Monthly Archives: August 2021

Raven Story

The USPS released the Raven Story forever stamp on Friday. The stamp was designed by Juneau artist Rico Lanáat’ Worl. Worl is the co-owner of, appropriately Trickster Company, which uses traditional Northwest Coast art in their designs.

The postal service gets tens of thousands of designs for their stamps, and Worl is the first Lingít artist to have his work featured on a stamp. A ceremony was held in Juneau to commemorate the release.

It’s quite the feat to try to tell the Raven’s story on such a small canvas, but Worl manages to catch the magic. In the story, the Raven steals the sun from a box to release to the world, aka The Trickster. On the stamp, the Raven is depicted as escaping through the smokehole in a long house, surrounded by stars, with the sun in its beak.

If you receive letters from me, expect the Trickster to be on the envelope.


Fair Time

The Tanana Valley State Fair started on Friday, which generally means the slippery slope towards winter is well underway. With Alaska’s size, each corner of the state has its own fair, as opposed to just one for the entire state.

The start of the Tanana Valley State Fair is known for the start of the rainy season. In fact, a booth at the fair gives away prizes for the guessing how much rain Fairbanks will get during Fair dates.

This year, that number is looking to be unusually low. No rain is in the forecast until the fair’s final days, which means attendance could be good after not having one last year. Although, I have heard from many people that they will sit this one out, due to the rise in Covid cases. Time will tell on both fronts.

We are looking at a very warm week here. Not Texas hot mind you, but mid to upper 80’s, which is definitely warm for Interior Alaska.