Yesterday was a SCORCHER!

A "Scorcher" here in Alaska counts as the high 80's-and we're talking heat from solar radiation, not necessarily the true temperature which was probably, like, 73.  But for an Alaskan to RUN in those temps when we're used to training in overcast summers in the low 60's....holy SHIT was that a brutal 6.5 mile run Miles and I did.  Doesn't help that I've only run twice in the last month and a half since spraining my ankle....
We ran from the house to the bridge and back...with my obligatory yet very welcome dip in the 40-ish degree waters of the glacier fed South Fork river.  Despite a shower at home, we never really cooled off.  We cleared objects away from the house to prep for the staining/painting that's planned, Miles weed wacked, we got our gear ready for the Salmonstock road trip this Thursday, and at 0'beer:30 we had a beer -me, bikini top clad-on the deck where the temps rose to 95 against the house, sweat dripping down my legs, so we headed back inside like a couple of total pussies.  I can't wait until we expand the deck out from the house where it would have been 10 degrees cooler, as well as have room for our table and umbrella.  Assuming, of course, that we'll have more summers like this one!


Hot, hazy, tuff 6.5 mile run on the South Fork trail with my hunny.  Posing kickin' it in the river for about 3 seconds before body starts to not function right!

Whew! Almost 71 degrees in the shade and 95.5 sitting on the deck

Advent so far

Willa has taken quite a leap in her reading as of late!  While in public kindergarten, she was taught to read, but neither she nor Miles and I pursued if after she was accepted into Winterberry Waldorf.  Now that she is in second grade she has taken a big interest and has leapt right over the basic "See Jane run" to more advanced stuff.  Her comprehension of these more sophisticated stories comes into question, but she just loves to quietly and diligently decipher the code of wordage in her "Guardians Of Ga'hoole" book.  We have to coax her into balancing things out by reading and talking about the easier stuff like "Frog and Toad".

This year for the First Night, I created a special book of the Advent blessings I wrote to read on each Sunday.  Willa now gets to light the candles and read the blessing aloud to us.  While the reading was slow going, I think she appreciates her new role.  And the next morning, those generous Advent faeries bestowed upon us a beautiful rose quartz mother and child duo in honor of the Mineral Kingdom!

Later today, we will adorn the Advent table with symbols of the Plant Kingdom.  However, mom here has a problem.  After the most glorious snowfalls, November was an uncharacteristically white one laden with ton's of  ski-able sled-able snow!  Just FABULOUS!!!!  It is now 40 degrees and POURING rain.  Winds up to 100MPH!  It has been like this since Friday when all after school events were cancelled-including the already once postponed Lantern Walk!!!!  Due to the VERY unsafe roads, I did not get the chance to run to the store to buy the sweet mini Christmas tree that I always get for the "faeries" to put on the Advent table!  :(  My bet is that I could rig something up with small pine branches and a pot...and I'm sure Willa would enjoy it just as much...but it won't be quite the same.  We always enjoy the challenge of trying to actually keep that little tree alive after the holidays to grow to adulthood.  Hey, my MOM can do it-she's got a bunch in her yard!  In the past, we have not been diligent enough with the watering.....  But we had talked about the fact that THIS was the year we were going to grow that tree!  .....Maybe the faeries could leave a note with the "temporary" tree stating that due to the weather, they were afraid that transporting the delicate tree in the wind and rain would hurt it.....so they will bring one by this week when the rain stops?     We'll give that a go, methinks.

Honoring the minutiae

One day last week we woke up to another warm cloudless day . Lo had the great idea of taking our yoga mats out onto the deck to "do some poses in the sunshine- OUTSIDE!". But I did her one better and suggested that we take our mats and a picnic on a hike to "do some poses in the sunshine- WAY UP ON THE SIDE OF Harp MOUNTAIN!!!!!". She was all for it. True to form, she donned her pretty pink fairy dress and powered like a tank with me up to the top of Celtic Harp-the first hump on the ridge leading to the top of Harp, and just the right amount of climb for a 5 year old...

Going for the "summit push" ;)

I've said it many times before-as it should be-that in some way I give thanks for this unbelievable place we live in everyday. Whether it's a simple Thank You out to the universe or a day of "worshiping in this church" (i.e., a few hours of loosing myself out in it and reveling in it all).
I reach for the perfect words to describe the soul expanding magnificence of this hanging valley surrounded by Chugach National Forrest. To watch our mountainous terrain continuously transform throughout the seasons is like witnessing the alchemy of gods. To go forth into it-from the bottom of the valley looking up at the monoliths around... or to traverse it's high ridges and look down upon its fecund floor... or across it for miles beyond is the experience of feeling both minuscule and infinite at the same time.

 

OM

In all this vastness, one can easily forget the wonderful exquisiteness that lay at our feet-no higher than the tops of our shoes. On our hike up Celtic Harp we were excited to find that the higher we went, the more tiny surprises there were to be discovered as we looked to the ground. Dustings of soft colors rising from the rock, brush, and mountain "driftwood"-a delight to see this early on-white mountain avens, a little snow gnome with a lichen beard, rocks shaped like continents,yellow tundra rose, purple oxytrope, fuzzy arctic willow, pink alpine azaleas, and lichen. Busy woolly bear caterpillars, spiders and lavender moths. Soft winter ptarmigan feathers discarded in the spring-a reminder of the white snow that so recently blanketed these slopes.

