The weather report predicted rain the whole time. We had only five days. Last-minute tickets were double the price.
…we love my sister Constance…
…and we love to fish.
On his last trip Eli couldn’t drop a line without pulling out a fish. After catching a thirty pound King, he was hooked.
Using frequent flyer miles and companion fares, we caught the tail end of the salmon season.
You can pack a lot into five days, especially in the Land of the Midnight Sun.
We set out each day by the crack of noon.
Wildlife was abundant, whether feathered…
…or finned.
And then there was the two-footed kind.
Con’s friend Barbara is famous for her gin and tonics, and now her recently remodeled garage is a neighborhood attraction that everyone calls the Garage Mahal.
At the Alaska State Museum my artist sister’s painting, belonging to its permanent collection, was on display. She’d just had a show of paintings created during a residency in a historic lighthouse keeper’s house on an island off the rugged coast of Norway.
We were inspired to make art of our own. At her studio Eli and Constance painted…
…and I sketched Thom, although I couldn’t get him to look up from his book.
The line at the art house cinema was tolerable.
Small town headlines were refreshing.
And the fish were biting!
Some for grilling…
…and some for smoking.
The Fish Whisperer…
…strikes again!
We’ll be back. 
All words and images copyright Naomi Baltuck.
Click here for more interpretations of the Weekly Photo Challenge: Fun.
Click here for more interpretations of The Weekly Travel Theme: Sport.
The whole town turns out for Gallery Walk. Every shop and gallery in town serves refreshments and features local artists. People come out in droves, wearing their sequins and snowboots. 
I popped over to Annie Kaill’s and saw my sister’s painting, Holiday House, in the front window of the shop. This festive painting was on loan to the gallery from its owners. Someone I talked to said he overheard people praising the painting in St. Petersberg! My favorite art tells a story, and this one tells a story I know. Constance painted it as a gift for her neighbors Jeff and Terry. Look closely and you can see Jeff in his brown overalls on a ladder, putting up his Christmas lights. 
Jeff is the kind of neighbor every neighborhood wants and needs, but few are fortunate enough to have. When he mows his own lawn, he also cuts the grass of an elderly neighbor. If Constance comes home and finds her driveway shoveled, she can guess who did it. Constance met him for the first time decades ago, when she bought a sandbox for her kids out in the valley and it wouldn’t fit in her car. She recognized him and, not knowing what else to do, asked a stranger’s help transporting it in his pickup. It was all set up in her yard when she got home. On our visit to Juneau last summer he heard that my son Eli was interested in fishing, and offered to take him out on his boat. Jeff helped Eli land a thirty pound king salmon. It was the highlight of his trip–all of ours, really, because eight of us ate fresh King salmon every night and there was still some to share with the neighbors. 
Every year Jeff spends the weeks preceding Christmas putting up tens of thousands of lights on his house, and at least a dozen Santas and snowmen. His electric bill spikes each December, but the people of Juneau count on him to put some serious twinkle into their holiday. 
Some people save their treasures for heaven, but I think there’s a twinkle light shining on his house for each kindness Jeff has paid to others. They add up, all those little lights, and push back the darkness for us all.
Writing Between the Lines 