Labor Day

This long weekend was so great. We got to spend a lot of time with my folks doing laid back activities. Jason hadn't had time off in a couple weeks, with his regular work and the lost hiker search (see post a little further down), so he went leisure-crazy with my dad, shooting arrows with their bows, riding horses, Jason getting thrown from a horse (it bruised up his knee and thus slowed him down quite a bit, ultimately rendering it leisure), and looking at maps of hunting areas.


On Friday I walked upstairs to the living room in a bit of a grog and was awakened to John McCain announcing Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate. What a shocker. We had followed and voted in the race for Governorship back in Alaska a year and a half ago, and had attended a debate in Anchorage between Palin and the two other candidates. I called up to some peeps, and everybody there was in equal shock. It was and still is surreal seeing her and her family in the national limelight all of the sudden. Alaska has this weird relationship with the rest of the States. Lots of people there tend to feel removed from life down here, because frankly, geographically and fashion-wise, they are. So having all eyes turned that way for a minute, whether or not you agree with Palin's politics, brings up these feelings of "Hey, cool! Alaska is in the news!" and then, "Stop looking at Alaska! Go back to whatever you were doing before."

On Friday evening we ate Chinese food with my grandparents before they headed out on a month-long travel about, and last night we watched "Squidbillies" with Luke and Heather (bro and sis-in-law). Um, I could be really out of the loop, but I hadn't been aware of the existence of a cartoon about hillbilly squids. It is South-Park-esque and sacrilegious and ridiculous. The characters are horribly drawn. It is also riotously funny from time to time.

Today, Heather, Mom, and I went to a pottery shop in town and painted stuff. It was so much fun!! Naturally I chose to decorate a deviled egg platter. Mom painted salt and pepper shakers, hoping that after they are fired they will be the colors that the examples showed, rather than staying what they are now, a light blue and purple that she dislikes. Heather painted a snack plate.

rubberbands of anxiety

I was in an office supply store the other day, and as I browsed the shelves I was inexplicably drawn to the rubberband balls. I needed rubberbands but didn't end up buying a ball because of the practical consideration that all its rubberbands were the same size. Instead, I bought a variety pack. But I almost bought the ball simply to look at.

A week later, I was contemplating the various anxieties we're facing as the baby's birth approaches - the birth itself to a degree, but also housing, money, job, the allegedly big stuff, which become bigger when grown, capable adults aren't the only ones affected. All of a sudden I remembered the rubberband ball and realized why it had been so appealing. It was neat, together, organized. Every rubberband had a home on that ball, and new ones could be added and others taken off without disrupting its overall shape.

Here's how our rubberband ball looks these days:

* * * * *

But these are some thoughts that have been of comfort to us:

When you are in doubt, be still, and wait;
When doubt no longer exists for you,
then go forward with courage.
So long as mists envelope you, be still;
be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists - -
as it surely will.
Then act with courage.
-Ponca Chief White Eagle (1800's - 1914)


Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against its mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
- Psalm 131:2


Let the shadow fall from your window
Let the morning light fill your head
Stand up and let the wild wind blow
Right into your soul till the night is dead
See the dawn break gold and the night is dead
- David Gray, "Lullaby"

so....what's happening to the food I'm ingesting by the bucketful?!

the search

Over the last couple of weeks, a search has been underway for a missing hiker in the Park. He had planned to cover about a hundred miles alone, including some remote and trail-less areas. Sadly, not a clue of his whereabouts has been found yet, despite hundreds of hours put in by multiple agencies with ground-pounders, technical mountaineering teams, dog teams, and helicopters. Jason got in on the search from the beginning and was out there for five or six days. He had a chance to snap some pics, and you can see the beauty and the ruggedness of the terrain; it draws people from all over the world to explore and yet is wild and unforgiving.

The magnitude of such an operation makes you appreciate the value we place on one lost person. I guess it just doesn't sit well with us to think of someone alone in the wilds - even if by their own doing. Of course, there are lots of persons lost to addiction, abuse, and poverty who are ignored, but that's another blog. Since they've scaled back the hiker search after combing the high probability areas very thoroughly, Jason went back to doing his same old biology stuff. But he still has the itch, just thinking, "This guy could still be out there. Not much chance of being alive, but what if? What if?" Even finding a lost person's remains in search operations is very important to the emotional well-being of the family. All week he has continued searching every night in his dreams. Two nights ago he found him, and then last night the dreams stopped.

Here's drying clothes and gear each night in prep for the next day; one particular day in the mountains the winds and hail came in strong and sideways and soaked everybody to the core.

summer days of huckin,' and now them days are shuckin'

Picking huckleberries means

going to bed with summer on your fingers.

* * * * *

Now things are cooling down though; rain and clouds have been the mainstay this week. One of the best parts of shady days is that colorful things in the woods are very bright.

a miniature bouquet

bear scat on the bike trail, laced with huckleberries and pine needles

another protein idea

As I wrote in a previous blog, it's tough to eat the recommended amount of protein in spregnancy, but today my own dear mother made known another tip to me that I wish to share. If you're not expecting a child and not expecting to expect one soon, tuck this gem away for a rainy, spregnant day, or for just a low-protein day. (Gosh, I am feeling less and less inclusive blogging about babies since there is clearly an epidemic going on around our nation, and the participants seem to increasingly be people I know and love - woot woot!)

When my mother fries bacon by pan or bakes it by oven, she makes extra and freezes it in a baggie. Then, on days that she wants a simple tomato soup for lunch, she'll grab a few sticks of bacon and crumble them into it. Same with any soup, salad, or a number of things. She is a danged smart lady. As a sidenote, this would work for beef briscuit bacon or non-meat bacon or what have you.

Another thing. My mother can fit more dishes into a dish washer and have them come out clean than anybody else's mother. Guaranteed.

new old chair

I'm pretty excited about this chair that I recently purchased at a thrift store for twenty-eight dollars and fifty cents. It is so astoundingly comfortable and only has a couple small cracks which I can fix with glue.

Jason is pretty not excited about the 1960's Sears record player that I purchased the next day at a garage sale for twenty-five dollars. This is only because the record player doesn't work. But to make up for it, I also got some really cool old records, like a Dr. Seuss story and random latin music! And I firmly believe that someone will be able to make the old beauty spin like she used to. If you are that someone, call me right away.