowsill every day, homemade yogurt incubating behind the woodstove (yes it works quite well with powdered milk!) and active sourdough for bread making at least once a week. We brought 10 dozen eggs from town when we came out, and are very excited about working towards having chickens again - we’ve got some already on order for this spring. Along with all the exercise we get snowshoeing every day and work we are doing on taxes and planning for our future, as well as all the books we finally have time to read, we feel completely purposeful yet relaxed, like one would hope to feel on the best of vacations.

Since we are enjoying our reading so much, and since we often seem to talk about what we read with friends and acquaintances (one of our regular topics of conversation), we thought it would be fun to share with you some of our favorite Alaska books. For those of you who keep a list of good reads going or are looking for something different, perhaps this will help fill a niche.

Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner – It is sold as a novel but it is very much based on the true story of growing up outside of Kotzebue, living off the land and learning so much about how to be in that harsh and difficult world, and dealing with the culture shock of college and cities. We both really enjoy how he writes about the land and his experiences trying to understand the world – a truly unique perspective, written beautifully.

Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native’s Life Along the River by Sidney Huntington -One of the top books on Tollef’s list. Authentic story telling at its finest, what a life to have lived from steamboat era on in remote Alaska, back when it was really inaccessible and required living a traditional lifestyle.

Gaining Daylight: Life on Two Islands by Sara Loewen – Written by Adelia’s long-time friend (since middle school) who set-nets for salmon with her family in the bay south of us, this collection of poetic prose stories about her life on this island and the history of Kodiak is beautiful and unexpected. Winner of the Willa Award for Creative Nonfiction.

The Alaska from Scratch Cookbook: Seasonal. Scenic. Homemade. by Maya Wilson – We love the recipes from this cookbook! The other night we made her hunter’s pie using ground venison, but you could use any ground meat. There are other really spectacular (and not too complicated) ideas for salmon and halibut, as well as a divine naan that we’ve fallen in love with. Everything we’ve made has been delicious.

The Whale and the Cupcake: Stories of Subsistence, Longing, and Community in Alaska by Julia O’Malley – This was a Christmas gift this year, newly published to go along with an exhibit about how Alaska eats at the Alaska Museum. We have been enjoying the author’s writing for the food section of the Anchorage Daily News over the years, and feel, especially right now since we are totally dependent on our stores of food put up over the summer and fall, that she has absolutely hit the nail on the head in capturing Alaska food culture.

The Trail Led North: Mont Hawthorne’s Story by Martha Ferguson McKeown – Adelia’s current read and one of Tollef’s favorites too. This was originally published in 1948, written by the niece of one of the early pioneers of Alaska canneries in the 1880’s-1890’s and one who survived the gold rush. Totally without artifice, it’s an absolutely engaging read and an excellent page turner. Apparently Jack London was inspired by some of Mont Hawthorne’s adventures.

The King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon by David Montgomery –It resides in most of the bookshelves of our community of fishermen, helping us understand the history of wild salmon and what has happened to them worldwide, using the geologic record as well as historical research. Did you know there was a saber-toothed salmon at one point? We Alaskans find it quite interesting that there is no chapter on Alaska in this book – the reason being that we haven’t destroyed our salmon runs like the rest of the world has. The lessons in this book should apply to us all.

Happy Reading!

** Note** A few hours after writing this, while on our daily snowshoe exercise mission, the thrum of a beaver rumbled overhead. Yes, the mail plane finally made it!

Deep Winter