It's so hot I

 saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking. This morning at 5 a.m. it was seventy degrees , ten degrees higher than the daytime high in Soldotna Alaska. So you're wondering how the fishing went as what else would a guy be doing at 5 a.m. , right ?  mmm..... well actually we close the house up after we completely open it up as early as we can in the morning, fan at the front door, all the windows open and then close drapes and windows about 8:30 and then its, 85 by 10:00. I know to most of you this is routine...I'm still learning.

So we got a lot to learn. For instance , in our joy of having an Apple tree that produces pounds of wonderful McIntosh juicy red apples we never dreamed it could carry so much fruit that it breaks . Yesterday we went out to find a huge branch bearing over maybe 100 pounds of fruit broken and bent over. Yikes !  So being that guy I sharpen the chainsaw and go to work . It was 10:30 and already 85 degrees....I get dizzy and kneel down before I would've fallen  down and scared the crap out of MP and honestly, myself.... MP helps into the house and twenty minutes in front of the air conditioner and two Gatorades later I'm fine.....yup, we got a lot to learn.

And of course what happens when it won't rain and it's 100 degrees for days on end ?????  This the plume as seen from the Southern bureau of MIle 14. But you know me, old lucky lucky lucky....the prevailing wind is to the east so for us on the west of the fires we only get all the smoke from other fires and the air quality index has hovered in the dark yellow at 80 to 90 .

So what to do....leave the apple tree clean up for another day. Pack a picnic . Go to flowing water. Get in  flowing water. Sing a song ......ahhhh things are more better already.

For my friends in Mazatlan I've been working on new songs while in doors from the heat. And of course I think of the rain in Alaska and well...just Alaska....which I miss along with my and Alaska's friend Hobo Jim Varsos. This song is one of his early ones. It really speaks to mine and his path through life . Of course I worked the cannery as a kid and had not been in one for 30 years when MP and I got invited to Kenai Packers year end party with entertainment by Hobo JIm . He played this song and to this day I can hear the rhythmic drumming of the conveyor belts, I can smell the heavy protein fish smell that I've lived with my whole life . The steamy hiss of the retorts when their pressure is released . The muffled sound and yelling to talk with your ear plugs in and the longing that goes with the work to be done and $$$$$ , in the fishing industry we call it ' making your season ' ....Thanks Jim, we all miss you .

It's beautiful

 here in Montana, that's for sure . We took the camper to MP's sisters place at Moose Lake for the 4th of July and I was impressed. Snow capped mountains, flowing water and Beaver ponds everywhere and....just a few citizens. Here's the view from the front of the house.

One of the things that I've found sooo boresome here in Montana is the way the locals treat and talk about non-residents, especially Californians ruining the State. They blame people like us for being responsible for the inflated property taxes. They blame Kevin Costner for attracting more people to the Montana lifestyle....yawn....ya know if the TV show Yellowstone can ruin your State maybe it deserves to be ruined. I mean my home state of Alaska endured way more TV exposure than Yellowstone and we survived the Brown family right down to Noah and Snowbird and the rest of those clowns . So where am I going with this you're wondering ? Well, on some level I kinda get it here in Montana.

Moose Lake has this strange urban vibe. It's at the end of a dirt road but there's houses all around the lake. Typically the house started with an inexpensive log cabin which was ' added to ' until it becomes a luxury get away for...you guessed it....California . This is what you see a lot of.....and oh, they call them 'ranches ' when all they grow is dust .  

It was a wonderful weekend. Me and MPeasy canoed, I fished a bit....unsuccessfully....and we took a four wheeler trip up the mountain to an area that had burned in 2018. Mother nature is really something in this pic you can see all the trees that have reseeded themselves, when these guys get big it's going to be a jungle.

Here's a pic of our group lead by my brother-in-law Jim Weaver. I told him he looked absolutely ridiculous on that little Honda and he said to just wait until he gets the side car installed.

 We're in mourning for the Kenai River....The sonar stopped counting Early run King Salmon on June 30th and it is an absolute disaster. With absolutely no harvest at all it is the worst return ever. The problem got apparent and has been regulated (closed ) every year since 2013 which is now more than two complete life cycles for this once robust run of salmon. We're holding our breath in hopes that the second run doesn't mirror the first but they usually trend alike....I hope not . All the Kenai King salmon are wild salmon naturally spawned. The Cook Inlet Regional Planing Team years ago declared it a stock of genetic reserve. so, maybe it's time to introduce hatchery spawned fish and do egg takes from the few remaining Early run Kings before it becomes to late,

The two top lines illustrate the escapement goal range with 3,900 minimum . This year the run was 1/3 the desired minimum at only 1,365.....on June 20th the sonar only counted 12....the black line is 2024 and the other lines the previous 4 years that only one of mad e the very lowest goal.  It's horrible and I'm so very sorry for all my friends and neighbors ....and the fish . 

Today's high temp is forecast to be 98 and then the next few days we're gonna hit triple digits. It's a little hard to get used to when you've spent almost all your July's wearing Helly Hansens and Extra Tuff boats. But we keep the house closed up and with our ' Penguin' brand window unit it stays around 72 to 75 degrees.....no worries....at least we don't have smoke...

I hope ya'all come back....I'll try and write more and in the meantime lets all root for some excitement to write about....but only the good kind of course.....How's about a song ?