2015 Year of the Move

Our year revolved around completing our house and shop project in Talkeetna, selling the house in Anchorage, and moving to Talkeetna. The sale and move happened in June, and the projects ... well, is a house ever really complete? Here are some highlights of the year ~

Technically we unpacked the last box in the house in October when Paul completed a shelving unit for the stereo and all the various music medium we own.  There are still boxes of books in the storage room that need a place to be.

By the end of September, all the siding and trim was on the house and grass seed was sprouting all around.  This photo was taken from the railroad tracks, looking over the swamp to our place on the ridge (house on left, shop/barn on right).

Biking and snorkeling on the Big Island of Hawaii in February has become almost an annual break for us from the Alaska winter.  For Alaskans, visiting Hawaii is like New Yorkers going to Florida to escape snow and cold.  With one flight, we can step into a warm, lush, humid tropical setting.

In mid-May I joined friends to bike the road into Denali National Park.  For a short period in the spring and fall,the road is closed to vehicles, providing a good mountain bike ride on gravel roads up and over passes.  Spring had not arrived yet - the rivers were still mostly ice covered and you can see the the plants had not leafed out yet.

In June, just 2 weeks after we moved, I visited Alaska's Emerald Isle - Kodiak - with  friends.  We drove to the ends of the few roads to wander on remote beaches and saw the famous Kodiak brown bear and the less-famous bison. 

This was a warm, dry summer -- great for checking out many of the local lakes for cooling off in the evening.

One half of my parents visited in August.  The warm weather continued and we installed the umbrella on the picnic table to shade dinners from the hot evening sun.

In August the Alaska Dirt Divas made the annual backcountry trip to a cabin near Eklutna Lake in Chugach State Park.  Biking on a regular basis with these friends is one of the things I'll miss about living in Anchorage.

We did a little camping.  Over the 4th of July weekend we rafted the Susitna River with friends.

Over Labor Day weekend we camped in Seward with friends.  While the guys fished, the women hiked with dogs.

In October I visited the other half of my parents in upstate NY.  The fall colors were gorgeous. More about that in my last post.

fall 09 highlight #2 moored at thumb cove

September was our first month with a sailboat. Labor Day weekend was warm and sunny, perfect for swabbing decks, rigging sails, and getting to know the boat. We even sailed a little in Resurrection Bay that first weekend.

The weekend after Labor Day, however, was the first taste of why we bought the boat. Harbor life has its conveniences and entertainments, but cruising from bay to bay is what we want to do. That weekend, we got to one bay for one night.

The weather was typical Alaska coastal fall - rainy and cool. At night it was pitch black. When we rowed to shore to walk Bhikkhu around 10:00 pm, we wouldn't have been able to see the boat if we hadn't left a light on in the cabin (the anchor light wasn't working). In the morning we woke to a thick fog and heavy rain. Not ideal conditions but we didn't care. We were moored in Thumb Cove in our very own sailboat.

we all sleep well on the sailboat

12 sep 2009 starter summer

Happy sailors on an unbelievable September day on Resurrection Bay

This has been a summer of firsts for us -- first dog -- and last week we purchased our first sailboat. Like the dog, I think we still can't believe we did this. Like the dog, we're wondering how this happened. Like the dog, the boat just seemed to be the right one.

And thankfully, B does seem to like the boat. But as Paul says, " when you sleep all day, how can you not like something that is two-thirds bed?"

The boat: a 1988 Jeanneau Tonic 23, which means it's roughly 23 feet long at some point. So it's not what you'd call a yacht. This is probably not what Ted Kennedy sailed. Well, maybe when he was 10.

We were attracted to the fact that the interior has wood finishes, a small gallery, a functioning head (that's a toilet for you non-sailors), and the boat can be trailered. It seemed mighty small last weekend as we loaded gear on board -- kitchenware for the galley, tools for repairs, bedding for our berth, clothes for the weekend, a full bag of books about sailing and sailboats, and food for 3 days. Eventually, we found room for most of it and could see how we are going to be very comfortable on this little boat.

Where will we go? Hopefully some exploring of Resurrection Bay yet this summer (that's where the boat was located). Maybe to Prince William Sound next summer. Who knows?

The name? We want to change it (can't write it down according to boating myth). Any ideas? Luna Sea seems to be a popular one at the Seward harbor. Wonder why?

Paul in the cockpit of our little boat with a much larger boat on the other side of the dock.

1 aug 09 north of seward

B jumping drainage ruts on the Ptarmigan Creek Trail

Summertime .. little time for editing photos and blogging ... so another mostly pictorial edition of the (somewhat) weekly.

We spent the first weekend of the month in the Seward area. We camped two nights at Primrose Campground, the Forest Service campground at the very southern tip of Kenai Lake.

Paul and I biked part of the Primrose Creek trail up to Lost Lake. It was not one of my stronger performances. At least the woods were pretty.

Bhikkhu found a moose femur in the campsite. A little slice of doggie heaven. The bone was almost as big as he is.

On Sunday we hiked the Ptarmigan Creek trail before joining the long lines of cars wanting to beat the traffic.

31 August 2008 Sealife Wash

In lieu of a long boat ride in pouring rain, we went to the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward to see Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, seabirds, fish, and other creatures of the sea. Our timing was good and we saw trainers work with the sea lions, seals, and seabirds. After these sessions, I sat in front of the tanks and was able to tune out the noise of children and adults around me. I don't know if it was the acoustics or the dimly lit sitting area, but I felt like I was underwater, where all sounds are muffled and motion is fluid and smooth. The slow movement of the fish and repetitive paths of the mammals was calming.

That's sort of the feeling and mood I try to get when I'm sitting in Quaker Meeting. One week after our visit to Seward, I was trying to tune out sounds of traffic and restless children today and turn my thoughts to a conversation started online by some Friends. The topic is religious differences, within Quakerism and with other religions. Some want the children in our Meeting to learn just about Quakers while others talked about the value of understanding other people to reduce conflict in the world. I'm in the latter camp.

As the national elections heat up, rhetoric is turned up a notch with the goal of drawing distinctions and separating one candidate from the other. The focus is on difference, and not what makes the candidates similar. If we could understand how similar we all are, our differences wouldn't have to lead to name-calling, bickering, conflict, and war.

If the campaign season has you down, and you're not a Quaker, I recommend 15 minutes in front of a tank of slow-moving fish to quiet your mind and restore equilibrium to your view of your fellow Americans.