Self Sufficient

One of the signs that you have done a good job as a parent is when your grown young adult sons display acts of being self sufficient.

You guys are rock solid.  Keep up the good work!

Merry Heart

Some places in this world are negative. They ooze negativity from the very core of the city. Perhaps it is the areas destructive history or perhaps it is the current occupants of the area that have brought their combative behavior with them from whence they came. It seems to me that when higher populations of people congregate in one area, the more these populations become fragmented and disintegrated, we, as people, no longer have the skills or the will to be a cohesive group. I believe that this adds to the competitive dog eat dog situations that I have experienced in the recent months. Anchorage is one of these negative places, in my opinion. It is a large city that is hemmed in between the water and the mountains with no more room for growth, people unconsciously fight each other for elbow room, and a space to call their own. They are unwelcoming to new comers as they are viewed as just one more person to thwart off from encroaching into a gap that has already been claimed.

I have been told by other new comers before me that it can take two to three years to claim your place in Anchorage. Well, I am one year in and perhaps I am starting to feel some ownership. Perhaps this is an environment that I can learn to like, and grow to love.

Thinking about places on this earth that I love, there is just something special about the place from whence I recently came, Fairbanks is unique in ways that had gone unnoticed by me until I moved. Perhaps it is just the nostalgia talking or perhaps there is something about Fairbanks that is calming to the spirit, my spirit. There are plenty of people that have lived there and left vowing never to return, it is the love it or hate it reaction that Fairbanks seems to instill in most people, whether they have come to live there by choice or were relocated there for their jobs. The isolation caused by the bitter cold and long dark winters, which is life in Fairbanks from October to March, is what drives most people away. The community atmosphere with its unpretentious lifestyle and the fast friendships that form, the breathing room, and the space to explore are just a few of the reasons that keep Fairbanks on the list of places people love to be, when they “love it”.

Ultimately what Fairbanks means to me is that this is the place where I completed my best works and obtained my most important job title, Momma! This is where we raised our boys, where we spent all our time and energy making sure they were both the best versions of themselves they could become.

I do not think I will ever be able to truly change the negativity that surrounds Anchorage; this is a bigger issue than I am willing to invest my precious energy on trying to accomplishing. I am, however, willing to invest time and energy into our life and what Anchorage can do for us.

I will stay this course. I can see the ends to the means that will bring us joy in the future. And, then when the time comes, we will change our course. It is still a long road ahead so planning for our future is of the upmost importance. It is also a short road to be enjoyed with a merry heart.


I am aiming for a merry heart!

Orchid Days ~ Then There Were Five

These beauties are a good reason to go to work on a Monday morning!

May they also brighten your day!

High Five Friday for Cute Art

High five Friday for cute art that has a fun message.

Right on S.O.B.!

Bathroom Remodel ~ Tiling Complete

Bathroom tiling project update... all tiles are set, grouted, and sealed! We are working on the flooring so that we can install the sink and toilet. This was a big job and we will take a bit of a break before we start on the master bathroom.

Happy Wednesday friends!

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P.S. my apologies for the poor photo quality, all this beautiful tile confused my phone's camera.

April Showers

I have always enjoyed our spring white April showers. They are like a time machine ride back to the start of winter when we have just finished a fabulous summer. Oh the good times remembered and then guess what... the spring snow is gone and bam... it's summer again. Enjoy!

In This Mixed World...

“In this mixed world, if you can find one or two sensible places in a man, above all, if you should find a whole family living together on such pleasant terms, you may surely be satisfied, and take the rest for granted; or, what is a great deal better, boldly make up your mind that you can do perfectly well without the rest; and that ten thousand bad traits cannot make a single good one any the less good.”

Robert Louis Stevenson – An Inland Voyage – 1878

Campfires ~ The Good Life

What is a good campfire without a little HooDoo? Not much if you ask me!

Sticky gooey yummy delight by the firelight.  

Share the love! Share the hugs! 

And enjoy each moment that comes your way. 

Nuances to Life

There are so many nuances to life in Fairbanks that I miss immensely. I spent 30 years living, eating, laughing, crying, and some days just breathing in and out there, and the knowledge that I do not live there anymore is a strange feeling. Sometimes it is hard for me to comprehend the changes that came from moving to a new town, and it blows me off course. This is something that I never truly expected to experience.

 I guess at heart I am just a ‘stayer’ and not a ‘leaver’.

Orchid Days ~ Then There Were Four

Oh the joy!

High Five Friday for Road Trips to Fairbanks

Last Friday found us in the car driving North to that place we love best, mostly because that is where our people are located.  It was a great day for a road trip with some sightseeing along the way.

Hello Denali!  You truly are the Great One!

High five Friday for road trips and hugging those you love!

Bathroom Remodel Updates

The grouting has begun!  

I set the last of the tiles this past weekend and starting grouting the first tiles that we put into place. This is a big job for "do it yourself'ers" like us and will take three phases to finish.  

