With the arrival of Memorial Day weekend I have been struck with the desire to fill our freezer with salmon. It actually started a week ago, while at some friends' house, sitting around a bonfire and eating salmon that had been grilled over the flames.

As John pulled the salmon off the grate and Kim began describing the Seattle Pike Place Market rubs she had used, my mouth began to water. Maybe I was just hungry, but after my first bite, I knew it was more than that.

This weekend, set aside to honor those who have served our country, also marks the arrival of fishing season for the typical Alaska outdoors lover. And while the water is still a bit cold and the salmon runs are not at their peak, there's something about the sunshine and greened-out trees that just brings my salmon taste buds back.

After devouring one, two then three pieces of salmon around that bonfire, I had to forcefully stop myself. But afterward, back at home and getting ready for bed, I kept thinking about that wonderful salmon, flaking and moist, in mouth-watering bite-sized pieces.

I mentally compared that to the "me" of this winter, when scrounging through the freezer looking for something to cook for dinner, I just couldn't bring myself to get excited over yet another salmon dish.

In a way, this is as it should be. Writers and food advocates such as Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver have argued for years that food is best enjoyed when it's in season, but we've become a nation of "have it all nows" and pay a premium to get our tomatoes from Mexico in the dead of an Alaska winter.

Salmon is no different. While putting up this protein-rich Alaska staple in the freezer makes economic sense, nothing -- but nothing -- beats a rich red salmon pulled right from the water, filleted with care and grilled on the spot.

At the Hartke house, we talked about salmon -- which species is our favorite, why we like it, how to best prepare it. John talked about various fishing trips and Kim and I compared opinions on which preparation of the grilled salmon had turned out best.

And with the bonfire smoke swirling around our heads, it slowly occurred to me how much salmon, this simple delicacy swimming Alaska's waters each season, shapes a typical family's life here. Trips are planned around them, storage space is made for them, salaries are spent pursuing them. We are a state consumed by a superior fish, and for good reason.

Outdoors freelance writer Melissa DeVaughn and her blog "Deadlines and Stopwatches'' can be reached at www.melissadevaughn.com

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