The Fair Report

Fair = Rain. 

That's the way it usually is, & this year only proved the rule in a huge way. The rivers are flooding & everything is soggy. The Fair also is the perfect time to eat questionable food (not that Navajo Tacos are in the least bit questionable!), watch hoardes of roaming teens (where did all these kids come from?), have a chance to chat with everyone you've ever known, say goodbye to summer (in the back-to-school sense, anyway) & mostly to have fun!

I had a great time hanging out with my young friends Sebastian & Talia. Here's our report:

                              

The animals are always great - this goat stack was my personal favorite!

                                

SUSHI in the cake decorating section! Combining 2 of my favorite foods - it doesn't get better than that!

                                 

Sebastian won a Big Blue Ribbon for his awesome Lego castle!

                                 

Talia won the Blue Mouth Award in Candy Eating - always good value, that one!

There is something special about looking at the Fair thru the eyes of a child. I'm so glad I had my chance this year - thanks for the fun, you two!

Retirement is Hard!

So, now that we're retired, we're working harder that ever. Well, we're not setting alarm clocks or getting up early, but we get really dirty every day, so that means Hard Work, right? As you can see by my picture, I have a very fetching work outfit. I recently added knee pads - really pulls it all together.

What we're doing is swamping out the crawl space under the house. It's actually more of a basement - no crawling necessary. There were lots of old building supplies mouldering away down there that we've now removed. Remember how much fun fiberglass insulation is to install? Removing it is easily as much fun, especially when it's old & dirty & overhead. 

Then there was the digging - Sada, the family digger, did that. He moved a lot of dirt & leveled the floors. I'm having a hard time reconciling the fact that mostly what I've been doing down there is cleaning - the block walls, ceiling overhead & the dirt floor. A lot of my hard-to-come-by cleaning energy is going into that space. (and - "No one" - is the answer to the question "Who is cleaning the house?")

Why all this To Do? you might ask. Well, we are going to have the block walls spray-foamed & that insulation will help make our house warmer. It's been oddly satisfying work - destruction, filling trash cans, seeing clean space emerge. It's also tiring, sweaty dirty work - do not attempt this unless you have a hot shower to get into at the end of the day. So, the work had to be done - I guess it's like chopping firewood - it warms you twice. And I've listened to lots of interesting podcasts on my iPod - I love multi-tasking!

Yikes!

Oh brother, July is over & I forgot to post a blog! 

Well, not really that exactly - see I've been busy.  We had a big 4th of July party, we had visitors and oh yeah - I retired! 

Retired - isn't that a nice word? It is nice, unfortunately, it's not ~quite~ accurate. Let's say I've retired from Gulliver's Books - there will be more working for money in my future! 

I worked for Gulliver's for nearly 11 years - coincidentally, the Harry Potter years - & it was great! But now things are changing for us & it's time to move on. I had a great last day - lots of nice goodbyes with cards, chocolate cake, flowers, chocolates, more flowers, and then the last customer - Natasha - with more chocolate and champagne!

Land of the Midnight Sun

We had a wonderful Solstice weekend! The weather was superb & there were tons of activities happening around town. Because of the calendar, 2 of our favorite events took place at the same time. The Midnight Sun Run, a 10K run/walk from the university to Alaskaland (known to tourists as Pioneer Park...) starts at 10 pm. Many people run in costume & the route snakes thru several neighborhoods, past many festive parties. The Midnight Sun Baseball Game, in it's 103rd year, is a well known tradition - the game starts at 10:30 pm and is always played without lights. The Goldpanners won a great game to the approval of a packed house. And, we always sing the Alaska Flag Song at midnight! 

The Summer Solstice is always a big deal here in the far north where we greatly feel the effects of the pull between the earth & the sun. The Midnight Sun is an amazing & wonderful thing! Do you understand how it works? Here are the basics: Everyone knows the sun rises in the east & sets in the west, and that happens here at the Vernal & Autumnal Equinox, when day & night are of equal length. Then, as winter comes on, the days get shorter & shorter as the sun starts to rise & set farther & farther to the south. At the Winter Solstice, the sun is a blip of light on the horizon to the south that rises in the late morning & sets in the early afternoon, giving us here in Fairbanks about 2 hours & 45 mins of daylight...  Then, we start to gain several minutes of light each day (hooray!) & the days begin to get longer. We reach the 12/12 hour mark at the Vernal Equinox & then... keep going! Suddenly, the sun is starting to stay up longer, setting farther & farther to the northwest & rising in the northeast. As we approach the Summer Solstice, the sun sets way to the north & in a couple of hours rises again in the north ready for another long day of rolling all the way around the sky, to the east, south, west & finally back to the north for a quick rest below the horizon before it all starts again! If you've never seen this, you can't imagine how wonderful it is, especially after a long, cold, dark winter. 

It's common to see kids out riding bikes, people in their gardens, sports activities underway late into the night - but who cares? It's light now & you can sleep in the winter! We Alaskans tend to go a little crazy because of the Midnight Sun, but whatever -- we tend to be a little crazy anyway!

I miss my Dad - John Newman Jr

I woke up thinking of my old Dad today. He died 2+ years ago, just short of his 89th birthday.  He worked hard & was a good dad! He left college after his father died to help raise his younger sister & brother, served in the Navy in WWII, then he & Mom raised 6 kids. All of us were teens in the 60s & 70s - I can only begin to imagine how difficult that must have been for parents everywhere (even if it was wild & fun for us!).

He enjoyed his long retirement in Florida, living & traveling in his beloved Airstream. He was a quiet, sensitive man who loved baseball & dogs & reading & his girls, but mostly Mom - they celebrated their 63rd anniversary shortly before he died in 2005.

He told me once he wanted to live long enough to see the century change over to 2000! Rest in Peace, Dad & Happy Father's Day!

Wildlife Report #2

This morning I was outside looking at some of my newly planted flower baskets in the sparkling sunny air, then decided to hang out in the hammock for a few minutes. All of a sudden, I heard loud heavy breathing & looked up to see a HUGE moose cruising by! She was walking by about 10 yards from me & must have just been running, her breathing was so loud. And then - following her was an adorable tiny calf - well, compared to the mama it was tiny!!  They didn't see me, or Annie the cat, who was nearby, & just cruised on down the driveway & out of sight! It was just thrilling to see them up so close, they looked very healthy & oh so primal! Annie & I were both a little freaked, but then we caught our breaths & went inside to tell Sada. I'm gonna have to start carrying my camera at all times!!

Wildlife Report #1

Yesterday, I was on my way down College Rd, a local 4 lane artery & caught a stoplight at the head of the outside lane. There was traffic facing me, waiting for the light, but no one next to me. Then I noticed, crossing the intersection, a mother duck & a huge cluster of ducklings following close behind! The light changed, but we all sat there - mesmerized by the sweet little group about to cross the center line. Suddenly, a truck whooshed by me into the intersection, the driver didn't see what was going on, but the mama duck did! She veered out of the way, and all the ducklings followed her exact movements. The truck streamed away & the intrepid mama veered again & continued with her brood all the way across the intersection to the curb. She jumped right up, but the little ones hesitated for a split second before they figured it out, then POP, POP POP POP, POPPOPPOPPOPPOP!!!, until all TEN ducklings were up & then quickly disappeared into the undergrowth. I think we all breathed a big sigh of relief! A true "Make Way for Ducklings" moment! And, just totally adorable!