{"id":22020,"date":"2017-07-23T01:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-07-23T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/?p=22020"},"modified":"2017-07-22T13:38:09","modified_gmt":"2017-07-22T23:38:09","slug":"a-conversation-on-the-docks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/?p=22020","title":{"rendered":"A Conversation on the Docks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leaving Deb to take a nap in the hotel room I grabbed a camera. The shopping was done, nothing to do until we loaded up baggage and groceries for a quick flight to Craig the next morning. I wondered if the Ketchikan waterfront would offer a few photos, so I grabbed the 6D with the 70-200mm f\/2.8, a rain jacket, and not much else for an evening walk.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A conversation with Jack, a longtime Ketchikan resident<\/figcaption><\/figure>“You know you are trespassing.”<\/p>\n

The comment caught me by surprise. I was threading my way along an apparently abandoned section of docks noting a possible photo opportunity involving some harbor seals.<\/p>\n

Turning, I was met by a fellow stepping out of an old white van that looked to have been parked in place for the entire summer.<\/p>\n

“Sorry.” I replied. “I can leave.”<\/p>\n

The fellow was not really threatening me. Indeed, he seemed quite friendly. He explained he was just doing his job as watchman on the property. The conversation rolled from there, I expect he was pretty bored and someone to talk with was a welcome break.<\/p>\n

He was also a bit of a story teller, and I had obviously not heard any of his stories before. Jack had made a living in Ketchikan and SE Alaska for many years. Living in this rough country leaves one with a store of tales to tell and we both had nothing to do at the moment but pass the time.<\/p>\n

Jack pulled up a folding chair, I took a seat on an old boat trailer. The cool Ketchikan evening was quite pleasant despite the threat of renewed rain.<\/p>\n

At first I think he took me for a cruise ship tourist, the expensive camera with a big white lens certainly would give that impression. On the other hand I was dressed more like a local, in a Carhartt jacket and old wool sweater. I probably confused him a bit, trying to figure me out.<\/p>\n

I have never lived in Ketchikan, but I have been here a fair number of times. My connections are through my father. He grew up here while my grandfather commanded a US Coast Guard buoy tender<\/a> and later commanded the Ketchikan Coast Guard station.<\/p>\n

A vehicle rolling up prompted Jack take note… “If you want better stories ask this guy, he is my boss. And let him know I warned you about the trespassing” He said with a wink.<\/p>\n

\"Harbor<\/a>
Some harbor seals lounge on an abandoned bit of dock in the Ketchikan harbor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>Another set of stories just add to the conversation. Jack’s boss had bounced around, for a while a teacher, another while as a bush pilot. We swapped tales under the low drooping clouds while eagles cackled on the old pilings around us.<\/p>\n

If you are open to it, life often offers up these moments. A personal moment, very different lives meeting in passing, swapping stories and reliving old memories.<\/p>\n

After another hour or so I begged off, wanting to check on my wife in the room. But first I let them know I would be trespassing a bit longer to get that photo of the seals. They laughed and waved me off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leaving Deb to take a nap in the hotel room I grabbed a camera. The shopping was done, nothing to do until we loaded up baggage and groceries for a quick flight to Craig the next morning. I wondered if the Ketchikan waterfront would offer a few photos, so I grabbed the 6D with the … Continue reading “A Conversation on the Docks”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[402,2436],"tags":[2439,2437,2438,78],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22020"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22031,"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22020\/revisions\/22031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkerview.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}