Thursday was errand day, so I decided to take Sedona with me for company. She loves going for rides in my car, and as soon as I say "Want to go bye-bye?", she runs straight for the door that leads to the garage. I like having her along for company, and usually end up at Creamers Field with her so we can both get some much-needed exercise.

I like the way that Creamers Field changes as the months pass. The seasonal wetland trail runs alongside a large pond in the spring. Ducks and other water birds make their home here in the spring - some on their way to final nesting areas, but others staying to raise their young. As the weather warms, the ground thaws and the pond slowly disappears. Eventually, all that remains is mud and tall grass.

Sedona and I did a quick walk along this trail, but this time I kept a tight reign on her so she wouldn't make a beeline for what little muddy puddles remained. As we walked, I could hear the laughter of children in the distance, and later saw a large group of them participating on what appeared to be a nature walk. I love that Fairbanks has so many activities available for children in the summer. Many times I've wished that I could have raised my boys here.

Creamers Field Path

Bird Box

Fireweed along Wetland Trail

My flowers are doing well on the back deck. I truly wish I could have started a garden this year, but we were so busy traveling around the state I just didn't find the time. So, in order to fulfill the green thumb in me, I bought a 6-pack of pansies, and started some Johnny Jump Ups (violas) from seed. I placed them together in a window box and have enjoyed watching them grow and thrive. My fuchsia plant is holding its own, and a few other plants I picked up on sale at Plant Kingdom are also thriving. The funniest thing of all is the sunflowers which have sprouted up across the yard, in places where the birds and squirrels dropped sunflower seeds in the spring. I don't know if they'll bloom, but they are getting tall and appear to be healthy. Since we have no grass in the yard, we decided to let them go and see what happens. You can bet I'll take some photos if they do end up blooming.

We've had some strange weather lately - or perhaps I should say this is "normal" weather when we're not besieged by wildfires. Steve and I have joked that we feel like we're living back in Florida. Not because of the heat (we're having marvelous temps in the 70s), but because of the almost daily rain. Almost every morning/afternoon this week, we've had short periods of light rain fall while the sun is shining brightly. Then, in the evening, the rain comes back much heavier. The showers are precipitated by wind gusts and that wonderful "clean" smell of rain. Thunder sounds in the distance, and occasionally we'll see flashes of lightning. We even had hail yesterday! The rain only lasts 30 minutes or so and the skies go very dark. A short time later, the gray clouds part and deep blue skies poke through. Sunshine usually follows and everything sparkles under the droplets of water. It's really quite beautiful, and cools the house down perfectly for sleeping.

Yesterday, Steve and I attended the Midnight Sun Intertribal Powwow. It's a weekend event which has been taking place in Fairbanks since 2001. Alaska is home to native Athabascan, Eskimo and other indigenous tribes of the region, and there is a wide variety of transplants from other tribes originating from throughout the United Sates and Canada.

The purpose of the Midnight Sun Intertribal Powwow is to "bring together Alaska Natives, American Indians, and First Nations People of Canada to share similarities and diversities, to honor the elders, and children, and to educate the general public of the heritage of the indigenous people of North America". (The previous info was taken from their website).

The powwow was held on the grounds behind the Carlson Center. Steve and I arrived a little after 5pm. There were hundreds of participants and spectators, as well as vendors of food and native art and crafts. We found a seat in the bleachers to watch the dancing and listen to the drumming and singing.

I loved the many colors of the celebration dress, and the minute details that went into the beading of both the clothing and the headdresses. The sun was shining brightly, which made the colors even brighter. Most of all, I enjoyed watching the young people and children, as they danced around inside the powwow circle.

After watching the dancing for awhile, Steve and I visited the many vendor tables to see their wares. There was jewelry and fur goods, as well as mukluks, moccasins, and other footwear. I saw a few porcelain dolls which were hand made and dressed in clothing made of moose hide and fox. The handiwork that went into them was incredible. I was quite tempted to add one to my collection.

One of my favorite garments of the powwow was the "Jingle Dress". I have included several photos below of two young ladies wearing jingle dresses. I found the history of jingle dresses online (HERE) and I'm posting it below.

WOMEN'S JINGLE DRESS

This dance has its origins in northern Minnesota and was introduced to the Pan-Indian community by the Ojibwe people. As the story goes, a medicine man's granddaughter was very ill. He had a dream in which a spirit wearing the jingle dress came to him and told him to make one of these dresses and put it on his daughter to cure her. When he awoke, he and his wife proceeded to assemble the dress as described by the spirit of his dream. When finished, they and others brought his granddaughter to the dance hall and she put on the dress. During the first circle around the room, she needed to be carried. During the second circle around the room, she could barely walk and needed the assistance of several women. The third circle around the room she found she could walk without assistance and during the fourth circle around the room, she danced. The jingle dress is made of a cloth, velvet or leather base adorned with jingles made out of a shiny metal. Traditionally and still common today, the jingles are made from the lids of snuff cans. These are bent and molded into triangular bell shapes and attached to the dress with ribbon or fabric in a pattern designed by the dancer. It takes between 400 and 700 jingles to make an adult jingle dress.

