Friday, July 5, 2013

Museums and Treasures!!

Feeling under the weather from a stuffed up head thing, I headed off to the local Native Health Clinic ... yes, they let me in ... to see Dr. Kristen Booth (all of 20-something) in a beautiful (short) black and pink cocktail dress with tall black cowboy boots.  No, I'm not kidding!!   We talked about her residency in the outback of Alaska and her eventual move to Homer.  She spends three days here and two in Seldovia, across the bay, treating mostly native Alaskans.  I highly recommend her should you need to avail of her services!!

Next up was the Pratt Museum.  This was the most interactive museum I have ever seen.  Every single display offered some kind of personal interaction with the exhibit, from listening to the whales singing, to selecting videos, microscope viewing and opening drawers to feel objects.  Pretty amazing!!  This big Grey Whale is being stored for the eventual move to their new larger building.
I'm sure you have heard of baleen in the whales mouth, that filters out the krill and good stuff for them to eat.  I have seen many examples from different whales, but have never seen any actually still attached to the skull, as this is.  Looking at the inside of the mouth, you can see how it hangs down, keeping all the good stuff in while the water is forced out.  This great stuff is what the natives make baskets from ... to the tune of $900 for the smallest, to over $9000 for some not more than 6 inches wide.
I had never heard of salmon sharks before, but here was one on display.  Yeah, he's dead!!! but those teeth look like they could still do some damage.
Also on every wall in the museum, are these gorgeous works of art, done by the community quilting guild.  This one was 3-D ... many were local scenery brought to life by the use of material.  These are not only sewn and appliqued by hand, but were quilted by hand.  I can't begin to imagine how many hours it took to complete!!
Now ... the Treasures!!!  I discovered not long ago that real native treasures can be purchased at museums, universities and some national park gift shops for much less than the local native art store.  These amazing moccasins (from the museum store) were handmade by Ellen Pootoogooluk in Shishmaref, Alaska, a small village on a 7 sq mile island in the Bering Sea.  They are made of seal skin (tops and sides), beaver (cuff) and sheep skin (inside and bottom), and hand beaded.  AND they fit!!!  Not that I ever plan on wearing them ... they will go in my bookcase of treasures from around the world. 
I saved a couple of the parade pictures for today, since the internet was absolutely awful yesterday and I couldn't get everything to load.  This little black and white puppy was just a baby, meeting lots of new friends.  As you have probably discovered, there are some characters around here, including the two girls who paraded by in their corsets, but were NOT in the parade.  Let me just say the people here are free thinkers ... pioneers, like the original ones who settled here.
Across the street from us was this huge family group ... and of course we wondered where they might be from.  There were guesses from polygamy to Mennonites to Gypsies.  Finally we learned they were Russian.  Duh!!!!  We purchased Alaska from the Russians!!   I never was very good at history.   The kids were all waving American flags and snatching up candy as fast as it was thrown.  By the way,  this parade is ALL about the candy for the kids.   
Just one of the many calendulas in bloom here.  Most, if not all businesses, have flower boxes and beds full of beauties.
This morning, I couldn't show a beautiful image of the view because it looked like this.  Socked in with fog one minute, it would clear up the next and be beautiful, then foggy again.  No matter, I'm in love with Homer.









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