Early Light over the Chena River, Fairbanks AK

It was too beautiful to stay in my room this morning! This view is of the Chena River, showing Pikes Waterfront Lodge where I'm staying, until the trip up north starts tomorrow.

Rather than fill you in with the details of my shopping trip today - LOL - I thought I'd tell you about a very interesting Inupiaq Eskimo woman that Richard took me to meet in Teller, two days ago. Her name is Sarah, she was born in Mary's Igloo, at the headwaters of the Imuruk Salt Basin, which empties into the Grantley Harbour, where Teller is sited. Sarah lives a subsistence lifestyle, as do all the Inupiaqs in Teller, Brevig Mission and the other Eskimo villages in the area. I visited with Sarah for about 40 minutes and it was fascinating listening to her telling about her family and her family's life in Mary's Igloo (you could Google it), King Island and Teller itself. What a capable woman! She showed me the seal oil she was obtaining from the very evenly cut strips of seal meat she'd put into a large bucket, sitting at the entrance way to her (very warm) home. She offered me several treasures to buy, which I was delighted to be able to see. A tiny walrus ivory doll really caught my eye, which I'm now wearing on a chain around my neck. It's very precious, as you can imagine. I'm calling it Sarah.

Some of you have mentioned that I might put some pics on Flickr. There are some here, but I'm already thinking of others that I've missed!

I'll try to catch up with more commenting tonight, but I have to meet up with the rest of the photo group - and then get packed again.