Small wins

This week has been SO good, for once! On Wednesday, I finished my last night working at the pub, which was a huge relief mainly because it's been getting VERY dark at night and I hated the walk home. It's so dark on my street that even a flashlight barely cuts through the blackness, and because it's almost always raining, the dripping noises in the woods always made me think there was a bear lurking nearby. That, and the fact that I would be so exhausted from working two jobs, I'd collapse into bed at midnight with my body sore from running around for so long, and then wake up again at 6:30 or 7 to do it all over again. It was a great learning experience, though. It toughened me up, kicked my butt, and helped me earn a little extra cash this summer that I wouldn't  have had otherwise. :-)



Serendipitously, the next day, my camera finally arrived. She's beautiful (and yes, it's a she). I've spent the last 3 days trying to learn all the features, although unfortunately it's been so rainy out that I haven't really had a chance to take many photos yet.

Fawn with GPS-collared mama deer

One of my first photo subjects was our resident black-tailed deer that frequent my yard every evening. I love these deer. They're pretty bold, and right now they're super happy because there are lots of apples on the ground from all the apple trees in the yard.

Unfortunately, someone in town seems to have been setting snares, and two of the deer ended up getting snare wire caught around their necks when they broke out of the snares. It took about a week and a half, but eventually AK Fish & Game was able to tranq-dart the deer and remove the snare. (You can read about the first one on the local radio station website here and the second on here). It turned out the first doe even had a fawn, but both are now doing fine and are sporting super fashionable orange GPS collars now.

Sitka Bambi in my yard

And finally in other news, I chopped off all my hair. Well, most of it. I loved having it long, but it was also driving me crazy and I felt ready for something new and fresh. So on a whim today I stopped in the first hair salon I found and had about 5 inches cut off by a nice older lady from the village of Kake. I don't know why I was so surprised, but I think it was the best haircut I've had in years. Maybe I just haven't seen my hair this short since sophomore year of college.

Mom asked for a selfie of my new look, so I put the new camera to good use and took one with a tripod and timer. Besides being the slightest bit derpy, I'm happy with the way it came out and the beautiful quality of the camera's capabilities!

I'll definitely be taking as many photos as I can during my last week here, so stay tuned and cross your fingers that all this rain lets up soon!