But we’d left Ketchikan with a favorable current and had not finished our fresh provisioning. So, we decided to stop late in the afternoon, do some shopping, and get an early start the next morning.

All you have to do is take a look at this photo to know this is not the usual Southeast Alaska tourism-based town. In fact, the good residents of Petersburg do not want tour ships or their passengers in their town. This is a working village that gets its providence from the sea – as it has since it was founded a hundred-plus years ago.

The town is surrounded with spectacular mountains capped with snow. In fact this past year was a record in terms of snow fall, sixteen feet, and there was plenty of it still on the ground.

In 1965 the cannery was losing money and decided to close. This could have been a death knell for this town, but some of the farsighted residents decided to take a chance and bought the plant. At the end of the first season things looked grim. The salmon run had been small and there wasn’t anything left in the bank account. The competition has already packed up and left. And then the gods smiled on them – the salmon returned. With a shortage in the marketplace, prices were strong, and the rest, as they say, is history. Many of the villagers here are stockholders in the various enterprises in which they work.

The folks are downright friendly. Everyone smiles and says "hello", even the teenagers. They are happy to help strangers with information. Oh, and there is a strong Norwegian heritage, as you can tell from the sweater above. Linda is being directed to the local supermarket (which has excellent fresh provisions at reasonable prices). There is also a lovely little museum on the way.

This is a 25 watt dual sideband radio from a nearby logging camp. Similar radios were in use on ships through the late 1950s.

This is an age-related technical question. Who amongst you recognizes this bit of technology? Hint: It is from the back of the dual sideband radio. If you said "vacuum tube," you’re a winner, and probably ready to collect social security. Today the equivalent of millions of these tubes fits on a tiny microchip!

The locals are into showing off their shoes. These are called "Petersburg sneakers".

Here is the same footwear, but with a bit of a flourish.

And being the weekend, some of the locals are really gussying up their sneakers.

As you might imagine from the photos so far, we did not make it out early the next morning. This weekend just happened to be the annual Norwegian Heritage celebration, with a parade, contests, and all sorts of fun.

The locals are dressed in their finery…

…while the children do traditional dances.

Lots of blond children and Norwegian sweaters could be seen in the parade and lining the route.

However, we’re not sure about the political correctness of the Petersburgers. There are a lot of furs being worn – and the locals seem to enjoy them.

Check out this dude!

You just know this young man is going to be a warrior when he grows up. How about that hammer in his right hand (no light sabers here). Anglo Saxon land holders, beware!

Ancestors of the original inhabitants of this area are showing off their fancy duds as well. But that young lady to the left in the photo seems to have dual heritage, given the sweater she is wearing.

There were various local tradespeople selling their wares. One women had a table set up with these lovely bowls, made by her husband in Wrangell. They are beautifully finished and run just $30 to $60 (Ed Glenz, Wood Treasures, PO BOX 97, Wrangell, AK 99929-0097 – phone 907 874-4012).

A herring toss (a rif on tossing eggs) is another Norwegian tradition.

These kids are not blond enough to participate, so they have to sit by and watch. As consolation they get to chow down on cotton candy.

We just had to include this photo. Notice: State Champs in basketball!

And now for a more serious comment. We note that there is a degree of hysteria associated with the concept of global warming. We don’t know if the earth is warming or not. The data seems inconclusive to us at this point. But these Scandinavians got us to thinking about the alternatives. Consider, for example, this gentle soul’s forbearer, Leif Erickson. During a previous period of global warming he led a group from the home waters to the then-aptly named Greenland. Not too long thereafter things chilled back to "normal" and the colony failed.

Of course there were other repercussions of the last cycle of global cooling (known as the "mini-ice age"), amongst which were the tourist visits of the Scandinavians to the warmer shores further south. Pillaging, looting, and rapine behavior were part of the tourist trade in those days.

So while the earth may be warming it is a lot better than if it were to suddenly to revert to the geological norm, which is a lot colder than what we’ve seen since the 1850s. We’d like to see as much energy going into the understanding of the mechanics of cooling as is going into warming.

OK, enough soap box for one summer. Part two on Petersburg follows.