Sadly, living in Alaska means learning to live with plane crashes and death so much more often than probably anywhere else in America. Anyone who’s lived in the bush has flown those small planes. Anyone who’s lived in the bush has known someone who died in one of them. Yet we get up each day knowing that it’s the risk we take for living in a land we love. My sympathy goes out to all those families in South Carolina who lost a loved one in the Soldotna plane crash and to the family of Walter Rediske, pilot.
Isn’t the quiet nice
I never realize how loudly annoying our Congress is until they go away and I realize how much I am basking in the quiet that follows. Maybe they should only meet every five years or so.
As the rest of the country sizzles…
I can only repeat frequently and fervently, thank you goddess for bringing back a real Anchorage summer. Here’s to 60 degrees!
Eskimo boy and mom at Disneyland
You don’t get to look much cooler than when you’re wearing the right sunglasses. As though Disneyland needed anything else to make it magic for a four year old.
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Slowly but surely
Slowly but surely we are coming together as a family that has stretched to admit one more. Now that Snowy has had his vet visit, had all his licenses bought and confirmed and… perhaps most importantly… had a visit with Jordan to get a proper haircut, we are ready to start integrating as a family. A big moment arrived when BuddhaBubba and Carm let him share their couch pillow, if not exactly their space, for the first time. Here we see Carm manfully protecting his woman from the intruding male. Given that the intruding male is a neutered two year
A child of the cold war
I grew up a child of the cold war. America and Western Europe were good, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), China, Cuba and all other communist countries were bad. South America and Africa had not yet really come of age on the international scene. It was a black and white world. Democracy good. Communism bad.
We learned that in Russia, the government spied on its own people. There was always a collective gasp of horror at that statement. Imagine, a government that listened in on its own people. The rulers of the USSR claimed that if you were
The next phase
So long as they thought Snowy was visiting, BuddhaBubba and Carm were fine with playing with him and having fun. As the reality has sunk in that he’s not leaving, they have grown less amused. Since they are 9 and 11 and he’s 2 or 3, the energy level in the house has been raised quite a bit. BB and Carm’s response to that is to get on their pillow beds scattered throughout the house and watch with only slightly veiled disdain as Snowy bounds happily about shaking squeaky toys in his mouth. So long as he doesn’t touch Santa,
Rummage Sale and New Book – a bonanza
Don’t forget the Bird TLC rummage sale on our property off Old Seward above Potter’s Marsh. It runs from 9 to 3. Lots of birds to amuse you and lots of goodies to buy.
And as if that’s not enough, my newest book Coming Into the City is officially out for sale. You can order it online at http://www.alaskabooksandcalendars.com
Note to family… yes, you have to pay for it. My birds need me to pay for their kibble so you have to pay for the book.
Meet our new family member – Snowy
With a name like that, he was meant to be part of our family. He’s a part Peke and a part god knows what. And he’s a bundle of joyful enthusiasm despite a difficult early life. You can see from the way Carm is lying by my side that he’s thrilled. Actually, BuddhaBubba should be the one complaining. Carm and Snowy quickly did some male pair bonding. BB spent the afternoon asleep on the couch trying to ignore their boyish antics. The birds… well, they are calling their lawyers to see just how many dogs I’m allowed to bring into
the joys of retirement
Had old Barrow friends over a few nights ago. Started out with dinner at the Korean restaurant I love so much and then back to my house for drinks. We all managed one drink and stayed up until 10:30 before we started to fade so badly it almost turned into a sleep over. This was not the way we dreamed it would happen when we all worked and fantasized about late night mid-week parties with no responsibilities to get us up in the morning. Sigh.