Little Norway continued

Tuesday afternoon. Mostly cloudy, light winds, 50 give or take. The forecast is for rain and wind: typical October weather for Southeast.

Well I’m still in Petersburg. I think it is due more to inertia than desire. Don’t get me wrong, I like Petersburg. It’s just that to get somewhere else takes more effort than I care to expend right now. That and the fact that I won’t travel around here in the dark is keeping me tied to the dock.

So what’s going on? Well last Saturday night I went to the 4^th annual Devil’s Thumb Brewfest and Chili Cookoff. It was held upstairs in the Sons of Norway Hall. This building was built nearly 100 years ago and is located on Sing Lee Alley above Hammer Slough. It is a listed national historical building. This status has apparently caused some consternation amongst the Sons and Daughters as the soft fir floor downstairs was recently replaced with a new white oak floor. No problem upstairs though. It’s carpeted. Anyway, this fest was very well attended, both by cooks and brewers, as well as eaters and drinkers. There were at least ten different chilis and several homebrew beers and wines as well as a rhubarb liqueur. After paying the entry fee, I was issued a baggie with 5 or 6 beans in it. Turns out each contestant had a covered cup in which the eaters and drinkers voted by depositing their beans. Now in my opinion, chili does NOT contain beans. There just so happened to be one cook who shared my opinion. Fortunately, he had concocted a very tasty moose chili as I really didn’t want to vote for something I didn’t like. He got two of my beans. I deposited one bean in the cup of a really cute cook who had entered a tasty black bean chili. (Hey what can I say? I’m a guy. :-) ) My other beans went to the brewers of a very tasty porter and the rhubarb liqueur. I think part of the reason for my attending was the hope of maybe seeing someone I knew from when I lived here 29 years ago. It was a ridiculous hope as the folks that I knew then have changed beyond my recognition as I undoubtedly have. Oh and for those of you who are wondering what the title refers to, Devil’s Thumb is a spectacular granite massif that protrudes from the range east of Petersburg and is both a geographical landmark and a boundary peak between Alaska and Canada.

I was disappointed to find that the Forest Service had taken over all of the building on the corner of Main and Haugen and that the Post Office had moved up near the airport. Seems to me they got it exactly backwards. It is a good cardio workout pedaling up the hill on the bike but not much fun in the rain.

Monday a week ago I joined the movie rental store. They seemed to have a decent selection and a lot of the older movies were only a dollar. Imagine my surprise when I was charged $4 each for a 3 year old movie and a 2 year old movie. I thought it was a little steep but I wanted to see them so I paid. I returned them the next night. After the Brewfest I went in and was careful to pick out two $1 movies. The girl at the counter asked if I was going to pay the late fees on the two prior movies. I refused, saying I had only had them one night. She said I hadn’t gotten them back by 6 PM and that she couldn’t do anything about it but that the person who could would be in the next day. I went in the next day and talked with her about the fine saying that I was a new member and wasn’t familiar with all of the rules. She asked if I signed the paper when I joined. I said I did but didn’t get a copy. She said that you don’t get a copy but that the 6 o’clock rule was also posted on the door and on a white board above the counter. The whiteboard was facing in another direction and to read it I had to move around to another counter. When I pointed out how old the movies were she offered to forgive the fine on the 3 year old movie but not the 2 year old movie. At that point I mentioned to her that I had spent $17 that week in her store, that her pricing was high in my experience, and that she was in competition with cable TV and Netflix. I asked her if she wanted my business. She replied that people came in every day asking for forgiveness on their fines and that I owed her $4. I cancelled my membership. It’s little wonder to me why she has to charge high prices. Sorry for the rant.

I am enjoying Petersburg though. With the exception of the movie rental experience my interaction with the residents here has been nothing but positive. I haven’t decided to winter over here yet but with each passing day it’s becoming more likely.

The pics are of the views I have when I slide open the hatch and of the boat from the parking lot outside of where my shop used to be.

ap