Million Miles

From a million miles away you receive a card bestowing tokens of affections an longing.  Miles long and dusty in the heat of the day.  Miles endless and vast surrounded by the nothingness the trees have to offer.  Miles of endless days you spend longing for what could have been, a million miles from home.  Yet as close as a thought.  Keep home tender and lovingly in your heart.  As that is all you have to carry with you on your journey.

That and the card bestowing tokens of affection and love in your pocket.

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Rainy Day Lement

Rainy Day Lament ~ sure could use some rain!


Joe Purdy ~  Rainy Day Lament
Click HERE to have a listen!

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Time Doing Nothing

Time to sit back and take an R&R and maybe drink some high class R&R. For those lower 48ers R&R is cheap whiskey that the locals drink and ship into the villages.  In a dry village a fifth of R&R can sell for $150.   Crazy and illegal.

Anyway with the hot temperatures in central Alaska, mid 80's ~ which is hot for us especially at the end of May ~ these temperatures are normally seen in July, hot dry air with clear skies and not a rain cloud in sight it is going to be a good weekend for practicing the art of doing nothing.  Nothing but enjoying life, green leaves on the trees and the company of someone you love!

Enjoy your weekend!  Back to the blog world in a week!

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Dreams or Nightmares

It is a fine line between dreams and nightmares.  We all dream for the future, make our plans and march forward towards fulfilling our dreams.  As young children our parents and teachers tell us to dream big, the world is your oyster.  We are told we can accomplish anything we set our mind to do.

Work hard!

Work!

Work!

Work!

Bite off more than can be chewed! 

Drown your dreams with work!

We write lists to manage the errands and we keep calenders to remember where we need to be.  Hurry and rush around, go here, go there. With each dream we employ, our lives become complicated and our list grows, beyond the number of hours in each day.

Our dreams become a nightmare of unmanageable tasks.  We stall, we fall, we head for a crash.  

Take a step back, focus on one dream at a time.  Which dream should you choose?  Which direction is best to fulfill your dream?

Take a day to practice the art of doing nothing.

Ease the rushing.  Sit still ~ enjoy the sun.  Read a book under the shade of a tree.  Don't just dream of a day where you do nothing ~ do it!

Don't let your dreams become nightmares!

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Word of the Day ~ Gloaming

gloaming

PRONUNCIATION:

(GLO-ming)                         

MEANING:

noun: Twilight; dusk.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Middle English gloming, from Old English glomung, from glom (dusk). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghel- (to shine), which is also the source of words such as yellow, gold, glimmer, glimpse, glass, arsenic, melancholy, and cholera.

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Tongue Tied

Tongue tied and breathless

Wrap your arms around

My heart longs for words

Sentiment of love.

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CL-215 Canadair

The fire on Moose Mountain is close to the Fairbanks International Airport so the CL-215 planes were using the float pond to fill up with water to dump on the fire.  We stopped by the float pond on Saturday afternoon and took this video (not with the good camera as I only had the small camera in my bag).  It still turned out rather well.

You can hear the plane way before you can see it in the video.

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Moose Mountain Fire

The Moose Mountain Fire started on May 20, 2011 and was first spotted about 3:30 pm, just north of Fairbanks, Alaska. The fire cause is still under investigation. It grew quickly, pushed by strong southerly winds moving north away from Goldstream Road . Firefighting resources were immediately dispatched from the Alaska Division of Forestry (DOF), local fire departments and BLM Alaska Fire Service. Initial responding resources included fire engines, hand crews, helitack, air tankers, smoke jumpers, and other aviation support.

Read the rest of the article and the fire updated information here: http://inciweb.org/incident/2240/

We were driving home from Mom & Dad's on Friday after spending the day stacking winter fire wood when Ken (Josh) spotted a plume of smoke in the distant hills.  Once we were closer to home I could identify the rough location of the fire.  The fire is still active and has an extreme potential for growth.  

We sure could use some rain ~ lots of rain.

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Friday's Quote ~ For My Mom

The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.

Eugene McCarthy, Time magazine, Feb. 12, 1979 US politician (1916 - 2005)

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Word of the Day ~ Nebbish

nebbish

PRONUNCIATION:

(NEB-ish)                        

MEANING:

noun: A pitifully timid or ineffectual person.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Yiddish nebekh (poor, unfortunate), of Slavic origin. Ultimately from the Indo-European root bhag- (to share) that is also the source of baksheesh, Sanskrit bhagya (good fortune), and words related to -phagy (eating), such as onychophagia and xerophagy. 

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Sky's the Limit

Congratulations!

May you always have a happy heart.

May you always stand tall honorable among men.

May the Lord's grace be with you all your days!

We love you a million tons and then some.

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When the World was Leafy

When the world was leafy we danced and sang a joyful song.

Overnight our world shows bits of green as the birch tree buds open to face the morning sun.

A time to enjoy the sun and a time to spend smiling and laughing with family.

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I am

 

I am an island.  

I live, eat and breathe the sea.  

I am surrounded by the blue abyss.

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Come With Me

Come with me to the hills and valleys on an adventure.  

Down the little road to the big village you would never expect to find.  

Oh come on now hurry you are missing a lot.

Over your left shoulder is love.

