Shake, Rattle, and Roll

Rainy Day Heading Into Anchorage
July 2015

The laziness of the past couple of weeks has passed, and we are gearing up to be as busy as most Alaskans for the next several weeks.  I'm not certain how many of you watch the Alaskan reality television shows (I believe there are 9 or 10 now available for your viewing pleasure).  Before we moved here, we were known to binge watch at least four on more than one occasion -- Alaska State Troopers (of course); The Last Frontier; Alaskan Bush People; and Buying Alaska.  The Kilcher family featured on The Last Frontier are actually related to the famous singer, Jewel.  That has little relevance (actually it has NO relevance) to what will be shared in this week's post, but it is a fun piece of trivia, nonetheless.  In addition to being "famous relations," they often highlight on their show ingenuity, creativity, and the break-neck speed that occurs as summer draws to a close.  We used to think that their stories were exaggerated...not so any longer!

Part of the reason for embarking on this Reliving Alaska blog journey was to chronicle our time here for family and friends.  It was also to give us a new perspective -- one of deeper appreciation about this great state -- that I don't think we achieved the first time we had the honor of living here.  As a result, we are embracing portions of the Alaskan lifestyle that we did not experiment with earlier, but are finding we have a heart for this time around.  What we lack are unlimited resources for Alaskan toys, but you can all relax...this is not going to be a "gofundme" blog! Quite the contrary...we are learning that by returning to a simpler lifestyle, the budgeting for "fun" stuff takes longer, the work is harder and more time consuming, but our feelings of actual "accomplishment" mean more to us now than ever before.  I'm not sure we could have learned those lessons any other way.

Rainbow over the Valley
July 2015

So now...we prepare for the harried, frenzied season that is "the end of an Alaskan summer."  As we approach our one-year anniversary here we are so excited!  We are eligible for hunting/fishing licenses next week, and although we have missed the first sockeye (red) salmon run, we should be able to get to a place for soho (silver) and kings.  In addition to that, fireweed fever is still present and the blossoms are turning almost purple.  Raspberries and blueberries are popping at Girdwood, so we are making a trip there on Saturday.  Hopefully we will see beluga whales along the way at Beluga Point, as it is about the same time now that it was last year when they appeared.  We are planning to spend the next several days harvesting fruits for homemade jams/jellies, then harvesting what we can from our small garden.  The birds and squirrels took most of our seeds, but we have some zucchini plants that are doing very well, so we anxiously await those.

Ethan Canning Sockeye Salmon July 2015

Ethan Out at Front at King Tom & Queen Brenda's Castle

Ethan and I spent the better part of today at the Castle with Brenda, canning salmon that Tom took at the Kenai Peninsula.  He is working there for a few weeks.  They work all day, then fish when they can.  Sockeye are running strong, and Tom and another coworker were able to take 60 fish in less than 30 minutes dip-netting this past week.  Since he and Michael have already secured moose hunting dates in September, there is no room in the freezers for moose and salmon.  Brenda was gracious enough to ask us to help, and we will have a few jars of canned salmon to use within the coming weeks until we harvest our own.  We anticipate days full of picking, cleaning, fishing, cleaning, and then nights full of water bath canning and pressure canning.  As I've eluded to before...I've never canned anything in my life, so I have thoroughly enjoyed this newest adventure! I thank the Lord for Brenda and for allowing her to tutor us!

Somewhere in the midst of all of this, ptarmigan, grouse, and hare season kicks off.  Ethan and his daddy have a Hatcher's Pass hunt planned out, but our initial attempts at scouting have not been fruitful.  We've gone to the Pass at various time throughout the day, but no sightings thus far.  The trips have not been in vain, however, as the most recent one yielded a phenomenal sunrise over Gold Cord Lake and additional harvesting of fireweed.  The Little Susitna River there looks almost turquoise, and you can "feel" how cold it is, just by looking at its frosty hues.  It is hard to believe that very soon, it will be frozen and covered with snow.

Sunrise at Independence Mine
July 2015

Fireweed at Hatcher Pass
Little Susitna Flows in the Background

If a man won't work...he won't eat!

This week saw much yard work for us and also saw Alex come back after trekking through North Carolina and Ohio.  He made it back just in time for summer rains and rainbows over the Valley and for the 6.3 earthquake!  Nothing like sitting down to dinner, and the sturdy bench beneath you scooting on the floor as the chandelier overhead rolls in a clockwise motion!  Ethan continued playing with his Star Wars toys, looked up, and said, "I love earthquakes."  I just pray that the magnitudes stay that level or less.  So far, he has a great attitude about that particular "natural disaster."  We looked up on the AEIC website (www.aeic.alaska.edu) to verify the magnitude and realized that all across Alaska, there were more than 100 quakes that day -- just not that strong.  So that really put things into perspective for us!  Ahtna didn't care too much for it, though, as evidenced by her quick retreat to our feet in the "submissive" position.  We talked about it afterward and realized that her "submissive" position may have just been exhaustion -- she had been swimming earlier that day at Big Lake.

"I think I can..."

"I think I can..."

"I KNOW I CAN...
I love Swimming!!"

She's waded before, but this was the first time she had really been "swimming," out in the water and over her head.  She LOVED it!  Of course she did...she's a lab!  She won't retrieve anything yet, and she looked like she was drowning most of the time; but once she was in...she was in.  And she only nearly knocked Ethan and me off the dock and into the water two or three times.  She's definitely a growing puppy -- she plays hard, but she crashes hard!  And...she's not the only one!

Ahhh....finally! NAPTIME!

With the adventures of this week waving farewell, we have no idea what next week will bring!  Oh wait a minute... SCHOOL!  That's right!  School begins next week for Ethan...and wouldn't you know it?  First on the agenda is a fishing field trip!  What a way to start the 6th grade!  Please pray for Michael in the coming weeks.  He has been given a special duty assignment at work that requires an actual suit.  Since he's dropped two sizes, we will be suit shopping for him this weekend!

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ which strengthenth me." Philippians 4:11-13

God Bless You All!