The dance itself is designed to incorporate the sound of the jingles by allowing them to move; that is, to make them jingle, or be made "happy." The steps are controlled and do not involve high kicking or twirls. Often the steps are in a zigzag pattern t o reflect the zigzagging involved in the journey of life. Similar to Men's Grass dancing, the feet often do parallel movements. Similar to a Women's Traditional dancer, the Jingle Dress dancer also raises her fan when the "honor beats" are played on the drum. As in all dances, the Jingle Dress dancer must stay in time with the drum beat and stop with both feet on the ground on the final beat.

I wish I had more information about the individuals who I photographed, but unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to talk to any of the participants. A couple of the photos below were edited in Photoshop to desaturate, apply selective coloring, or to add interest.

My favorite people to photograph are the young and the old. I love the silky smooth skin of a child, and the way their faces light up with their smiles. Children have such a visible sparkle in their eyes! I love to photograph elderly people because I find that their wrinkles and furrows add such character to the lines of their face. To watch them dance and laugh, and hug and nuzzle their grandchildren touches my heart.

Powwow dancer	Little Powwow Dancer	A Quiet Moment	Jingle Dress
Fancy Dress	Dancing Little Girl	At the End of the Dance	Jingle Dress
Jingle Dress and Mukluks	Tiny Dancer	Grown men can learn from very little children for the hearts of the little children are pure. Therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss. ~ Black Elk ~	Mother and Child
Colorful Beads	Old and Young	Beautiful Colors	Family of Dancers
George Four Feathers	George Four Feathers	George Four Feathers BW	Elder in B&W

We left the powwow to drive over to the Farthest North Square Dance building in Pioneer Park, where the Hafla was being held.

Hafla. (Pronounced "HAHF lah".) This basically refers to a party. A private hafla thrown by a belly dancer usually involves Middle Eastern music (sometimes live musicians jamming, sometimes just taped music), dancers taking turns performing for each other, and some open-floor dancing for everyone to get up and enjoy the music. A more public hafla may be effectively a full belly dance festival, with vendors selling their wares and a more formalized stage show.

Tundra Caravan hosted the Hafla, and there were dancers from all over the area who performed. The youngest appeared to be about 8 years old, and the oldest was... well... definitely a lovely woman of mature years, who certainly knew how to express herself beautifully through her dance. There were several different forms of dance as well. One pair of young women did their own version of The Charleston, which I found quite enjoyable.

I totally enjoyed myself, and I know Steve enjoyed it too. I took my camera in the hopes of getting photos of different dancers and costumes, but was disappointed to discover that the lighting was so dim indoors, photographing the dancers was a real challenge. I don't like to shoot using a flash, but there were times I had no choice. I much prefer to shoot using ambient light, but in order to capture all the movement, I had to use a higher ISO setting, which makes the photos more grainy. Many of my photos were much too blurry to keep, but some had just enough blurriness to show movement. I took creative license with several of these photos, and gave them a dark background. (The photo at left is Souzana from Tundra Caravan)

Young Dancer	Chandani	Expressive Dance	Souzana
Souzana	Beautiful Costume!	The Charleston	Graceful Veils
Modern Dance	A bit of a Spanish Twist	Souzana	Souzana

Today has been a lazy day for us. My son Chris called this morning, and we chatted for a long time. The kids are very excited about their upcoming trip to Alaska. I can't believe that they'll be here on Friday night. I am so happy to be seeing them again! Chris and I talked about airline regulations and carry-on bags, and I pretty much told them not to worry about packing shampoo or toothpaste, etc. as I have plenty here. I hope their flights go as scheduled and they arrive on time. Airline travel is so unpredictable lately - and especially when coming to Alaska. You'd think Alaska was another country or something!

I'm still not sure if Steve will be accompanying us to Valdez or not. The job search isn't going as he hoped, and he's getting frustrated. He plans to spend the week continuing to focus on finding employment. I do hope he finds a position soon - to save not only his sanity, but mine! He said he's had enough time off to chill out and decompress; he's ready to go back to work. I'm ready for him to go back to work too. His lazing around has made me lazy as well. It's apparent that we're not ready for a 'life of leisure' yet. But we certainly have had a wonderful summer! I'm glad he's taken time off to "shake off" the army life.

As I type this, it's after 7pm and the sun is blazing. My backyard squirrel is racing back and forth - using the "squirrel superhighway" I photographed a month or so ago. She's aggravating me now, as she's taking all of the seeds I've put out for the chickadees who continue to come to my yard to eat. I think it might be time to get one of those 'squirrel-proof' feeders.