SPRING IS SPRING
Officially, Spring arrived at 3:30 aK, 1ST
on ha: eh 21st. 7e here in ^laska usually
have little reason to celebrate this sta
tistical Spring, being still snow-bound,
ice-bound, and house-bound.and usually
suffering more than a little from the
^.laskai milady known as cabin fever. Altho i
this is a disease that may seem fatal at
! the time, victims noticeably improve with
the first Chinook, and completely recover
with the flight of the magnificent Canadian :
| hon kers. '//hat does spring mean to you? Is
, it the first fuzzy pussy-willow that braves
the icy winds and the snow? Is it the gaudy ,
i color of the Pasque flower ( the .PLaskan
! "Crocus”) poking its head through the dry
withered grasses? Perhaps you are aware of
' the subtle change.in the color of the will
i ow shoots as they begin to show their first
i tinge of orange-yellow. Friendly little
Redpolls begin to take over the few spots
! of exposed grass, their brilliant little red
tons adding a welcome spot of color in an
ar-iH 1 andscaoe: soon there will be flocks of
the nervous Lapland Longspurs, wheeling and
undulating in the pale sky. The snowbirds
have already left us for the colder North.
As the sloughs and ponds begin to break up
we will welcome the return of the Green
Wing Teal, the familiar Mallard’ and the Pin
tail, the. Baldpate, the Widgeon, and the
Golden-Eye. The merganser will once again
go through the courtship antics that seen
slightly ludicrous to us, but not to the
female Merganserl Here at Copper Center we
will play host to the graceful Marsh Hawk
wh o is so adept at catching the field mice.
One- of the finest spring sights occurs when ,
hundreds of Golden Plovers mingle with the
Hu^onian Curlews on the open fields. These
birds will have traveled thousands of miles .
through all sorts of wind and weather to
reach their nesting grounds in the interior.;
They stay with us just long enough to rest
and eat, and then are once again on the wing,,
But of the geesei Their wild crys always
manage to stir the primitive in every man’s
soul.the longing to be free, to travel
when and where the heart pleases, 'to be
master of one’s fate.all these churning!
emotions and more, when the first flight
sounds its clarion call high overhead. <Jho ■
wants to.worry about Spring housecleaning
when the whole world is being renewed; when |
the seed catalogs are bursting with pictures;
of new delights, and the fishing tackle is j
just waiting to be checked? mud, certainly, .
but mud, after all, is only a form of dirt,
and how many months since we were able to
run our hands through the lovely stuff?
Spring is here.,... .get out....enjoy the
elements.clean out the cobwebs... .per- .
haps even gain a new perspective l
For Lo.l the winter is past, the rain is
; over and gone; The flowers appear on the
! earth; the time of the singing of birds is
S come, and the voice of the turtle 'is heard
! in the land.” dong of Solomon
l i ' i
Both Mary and Nelson McCrary are now in
anchorage with their daughter and son-in
law, Helen and Jim March. Mrs McCray will !
be hobbling around in a cast for at least
two months whib her broken ankle bones
mend, Nels is having a complete physical
and aL so recovering from an infected throat,,
firs McCrary took a nasty spill in front of
the Copper Center Postoffice, falling in
such a manner that three bones were broken j
in one ankle. Tex Barnard started to the
Faith Hospital with both McCrary's, but ;
was met en route by Hoy McCrary, who trans
ferred the couple to his car, ^11 reports
would seem to indicate that the ankle is
healing in a most satisfactory manner.
iiMUUilfc, i-*A LrUi IUU Oi UJaPEL f
Call on Paul oparks for export help,
reasonable rates. Experienced. Located
at the Eilepost Cafe, Copper Center.
Bessie Bunsek is back hone after a hospital j
stay occasioned by a seige of pneumonia.
Little hark Huddleston invited a number of
his friends to help celebrate his fifth
birthday, and with the aid of his mother
served the traditional birthday fare, hark ;
is ©nmething of a local celebrity among the i
younger fry as he had one of his drawings
published in the national children’s mag
azine, "Children's Highlights". He has even
been receiving fan mail i
i
I
Grandma he Kinley returned home last week- i
end after a short stay at the ^NS hospital. !
It's nothing short of amazing, the endur
ance of this very old lady. Her mind too, is!
fully alert, and her brown eyes have lost
none of their snap and sparkle. No one
seems to know for certain just how old
Grandma is, but she is rumored to be in her
nineties. Her son Jim, is now pastor of the
Copper Center Community Chapel.
The engineers are on the move again and
every day brings new faces to our •’town".
Jimmy Kronk has moved back into Webb’s
cabin, along with George Tvedten. Tom hartin
is living at Upper Tonsina in Bill Etchols
old cabin, and .EL rioig is back at Lower
Tonsina.
Captmua Ed miller, with hrs killer and their]
grand-daughter Bernice, returned from .mchO
orage, after a short hospital stay for hr
miller, .mother of these tough old-timers I j