by Jane Blaile

We left Kaltag just when a window of opportunity opened weatherwise. There had been a low ceiling and blowing snow earlier, but we made it without any trouble at all. Getting out at the airport, I didn’t notice anything special about Unalakleet. But when I stepped out in the front of the airport, I saw the frozen Bering Sea. The words of Hobo Jim in Yankee Whaler came to mind, “Look away, to the Bering Sea.” The Bering Sea…the Bering Strait – things that conjure up memories of news stories from the 70s. Things that raise history lessons of migrations of native people. Things that project images of crab fishermen dumping piles of crab onto a sea washed deck. The Bering Sea-the Bering Strait.

Words that echo of a place far, far away, which I never believed I would see. The Bering Sea – the Bering Strait, frozen into huge chunks of ice feet thick which in turn are frozen together. A body of water that presents challenges to those who wish to harvest its produce. A body of water that allows access to its rich wildlife.

The Bering Sea.