Wednesday, August 6, 2008

back in 'the lower 48...'


... that's what they call it in Alaska. The lower 48... makes enough sense, I guess, but I'd admittedly never heard it before. In fact, I've come up with an entire mini-dictionary of terms and phrases--some of them Cordova specific--that I learned for the first time in Alaska. Just to give you a little background, Cordova is remote... far more than I thought it would be when I left St. Louis last Monday. And I'm not just talking no Starbucks remote, I'm talking Fedex NextDay gets there in 4 days remote. No roads lead in or out of Cordova, AK, it's only accessible via ferry or plane. Ok, so here's my mini-dictionary:

Out the road - this refers to a specific road heading out of Cordova, and it basically just means you left Cordova to go to the glacier, hunting, fishing, or whatever else is on the one road that leads out of Cordova (but not actually to anywhere else)

Going outside - yeah, seems simple enough in St. Louis... means outdoors, right? Nope. In Alaska, it means leaving Alaska :)

The lower 48 - I already discussed this one briefly... you can't really refer to us as 'the states' when you're in Alaska, since it's one of 'em. So this makes a lot more sense, especially considering Seattle is virtually 'the South' to them :)

Calving - this is actually a real word that refers to the breaking off of large pieces of ice from a glacier... and the resulting waves can cause a bit of danger on the opposite shore!

Copper River Salmon -
any other salmon is not really worth discussing in Cordova, and you shouldn't be as naive as I was and think that 'Alaskan salmon' is even remotely the same thing.

That's about all I have for now... Gayle, Donald, Piper, John, or any other of my new friends from Cordova, AK, you're more than welcome to add any I've forgotten via a comment!

You can check out quite a few pics from Alaska on my myspace page if you'd like, and I'll surely blog further about my time in Alaska in the next few days, so check back!

6 comments:

Gary Durbin said...

Great picture...it looks a like snake on the ground behind you. Hey, would you be interested in linking me on here? I've got you on mine.

Gary Durbin said...

Thanks for the link love. you rock. We're doing the least I can do this Sunday.

Jennifer said...

So, I'm curious. What were you actually doing in Alaska?

Mark Roach said...

Hey, Gary... you're welcome on the link love, thanks for doing 'The Least I Can Do' this weekend, and it's not a snake. There were dozens of those on the breakwater (that's what I'm standing on--not saying you didn't know that, but I didn't) and they looked like shredded pieces of rope or something. I can only imagine something to do with fishing. :)

Seriously, when are we doing a concert at your church? We'll write together before, after or both, do a night of worship glorifying our Creator together in Palm Bay... let's do this!

Many blessings...

Mark

Mark Roach said...

Read on, oh lady of the nets, read on!

photographer2012 said...

I enjoyed seeing you pics from AK on myspace! I went there for the first time in May to the area surrounding Fairbanks and Valdez area. It was all so beautiful and I hope you enjoyed it!