TRAIL TALES

PO Box 751 Van Buren, MO 63965, phone:  (573) 251 3648  email:  jill at jchoatebasketry.com                 

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Jill's Tales from the Trail 
Always a treat.  Jill can conjure up a story about life in the Alaskan bush and have you in stitches. 
Pull up a chair, grab a cup of tea, and listen to the fire crackle while she spins another tale from the trail. 

 


 
It's to Die for...

It began as a joke, as most good ideas do.   Build your own coffin?  Hey… that’s a great idea!  Let’s build a coffin and decorate it with birch bark and twigs.  We’ll get together and have a coffin bee to get the work done.  What a great tribute to our friend Ardella Hagen.  A loving gift to the elder who got us started off talking with trees and making baskets. Every birch bark basket maker should be buried in one, (try that five times fast). Click here for the full version.


 
The Morning Shift

Alaskan winter equals dark.  This situational equation exists from November through January.   This being the case, it really doesn’t matter what time you get up in the morning in Alaska .  There is no greeting the sunrise or early-bird-grabbing -the worm scenario at work here in the north.  For most Alaskans this means hibernation mode.  More time to snuggle down into the depths of a cozy, down, comforter as the hours tick away.  However, when a home is heated with wood someone has to get up and stoke the fire so that sleeping instead of shivering can occur.  Click here for the full version.