Trapping is a part of life for most Alaska bush families. The weather can be extremely harsh, and fur is the only thing that will keep us warm. Chuck has been a trapper most of his life, and when we married he taught me to trap with him. This year, the boys were delighted when their daddy said he'd teach them to trap.
Now, the boys and I have two lines that we snowshoe every other day. Sometimes we stop and build a fire along the trail to warm our hands, drink a cup of hot chocolate and have a snack. Recently, they were thrilled as we approached our last set on the trapline. There they found their first marten! (Marten and Sable are the same animal.) After skinning it, the boys wanted to dissect it. Both thought that was neat, but Jed especially enjoyed getting to learn all about the giblets. Here's a slideshow of our day on the trapline (no giblets). If it doesn't show, then click on the title above (Boys' First Trapline), and it should show up there.
(Hover your mouse over the images to pause or go back or forward.)
Wow thats so neat!!
ReplyDeleteI never bore reading about your life. Love the slide show.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful scenery, I enjoyed your pictures. Heather
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know your moved over to blogger too!! As for the abc tree, zac is doing wonderful with it! I actually have that post on my blogger too, here is the link:http://thearrowoodzoo.blogspot.com/2010/12/learning-abcs-fun-way.html
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny for reading my blog! XOXO
You have the most amazing life story!!! This in itself makes your blog one of the Top Best Blogs To Visit (if I was giving out these awards!)
ReplyDeleteAMAZING!!!
You must get the most interesting comments from all around the world. I can just imagine!
Antoinette
www.homeschoolblogger.com/haflingerhorses
(I tried to visit you before, but I have a mini laptop that doesn't cooperate with me all the time to leave comments.)
Thank you all for visiting and leaving a comment. These comment forms can be a pest. I've been able to comment on your lovely blog, Antoinette, but on most of the others at HSB, the captcha thing won't let me. I'm glad you were able to get through. I'll see if I can make it work better, but not sure about all this. :)
ReplyDeleteAntoinette, I just read your comment again. Thank you. Makes me feel good to know that folks like it. I wish Blogger had nested comments like at HSB.
ReplyDeleteHi, We had an earthquake this morning and upon further research at the USGS site I was reminded that Alaska has a lot of earthquakes....do you feel them where you are ? Are you on the northern side of the Alaskan Range?
ReplyDeleteWe are in Indiana. Our earthquake was just a baby.
Thanks for sharing. My little guy loved the slide show. Here, trapping became a big controversy because of a feature about it in the local paper (all positive). But the letters to the editor went flying. That heated up one of my boys and he earned several school assignments by getting a few of his own letters to the editor published.
ReplyDeleteHi Louellen and Carol. Thank you for visiting. That would be strange to feel an earthquake in Indiana. I have some friends in Kokomo. Wonder if they felt it, too.
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of earthquakes. If we go a month or so without feeling one, we notice it. We've had several strong ones lately, but I didn't check to see how big. The ones we feel the strongest are usually small, but centered very close to us and not very deep. Sometimes they just rumble and everything shakes a little while. The last few were different. They sounded like thunder or an explosion, and then the house suddenly felt like it had been hit by a truck. Sometimes we've been in the yard during an earthquake. The house and trees sway and water in the dog bucket splashes. We're in a valley in the foothills of the Alaska Range. The highest peaks are mostly west and north of us.
Carol, congratulations to your son on getting his letters published. That's great that he gets involved.
Wow. It felt like our house was hit by a truck too. There was quite a big boom too. Almost like an explosion (or truck hitting the house). I can promise you your friends in Kokomo felt it. It was centered kind of between our town and Kokomo. It was a 3.8, small in earthquake standards, but kind of a big deal here in Indiana.
ReplyDeleteGlad to know we are 'kindred spirits' when it comes to bridges. :) At least some one else out there knows how I feel. I want to drive to see Lake Superior, through Michigan...and to do that there is a big ole bridge in the way. LOL. Someday ...maybe. Take Care, Lou
Yes! After posting, my husband read a story about it on Drudge Report (www.drudgereport.com) Wow! It was only about 3 1/2 miles deep. No wonder it felt so strong. That's shallow. One of the strongest ones we've ever felt was almost exactly like the one you had. The epicenter was just a couple of miles from us, and only a few miles deep. The other was about 200 miles away, but it was about a 7. Tore up some roads in the Interior of Alaska. I'll bet Melissa (At Home on the Last Frontier) felt that one! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to Lake Superior, you'd better not wait until you get any older. I never used to be afraid of heights at all. Now, there's no way I'd even be able to get on our roof to shovel snow (it's two stories. The cabin we're building now is only one). Vitamin B helps a lot, but I still have to work up to climbing the ladder. I still haven't made it to the roof yet. I could if I had to, but I'd probably hyperventilate. :)