That'll do, snow... that'll do

What does it take for someone who hasn't posted a blog post in almost 2 years to post?  Fourteen inches of snow in April, that's what. 

I know, I can hear it now.... "Uhhhhh, you live in ALASKA.  Didn't you realize it snows there?"  Yes, I do realize it snows here, and most of the time I actually enjoy it.  I call snowflakes 'happiness flakes' (this started because the girl who works in the office next to mine HATES snow and I was officially banned, by written memo, to go running through the workplace, waving my arms like a crazy person yelling 'snow, it's snowing, snow, snow, snow... yipeeeeee).  I love snow so much that I made up a new measurement of time called 'snow time.'  I believe that watching snowflakes fall, much like watching a gold fish swim around in a goldfish bowl, slows time and relaxes the watcher.  But, it's APRIL.  April means tulips, and budding spruce trees, and warm sunny days, and children flying kites.  Doesn't it?  Maybe it's just been winter for so long that I have forgotten which month spring in Alaska normally begins. 

But, come on, 14 inches?  OH, and did I mention that was over a day and a half period, and that just 2 days later is snowed another 8 inches?  My poor husband has had to snow blow the driveway 3 times in 5 days. Then, not even 4 hours after I check the National Weather Service website for the 10 day forecast (which assured me it was going to be nothing but sunny days and blue skies in my zip code), I came out of my Wednesday University Spanish class and find .... what?  You guessed it, SNOW on my car.  Two inches of what I am no longer referring to as happiness flakes.  Cristine is not amused, and Cristine is certainly NOT happy.

I'm ready for spring.  I'm ready for temperatures that allow me to stop wearing a jacket all the time.  I want to go hiking and fishing and biking (yes, I said biking... if saying it again will make spring come faster, I will say again that I want to go biking).  I want to take walks in normal tennis shoes and not snow boots.  I want to be able to wait at the bus stop for my bus to my Tuesday and Thursday afternoon University classes and not wish that I had worn earmuffs that morning to work.

I just want spring.  What god do I have to pray to for it to come?  Is there a special 'welcome spring in' ritual that I missed somewhere?  

Yup, still the worst

Yup, it's official, still the worst blogger in history. If they gave awards for neglectful bloggers, I'd get one.

On a more positive note... the red currants are ready to be harvested! Took a walk through the woods at the north entrance to Eagle River and the red jewelled wonders were everywhere! Planning on going this week, sometime after the rain stops. It was glorious on Friday, then Saturday came, and the heavens opened. I'll also be heading to Girdwood this weekend to see what I can anticipate as far as the harvest for berries there goes.

Reading an amazing book now called A Sense of the World about James Holman, a man who lived from 1786-1857. He was completely blind, but managed to do more in his life than I probably (no, not even probably. It should read: definitely) ever will. He circumnavigated the globe, charted the Australian outback, fought the slave trade in Africa, survived captivity in Siberia, hunted elephants in Ceylon, and did many other amazing things that few sighted adventurers could hope or dream to accomplish. It is definitely a humbling book, and makes me feel just a tad guilty for not accomplishing more with my life. I feel guilty enough to take my cable box back to the cable company, which we are doing tonight. Need to do a lot less watching, and a lot more living!

Worst blogger in history award goes to....

It's official. I'm a horrible blogger. I haven't blogged in almost a year. It certainly isn't for lack of interesting things to blog about in the largest state in the union. I'll chalk it up to total laziness. Or, I could blame it on Facebook. With a social networking site that makes keeping in touch with family and friends so gosh darned easy, it makes snail mail and even blogging look tedious!

They say the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem. Well, I admit it. I'm a lazy blogger. I'm pretty sure there isn't a recovery group for my issue, so I'll have to just keep blogging till I feel my recovery is at hand.

Catch up!

I can't believe I haven't blogged since March! I'm going to claim summer maddness. This summer in the Great White North has been AMAZING! (say it with a sing-songy voice... I typed it that way). The weather has been sunny and warm, the days have been long, and the activities of my summer have been plentiful!

My niece came to visit in early June, and it was one adventure after another. We went to Girdwood the first week she was here. I've never seen a bear there, until I went with her. It ran right across the road in front of my car, then turned around to look at us. On the way back to Anchorage I was telling her to look for dall sheep when we happened upon 2 dall sheep right on the roadside at mile 106. THAT is a rarity, folks. Most of the time, one is lucky to see them as small white dots on the cliffs far above.

