Fortune Cookie Friday

The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into the tiger's den.

On the Job ~ Part Two

The B-Man on the job site this summer helping to build the new native clinic in town.  This is the second building in town he has worked on and will have pride in the years to come for helping build the future.

Fireweed in the Fall

The Fireweed has gone to seed which means there is only six more weeks till winter turns our world white. Winter is a thought I would prefer not have but the Fireweed in the fall is always a beautiful sight.

Balance

 

Life is a balance

of holding on

and 

letting go.

Let Others Be Right

One of the most important questions you can ever ask yourself is, “do I want to be ‘right’ or do I want to be happy?” Many times, the two are mutually exclusive!

Being right, defending our positions, takes an enormous amount of mental energy and often alienates us from the people in our lives. Needing to be right or needing someone else to be wrong – encourages others to become defensive, and puts pressure on us to keep defending. Yet, many of us spend a great deal of time and energy attempting to prove or point out that we are right. And that others are wrong. Many people, consciously or unconsciously believe that it’s somehow their job to show others how their positions, statements, and points of view are incorrect, and that in doing so, the person they are correcting is going to somehow appreciate it, or at least learn something. Wrong!

Think about it. Have you ever been corrected by someone and said to the person who was trying to be right, “Thank you so much for showing me that I am wrong and you are right.” The truth is all of us hate to be corrected.

It is not that it’s never appropriate to be right; sometimes you genuinely need to be or want to be. Perhaps there are certain philosophical positions that you don’t want to budge on such as when you hear a racist comment. Here it’s important to speak your mind. Usually, however, it’s just your ego creeping in and ruining an otherwise peaceful encounter.

A wonderful, heartfelt strategy for becoming more peaceful and loving is to practice allowing others the joy of being right and giving them the glory. Stop correction. As hard as it may be to change this habit, it’s worth any effort and practice it takes. The people in your life will become less defensive and more loving. They will appreciate you more that you could ever have dreamed possible, even if they don’t exactly know why.

You don’t have to sacrifice your deepest philosophical truths or most heartfelt opinions, but starting today, let others be “right,” most of the time!

***

Chapter 12

Let Others Be “Right” Most of the Time

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… and it’s all small stuff by Richard Carlson

Happy Birthday B-Man

Happy Birthday to our B-Bear who is now the B-Man!

We are very proud of the man you have become!

Fire Fall

It is a warm fall, warm and dry, which is not unusual just adds to the fire season of which I am glad to report the summer fires in Alaska did not impact the interior much at all, that is until now.  This fire is 25 miles south of town at ~ appropriately named ~ Dry Creek and is not being actively suppressed as it does not jeopardize any property.  It is on military and state land on the other side of the river from town.

Today the breeze is keeping the smoke to the southwest of us and I hope it stays that way to keep the smell out of the house and out of our lungs.

This photo was taking outside my work building and the building with the reflective roof is the area high school.

Today May There Be Peace

"Today may there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others. May you use the gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content with yourself just the way you are. Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us."


***
Another’s wise words to pick up your day and lighten your heart.

Word Vomit

Have you even said something that you wish you had not said out loud? Ever tell that little something that you were not supposed to tell anyone?

And then you think to yourself…

“It slipped out ~ it was like word vomit.

Then you slipped on that word vomit, fell on your ass and now you are covered in that word vomit.”

***

Best lines I have heard in a long time from the T.V show Pushing Daisies. Great television series filled with great characters and fast wit humor.

Change

If change is so good why does it upset the apple cart so?

They say if we do not change we become stagnant and we die. But is all change for the good? I would have to say no, not all change is good especially unsustainable change.

If by changing something it will better your life or someone else’s I would consider making this change but only if it was sustainable.

If you are thinking of making a major change in your life, a change that will require a large sum of energy on your part or the part of those around you, first ask yourself if you can maintain the momentum of the change for the long run. Is it sustainable? If yes take the steps to enact said change. If the answer is no then you might want to consider going back to the drawing board.

Sometimes baby steps to change are more bearable and are a better way to reach your goals. Take time to make the right change.

