October Splender

    I whine quite a bit about getting older. There isn't a whole lot about attaining the "golden years" that I find very golden. Maybe they're called that because all the gold you might have been lucky enough to accumulate when you were working is now spent on medicine and doctor visits. There is one very good thing though about being retired, and that is, while everyone else is out trying to make a living, I have time to go to some of the places that others can't access during the week because they're at work. This past Friday, Jan and decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and take a drive out to Freshwater Bay. It's located down Chatham Strait, and if I were to take my boat down there, it would take me at least six hours to get there. By road it's only 28 miles. Even so, it still took us the better part of two hours. There is a lot of loose gravel and pot holes, to say nothing of multiple blind curves and hills, so you can't go too fast, even if you wanted to. Several times we came down a hill and darn near slid off the road because whoever had graded the road had  let the blade chatter, which caused lumps which filled in with loose gravel. It was kind of like driving down a big ladder.  Braking on that decline made it really hard to maintain control.  the time it would be hard to  It was pretty lumpy. Now that I think of it, I should invite some folks whom I know have money in their pockets for a drive. Afterward I could check the seats and floor boards. I might make enough to buy a few gallons of gasoline. Anyway, it was a delightful fall day, sunny and warm. The leaves on the cottonwoods were turning golden, and stood out in stark contrast to the green of the spruce and hemlock trees. On the way out we spotted seven deer. Six were on the road, four of which decided to run in front of the truck for quite a ways before finally veering off into the brush or muskegs. I was kind of hoping to see a bear, although I don't know why. No doubt if I'd been hunting in the area bears would be found behind every blueberry bush. We stopped at several of the little streams that we crossed hoping to see some sign of cohos, but never saw a one, not even a rotting carcass. Not sure what to make of that. Hopefully the run either came and went or is yet to show. While I was standing on a hill overlooking Freshwater Bay, I looked down and saw what I thought at the time was the biggest fish I'd ever seen swimming a few feet down and flying through the water. Although it wasn't shiny, it took me a few seconds to realize that it was a seal. It's tail was moving back and forth like a fish's tail would and it really covered some ground in a hurry. It was under water for a full minute or two before it surfaced about a quarter of a mile from where I first spotted it. You never know what you're going to see up here. One day as I was walking down the breezeway at Hoonah Trading, I looked down in the water, and there, about two feet from the shore was a giant Pacific Octopus. That thing was every bit of four or five feet long and swimming effortlessly. What it was doing in that close I have no idea. Of course I was the only one who saw it. Why is it that when something truly amazing occurs, so often you're the only one who sees it? I like it when, say, I spot a twenty dollar bill on the ground and I'm the only one around, but there have been other times when I really wish I could share the experience with someone else. It's one of life's mysteries. In any event, we enjoyed a truly wonderful day. This time of year you don't know when you'll see another one