Our journey up was contrast of macro and telephoto.

The little things

Releasing a ptarmigan feather and a wish into the wind. Prayer flag style.

The descent and view down our valley toward Knik Arm

Upon our return home we looked back at our route from the deck and saw that we were tailed by a rainstorm. It produced the most shatteringly loud thunder I think I have ever heard! Two nimrods who had decided to hike to the top of a mountain across the valley from us(the highest peek in the pic above) to watch the storm come in were zapped by lightening. I always tell my kids,"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE HOW QUICKLY THE WEATHER CAN CHANGE!!!!!". Now I can add,"and don't go seeking out inclement weather in the places it's most likely to strike with deadly force!!!! DUH!!!".

Those 2 eejits were lucky to survive...
I have so much gratitude for that stunning day and that my little one and I made it home before this hit...

Soldiers remembered and a fabulous Memorial Day was had by all!

The weather is still most GLORIOUS!!!! Our Memorial Day was so full and spent reveling in the warmth and sunshine. This family is SO blessed to have each other and so fortunate to be living together embraced in this incredible place.

We chopped and stacked some fresh cut wood given to us by friends, planted strawberries and "Croc pots", Huz and I went for a 1 1/2 hr run on the South Fork trail-phenomenal, and I finished my new additions to the polar bear family. Dea and her best friend, K, with Lo in tow, decided to capitalize on the heavy holiday traffic at the trail head and ran a lemonade/baked goods stand. Our rockin' dinner consisted of skirt steak and veggies on the grill. Root beer floats for dessert-hey, we earned it! And after Lo went to bed, Boyz in the Hood.

Someone didn't like her seating arrangement!

But all was well after a root beer float

To our soldiers past and present, THANK YOU for your bravery and service....

Please point me to the nearest padded room.....

More schizo Alaskan Spring weather!!!!

THIS was last Thursday:

70 degrees and clear blue skies!

Playing on the deck

Planting the flowers I got for Mother's Day

Makin' sun tea
Fresh sheets drying in the breeze

And this was the next day, Friday:

First, rain. Hey, I asked for it, right?!?! But then, 30 degrees, COLD, WHITE, HUGE, FLAKES OF SNOW.

We got about a half an inch. Picture me racing outside in my PJs to pull all my flowers over to the side of the house out of the snow!

And then came Saturday:

65 and blue skies!

At the Anchorage farmer's market

More laundry and lounging on the deck

Makin' mud soup while the parents plant the potatoes.

COO-COO!!!!

And the amazing sunny weather continues! What a difference from last year! ~knocking MADLY on wood...

Happy Birthday my little one!

I don't think I ever have felt more gratitude for 2 warm, cloudless, sunny days than I did this past weekend! 2 days of 70+ degrees! In Alaska! In MAY! At the beginning of May!!!! For the last 4 years I have lamented the fact that Lo can't have an outdoor party with games and fun in the sun like the awesome shindigs we had for Dea's July birthday when she was younger. That she was destined to indoor parties with a slight chance of it being fare enough to do a little running around outside. We could not have asked for finer weather for Lo's birthday party, yesterday! It had actually called for rain yesterday and when I woke up to blue sky, I prayed that it would hold for the party. Lo's friends started arriving around 2 with not a cloud in sight. They had a great time-as did the parents-enjoying the sunshine out on the deck and on the property. The teens set up a fun scavenger hunt resulting in a treasure of wood butterflies that I had scroll sawed. They then got to transform them with the watercolors. What a beautiful colorful bunch of butterflies they created and the kids loved it! Then we played a game of What animal am I? Tape a picture of an animal onto one kid's back and then that kids asks the others YES and NO questions to figure out what the animal is. Such a simple game but the kiddos are SO into it! It got quite raucous with all the kids mimicking animals! Then it was on to eating some munchies, singing Happy Birthday, devouring butterfly cupcakes and opening prezzies. And then more running around amok in the yard and swinging in the play garden, while the parents conversed, the teens kibitzed and all seemed to relish and bask in the day.

Lo has received some amazing stuff -handmade from me, Dea and Nature Lady, some ETSY crafters, as well as from some other great online shops...all of which I would like to showcase in some posts later this week!

I LOVE putting together "Party Bags" for the party goers! I'm always searching for unique stuff and I really enjoy making things as well. I try to lean toward a Waldorf toy approach in the hopes of catching the interest of a non Waldorf parent. Always a pleasure to introduce someone to natural non-Disney, Non-plastic toys! This year we made ribbon wands, story dice(something we did with the spec. ed. kids I used to work with to spark ideas in writing for our fairy tale unit-except we used paper. Boring!), Billy Bob teeth, the butterflies, Stockmar multicolored pencils, a bag of soil and Alaska wildflower seeds, all packed up in a terracotta pot that they can plant the seeds in.

She'll be 5 years old next week...time is going by too fast, folks....