Calender Girls of 1951

Before You Speak

 

Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, is it true,
does it improve on the silence?

- Sai Baba

Not sure about the Sai Baba guru following but this is a good quote.

Focus

Focus on those around you, those whom you respect and those 

that have a positive influence on yourself and others.

Quote by: Me

Chitina Fishing

The oldest son went dip netting with a friend in Chitina at the Copper River the end of July during the silver salmon run.  Dip netting is a fancy way to catch fish ~ all you have to do is tie yourself off with a heavy rope to something on shore and stick a big net attached to a 10-15 foot pole in the river and let the salmon just swim into the net.

The Copper River is a glacial feed river cloudy with silt and cold as all get out so if a person was to get pulled into the river by a net full of fish their life would be in jeopardy.  The water being cold is one thing but when the silt begins to fill your pockets and the seams of your clothes it gets harder to stay afloat.  This is why you tie yourself off to something on shore.

This fella was bit by a seal on his way up river.  

You can see the bite marks by the eye.

At the river once you have caught the fish you club them and cut off their tails so that they will bleed out. Then you have to pack them out which is a four mile hike down a small trail to the car so that you can put them on ice and salt them down for the trip back to town.  Once home you can fillet them or just package them whole.  By just packing them up whole the meat stays fresher longer in the freezer.

Just thaw them out for a couple of hours and clean them up, cut the backbone, and bake them in the over at 350 degrees for 20-25 minute. The bones will peel right out and leave fresh baked fish behind.  Easy as that!  This method insures that none of the fish meat goes to waste in the filleting process.  Saves time too.

They were at the river for nine hours and fished just over six hours (if I remember correctly) and caught 48 fish total each weighing between 5-7 pounds. At the minimum that is 240 pounds of fish ~ that's a lot of fish!

Oh so tasty too! Thanks for sharing the bounty with us all kid!

Raspberry Pie

Raspberry Pie ~ Sweet tart goodness!

Of course when you use fresh picked raspberries you have to remember to add extra corn starch or else you end up with this sticky wonderful mess.

I picked the berries from the bushes at Mom & Dad's.  In the past it was Dad who would pick the berries and he would have Mom make the pie, this year it was my turn to do both tasks.

Dad's favorite pie ~ raspberry!

Consumption

"Our enormously productive economy… demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption… We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate".

- Victor Lebow, 1955

Below from Why Consumption Matters by Dave Tilford (updated 9/21/15 - this link is no longer active).


Retail analyst Victor Lebow's statement might sound crass today, perhaps even a bit quaint in its unabashed promotion of materialism and waste. The words ring with a certain post-World War II naiveté-an unexamined faith in personal and spiritual fulfillment achieved via an endless stream of cheap and disposable consumer products.

If the words seem outdated, the message is not. The latter part of the 20th century was spent largely following Victor Lebow's recipe for prosperity and fulfillment. Since the industrial revolution began in the 1800s, the world has been on an unprecedented consumption binge. Since 1950 alone, the world's people have consumed more goods and services than the combined total of all humans who ever walked the planet before us.

*******

Is this really who WE want to be? Consumed by stuff.  Stuff that was manufactured with planned obsolescence in mind?  Meaning it was designed for the dump, made only to last so long and then be discarded so you have to buy more stuff.

What can you change in your life and the lives of your family to not be consumed by the consumption? 

Check out The Story of Stuff Project   

It might get you thinking.

Click HERE for their website.

The Challenge

Dirty Paws

Dirty Paws

Of Monsters and Men

Click HERE for the song on YouTube!

Some say its epic ~ Enjoy!

I really don't like the word epic ~

 overused in all the wrong ways.

Ireland Trip Rules

Rule No. 1 ~ Do not lick the bottom of your shoes.
From our plane ride from Seattle to Chicago ~ the lavatory floor was a mess.

Rule No. 2 ~ No picking up sheep ~ absolutely no sheep that have been in the rain.  It is Ireland and you have to have a rule involving sheep.

