Gone Fishin' (with photos!)

I went fishing on Saturday and although i discovered that my sea legs are not quite as strong as i'd like, I had a great time. The sea was calm, but consistently rolling and in the fog that made everything surreal and eerie, the horizon was nowhere to be seen. Apparently this was not a good combination for me, as I got queasy. But I held my stomach and learned that my personal solution to sea sickness is to sit down outside while holding a metal thermos - go figure. The fish were biting and we immediately caught a triple (every line had a fish), although I lost mine and we sent one lucky guy back to the sea. I caught some fish, I lost some fish, and I learned that when a pole wobbles with a fish, everyone gets very excited. I'm not sure I'd really call fishing the most relaxing thing I've done: each fish would go something like this:

Fish! There's a fish! Set it! Set it! Shit. . .Set it! Reel, reel, reel, reel. . harder, reel harder, STOP!!!!! Don't reel anymore, move back step back, steady, steady. . damnit. . bring it closer to the net, closer. . There! Got it in the net. . . . . . . .Thwock, Thwock Thwock (sound of fish getting hit on head with club). . silence, flop, flop, flop. . WOAH!. . Thwock, thwock, thwock.

Yes, I the animal lover did hit a fish or two on the head, but mostly it was because I would look in the cooler and see the fish still flopping and that would make me sad because I thought that they might be suffering, so I would hit them again. Sometimes it worked. I will admit that it was satisfying to get a good clobber in, but ONLY because I knew I was putting the fish out of its misery, I swear.

As the fish stopped biting and our cooler filled - silvers and pinks and bass, oh my - our captain turned the boat towards the sunshine and we headed to Long Island, which is just off of Kodiak. Kodiak Island was a major staging area for North Pacific operations during WWII. During WWII, Long Island housed Fort Tidball, bunkers, and gun emplacements. Per one of my guides, due to leaked PBCs, Long Island has the distinction of being the first superfund site in America. Apparently it's not safe to drink the water or eat the deer or feral cows that roam the island. Yes, feral cows. We boated past a puffin rookery and hiked up to a bunker site and lollygagged (love that word) in the sun for a bit.

Here's a map.

Here are some links with info about Long Island:
Military History (scroll down to the Long Island section)
Deer Point info


The boating adventure finished with a trip down cannery row (in the water) to a cannery that cleans and packs the fishies for winter eatin'. . and then over to the sea lions where we cleaned the fish. But don't tell anyone we did that, it's illegal. But goodness illegal things are sometimes awfully cool - it was pretty dang neat to be so close to such silly, big, slow moving creatures.

The day ended with a delicious feast on two of our fishies (a bass, a pink salmon, and a king salmon that Mark had caught a few days ago). I went to the house of the two docs who own the clinic and it was, without a doubt, my dream house - absolutely gorgeous with a great big open kitchen and living room. Right on the water with a gorgeous deck. They built it themselves (at least half of it). . and lived in a tent while doing so. "We never fed our children store bought meat and we never eat frozen fish." Sigh. . .I'm a bit in love with their life.

Click the photo below to see even more photos (look at me, I'm doing pictures - wow).

Gone Fishin'

Kodiak Island

Kodiak Island is BEAUTIFUL. I have been to many a pretty place in my life, and this may be the prettiest place I've ever been. It's a mixture of the dramatic mountains of the Pyrenees, the lush green of Guatemala, the coastline of the San Juan Islands, plus the wildflowers of Idaho. It's pretty in comparison to Alaska, which is saying a lot, since Alaska is, well, gorgeous.

I've just begun to explore Kodiak, but already I can tell that it runs on "island time." In other words, it's mellow. But more than that, it's got the energy of a community whose rhythms, at least to some extent, are determined by mother nature's. Things like the tides, the weather, migration patterns of fish all impact the days, weeks, months, and years of the people who live here. I like living somewhere where the local radio station includes the tide with the weather and both are significant beyond mere interest. The population of Kodiak wanes and waxes as the fishing boats and the Coast Guard patrols depart and return. Turnover is high - the hardship of fishing and the maximum of a 4 year station make for impermanence.

One week done and I really do love it here. Family Practice is back on the very short list. Folks here are so incredibly nice. The docs here love to teach and care for their patients in this calm, relaxed way that puts the patients at ease. 15 minute appointments are rare, so nothing is ever rushed. Being an FP doctor here would mean practicing primary care the way it should be practiced - more than a mere gateway, you are the center of your patient's care. You handle the things you are qualified to handle (and maybe a few that you aren't, out of necessity) and refer the very complicated things. In the lower 48, it seems like most FPs refer everyone and everything they are expected to and they can. Malpractice is on everyone's mind and no one general is given agency to make decisions they at one point were qualified to make. The primary care profession is leeched of confidence (and thus competence)

Up here on Kodiak, you build relationships with specialists in the big city (Anchorage) and call on them when you need help or advice - and they eagerly (and non-possessively) give it because they understand that in Alaska, referring to a specialist is not always possible. You deliver babies (maybe do c-sections if you are trained), work in the ER, and see patients in clinic. You tailor your practice both in the patients you see and the hours you work. And at KIMA, your fellow health care providers are amazing, inspirational people. This is one of those seductive practices (like Alaska Women's Health Services) that lures you into the field (family medicine in this case) by fooling you into believing that all practices are like this.

The separation of practice versus profession. How much of what I like about being an FP is dependent on location? What about with pediatrics?

I'm quite thankful I don't have to make my decision tomorrow (yes more loans, I knew there was a reason I signed on to you).