We went on a cruise out of Seward to Fox Island on Fjords Tours. Almost immediately after the tour boat captain told us that there had been no whales seen that week, my niece starts yelling, "WHALE, WHALE, WHALE!" We saw 3 gray whales that day, along with dall porpoise, puffins, glaciers, seals and walrus. She is good luck!

On our way up to Chena Hot Springs to stay at a cabin just off the entrance that my brother-in-law (once removed) owns, we saw too many moose to count, and an owl on a fence. I thought the owl was fake, until it turned it's head and looked at us. We got a lot of great pictures. I'll post soon. We stayed in Chena for 3 nights, then headed down to Denali Park for July 4th weekend. In Denali, we took the wilderness tour and saw almost 30 brown bear, more moose, caribou, dall sheep, ptarmigan, snowshoe hair and arctic squirrel.

I had her eating sprucetips, flowers and sticks (as she put it), and even got her to try escargo stuffed mushrooms. Out of everything she ate, the escargo is the only thing that grossed her out! I had her picking fireweed, berries and pressing flowers. She said she was freezing the whole time. I think her thin Florida blood just couldn't take the weather difference. I kept her busy camping, hiking, picking, driving and enjoying the Alaska summer with me.

She headed home just a few weeks ago and I miss her terribly. She helped to make this wonderful summer even better.

The weather is cooling, there's a chill in the air now, the fireweed flowers have hit the top and are beginning to seed, the leaves are turning yellow, and the berries are ripe. Fall has arrived. Winter is right around the corner! Time to start planning for next spring already!

Tourist in my own backyard

Alaska is huge. Not just big, not just expansive, but HUGE! Huge to the extent that there are many places that don't have road systems. Even our state capital can't be reached except by boat or plane. I could spend the next 100 years here and still not see and do everything that I'd like to. I will never make it to all the Native Alaskan villages, my wallet and the fact that I work Monday through Friday won't permit. Now, if I had a job like my friend Julie, who works as an optical tech, going from village to village, I'd possibly make a lot of village trips. But, even she doesn't go to all of them. They have optical techs who go to certain areas, and she won't make it to all the villages either. I know that realistically I won't go camping at every camp ground that can be found in Alaska. There just aren't enough available camping weekends in the summer, in my lifetime, to camp them all. I won't make it to every glacier, see every lake, river, stream or waterway. I will never hike to the top of Denali. Although there are many other towns in Alaska, some with populations of less than 10, some with populations in the tens of thousands, I probably won't make them all either. I've resolved myself to the fact that I am limited by a mortal body and an empty wallet. However, I am capable of seeing one place completely, and that is my own town.

Part of my job is driving around 2 days a week doing home inspections all over Anchorage, Eagle River, Girdwood and as far north as Peters Creek. In my "travels," I've seen things that others probably haven't seen, or if they have seen they probably don't take the time to really notice. There are sculptures and statues all over Anchorage. From elementary schools to churches, from small businesses to corporate headquarters, art is all around Anchorage in abundance. There are carved totem poles, bronze sculptures, iron facades, and interesting buildings with true character throughout the city. There are mural painted walls, antler covered homes, and touches of Alaskan charm on every street. I've started looking forward to my Monday and Tuesday drives, and I've decided to take my camera along to snap some photos of my "Alaskan Drive Bys" in Anchorage. In fact, I'm going to start posting them here as part of a whole "Drive By Shootings" series (sorry for the play on words).

I've come to the conclusion that it's ok if I don't see all of Alaska. It's ok if I'm not going to be able to see and do all that I'd like throughout the rest of Alaska. I'm in ALASKA! That's exciting in itself! I'll focus on what I'm capable of seeing and doing right here in South Central AK and appreciate it for the opportunities it affords. I'm still going to hike, camp and drive where ever I can and take some special trips, but for now, I'm going to relish what Anchorage has to offer. I'm looking forward to playing tourist in my own back yard. I'll not act like Anchorage is just a "jump off" spot to see the rest of Alaska, but rather the staging platform for this summer's adventures. Maybe the things I find in my drive bys will help others appreciate Anchorage as well. I have an aunt with muscular dystrophy who isn't capable of hiking, biking, camping, climbing or flying all over Alaska. Her actions and adventures are limited to what she can see from the car window, or where her wheel chair can get her. So, I dedicate my drive by segments to my Aunt Cheryl. Look for future entries, I can guarantee you haven't seen all of Anchorage like this before!

