Swan Island

I was searching my photo database for a pic the other day (I didn't find it) and is always the case got caught-up reminiscing about this and that.  In this instance, I stumbled across some pics from Swan Island I took when I was about 14 years of age.

Swan Island is in Seymour Canal south of Juneau and was the site of a hunting cabin that my dad, Uncle Bud and a bunch of their friends operated for years before they relocated to Buck Island some fifteen miles or so further south.  Indeed Uncle Bud, Cousin Sandra and I identified the site of the future Buck Island cabin during this trip.  We also spent time over at Pack Creek, currently the site of the Stan Price State Wildlife Sanctuary and formerly the home of Stan and Edna Price.

Stan Price became a legend in his own mind as well as the mind of others as the "bear man" of Admirality Island.  He and Edna raised one bear, Susie, and he was on friendly terms with a good number of them.  They also cared for deer including "Toots" featured in the pic below.

Edna was a truly delightful person and would stay at my aunt's and uncle's place when she was in town.  She developed a serious heart problem and ultimately was forced to move to the Pioneer's Home in Sitka where she died.  From the time that Edna was no longer able to live at Pack Creek she was shunned by her husband - it is my understanding that he never once contacted her while she was in Sitka.  Whatever Stan's merits as a wilderness icon, they are more than overshadowed in my mind by his shabby treatment of his spouse.

But I digress...and without further ado a few pics from Swan Island/Pack Creek circa 1968.

 Stan Price - the "Bear Man of Pack Creek"

 The Price's float house at Pack Creek

Toots the Deer       

Uncle Bud on the Beach at Swan Island

In other news, I was very appreciative of an opinion piece in the Washington Post this weekend:   Why do Americans still dislike atheists? 

A growing body of social science research reveals that atheists, and non-religious people in general, are far from the unsavory beings many assume them to be. On basic questions of morality and human decency — issues such as governmental use of torture, the death penalty, punitive hitting of children, racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, environmental degradation or human rights — the irreligious tend to be more ethical than their religious peers, particularly compared with those who describe themselves as very religious.
 ...
As individuals, atheists tend to score high on measures of intelligence, especially verbal ability and scientific literacy. They tend to raise their children to solve problems rationally, to make up their own minds when it comes to existential questions and to obey the golden rule. They are more likely to practice safe sex than the strongly religious are, and are less likely to be nationalistic or ethnocentric. They value freedom of thought.

Well, time to mosey over to mom's for coffee.  And it looks like the sun is trying to shine...could be some gardening in my immediate future.