Today is a long anticipated day as we officially introduce Tica Drury. Tica joined our Fishe Team last fall coming off her 3rd summer in Wrangell St Elias National Park. I think we all remember that day when she first walked in the shop outfitted in head to toe Carhartt and a five panel hat. She immediately started asking us about where we go fishing, skiing, flying and just about every Alaskan adventure you can think of. We knew right then that we had a keeper.
Tica was born on an island in the shadow of the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, so living, working and studying in your typical spots has never been a part of the plan. At 23 years old she has already lived in Washington, Vermont, Hawaii, Botswana, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Alaska. She remembers traveling with her family fondly, and can see how much she learned at a young age. Although she does jokingly note that when she returned to middle school she was jarred to realize the other girls were reading Teen Vogue, and not the Sibley Guide to North American Birds.
Living on so many islands Tica became a bird enthusiast. Her favorite way to watch birds is spotting them from her boyfriend's bush plane and gasping so loud he thinks they are crashing. In less dramatic ways, she has enlightened us all about the magic of eagles, and has “attending the eagle convention” on the top of her 2022 bucket list. It is also important to say that she would be delighted to retire to a shack in McCarthy, Alaska and be known as the crazy bird lady. For now, she stops everything she is doing to spot and identify all planes and birds in the sky.
With the time between now and when Tica can fulfill her destiny of being a crazy bird lady, she is spending as much time outdoors as possible. Most recently she took a week “vacation” to ski across the Harding Ice Field. Tica and 5 others were flown out onto the ice field and spent a week making their way down to Seward. The trip went great but they had a slight miscommunication on 2 things,
- There was less snow than anticipated which resulted in an 8 mile walk in ski boots
- An entire bottle of ketchup may have been a bit too much
Tica hopes to continue to share her passion for the outdoors and the environment in whichever path life takes her. With an education in Environmental Studies and Economics from the University of Vermont, she has come to Alaska with incredible enthusiasm for our environment.
Tica is and always has been at her happiest in nature, so we are lucky she has found plenty of that up here to keep her more than happy. Anchorage is the closest she has come and probably ever will to “big city living.”