In other news the pantry is in place and the shelves are filling up.
The bathroom door (off to the left) slides behind the pantry for a pocket door effect.

Each day is one more day toward project completion!  

Hooray for improving!

Camouflage

On one of our walks at lunch this moose was easy to spot, even though he is camouflaged the same nice brown as his surroundings, he was out in the open.

But this moose was not so easy to see and we could have startled him and gotten ourselves into a tight spot.  Can you see him?  Good thing I have a faithful and moose aware walking partner.  

Get out and take a walk but keep your eye out for those camouflaged moose!

High Five Friday for Orchids

High five Friday for orchids in bloom.  Does it get any better?  

Happy day to you all and remember to share the love!

Orchid Days Part Two

Two days later... oh the sweet joy of watching nature bloom!

Orchid Days

Since this past December when my orchid started to send up a new shoot, that could one day become a bloom of flowers, I have been watching it with a careful eye. Giving it some extra attention, being sure it did not receive too much water nor too little, constancy and fastidiousness were the name of the game. Ever since the buds appeared and started to rapidly grow my gaze has been distracted from my work to watch this bit of wonder on my window sill.

This is the first orchid I have had and now two years later it begins to bloom under my care. Oh the joy.

Happy Tuesday dear friends.

Let us Begin...

Let us begin the time of fasting in light!

Preparing ourselves for the spiritual efforts.

Let us purify our soul; let us purify our body.

As from food, let us abstain from all passion
 and enjoy the virtues of the spirit,

So that perfected in time by love we may all be made worthy to see the Passion of Christ and the Holy Pascha in spiritual joy!

~from the Lenten Triodion

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This is posted on Flying Squirrel blog and is worth passing along.

Alaska History Lesson

Click on the photo to enlarge for view-able data. 

Timeline from the Alaska History and Cultural web site.

We are still such a young state with plenty of growing pains left to manage.

Alaska

North to Alaska! North to the Future! The Last Frontier! The Great Land! 

Alaska holds many lures for people from around the globe and the reasons that entice these people to this great land are countless. Some come to visit while others come to make this place their home. I have found that those who come to visit leave with a grand feeling of amazement, even though most only get to see a tiny fraction of the state’s wilderness. The common visitor travels the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska, to Anchorage, and then to Denali National Park, which would geographically be like a visit to Atlanta Georgia, Springfield Missouri, and then Des Moines Iowa. Which I suppose does not sound very exceptional but if you think of it in terms of the variation of scenery you might have visited New Zealand, minus the sheep, Bergen Norway, minus the cute houses, and Denali National Park, there are no comparisons that I would hazard to guess could be placed up against Denali.

Visiting Alaska is like any other vacation; you get a glimpse of new sights, eat the local gastronomy, and enjoy vistas that are different from where you call home. But making the choice to live here is a standalone story of extremes.

The population of Alaska in the 2010 census was 710,231 of which only 14.8% are American Indian or Alaska Native which leaves 85.2% of the population, what I call, transplants. These transplanted persons arrived in bulk between 1940 and 1970 with some of us now being second generation Alaskans, which by the way is a big deal around the state for the non-Alaska Native population. There are some who can claim the title of third generation Alaskan but granted they are few and far between at this point, but in time I can see their numbers growing in the generations that follow.

Even though our population numbers have grown at a rate of 13.3% in this new century I can tell you that there have been plenty of old timers, Sourdoughs, who have left the state for warmer sunnier climates. They are moving to places where the physical demands of the daily living conditions are not so harsh, leaving room for Cheechakos to make this state their new home.

These Cheechakos (or if we were talking about the wild-west of the Southwest United States they would be called Greenhorns) always show up with wide eyes and grand dreams of the Last Frontier. Most of them arrive with their heads filled with falsehoods and myths about what it takes to survive their first winter in Alaska. In truth this unforgiving land will chew you up and spit you out like an old piece of leather if you are not careful. Most Cheechakos do not and cannot fathom the psychological reactions that are induced by the lack of daylight. The effects that the darkness has on a person’s wellbeing can change the thought processes that control their daily life choices. They in turn make decisions that they would not otherwise have made, causing a chain reaction of mayhem and dysfunction. The darkness coupled with bad choices is one of the largest contributing factors for an unsuccessful transition to living in Alaska.

Likewise the summer with its seemingly endless supply of sunshine and never ending days swings the pendulum to the other side of the extreme. There is an abundance of joy and laughter, life is good again, until the crash. Winter will be back, and the dark of night will rule our behavior.

I recently read a survey that pegs those that live in Alaska among the happiest in the nation. If this survey was conducted in the summer months I could completely believe its outcome. However, ask any Alaskan the same survey questions in the deep of winter, or if they truly enjoy living here, if they are happy, and you will most assuredly receive a different result.

As Alaska comes out of its winter stupor and the daylight returns I can tell you, I for one, am happy to be Alaskan. Bring on the summer!

49 Over 48

Photo from the interwebs

Just in case you had forgotten.