Going Rogue: An American Life (126 page)
Read Going Rogue: An American Life Online
Authors: Sarah Palin,Lynn Vincent
Tags: #General, #Autobiography, #Political, #Political Science, #Biography And Autobiography, #Biography, #Science, #Contemporary, #History, #Non-Fiction, #Politics, #Sarah, #USA, #Vice-Presidential candidates - United States, #Women politicians, #Women governors, #21st century history: from c 2000 -, #Women, #Autobiography: General, #History of the Americas, #Women politicians - United States, #Palin, #Alaska, #Personal Memoirs, #Vice-Presidential candidates, #Memoirs, #Central government, #Republican Party (U.S.: 1854- ), #Governors - Alaska, #Alaska - Politics and government, #Biography & Autobiography, #Conservatives - Women - United States, #U.S. - Contemporary Politics
The family lines up for a weekend snowmachine ride, where we take off from our front door on frozen Lake Lucille. There are plentiful trail-riding opportunities all over our state, and, in fact, if you’re tough enough, you could travel all the way from our house to Nome, like Iditarod mushers and Iron Daggers do.
Courtesy Todd Palin
BELOW LEFT: Here
I’m
panning for gold on a creek near Eureka, which is near Glennallen. This find is after three of us panned for two days in the freezing creek. BELOW RIGHT: Commercial fishing in Bristol Bay on a nice day like this is a family affair. Track and I prepare the net to set from Nushagak River’s beach, which requires me leaving the skiff, tromping through the mud, and then working the ebb and of the tide to catch healthy, clean, wild Alaska salmon.
Courtesy Todd Palin
ABOVE LEFT: Dad and his granddaughter Willow clean silver salmon at our favorite sport-fishing hole. We dry the eggs to use as bait, often for ice fishing. I’m not hardcore enough to thaw the frozen eggs in my mouth before baiting an ice-fishing hook; Dad’s a good man-he usually takes care of that.
Courtesy Todd Palin
ABOVE RIGHT: Our wonderful friend and commercial fishing partner Nick Timurphy, originally from the Native village of New Stuyahok, is ready to help me field dress the caribou I just shot . It may not look like a trophy, but it’s good eating, and I’m thankful to help fill our freezer with some of the cleanest organic protein on God’s green earth. We eat, therefore we hunt.
Courtesy Todd Palin
Todd and I pull in the net to haul a catch of red salmon that we’ll sell to a Bristol Bay processor. Todd’s the hardest-working fisherman I know. He goes days without sleep and picks salmon from the nets with amazing skill and speed. He’s been at this for nearly forty years. He hires a crew, sometimes greenhorns, to join us every summer, and if they start off not knowing what hard work is, Todd makes sure they know what it feels like by the end of the season .
Courtesy Kaleb
Sally herds up part of the
family for a blueberry-picking
day at Hatcher Pass in the
Mat-Su Valley. We make jam
and freeze a lot of our wild
organic produce
the winter,
plus bake plenty of pies and
muffins with the fresh berries.
Wild game, local vegetables,
and berries grown under
the midnight sun are
our family’ food staples.
Courtesy Chuck Heath
In between salmon runs at our
commercial fishing site in Dillingham,
I try to squeeze in a few miles of
running from my in-laws’ house and
usually try to make it a kid-friendly
event. Here Todd watches a very young
Track, with a traditional summer buzz
cut, and Willow as we get ready for a
jog.
Courtesy Chuck Heath
Fireweed grows wild and gorgeous
throughout many parts of Alaska.
Willow stands in a field of it, probably
ready to nibble on a blossom because
they’re sweet and can be made into
honey. Legend has it that when the
flower reaches the top of the stalk,
then summer is over and a quick
autumn lets us gear up for winter.
Courtesy Chuck Heath
ABOVE: I’m taking in the day’s news while
Payton; my brother-in-law, Kurt Bruce; and
Karcher surround me, modeling fur hats
at my parents’ kitchen table. The hat are
the best for keeping heads warm in the cold
northern climate.
Courtesy Chuck Heath
February 2002. Todd holds Piper in the city garage in Nome, the halfway point of the 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmachine race. Todd and his partner won that year. Some remnants of duct tape protected Todd’s exposed skin during the 100-miles-per-hour rides in frigid conditions . Racers apply new tape at checkpoints along the way to avoid inevitable frostbite.
Courtesy Sarah Palin Easter brunch at myoId house on Wasilla Lake. Bristol, me (I’d just had Piper), Sally, Willow, Molly, and Payton join hands as Mom leads us in saying grace. It’s always been our faith’s tradition to join together in thanking God for His blessings, and asking for His strength and guidance. Courtesy Chuck Heath
Opening the door to Alaska wildlife in the
Heaths’ home. Dad refused to let Molly
invite the moose any further into the house.
Dad has a massive fishing lure collection,
and just a few of the many thousands of
“snags” he’s found in local rivers adorn the wall next to the door where the moose
peeks in.
Courtesy Chuck Heath
LEFT: Piper, wearing a colorful Eskimo
parka made by Great-Great-Grandmother
Lena Andree, tries to stay upright with a
hockey stick on the ice in front of our Lake
Lucille home. I pretend to be able to play
the game while Todd, behind me, fines es
the puck.
Courtesy 200.9
judy Patrick/
AlaskaStock.com
BELOW: October 2006. Three of five
generations of beautiful Yupik women, all
dressed in traditional bright Native clothes.
Gathered around Lena, the matriarch, are
Willow, Blanche, Piper, and Bristol. Todd
and I are blessed knowing that our kids
have Lena and other esteemed elders to
look up to .
Courtesy Chuck Heath