Things Spring Brings

Yesterday, I was perusing my bookshelf at home for books on Alaskan flowers, trees, and edible plants. I know, just a few posts ago, I was bemusing the end of winter and how it's my favorite season. However, with the coming of spring, my "tree hugger," nature lover side comes to life. I can't find anything in my refrigerator to eat, but when I look through the edible plants guide, suddenly my back yard is a buffet of new and interesting delicacies.

I was reading sections of the books to my husband last night, and he just shook his head and said, "Uh, yeah, Cristine... you enjoy that." He isn't interested in trying the shoots of Devil's Club, or cream cheese filled stalks of Cow Parsnip. I may be able to get him to try Pineapple Weed tea, but I'll be hard pressed to get him to eat dandelion greens for dinner. I made spruce tip jelly last year, which no one else in my family has tried yet. I think they are convinced that one of my "concoctions" will poison them.

It's going to be a bright, clear day today with highs near 12 degrees. With the sunny, snow free days come visions of break up and warmer temperatures. I will miss the snow, but I'm looking forward this year to tasting my way through the Alaskan flora that can be found on the hillsides and in my own back yard.

Homerward Bound

One of the reasons I moved to Alaska when my daughter was an early teen was so that I could share the experience with her when she was young, but when she was still old enough to appreciate all the things Alaska has to offer. I had images of hiking with her, of going on camping trips throughout the state, of viewing bear, moose, wolves, eagles and other wild Alaskan animals in their natural habitat. However, as anyone with teenagers knows, they grow from children and develop minds of their own.

We moved to Alaska and she became a snowboarder, snowshoeing through hip deep snow on unmarked paths is not her idea of a fun winter activity. After the first time we went camping and she experienced her first night's sleep on the rocky ground, she decided that "roughing it" with mom wasn't her idea of an enjoyable camping trip. When I tried to convince her to go to Denali Park with me last year, trying to win her over with tales of a 10 hour bus ride 2 days in a row through the park, she flat refused to go. She wrote a poem called "The Berry Picking Blues" after one of our "fun" berry picking trips up the side of Harp Mountain in Eagle River. I had to bribe her with an Ipod Touch last year to go berry picking with me on the trail to Symphony Lakes (this year, she won't be bribed. It's costing me more to get her to go than it would for me to go to the store and purchase a couple QUARTS of berries!). Picking fireweed, red currants, blueberries, high bush cranberries, lingon berries, and spruce tips for jelly ranks high on her "most painful things to do" list. Hiking isn't her thing. Biking isn't her thing. Spending a day at the Alaska Botanical Garden is like asking her to spend the day watching traffic and counting cars. I'd just about lost hope of enjoying the "Alaska Experience" with her, until now. This semester in school, she's taking Photography. Suddenly, Alaska is teeming with wonder for her!

For the photographic opportunities alone, she's agreed to go with me to Homer on Friday, my day off of work. The eagles congregate in Homer out on the Homer Spit this time of year. Even when they are not being fed, they can still be found perched on buildings, walking the beach, or soaring above the water. She's not put off by the 4 hour ride there, or the fact that we'll probably be there for another 8 hours, only to have a return trip to Anchorage of another 4 hours. She didn't balk when I told her that I wanted to leave at 5:30 in the morning to get to Homer early. She now has images of swooping eagles, majestic birds in flight, and perched eagles that she anticipates taking amazing pictures of. I'm even letting her borrow one of my cameras so that she doesn't have to use her pocket point and shoot model. To tell you the truth, even if this is the only trip we ever take, and the only "Alaskan Experience" we enjoyed together, it will be one that I always cherish. If this was the only experience I had with her in Alaska, it still would have made it worth moving here. How many people get to experience viewing wild eagles (and so many of them in one location) with their children? Maybe when we are there, she'll be excited enough about all that Alaska has to offer that I can convince her to take that overnight camping/hiking trip on Crow Pass that we've been trying to convince her to go on this coming summer. Maybe if I mention the pictures she could take? Hmmmm, maybe I should take it slow instead. One trip at a time.

