newsminer.com

Former Gov. Frank Murkowski stopped by the office for a chat on Wednesday.

He wanted to set the record straight on an AP story that was printed in the paper that day. But it strikes me that, post-election, he’s been to the News-Miner office at least three times. Twice more than current Gov. Sarah Palin.

Gov. Sarah is booked for a visit in a few days, though, so the tally will soon be closer — two to three — although one of these people is no longer in public office and managed to squeeze in a trip around the world between visits.

As he walked through the front door in his wide-brimmed hat, and wearing a red flannel shirt under a blazer, I couldn’t help thinking about the first time I met Mr. Murkowski face-to-face.

I’d been in the state only a couple of years and a friend and I had navigated a bargain-basement riverboat loaded with decoys and a couple of rambunctious young Labradors out to a prime- looking duck hunting hole on Minto Flats.

Not long after we settled in, we saw a beautiful Grumman Widgeon land on a nearby lake. That afternoon a couple of older gentlemen came paddling an old canoe over to our camp. We shared some camp coffee and small talk about ducks we’ve shot and dogs we’ve known and they went on their way. We didn’t share names.

“Nice old guys,” my buddy said. He didn’t know who they were.

I told him the one guy was U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski and the other was a pioneer Alaska aviator named Richard Wien — although i think I stumbled over Mr. Wien's name at the time. “That was their Widgeon,” I said.

We agreed that we had moved to a pretty cool state if one of the first people you meet out duck hunting in the marsh is your U.S. senator. But, mostly, I remember my buddy got a big smile on his face and saying something like, “We must be in a good spot! Them old farts were over here checking us out!”

We had our disagreements with the Murkowski administration over the years, but Frank Murkowski has always known the value of face-to-face meetings — and he knows the good spots to have them.

I hope Gov. Palin picks up this skill while she’s in office.