Back from the Fishbowl

Those of you who live in small town may understand.
While Sitka is small compared to the Twin Cities, it is big compared to the village of Metlakatla.

I knew I would be traveling to a small community, but what I didn't know was that the whole town would know that eating a brownie sundae at the {only} restaurant in town would make headline news.

Ok, ok, so maybe it's because my official title of my day job is "Registered Dietitian" but geez!!!
{Seriously, I don't just eat tofu and carrots . . . }
and I teach people to eat a variety of foods in moderation.
{really difficult term even for a dietitian to understand sometimes} . . .
But when your waitress who brings you the brownie sundae turns out to be your patient the next day . . .
yes, I was due for some laughs.

. . . and somehow the entire staff at the clinic finds out I treated myself, too.
What a hilarious first impression.

Yes, I felt like I was in a fishbowl.
People are very friendly and warm there, however, and it was a pleasant trip.

Here are some glimpses of "Met":

Since it is on an island, like Sitka, the only way there in boat or plane. and the only choice of plane are float planes. Which, hmm, look like the planes from the Charles Lindbergh era. At least from the inside. Not that I lived back then, but . . . I was the sole passenger on the way there. Thanks to God that the pilot did not have a heart attack on the way there. The town is very proud of its Alaska Native heritage. I think the prevailing tribe here is the Tshimsian (sp?) pronounced "Simpsian" tribe. They have so many churches here, all from Christian roots. Because this is not a big tourist town, I did not want to further draw attention myself with a big camera, so I used my cell phone camera for several of these photos. I met a medical student, Laura, who was also working at the clinic and we decided to take advantage of the couple of sunny day to go hiking. This is on the way up to Purple Mountain. There was not an exact trail, but we were told to "follow the pipes". Purple Lake is the reservior for the town's water supply. Still higher Overlooking the town. The reflections became more and more stunning. The next evening, we went out to "Smuggler's Cove" beach. The tides are fairly extreme here. Some local guys told us stories of the lands and mountians visible here, and kept telling us that "the sunset will keep getting better" . . . and it did! There's Laura: These mtns are called "The Three Puppets" And the Grand Finale: p.s. I have not ate any brownie sundaes since. {Cookies and chocolates do not count}