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in the Great White north. The snow was falling thick, all day long. I know some of my fellow Alaskans are very tired of the snow, the cold, and the long winter. I'm not one of them. I was thankful yesterday for the snow. I haven't done much in the way of winter activity all winter. I haven't snow shoed, I haven't XC skiid, I haven't gone sledding. All the activities I look forward to doing as the days turn colder in fall, I haven't participated in. But, with the snow falling, as I brushed off a good 4 inches of snow off my car last night, I felt elated and filled with the thrill that I've been given another chance to reclaim my winter.

Today, the sky is blue, the sun is blazing, and I can hear the water running from the snow melting off the roof near my window. A day brings so much change here in Alaska!

This weekend, the hubby and I are heading with friends to a cabin on Big Lake. We'll drive across not one, not two, but three frozen lakes to get to the cabin that in summer is only accessible by boat. We'll snowshoe, we'll sled, and we'll enjoy the white gift from the gods that we were given yesterday. I know it's not going to make it any easier for the iditarod mushers who take to the trail this weekend. I know it makes the roads hazardous for drivers and turns them into ditch divers. I know it makes some of my fellow Alaskans miserable and wishing the cold would end already! As for this Alaskan, every flake that falls brings a smile to my face, lifts my spirits and excites me for what activities the snow brings with it. The snow fall leaves me planning to go places that I can't go when the ice melts and I can't walk across it, has me heating milk for hot chocolate, has me sitting in front of a fireplace snuggled up with a good book about Alaska, and gives me the opportunity to spend time with family.

As the days get longer and warmer (despite the snow fall from yesterday), I know that spring break up is on its way and summer is hot on its tail. That's the time most here look forward to, but not me. When the sun is at it's highest and the sunny days are at their longest, I'll be dreaming of the cooler temperatures of fall, dreaming of long lazy days picking berries, and dreaming of the first snowfall when the mountains and trees are covered by their blanket of white again. For now, I'll enjoy what time I have left with my friend snow, enjoy the eagles that perch in Eagle River on the snow covered spruce trees, enjoy watching my dogs bound through the snow with glee, enjoy the sunsets that winter brings and summer takes away. I'll tuck myself into my warmest cold weather layers, put my snowshoes on my back, my camera it it's pack, and head out into my own winter wonderland to relish the time we have left together.

Long time, no type!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't written in so long! I'll catch up soon. I have the whole weekend (I have no work Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Of course, I didn't work today, or yesterday either... freezing rain, icy roads and high winds kept me off the roads and away from Anchorage). So much to catch up on! We won the Denali Road Lottery and went again this past September, our son made Anchorage Jr. Youth Symphony where he plays first chair clarinet, our daughter decided to go to San Diego for Christmas instead of with the rest of us to Hawaii, and we have a new President and a new year ahead to look forward to! I'll catch up on this blog, as well as my other, and catch up on my reading of my favorite musings from others too.

Alaska Calendar

I have to give a plug here for a great calendar by a great Alaskan photographer. I purchased a calendar last year (ok, I purchased SEVERAL calendars) from an Alaskan photographer who can be found here. All of the pictures are taken by the photographer, in different places throughout Alaska, and believe me, she gets around Alaska.

If you are looking for a wonderful calendar full of pictures only of things few very lucky people get to ever see in the state of Alaska, definately contact her and order one.

2008 Denali Road Lottery Results

The results are in... and I won again this year for Monday, September 15. Unfortunately, I can't take work off that day, and the kids have school.... sooooooo, if anyone won for a different day, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and would like to trade for my Monday, drop me a comment with your email address and let me know. If not, I'll be giving the winner's slip to another to enjoy the park for me.

Cristine

Summer ????

It's been quite a while since I last wrote. My last blog was about making spruce tip jelly. By the way, it turned out WONDERFUL! I'll give a quick blurb, then get on with my summer goings-ons.

I picked all the spruce tips from the spruce trees in my own backyard. Since we are surrounded by spruce trees, I didn't need to go any further, or search for them the way I have to search for berries in the fall. I picked about 6 full cups of young, freshly "bloomed" spruce tips. Since this was my first time picking them, or making spruce tip jelly, I read a lot about what to look for, what to avoid, and when to pick before I started. After getting the tips, I placed them in a food processor and finely chopped them. Then, I covered them with water and boiled them for about 30 minutes and let them steep overnight. After straining the juice through a jelly bag, I put it back on the oven, added 1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1 package of powdered pectin, and then added 3/4 a cup of sugar for every cup of liquid.

