A Welcome Weekend

It's Friday! It's the weekend! It's sunny and warm in Eagle River and Soldotna too!

I've been in less than a good mood today. Alex is out of town, the refrigerator is still broken and not expected to be fixed until next Tuesday, someone let my cat out of the house yesterday and we can't find him, and I'm on a diet. I could go on with things that have irritated me last night and today, but I'm not going to anymore. Instead, I'm going to take full advantage of the beautiful weather we've been given this weekend and enjoy My Alaska!

Last night, I was introduced to the wonderful world of wild currants. I've now added them to the list of wild edibles I'm going to attempt to jar this weekend. Our friends near the Eagle River Nature Center have wild currants growing in their yard and invited me to pick as many as I like. Since they are moving, I'm going to pick to my heart's content and not worry about leaving some for them! A few days ago, we drove up Hiland Drive and saw that the fireweed are in bloom, and blooming in abundance, so I'll drive up there tonight with a few empty bags for the flower blooms and gather them. Another friend just let me know that some kind of berry is growing across the street from his home off of Hiland and invited me to come and see what they are and pick any of them I like (if they aren't poisonous). He says the bears love them, so I'll have to be very aware of my surroundings and especially cautious while I harvest them.

To add to my reasons to be cheerful instead of gloomy this weekend, I'm going to head back down to Soldotna tomorrow to fish. In the Russian and Kenai Rivers, there are still some reds (Sockeye salmon) to be caught. I can use Alex's chest waders and the kids can use the hip waders. I'm going to have someone else filet whatever I catch though. The poor fish I tried to filet last week ended up looking like oatmeal with red food coloring. It was a bad scene. Our tent is still at our friend's property, so we have a place to sleep.

I have to remind myself that my reasons for moving to Alaska and the things I was looking forward to experiencing here can't be overshadowed by broken fridges, lost cats, or children who are (as of late) plucking my last nerve. I'll throw myself into the joys of living in a place so full of life, beauty and abundance and (for the weekend at least) forget about my day-to-day troubles.