All the best stuff is over here.

For the entire 12 months of 2009, we managed to get on or across the bay exactly twice. The first was a $10/person trip around Gull Island during the Shorebird Festival in May. The second was our Grace Ridge camping trip. Other than those two events, we just looked wistfully at the water and wondered about the secrets hidden on the far shore.

This year, things are different. We are slightly less broke, which is good for many reasons, one being we might be able to afford a trip or two across. Even better, we are far more integrated into the community. That translates directly into more opportunities.

As of today, I’ve been on the bay more times in the past 5 days than I had the entirety of last year. 3 trips so far since Thursday. Total cost: $0.

Thursday, I was sent by the Tribune to participate in and take pictures of the annual halibut tagging quest. Every year, Homer has a halibut derby, where fisherpeople can purchase a derby ticket for the day, and if they catch a tagged fish, they win fabulous cash and prizes. Skippy also participated for Era Aviation (her employer), so we spent the day catching fish and enjoying the weather (sunny, cloudy, snow, rain, sunny, really sunny, cloudy).

Yesterday and today, I volunteered with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies to help teach marine ecology to school groups on a big tour boat as we cruised around the bay. We dropped a crab pot to catch tanner crab, caught plankton with jars attached to pantyhose, looked at said plankton under microscopes, tested the water for salinity and pH, learned about oyster farming in Kachemak Bay, and saw: otters, cormorants, murres, bald eagles, thousands of gulls and a pod of orcas.

Friday, CACS is sending Skippy and I over to video and photograph a group of local school kids as they explore the tide pools. Expect some interesting photos to be posted following that excursion!

We saw mountain goats along this bluff.

Our first stop was the post office, to pick up a package. The Homer Post Office is where you would be sent if there was waiting line for Hell. A typical visit for any reason will usually take at least a half hour. Today, because of the holiday season no doubt, they actually had a dedicated counter for collecting package notices. We only had to wait 10 minutes to get our package from my brother. Of course, when we checked our mailbox this evening, there were two more package notification slips.

Then, we took the dogs to the beach, Ashlee’s most favorite place in the whole world. I mean beaches in general, or anywhere where land meets water, pretty much. Her Labrador half practically squeals with glee anytime we drive towards any body of water.

The beach was cold. Seriously. Like, “windchill in the single digits” cold. There was lots of ice on the beach.

We both bundled up, with long underwear, down coats, hats, soft shells, and gloves. We basically doubled our size.

This was taken at 2:30. See how low the sun is already?

The angle and telephoto compression make Macgee look much smaller than he actually is.

Ashlee usually gets in the water, but after fetching one stick out of the surf, she refrained from entering the water again.

We make long shadows. The beach has a lot of kelp that has washed up.

Which Ashlee likes to eat.

A bald eagle watched us from a driftwood tree, but took off when I got close to try to get a picture. I, of course, only had my wide angle lens, even though I always know I should take my telephoto for just these sorts of opportunities.

Unbundling long enough for a few of these shots, Skippy’s lips froze to her teeth. (not really)

That’s me, I still occasionally get out from behind the camera.

Here’s some wave action for those of you in landlocked states. Not exactly a soft, sandy beach, but who in their right mind would be laying out, anyway?

Also, we watched “Primer” on Netflix Instant Play the other night. It’s quite confusing, as it involves time travel, but the story is intriguing, and half the fun is trying to figure out what exactly happened after you finish watching it. It might take more than one viewing, but it’s just over an hour long, and there is a lot of discussion online to help fill in the gaps.

1. Get up and work hard in a sled dog yard without eating anything, because you know you’re going to eat in town today. When you’re good and hungry, drive into town and here:

Have either an egg scramble with reindeer sausage, or french toast (made with thick slices of fresh baguette) with Alaskan Birch Syrup. Go ahead, try the homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam on your sourdough toast. It’s delicious, like everything else at Sourdough Express.

2. Next, go to the local farmer’s market. Even if it’s not very big.

Buy some fresh vegetables, and marvel at the quality and color.

3. Walk down the road and take some pictures of the Beluga Slough.

Cross the road, and take some pictures of Beluga Lake.

Remember to bring your telephoto lens next time, because the “all-purpose” 17-55mm zoom doesn’t reach as far as you would like for the close-up shot.

4. On the way home, make a spur-of-the-moment decision to stop at the Pick Your Own Organic Rasberry Patch you’ve passed so many times before.

Be stunned at how many raspberry bushes can be crammed together and tied into rows 100′ long.

Pick raspberries for an hour or two. Occasionally eat one.

Admire the raspberries and the beautiful day you’ve been given.

Wonder if the horse in the field next to the raspberry patch likes to lean over the fence and steal a few.

Notice the sunlight illuminating a berry in a particularly interesting way, and once again wish you had your telephoto, because it’s also an awesome macro lens. Make due with what you have, but resolve to just carry around the freaking huge camera bag next time.

Celebrate your haul of 7.5 pounds, and rejoice as you only pay 1/8 of the store price.

5. Finish out the afternoon by looking up raspberry recipes you want to try: Raspberry Pie, Raspberry Jam, Raspberry Waffles!

6. Feed the sled dogs their dinner, feed yourself dinner, then curl up and watch a good movie. Or, The Last Starfighter. Whichever.

Have fun on the trail! We already miss you!