Mornings at mine camp are usually short and hurried.
The crew wakes, drinks coffee, eats breakfast, and races off to their
duties. Lunchtime is similar as each worker takes turns breaking for
twenty or so minutes and goes to their respective camper for something warm and
filling to fight against the rain and cold.
And dinner is a welcome end-of-the-day treat. It is what is discussed between the “camp
cook crew” (Rita, Peggy, and I) from morning until serving time. We decide who is cooking the main dish, what
protein needs to be taken out of the freezer to thaw, who is making a side
dish, which camper to dine in, and if there should be the rare, sugary dessert.
Last night, for instance, we all pitched in a little
something. Rita grilled some pesto and Cajun
salmon filets, while I took care of the salad, and Aunt Peggy made some buttery
wild rice. We didn’t make a dessert,
which was noticed by one of our crew members, Doctor Dan. So to make up for last night’s missing sweet
treat, Peggy is making baklava tonight.
Also tonight, Dave and I are taking Rita and Dani up on a
babysitting offer and going into to town for a dinner-date. Dave proposed this idea to me yesterday, much
to my welcome surprise, and today he added that we should take the side-by-side
four-wheeler, wear our xtra tuffs and some clothes that we can muddy on the
wet, seven-mile drive. Then he said I
could bring my laptop and post a blog entry if we can find some wi-fi at the
Fat Mermaid where we will be eating pizza and cheeseburgers.
Ah, the romance. A
date night that involves mud, xtra-tuffs, blogging, and excessive carbohydrates
is right up my alley! The man knows how
to speak to my heart. So, of course, I
eagerly agreed and we are meeting at the four-wheeler at three o’clock sharp.
And now I am frantically writing this entry to update you
all, my favorite people, on the goings-on of mine camp. I know I am the worst at actually keeping
this blog up to date and for that, once again, I apologize. But this year I would like to play the
pregnancy card and blame my fluctuating hormones for my absent-mindedness and
lack of motivation, or, as my doc’s mid-wife calls it, my
“placental-brain-drain.”
Despite my blogging absence, I am happy to report that this
mining season, so far, has given us few problems and minimal bumps and
bruises. Knock on wood.
We started in May as Dave and Dan worked hard at trommel
maintenance and sluice box extensions. They decided that the sluice
needed about 40 more square feet in order to ensure that we weren't losing any
gold off the end of it. This required a lot of craftsmanship and welding,
two things that I have an embarrassing lack of knowledge about, but that Doctor
Dan is pretty much superhuman with. There were two days of this, followed
by a trip home to Anchorage for some R and R, and our final pack job.
The pack job always puts me in a tizzy even though it
shouldn't. For the most part, it can be approached as an extended camping
trip. But, since I have a kiddo and I am pregnant, and since we are
seasoned miners now, I tend to approach it as if I were doomsday prepping.
First, there is the stuff you need like food and clothing.
Then there is the stuff that is just there for comfort and pleasure like
books, movies, coffee, and beer. And, finally, there is all the stuff to bring
for all of those "what if" scenarios. What if someone cuts
himself or herself on the job? Throw in the first aid kit. What if
Dylan is plagued with the stomach flu again? Throw in those extra sheets,
blankets, and towels I was debating about. And what if, just what if, the
road collapses again?? Throw in the cell phone booster so we might have a
chance to call for help.
And there is a completely different packing experience being
had by Dave. He spends his hours searching Craigslist for needed gear and
supplies, making trips to NC Machinery and Jackovich for equipment parts, and
cleaning out our garage of tools and loading everything into our truck and
trailer. These things take days, even weeks, to weed through and
organize, as it is like I said… doomsday prepping. You just never know
what might happen or what you might need.
Even with all of that preparation, you are never really ready. I must admit, all romance aside, that our
trip to town tonight also has another agenda.
We have a grocery list and a parts list to pick up for all of our crew,
as well as a few loads of laundry to get done at Captain Joe’s Laundromat. Even with all that packing, we are still
running into things that we forgot or that we need.
But something that we are not lacking this season is worker
bees. We are blessed to have Uncle Mike
and Aunt Peggy for the summer again.
Doctor Dan is now retired and he and Rita have fully committed to
Dempsey Mining for the season. Dani has
returned for a two-week cameo to lend a hand before she and her husband go to
his hometown in Croatia for a family visit.
And the big surprise this summer… Dave’s brother Kevin is pulling a
camper up here from Eugene, Oregon, to put in six weeks of work at the end of
the season! We were all very excited to
hear that we get to see him two years in a row and that the Dempsey boys will
get to play in the dirt side by side once again.
This is adding up to be a fun, family-filled year. Dempsey Mining is being good to us. Dave, Doctor Dan, and Uncle Mike spent two
weeks opening the road, which entailed plowing through four colossal avalanches
and smoothing out some of the bumpier parts.
It is still the road from hell but they made it passable enough for us
to bump our campers down it on one long, kidney-jarring day.
We are all comfortably camped and falling back into sync
with the Mineral Creek timeline. We have
been fully operating for three days now and seen some promising signs of that
elusive Valdez gold. As usual, I miss my
all of my friends and family this summer.
But until my next two-week hiatus at home, here is another smoke signal from
your loving, loyal sister, niece, daughter, and friend. Peace from Mineral Creek, Valdez, Alaska.
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