It took about 3 weeks in the cupboard for it to set correctly, but man, is it tasty. It smells like Christmas, but tastes like heaven! I was very surprised at the taste. When I was picking the tips, and when I brought them into the house, they smelled very much like evergreen trees. However, once I chopped them, the kitchen was pervaded with a citrus smell. Even my boy asked me how much lemon I'd cut up, and I hadn't cut any lemons yet. I'm definitely making the jelly again next year. It's DIVINE on English muffins.

Since May, we've been WAITING for summer to start. Now, in August, we are still waiting... This has been a very odd "summer." The entire summer was overcast, we didn't have very many purely sunny days, and the temperature only hit 70 degrees perhaps 4 times all summer. During the "waiting" for summer, summer somehow slipped by, and now it's mid August and fall is about to start.

I didn't do many hikes this summer. In fact, I didn't do much of anything this summer. I didn't fish much, I didn't CATCH anything, I went camping only once, and all of my grand desires for summer that I had during last winter never came to fruition.

OH, I DID get married though! That will be my favorite summer memory of 2008. We, along with 9 of our friends, went to Girdwood, AK, and hiked to Glacier Creek for the vows. In true Alaskan style, we wore shorts and t shirts and hiking shoes. My impromptu flower girls carried fiddle head ferns we found on the forest floor because we couldn't find any flowers

Bounties of Summer

There is one thing we have in abundance right now: budding plantlife. The spruce trees in my back yard are bursting with new, green budding ends. The hillsides are awash with purples, pinks, and more yellow than imaginable. I love walking outside and looking down the mountainside every day, being greeted with a new color or a new plant. This time last month, the hillside was covered with newly fallen snow and we wondered if winter would ever end. Now, with the prolonged hours of sunlight, the hillside is alive once again.

I've decided to try my hand at making dandelion jelly and spruce tip jelly this year. Last year, I made crowberry jelly (didn't set right, but that won't stop me from trying again this year), red currant jelly (my son's new favorite), blueberry jam (tip: don't blend the fruit in a blender before jarring, it ends up a wonderful syrup, but not anywhere close to jelly or jam), strawberry/rhubarb jam (rhubarb plants love Alaska... they literally grow like weeds) fireweed jelly (amazingly delicious and light), and highbush cranberry jelly (this didn't set well either, and just a warning, it smells horrible when you are boiling the berries).

While I'm waiting for August when the prime berry season begins, I'll take what the season is bountifully giving at the moment, and head to the trees and weeds and see what I can make of them. Wish me luck! I'll post back after I've jarred the goodies and can share my "wares."

Mission McKinley

Time: 5:15 am
Date: Saturday, June 17, 2008

The mission (because we are both nuts and have wandering spirits) that we had chosen to accept: a day trip to Mount McKinley ***DENALI***
After synchronizing our watches the night before, Ang and I agreed that she'd pick me up at 5:15 am and we'd hit the Glenn Highway heading north for an all day adventure. The itinerary was to drive to Denali Park, slowly make our way to mile 30 inside the park, then head home. The 17th was the last Saturday we'd be able to drive into the park before they opened it for the official start of the tourist season. After last weekend, the only vehicles allowed on the road are the tour buses that run visitors to the park back to Wonder Lake, the end of the road of Denali Park.

While Ang had her hopes set on seeing the Big 5 of the park (bear, moose, Dahl sheep, wolf and caribou) and a lynx she'd heard tales of others sighting, I was excited just to be in the park again. The only time I'd been there before was the trip Alex and I made when we won the road lottery last year in September (the same trip we got engaged in the park on).

If there is one thing I could tell tourists about going to Denali, it's this: don't get so caught up in the big game you hope to see around the next bend that you miss the little things that are right beside you. We saw an abundance of snow hare and ptarmigan (you've got to hear them give their warning sqawk, it's hilarious to listen to). We were lucky enough to see a red fox and catch him in the process of marking his boundary. We saw ground squirrel, which I'd never seen before. We did see plenty of caribou and even a moose and calf eating their fill of freshly greening buds. The surprise and excitement of the trip came in the form of a round porcupine crossing the road in front of the car on our way home. Ang was so excited to get a pic that she pulled over, made her way through calf deep, half melted snowbanks, followed the prickly fellow into a glade of trees (one of which he promptly climbed to get away from his pursuer), and managed to get a few pictures of Mr. Quills through the tree branches. It really was about the little things on this trip.