Rule No. 3 ~ No peeing in the car even if you are laughing at the visions of dancing mitre wearing Bishops and the singing Granny's. The drive between Sligo and Galway.

Rule No. 4 ~ Don't lock your bunk mate in the room on your way out to supper! Galway lodging we discovered just how the doors lock in Ireland work and just how easy it is to lock someone in a room.

Rule No. 5 ~ Don't fool around on the steps! You will get hurt! Walking around Galway in the heat.

Rule No. 6 ~ Don't talk to horse bandits. On the way to the Muckross house near Killarney.

Rule No. 7 ~ Thou shall not squeeze the puffins! Skellig Michael

Rule No. 8 ~ Sadly ~ Don't pee on your fellow travelers unless they ask for your help with a jelly fish sting. Inch Strand

Rule No. 9 ~ Don't tip for bad service. Last night in Dublin at the restaurant in the Bewley's Hotel.

Rule No. 10 ~ Come back to Ireland as soon as you can!

Bonus Rule No. 11 ~ When in doubt deodorant goes under your arms! Seattle airport we were trying to freshen up and we were so tired we could not remember what we were suppose to do with the stick of deodorant!

Long Flight Home

We arrived back in Chicago at 12:05 PM Sunday June 3rd after an eight hour and five minute flight.  We walked around a while to stretch our legs, enjoyed our last drinks together at Chiles and said our farewells to Ed ~ it was hard to do ~ see you laters are never easy especially after such a grand trip together it was even tougher.

Emily, Josh and I still had a few miles yet to travel.  A four hour 20 minute flight to Seattle and then a four hour flight to Fairbanks.  With a three hour layover in Seattle.  We did not arrive home until 12:09 AM Monday morning.  All told it took us 27 hours to get home but the trip was well worth every minute.

Last Great Meal & Athy

Lamb Stew

We had our last good meal in Ireland in the village of Roscrea and a side trip to Athy!  We got stuck in Athy as they were having a fest ~ Family Fun Day ~ and all the main roads in and around the village were full of people.  We finally made it out of town only to take a wrong turn that took us on some back roads and then ended up back in Athy.  It was like the village was not going to let us free. There were plenty of  bad horror movie jokes from all of us and a few good laughs that I was the one who just had to visit Athy and now we would be stuck here forever.

We were not sure how but we were set free and were able to head back out of the village and a main road that would lead us to the M7 and Dublin.

Something You Don't See Every Day

Now there is something that you don't see everyday and it is true what they say about farmers in Ireland ~ crazy lot the whole of them ~ herding your cows from one place to the other down the road while riding your bicycle! 

This scene made our trip to Ireland complete ~ we somehow felt better about having to go home in the wee hours of the morning the next day.

Connor Pass ~ Dingle Peninsula

Connor Pass on the Dingle Peninsula is a narrow stretch of  road that is on rural road R569 in Knochmoylemore.  There are a couple of mountains here that are about 650 meters high and the pass, like all passes in the world, is the quicker route somewhere.  This one is a quicker route to Brandon Bay.  This was our last full day in Ireland and when we woke up sure enough it was raining.  The first day of rain we have seen since we arrived two weeks ago.  There were cloudy days before but not rain.  Driving through Connor Pass in the rain added to the foggy you can't see that far ahead of you mystery that is the pass.

We added an addendum to Rule No. 2 which is ~ No picking up sheep ~ addendum ~ absolutely no sheep that have been in the rain!

Out of The Blue ~ Out of this World

Early in the day we had found the Out of the Blue restaurant and made reservations for supper.  Actually Emily had read a review from one of her travel books and was on the look out for it as we were walking about town.   

Out of the Blue is closed after a storm ~ no one goes out fishing and so they do not have anything to put on the menu.  The menu each night changes with what was caught by the fisherman that day.  All seafood is freshly caught, nothing frozen and sometimes still alive! Raw fresh oysters!

Langoustines ~ also known as Norway Lobster or Dublin Bay Prawn

Wow is right!  Feast for Kings and Queens!

Thank you Emily for the fabulous choice for supper!