Padre Day

Shoutout to my father on this fathers day. I'm sad I couldn't be with my family, but today brought new adventures.

We deemed this Sunday as "Lazy Sunday" after all the hiking. I woke up early though to bike to mass (closes church was about 3 miles away). After mass there was coffee and donuts in the basement of the chapel so I decided to check it out. After getting my food and caffeine I sat at a table with this lady who started talking to me. Within a few minutes four other adults joined and we were thoroughly engaged in conversation.

They asked me about who I was and how long I would be in Alaska. And then they each told me their brief story. Some were from the lower 48, some have been in Alaska all their lives, and one of the guys was from Mexico (his father a native from Mexico and mother a native Alaskan).

I just loved talking to them. They told me about their grandsons, talked about each others occupations. One of them just had a lung transplant and just got back to work today. He is a tugboat(er?) and also hauls wood to peoples houses for the winter. He told me that in my time in Alaska I should do my best to touch into the roots of "this place" and explore the tribes (as he proceeded to name them all). He most strongly spoke of the Aluets (which may have been where his mother is from). I want to go to the Alutian islands so badly now, but it seems extremely difficult to be able to get there.

You never know the new stories you will hear and the people you will meet when you just decide to slow down and say hello. I finally feel like I have a faith family, and I hope I see them again next week when I go to church.