Shawn has done an excellent job of getting Itsuro ready to fish this season. Everything on the boat is running great, after a lot of effort on Shawn's part. And his hands aren't killing him yet. We were finally able to do a test run with all our gear for one of the recent 2-day openers in our area. We also now have permanent moorage in Craig. So we spent our first night on Itsuro in South Cove, right after attending the final regular season little game at the nearby ball park. I was so excited about finally getting out on the water again, that I was up by 3:45 the next morning. hoping to get Shawn going, despite the murky, windy-ish weather. We were on the drag by about 4:45. We only had one bite, but it was really gratifying to have the boat running so well.

I experienced the joy of coming home to a hot shower and laundry, without having to haul about 100 pounds of quarters to get it all done. I don't even really miss jockeying with my seiner crew friends for a dryer at that laundromat, duirng the height of the season. It feels really luxurious to return to the comforts of home, within 24 hours of leaving. That's a big "first" for us since we started coming up here, some 17 years ago. I am grateful that we're finally at this point.  We're so much closer to being done with our home construction now. In fact I'd say we're about 95% done, unless we start thinking about adding onto our pole barn. The last 5% might require almost as much patience as the previous 95%, as we are so close. We're so much more comfortable this year than we were this time last year. We now have room for our more adventurous guests who like to get outside for hiking, fishing, etc.,and who don't mind Southeast Alaska weather. I was hoping to be 100% done by this summer, but I'm starting to let go of that notion now.

In the mean time, we're also really looking forward to having our good friend David Spencer show up here at the end of this month. He finally gets to do what I used to do before moving up here. Over the years David has always been the one to help Shawn get Itsuro ready for the July king season, while I contemplated life from our lanai at our Hawaii house. But Dave would usually have to leave, just as I'm flying in right before the opener. This time, he gets to come for the opener, since Shawn has everything ready before his arrival. It's also really fitting that Dave gets to be the first guest in our nearly complete home. David was key in encouraging us to have a real home built here. Before Dave and Shawn's arrival at this place, I was really just thinking using the property as sort of a fish camp, with a couple of sheds or a shop with a shower and laundry.That idea morphed into a beautiful home, thanks to David, Ray J, Josh, and Shawn's ever-evolving ideas. We've had other guests here since starting all this, but this will be the first time, with having the loft and upstairs bathroom complete. What's left to do on the house? Mostly minor stuff, like:

• Finishing the enclosed porch, including ordering a storm door for it, and installing the another door to the trailer side
• Stairway with handrails to the front porch (hopefully before winter, as I was slipping a lot las November, with the current setup)
• Order and install lattice sheets under the porch
• Improved stairway to the conex
• Counter and electricity for the kitchen island
• Backsplash in the kitchen
• Wood plugs on the kitchen trim
• Miscellaneous minor wall fixes, etc.
• Seal/wax seams in the flooring
• Bannester/rail with inside staircase (a bunch of devil's club has been collected for this, but we don't yet know how this will be done).
• Snow stops on the roofing
• Outdoor lighting installation

More major projects might include.

• Possible relocation/removal of the fifth wheel trailer, which would allow further insulation of plumbing lines to the house.
• Possible addition to the pole barn that currently shelters the fifth wheel

I honestly have no idea of what the timeline for the above might be. I'm learning to let go of timelines. I'm no longer on the semester system, and I no longer have to pee between two bells. My teacher friends know what I'm talking about ;). It's so against my basic nature to let go of all that, but it's also one of the more important lessons that I'm struggling to learn. But there are points during which I just want to be "pau" (finished) , but I know that it's probably unwise and unhealthy to think that way. And Shawn constantly reminds me that we're never really "pau." It's a all about the journey, rather than the destination. Even after we're gone from this planet, we might not really be pau.

It's now the end of the regular Little League baseball season here on POW. We're still awaiting the schedule for the playoffs.  I am in real awe of the coaches, umpires, volunteers and kids who participate in all this. It's amazing to see the kids' developmentover the course of the season. I know very little about baseball, but through watching these games, I learn more each time. Mahalo for all that these folks do! 

This week was a big week of progress here at our Alaska home. The lot expansion has resulted in much more room for parking and moving stuff around. Shawn has also set up a rudimentary greenhouse. The framework for the greenhouse came from a find during spring "clean-up" week. Our whole place is looking less like a construction zone, and is now much more inviting. The enclosed porch is also almost complete, and just awaiting some finishing touches.

I ended the week by harping at our last Island Grind until next October. I really love our community of music folks here on POW.