Our itinerary was changed, as it often is on the Cristine/Ang road trips. We took a side trip to Nenana, a village a little more than an hour north of Denali Park, to a restaurant called Monderosa. Ang had been told that they claimed to have the best burgers in Alaska. I don't know if they do have the best burgers in ALL of Alaska or not, but they were pretty good, and very large. We both left very full, and she was all for my suggestion to go through the park one more time before we headed home.

On the second trip through the park, we experienced every form of weather pattern Alaska has to offer. For the first 10 minutes, it rained. From mile 15 to about mile 17, it snowed. From mile 17 to about mile 21, it sleeted. From mile 21 to mile 25, it hailed (bb gun sized pellets that made me feel as if the angels in heaven were using the car for target practice). When we got to mile 30 and turned around, we drove back through cloudy skies that turned to sunny skies. A rainbow even greeted us half way back to the park entrance. I kept joking with Ang about something good being at the end of the rainbow, and I'll be darned if there wasn't a group of caribou at that rainbow's end!

We didn't get home until after 1, but we had the moon to enjoy on the trip home. We drove for 21 hours, but it was well worth the 700+ miles Ang put on her car's odometer and the exhaustion I felt the next morning when it was time to get up and head down the Seward Highway to start a hike that Ang had planned on Sunday.

We've decided to book a camping spot at Savage Campgrounds for the July 4th weekend. We are going to take the bus to Wonder Lake (we act like total tourists, and have no shame about it) not once, but two times that weekend. Hopefully, Ang will get to see her Big 5, and I'll get to once again enjoy the ever changing beauty that Denali Park has to offer every time I go.

Just a side note.... I found out when I got home that 10 separate teams of climbers were in the process of beginning the climb to the summit of Denali when we were in the park. All I can say about that is WOW... I'm going to check on their progress.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

I have been living life, and enjoying my winter, even if I haven't written about it. Now that spring is near, the time of rebirth and moving on from winter, cold, and darkness, I find myself wanting to write again.

Winter is on it's way out, whether Jack Frost is willing to let it go quietly is another story. Last Friday, we had about 16 inches of snow fall in Eagle River. Jack is weaving his way across our April pulling pranks about once a week. Week before last, we had 8 inches, the snow melted (Mother Nature is trying to give us a spring to enjoy, Jack just isn't cooperating!), then Jack came a dancin' through the skies once more and bringing the crystaline flakes with him. I swear I heard his laughter outside my window last Friday.

Before the Jack Frost/Mother Nature power play began, I went to Big Lake with a few girlfriends for a much needed girl's weekend in early March. A friend's family has a cabin on Flat Lake, so 6 of us headed out for a man free, kid free, responsibility free weekend. We drove across a wide expanse of frozen lake (Big Lake) to Flat Lake where the cabin was located. I have to admit to being a little leary at first of driving across frozen water in a heavy vehicle, but my friend assured me that the ice was thick enough to handle the weight, even if it was crystal clear and I swore at times I saw fish swimming below us. When the gang go there, we sledded, we snow machined, we played games and laughed, drank our share of wine and Framboise, and enjoyed 3 days of nothing. It was wonderful. It was exactly what I needed. Nothing like a good game of Apples to Apples to find out what your friends are made of, what they are thinking, and what (or whom) they have tied up in their basement!

I have more updating to do, including neighborhood moose sightings, Fur Rondezvous pics and stories, and wedding updates.

I didn't realize it was so late! With the sun staying in the sky later and later, my time perception is already screwy. I (once again) don't feel I made the best use of my winter time, so I need to make sure I get my spring/summer/fall plans set in stone so I don't end up wasting these prolonged days of sweet sunshine!

Early to rise, late to bed... sleeping is for winter.

Saying Goodbye, Sean Raymond Auchinachie

Saying goodbye is never an easy or enjoyable thing to do.

I was born in Alaska. My parents came here the summer before I was born to help friends start a Mexican restaurant in Anchorage. After I was born, my grandfather died. My parents returned to Utah where my grandmother and the rest of my family were living, and never returned to Alaska. Shortly after my fifth birthday, my parents divorced. I never saw my father again. I didn't hate my father for leaving. I remember how it was when he was with the family, and I always knew that things were better without him there and that my life would have turned out much differently if he had been in my life growing up. He never tried to contact my younger sister or me after he left. We didn't know where he was or what he was doing.

