A Moose for the Village...truly!

     Before we get too far into the blog post, I will be posting a photo of a moose that was hunted on Douglas Island. The moose is dead, but remember this--animals that are hunted here in Juneau are used as food for the winter. Yes, I know we have a Wal-Mart, but old customs and the natives survive because of the food caught or hunted here in Alaska. Here's the story--
     Our neighbor, Dan, went moose hunting with another new friend, Roger. Roger and Dan have lived in Juneau for a long while and they hunt and fish a bunch. James has been invited to fish with these two men and has already been invited to a moose hunt NEXT year (the hunting license is too high till we are considered a resident). Last Sunday afternoon, James got a call to come see the results of that hunting trip. So we all piled in the car and took off to Douglas Island, which is about 15 minutes from our house. When we got to Roger's house, the moose had already been hung up and was ready to skin and harvest the meat from. The moose was HUGE! Small antlers, really, in the wake of this huge body and those antlers were covered with moss...yes, moss. Not sure if the moss was just growing on the horns on its own, or the moose had been scraping the moss off of a tree, but regardless, that moose was a sight to see. Such a sight to see that I promise you, half the neighborhood of Douglas and Juneau came by that afternoon to see the moose. The heart of the moose was saved as a specialty item (YUCK) and the moose was taken to a processing plant to be cut into steaks and sausage, and I am pretty sure, all of those neighbors that came by for a look, were hoping to get some of that moose. Sorta like fishing around here...if you catch some, you share...and I mean that in the friendliest of gestures. This town has such a wonderful spirit of community. I am impressed by how much everyone really looks out for their neighbors. As newbies to Juneau, we are kinda scared about the impending winter snow, and am wondering how we will dig ourselves out if James is out on a job...Dan and his boys have promised to help me, and I know they will. These complete strangers are pretty much taking us on to raise, so to speak, and we are so grateful. We have felt welcomed in this new home of ours and Dan and Kathy are part of that welcome wagon. I asked God before we left Texas to help us find friends in our new world,  and he has sent us some of the nicest people in Juneau.

     Back to the moose, the Holt boys told James he had to bite on the moose's leg...it was a tradition. So that is why there is a picture of that nonsense. I think the boys made that up, but it was sure fun watching the men do it.
     So that is the moose story...a village will be fed well this winter because of the chain of life that our God provided for us all.
     Oh, by the way, even though the moose doesn't look it, he weighed over 1000 pounds, I think. And the hard part was Dan and Roger had to pack him out for almost a half mile to the boat. Poor Dan was whooped when we saw him. Dan is a small fella, but he must be super strong, as that moose was ALASKA SIZED....would have said he was TEXAS SIZED, but in honor of our new home and friends, we give all the glory to ALASKA on this one!!!