Tom Hanson family hits Seward with Integrity

Dr. Tom Hanson and Birgit Zacher Hanson are the delightful authors of Who will do What by When? a business self-help title (ISBN 0-9724194-4-6 51795).

As principles in the national consulting firm, Heads-Up-Performance they normally spend their time coaching the New York Yankees, MBIA and Microsoft.

Smart people, this summer they stopped by for a couple weeks to visit the Gateway to Alaska.

More visiting Seward than Tom's brother, Maestro George Hanson ever bothered with. Not that I am hassling George about that or anything.

Anyway, smashing visit, wonderful people. Should have stayed longer. Like Tampa, Florida is a great spot to be at this particular juncture.

Anyway, just got this dispatch from Tom along with the great photos. His son, CJ really liked watching the girls herd salmon in the stream behind the house.

Hi:

Thank you for the photos and thank you for playing with us last week.

We got home safe and sound and are adjusting and getting our rhythm back.

I enjoyed meeting you and the girls and Buck and the bunnies and the fish and Steve.

Hope all is well, let us know if youÂ?re in Tampa.

Thanks,
Tom

What they missed out on was a few days after our little field trip to the stream behind my property, I made an evening trek withCaptain Mikiee.

Mikie, for those who are following his hapless love life, has gotten over being unceremoniously dumped by the internet girlfriend (she didn't accept his proposal, I think the quote was, "I don't know what quite to make of it.").

Mikie met some Anchorage chick who was down at the Grande Alaskan Lodge with her parents, and the thunderbolt struck a second time this summer. Sara is much relieved that Mikie is no longer whining daily about the internet chick, apparently it hadgottenn way-way-way out of hand. But this is another story.

Captain Mikieand II went down the two track path that my grandfather cut with his cat 40 years ago, when we peeked around the corner of the densevegetationn of the trailhead - there was the most beautiful young, mature,glorious grizzlyy you ever laid eyes on.

He was pouncing on the spawning salmon, splashing around in the water, throwing them on the creek banks, crunching up their bones, and chasing off the birds. Since the evening breeze kept us strongly downwind, and thedense vegetationn offered great cover, we watched at 100 ft for half an hour.

At no time did we feel an urge to pet the bear, hug the bear, make friends with this bear - even though he was obviously one of those happy-go-lucky enjoying-the-day kind of guys. Mikie didn't want to poke him in the nose and giggle.

We just watched him from a respectable distance, cursing that we didn't have a camera with us. The alpine glow on the mountain, clear sky, sea gulls, glacier creek, lovely bear, close proximity - would have made an amazing shot to be admired and lusted after by all.

Oh well, next time. We missed out, as did Tom. And George.