Category: Manny Kagan

Cheers,

Have You Heard About Wrangell?

As our ship continued its journey, it arrived at the island called Wrangell, which has a very interesting history. For five thousand years before the arrival of outside people, it was occupied by the Tlingit Native Americans. It was Russian Czar (Emperor) Peter the Great, whose colonization ambitions brought the Russians there. The purpose was to find new sources of furs, which were sold to China in exchange for tea, that traded currency with the British, which in turn led to the development of the town known today as Wrangell. This started in 1725, when Vitus Jonassen Bering, a Danish cartographer and explorer in the Russian service, was sent to what became known as Alaska. The first voyage was foiled by ice and fog.

The second, known as the Kamchatka Expedition, lasted from 1733 till 1743, under the guidance of two Russian Empresses – Anna and Elizabeth. In 1741, Bering was able to reach what became known as Russian America. New maps allowed Europeans to discover Alaska as well, which in turn led to future historical developments. In 1867, to prevent the British, who were Russia’s enemy during the Crimean War, from getting hold of Alaska, the Russians, who ran out of money, decided to sell Alaska to their “friend”, America. Perhaps there is some inaccuracy in my description of the process; nevertheless, in 1849, the Russians discovered an island, which is today considered the largest in the world.

When it became American territory in 1867, it was named after Baron Wrangell, the last Russian Governor of Alaska. It was born in furs, raised on gold and today its economy is based on fishing and tourism and has a population of about 2,500.

These three images share a little bit of our experience.

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Cheers,

First Capital of Alaska

Stories of our journey to Alaska continues.

While these days we read and hear about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we had to travel to Sitka to learn about the Russian invasion of Alaska many years ago. In 1799, a Russian American Company arrived where Alaskan Natives lived for thousands of years. Russians brought with them iron tools and cotton clothing and were welcomed. However, after they violated territorial claims, clashes led to the Russians occupying their land and eventually established their presence by naming Sitka the Russian American capital and the major trading center for sea otter furs, which were in big demand in China. Russians planned to use Sitka for their colonization of America. They managed to get as far as what still exists today, Fort Ross in Northern California. But after they lost the Crimean War and ran out of money to support their operation.

In far-away Alaska, their solution was to sell what did not belong to them in the first place. And all of this happened right here in Sitka. What was left – the Russian Bishop’s House and St. Michael’s Cathedral, both National Historic Landmarks today. Sitka is a popular cruise lines destination. During our visit, five ships stopped by. Downtown Sitka and the nearby Sitka National Historical Park were flooded with thousands of visitors who were very happy to leave their dollars in the store selling Russian Matryoshkas (nesting dolls). The sign on the door said “We support Ukraine.”

Russians left Sitka long time ago, but the memory of their presence is still here, as you can see from these three images.

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Cheers,

All Saints Eve

On a walk with Max in our neighborhood recently, we saw a huge inflatable black cat turning his head, on a neighbors’ lawn. Max was scared and cautiously went around it looking back, as we continued our walk.

Welcome to Halloween, or Hallowe’en which is a contraction of All Hallows’ evening less commonly known as All Halloween, All Hollows’ Eve, or All Saints Eve. I learned more about Halloween in Wikipedia. Halloween originated as a Celtic festival about 2000 years ago, and went through many transformations. This day was considered the end of summer and the harvest and beginning of the dark, cold winter, often associated with death. In our times, it is essentially just a fun event for children to dress up in costumes and go around the neighborhood accompanied by adults to Trick or Treat, which has its own tradition.

What surprises me is how some adults take the decorations of their homes and front lawns seriously and spend a lot of money for the short lasting fun. Some of the decorations are very creative, which you can see in these three images.

Have a lot of fun!

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Cheers,

In the Beginning

For the Jews who follow tradition, last Tuesday signified the end of one and the beginning of a new cycle. The holiday to celebrate this event is called Simchat Torah – the Joy of Torah. On that day during the synagogue service, the Rabbi reads from the Torah’s last chapter, which lists blessings. “Moses the man of God, bestowed upon the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 33:1). And then the Rabbi begins reading the first chapter. “In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth”. (Genesis 1:1).

And what if you are not Jewish, is there anything for you in this tradition? My answer is definitely “yes”. Regardless of what your beliefs or religious affiliations are, we all go through different cycles in our lives. Just think about the current economic conditions. Regardless how dark it seems now, light always follows because this was part of the creation process. “God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” (Genesis 1:4-5).

I used good light to photograph the heavens and the earth from the plane, with my artistic input.

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