Over your right shoulder is riches.

You cannot have the two, which will you choose?

I will knock at these doors to see which one opens.

Enlighten my eyes.

Enrich my heart.

Go where Ireland takes you!

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Some People

There are some people that cross your path that make a huge impact on your life and heart.  Sometimes these people grow into your life and there are others that just belong from the get go.

In my life there have only been a small number of people that when we first met I just knew they would mean something to me ~ always.  With each of these people I can recall the first moment we met and will always cherish that day all the rest of my days.

Until we see each other again ~ perhaps next week ~ year ~ or in our next life ~ I will greet you with a smile and a hug and will know you from the get go.

To those some people ~ know that I will cherish you always and forever!

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My Three Friends ~ Bestest Ever

These are the ladies that have been there for me throughout my life.  Supporting me when I needed to be held up. Laughing with me and creating fond memories. Laughing at me when I most deserve it and just generally being the best sort of friends ~ sisters ~ anyone could wish to have in their life.

They are all from different parts of my life.  Laurin from 11th grade, CJ from 2nd grade, and Lisa from 7th grade.  They all traveled from different parts of the country to be in Iowa for me and my family after my Dad passed away ~ for which I am and will always be eternally grateful.

Cannot wait to see each of you again ~ soon!

Thanks goes to my cousin Emily for taking this photo and for taking time away from her wonderful husband, energetic three little ones, and from taking care of herself and new baby, to send me her photos from our Iowa Memorial Service for Dad. Love you!

I wish the miles did not separate us and dream of that faster airplane so that I can join you for supper at any given moment!

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Mothers Day

How was your Mothers Day?  Mine was a good one for the record books.  My youngest son gave me his appendix.  Sweet huh!  The entire event came on rather suddenly.  Bear was not feeling so well Saturday afternoon at 4:00 pm and by 8:10 pm he was sicker than any dog you might hear about.  I just knew by the looks of him that this was not a normal run of the mill illness and off we speed to the hospital.  The doctor had him diagnosed via a CT scan, called the on-call surgeon and Bear was in surgery by midnight.  Sounds rather quick but as parents waiting next to a sick son and sitting in plastic chairs the time ticked rather slowly.  Also Josh had been up since 2 am to fly the early Bethel flight for work and so by the time Bear was settled in his room post surgery and recovery 24 hours had passed for Josh.

By 1:00 o'clock Sunday afternoon the doctor released Bear from the hospital and we were home by 2:00.  We are all feeling better after a good nights rest ~ especially Bear! 

Next year a card will do just fine! 

What did the oldest son get me for Mothers Day you ask?  A very nice hand made pottery coffee cup! 

Have a good evening everyone.  Finals week this week for the boys and after this week is over my job will slow down just a bit as we enter summer.

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Friday's Quote

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.

Dr. Seuss - US author & illustrator (1904 - 1991)

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Adrift

I find myself adrift in a sea of unknown and uncharted waters. I have not been here before but others have; others have survived the complications that the sea has to offer.  It cannot be too deep or unfathomable to be navigated.  I am not the first and without doubt I will not be the last.  This time has been and will come around for all of us.

Knocking at your door is the wave of change.

A new sea to conquer.

 

A new challenge to vanquish and another hurdle to overcome. 

Logic and reason know only limits while the heart and faith know only the truth for all that life has to offer.  Ride the waves. Swim in your sea.  Embrace the waters.  Fear not!

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.  Timothy 1:7

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Word of the Day ~ Congeries

congeries

PRONUNCIATION:

(kon-JEER-eez, KON-juh-reez)       

MEANING:

noun: A collection of miscellaneous things.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin congeries (heap), from congerere (to heap up), from con- (with) + gerere (to carry). 

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All Is Quiet

All is quiet at the end of the day.  The evening sun shines through the living room windows and we have the long night ahead to reflect upon our day.  Our long somnolent day spent in thought wondering what it is all about.

Is it the work that you do to earn your pay?  Do you push dirt around for a living or perhaps push papers?  Do you offer up help to another who has a question or perhaps needs a Band-Aid?

What is it all about?

 

Family you shout!

Love! Joy! Fresh baked peanut butter cookies!

I know!  I know!

But in a quiet lonely house at the end of the day 

a person still wonders what is it all about.

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From the Archives

The heat from the wood stove became a state of unbearable torture.  As I opened the door to the house the wind carried it smashing fiercely and it flung all the way open. A Gust of wind wrinkled my pajamas and I noticed a slight dampness on my feet.  It was sprinkling very lightly, just enough for me to notice.  I began to walk away when something drew me back to the doorway, back to where the safeness and the dread of night meet. It was a strange sound like something or someone crinkling and rattling in the distance.  It was a deep soft sound.  I realize it is only the plastic we have over our wood to keep it dry moving in the wind.

The pitter patter of the rain sprinkling softly on our doormat sent a sudden shiver down my aching back and as I gazed into the dark outside I noticed the fog moving through the trees.  Fog so mysterious, so complex but yet with nothing at all to tell.

I decided to leave my doorway between cozy and cold to retire to my bedroom with a smile on my face knowing the world is full of wonders just waiting for me to discover.

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Written by me when I was in the 9th grade and we were living on the Russell Farm in Minnesota.

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