Alaska on Friday

Here's how a Friday goes in Alaska.

First, a purely Alaska story. The Clerk of Court tells me that she and her family were down at the harbor, seeing the sights the other evening. The big river break-up is going on, and there's a lot of ice floating around. As she was watching the ice flowing out of the bay, she noticed something strange. One a large block of ice, floating their way out of the bay, were two moose. One was laying down and the other was just standing there. I still have no idea whether they jumped off and swam to shore before they made it out to the Bering Sea, or if there are two moose still floating their way towards Russia. Only in Alaska.

Today was a pretty good day. I spent the entire day at the courthouse working on my deputy magistrate tests. I have to complete 19 tests on various subjects before I can work as an on-call magistrate on the weekends. I finished the remaining tests today, which means I should be ready to do arraignments by next weekend. I haven't actually be sworn into the Kentucky bar yet, and I'll already be a judge. (If that seems like overstating things, Alaska case law does say that magistrates are judges within the meaning of the Alaska constitution.)

For lunch, Samara and I got together to go to the first payday lunch of the season at the local police station. They supplied the burgers and fixings and we brought a bag of chips and something to drink. All the local law enforcement, courthouse and assorted criminal justice folks were invited, along with their spouses and friends.

Here's Samara, hanging at the police garage.

And here we have Lori, who works at the courthouse on the left, Tonya's husband Rich in the hat in the middle, Tonya (the Clerk of Court) with her back turned, and Samara again. Behind her is the magistrate, Monte.

Everyone very much enjoyed their burgers. The Chief of Police sure knows how to work a grill.

In the afternoon, Lori was deputized to perform a wedding at the courthouse. I was sitting at my desk and saw the couple's friend decorating their car for their triumphant departure.

Then the couple came out and drove off, coffee cans rattling away.

I'm sure that before my two year stint is up, I'll be called upon to perform a wedding. Being a deputy magistrate means that in addition to arraignments, I can also do weddings and notarize things. Whee!

After work, Samara and I laid around the house for a while watching TV. I got bored, though. So I called Anthony to see if he wanted to hang out for a bit. We decided to take a drive down Aleknagik (Lake) Road. We got as far as Snake Lake Road and took a little detour up the mountain. It had been plowed, but there was still lots of snow. We got as far as the first turn-around and did exactly that. After we bumped our way down, we continued out towards Aleknagik Lake. It was nearing 10:30, but still light out. That's how the daylight is rolling in Alaska right now. Comes early and stays late.

The lake is beautiful. It must be strange to live on the far shore, in the tiny village of Aleknagik. During the thaw, in the in-between time between a frozen lake and a watery lake, when neither snowmachine nor boat can get you across the gap, the residents of Aleknagik are stuck there. Today, though, the lake seemed to have thawed enough for boats. There were a couple on the shore.

Really pretty pictures.

We also got there just in time to catch a really nice sunset over the mountains.

And I'll leave you with my favorite one.

That's a Friday in Alaska.