Thankful: An Alaskan Post T-Day List

Happy T-Day my peoples. And not to go all fluffy bunny on ya, but we have many reasons to be thankful, or at the least, much less cranky:

On the personal level, we didn't run out of propane while cooking yesterday's meal. When I ran out to Goldstream Store, I took along a spare bottle because I'd checked the bottle in use and it was rather light. Scary. But getting propane there is dicey; only one employee is on shift at a time, so you have to hit the store at the exact time that no one other than you and said employee are present so the employee can lock up the store, walk out to the big tank, and fill yours. There was no way that was gonna happen yesterday. So, I went home having purchased some mayonnaise (the original reason for the trip) and we broke out the trusty Coleman to conserve the propane for the bird.

A few weeks ago, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed a victory of sorts to the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council which had been fighting to prevent Coeur Alaska from dumping several million tons of mine tailings into Lower Slate Lake. When was the last time Alaskan environmentalists had a victory? I say of 'victory of sorts' because Coeur could go ahead and appeal the decision to the Supreme Court and we all know how long a deep-pocketed resource extraction corporation can keep things in court. [Cough.] Exxon bastards.

Palin. Okay, I admit it, I like her. (But not in that way, pervy dudes out there.) But as a voter who refuses to declare a party but tends to vote for the Dems, I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Who, who on earth would have imagined back in the days of Frank the Bank that we'd have a Republican governor who would take on Big Oil and get the PPT raised to 25 percent? Oh sure, she had a unique opportunity because of the Corrupt Bastards trials - but she led on this one. At this point, Alaska Democrats ought to just write off the office of governor for a while.

Palin is so universally popular, she could get caught on video taking a bong hit while wearing a PETA t-shirt at a dinner of farm-raised salmon served at a same-sex couple's commitment ceremony and she'd still get elected. [Ed. note: this sentence became its own paragraph on Nov. 27. Chalk it up to a case of amusing oneself.]

Shishmaref did not get washed out to sea, thanks to the timely arrival of some slush ice. Which is a good thing for everyone except that news crew that went out there to cover the storm's arrival in the fashion of disaster weather journalism down south.

Only 423 days left in G. Dubyah's presidency!

Thanks to the generosity of friends and family, we have muktuk!

Above: Taters boiling on the trusty $10 Coleman which is sitting on a cable reel, outhouse in the background, Christmas tree lights above. Was there ever a more typical Squarebanks scene? I think not. At least 15 CabinDwelling points.

At right: Muktuk! Served yesterday with soy sauce and wasabi. Quyana!