Harvester Island, 2023 – A Feast for the Senses!
During the first week of September, I enjoyed a feast for the senses as part of a writer’s retreat on Harvester Island, one of the many islands off of Kodiak Island in Alaska.
Harvester Island – Fish Camp
Harvester Island is the site of an active fish camp, one of a dwindling number, with boats going out daily to pull salmon out of their extensive nets, seven days a week depending on the weather. While we were there the cannery shut down for the season, abruptly bringing an end to their fishing season, meaning nets were brought in and the process of putting them away and preparing to close camp began.
All in the middle of silver streaming, when the salmon were running. Such is the life of the commercial fisher. And the vagaries of Island time. Schedules are adjusted daily based on the weather, demanding flexibility, something clearly stated in the application for the retreat.
Getting There
My adventure began before I reached the island. In some ways it had been building for years. I’ve been following Lesley Leyland Fields’ blog ever since I had met her at Breathe Writers Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, some eight or nine years ago. Every year I would read about the writers’ retreat and be intrigued, but it was never the right time until this year.
I left my home in Jackson, Michigan, on Friday, September 1, and drove to a hotel by the Detroit airport where I could sleep, park and fly. I flipped on the TV and discovered the movie The Great Gatsby, the older one with Robert Redford. It seemed appropriate as it reminded me of reading it for high school English and stirred my literary sensibilities as I prepared for the retreat, focused on writing memoirs.
I was up by 4a.m. (though I hardly slept), parked my car in the parking lot associated with the hotel by five, and was off on a shuttle to the Alaska Airlines terminal. My adventure had begun.
I had been able to pick window seats for each of my flights when I bought my tickets back in June, providing an eagle eye view as I flew five hours from Detroit to Seattle, four hours from Seattle to Anchorage, and one hour from Anchorage to Kodiak, followed by a 45-minute flight on a bush plane to Harvester Island, arriving close to 8p.m. Harvester time, midnight Michigan time. We were the last in our group to leave Kodiak, arriving just in time before high winds would have made the trip impossible, our flight, being an hour and a half late – remember, flexibility.
Arrival and settling in at Harvester Island
We were warmly welcomed by the rest of the group. I quickly gulped down dinner, my first of an array of Alaskan sea food meals, Heavenly Halibut ala Tammi. Despite eating so late, so fast, and so much, inviting indigestion, I slept soundly – that’s how tired I was.
I was sharing one of four rooms in a barn. In our common area there was a large coffee pot with hot water and basins for washing. Each room had a small chemical potty for nighttime liquid relief. Anything else required a trip up a steep hill to the outhouse.
A Feast for the Senses
Everywhere I went there was a feast. Not just all the food: Alaskan Salmon, grilled and smoked, halibut, fish tacos, king-sized crab-legs and desserts after every lunch and dinner! Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Dutch apple pie, Apple cake, cookies, brownies, lemon bars, along with an abundance of fresh salads and vegetables, fruits and island raspberries. (I’m hoping that I’ll be able to rid myself of the extra pounds I gained before they take up permanent residence in my body)
But all of the senses were treated throughout the week. Daily we looked out over the Shelikof Straits. My eyes feasted on water, islands and mountains–some near, others snow-capped in the distance, wildlife in abundance: sea otters, seals, dear, eagles soaring overhead, whale spouts in the distance, sea stars and jellyfish seen through the clear waters off of my kayak, and one Kodiak brown bear, caught fishing for salmon upstream from our boat. And did I mention the sunsets and sunrises, and billowing clouds coming in and out over the water? So many sights!
For the ears, the sound of seagulls and cawing birds, the song of the sea lions, the wind whistling, and words! So many words! Words shared in teaching and good conversation, without the constant interruption of phones, without politics and the negativity that far too often accompanies such words.
And Smells!
And smells! The outhouse which became more pungent as the week progressed, yes, but without the need to climb to the outhouse in the morning and evening, I would not have been out on a bluff, stepping out the door and seeing the first colors of sunrise or the last colors of the day before the sun went to bed. The smell of the smokehouse and the banya (a Russian sauna powered by fire and coals), the smell of the nets that reminded me I was in a fish camp, and rich smells of foods lovingly made by Tammi and Jo. And then the uniquely distinct smell of the sea lions basking on rocks by the ocean. (Maybe you’ve seen and smelled sea lions at a zoo. Take that number and increase it to a hundred or more sea lions.)
And touch – the feel of the metal skiff as I climbed aboard in my oversize boots and rain gear, the feel of the mist and spray of water as we rode from one island to another, light rain on our faces and the force of the wind, then pouring hot water over my head in the banya. The touch of human hands as we gathered for prayer before each meal; the feel of our bodies moving as led by the audacious Judy, a member of our group.
A Feast for our Spirits
But there was a sixth sense—no not ESP, but the spirit. It was a feast for the spirit as my starving soul was fed with kind positive words and good conversation. We were in a no politics zone. Away from the negativity and lies that inundate our world, we shared stories, over and over. Life stories, rich stories, stories of joys and challenges. Stories of faith. And we prayed.
We were blessed.
And so. I feasted and came back tired, but renewed as I repeated my journey backward. A skiff ride to Larsen Bay. Then a small airplane to Kodiak, an hour flight from Kodiak to Anchorage, three-hour flight from Anchorage to Seattle, where I saw the Space Needle lit up in the pre-dawn sky, four-hour flight from Seattle to Detroit (why less hours? Maybe it had something to do with head winds), then an hour drive till I was home again.
And I am full! I have spent the week feasting, filling all my senses with wonder at creation and our bountiful God. We learned about writing, praised God and shared stories. I am full!
Have you had an experience of such richness? I would love to hear about it. Please share in the comments or email me, patricia@patriciamrobertson.com
Sign up to follow this blog and receive a free copy of Still Dancing, the second book in my Dancing through Life Series. click here to sign up
(Please note – in order to help ensure you receive email with link to new book, please add my email, patricia@patriciamrobertson.com to your contact list. Some servers are quick to send newsletters to spam or other boxes.)
Leave a Reply