Just before I turned 21, I found out through my father's uncle that my father was alive and well and had been living in southern Utah most of my life, and that I had a younger brother, Sean, who was 14 years my junior. My sister, who was still living in Utah until 1995, went to visit them just before she moved to Virginia. After her visit, she never heard from our father again and she lost touch with our brother, who was only 11 at the time.
We did try to look for our brother. However, never finding a phone number or address, no matter how hard we looked, we'd just about given up hope of finding him. The fates that be had other plans for us. In November, my niece found my brother on MySpace.

Since November, I've talked to my brother weekly. The conversations lasted for hours, and hours. I got to know Sean during those chat sessions. He was funny, passionate, and full of piss and vinegar (just like me). He always thought that my sister and I didn't care about him, but he found that we certainly did, and that we just didn't know how to find him. We were looking forward to building a great relationship and had already begun to build that brother/sister bond. He talked of coming to Alaska some day, as our father had talked about this place often. I was planning to go to Utah to visit. He teased his nieces about their boyfriends and their web pages on MySpace. He was enjoying being an uncle. I also discovered that I have a nephew, Sean's son, Weston. I found out so much about his life in such a short time and looked forward to every phone call, even if he did tend to make them at midnight and insisted on talking so long.

I found out by talking to him that our father had died of a heart attack summer of last year. Since I never got to talk to our father, Sean showed me our father through his eyes. Our father was Sean's hero. The man was far from perfect, but he always made time for Sean, taking him camping, fishing, tossing the ball around in the yard, barbecueing for Sean and his friends, and giving Sean advice that he respected. Sean didn't have an easy childhood, but he loved our father very much. Seeing him through Sean's eyes gave me a new picture of him, and let me know him in a different way than I'd remembered.

In December, Sean went in for surgery and found out that he had a rare type of non Hodgkins lymphoma. They caught it early, and he had a 90% chance of cure with chemotherapy. He went in for chemo last Monday. He was supposed to be in the hospital for a week. However, the doctor gave the medication incorrectly, administering the full dose, undiluted, into my brother's shunt, straight into his system with no buffer. Within hours, my brother was paralized. He was diagnosed as brain dead with no brain activity within days. This morning, they took him off of life support.

My brother was only 23 and wasn't supposed to die. He had just come into my life again, just to be taken away. I will miss our phone calls. I will miss talking to him. I am forever thankful that I got to have him in my life for the time that I did and that he showed me a part of our father that I never knew.

I found out through Sean that I also have another sister who just turned 11. I don't understand why I lost Sean, but I gained a father, a brother, a sister and a nephew when I found Sean again. I also gained people in his life who knew and loved him whom I will continue to get to know Sean through, through their memories of him.

Thank you, Sean, for being a part of my life the time that you were. You brought more to my life in the short time you were in it than you will ever know. I will miss you. I love you.


Sean Auchinachie
March 9, 1984 - February 6, 2008

Sean is survived in death by his son, Weston Auchinachie; his mother, Laura Auchinachie; his sisters, Cristine Auchinachie, Cynthia Robb, and Shannon Auchinachie; his nieces, Mariah Auchinachie, Kaylee Ann Jeffreys and Dezirae Auchinachie; and, by his family and friends throughout Utah and the US. Sean was preceded in death by his father, Harry Raymond Auchinachie, and by his much loved grandparents, John and Beverly Stock.

Live Big

In April of 2005, I was in a "going nowhere painfully slow" relationship that I'd been mired in for over 4 years. Sitting in front of the computer, wondering how long I was going to continue the path of my life the way it was, wondering what I was going to do with my life after I turned 35, and pondering my life up to that moment, I decided to look at prices for tickets to Anchorage for the following October. With credit card in hand, and totally on a whim, I offered $350 on Priceline for a ticket from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to Anchorage, Alaska. Fate smiled on me, and the price was accepted. I could stop here and say "the rest is history," but that would ruin the story, wouldn't it!

After I booked the ticket, there was no toning down my excitement or enthusiasm. I began to think about the things I wanted to do for the 10 days I would be in Alaska over my birthday. I began looking for places to stay, things to do, places to go, and fantasizing about how wonderful Alaska was going to be and what a life altering trip I was going to have. I wanted to see the hospital I was born in (Providence Hospital in Anchorage.) I wanted to see the home my parents lived on when I was born (off of Nelchina Street in Anchorage.) I wanted to take the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks, a 10 hour train ride that would show me not only the coast, but the landscape changes from Anchorage north.

I spent all of my free time (ok, and some of my work day too) from the day I booked my ticket to the day I left for Anchorage researching what activities were available after tourist season ended. I found that all of the marine tours closed at the end of September, so no marine tour would be taken on my trip. I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to see whales, marine life, calving glaciers and the normal things that tourists look forward to seeing when they come to Alaska during the summer months. However, coming in October gave me the opportunity to see and do other things that tourists who come in the colder months get to do. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to act like I would if I lived in Anchorage, instead of acting like a total tourist. Because money was tight, I booked stays at youth hostels in Anchorage and Fairbanks. I bought tickets ahead of time for a play at Cyrano's Playhouse on 4th Avenue in Anchorage. I printed out all the bus routes I'd be using on the People Mover. I planned a day to visit the Anchorage Museum. I purchased my train tickets for the flagstop train from Anchorage to Fairbanks, and decided to fly back from Fairbanks instead of taking the train so that I'd be able to spend additional time in Anchorage. I checked the tourism and travel website for Anchorage daily from April to October to see what was going on during all the months I wasn't there, and for the activities happening during the time I'd be there. I even read the Anchorage Daily News on a daily basis just to keep up on what was happening in Anchorage! I planned everything down to the minute, including time it would take me to drive places in my rental car, and how long I'd stay at the Museum of the North in Fairbanks. I drove all my friends nuts before my trip by talking about it non stop. My heart was firmly rooted in Alaska before my body was, and I didn't have any room in it for the "go nowhere relationship" I'd been participating in. The relationship finally ended for good a mere few weeks before the beginning of my trip. So, when I got on the plane to go to Alaska, I was open and ready for any and all opportunities and experiences I would have on my trip.

I had everything planned out: travel routes, time schedules, I'd even planned on attending a job fair when I was here, just to see what the job market was like. The thing I found though, is that life never really goes according to plan. My mother says that I'm a master of "planned spontaneity," and this trip was no exception. Yes, I had it all planned, but on the train ride, I met a lawyer and his new wife who told me something I will never forget. I was sitting there with my itinerary, and he said to me, "Cristine, sometimes you have to throw your itinerary out the window and take hold of random opportunities that afford themselves to you. More often than not, those small opportunities end up allowing you to have experiences you would have never dreamed of. To live big, you have to take big risks." Up to that point, I'd followed my plans to the letter. When I got to Fairbanks, I took that lawyer's words to heart and opened myself up to the Spirit of Alaska and let me take it where it led.

I met a wonderful Tlinkit Indian man at the youth hostel in Fairbanks. He was there for the Alaska Federation of Natives conference. He asked me to go to a place north of Fairbanks called Chena Hot Springs. Big city girl that I was, I imagined being taken by a man I didn't know into the wilderness of Alaska and being killed and buried where no one could find me. However, I had a dream that night that an eagle landed on my back, wrapped its wings around me, and just said the word "trust." The next morning, when Jeff came down the stairs wearing a sweatshirt with a native American symbol of an eagle on the front of it, I took that as a sign that going to Chena with him was the right thing, and what I was supposed to do.

Chena was amazing. I didn't even know that a place like that existed in Alaska, or that I'd meet someone as amazing as Jeff. He told me about the native peoples of Alaska, gave me an appreciation for their culture, their heritage, their humanity, their art, and their love of the land. He treated me better in 2 days than the man that I'd dated for almost 5 years, and he didn't want anything from me but my friendship. I didn't see the Northern Lights that night, but I was so happy, and my heart was so full, that if I had seen the lights that night, I think my heart would have burst from the joy.

The next day was my birthday, and as I headed back to Anchorage on the plane, I was still open for anything that came. When I got back to the youth hostel in Anchorage, I was invited by some new friends to go out of the night. After going to the Peanut Farm for dinner and to watch a game, we headed back to the youth hostel. Sue, the gal driving, looked up in the sky and said, "I think the Northern Lights are going to come out soon." All I saw was a cloud. She pointed out that it wasn't a cloud, as clouds don't "glow green." What followed was nothing less than a symphony of color across the black sky above. With every loop and twirl of color in the blackness above, I felt that this display was my invitation and welcome home to Alaska. It was the best birthday present that I've ever gotten.

We decided to go to Seward the next day. We stayed at the Hotel Seward, with all of us sharing a room on the floor where we shared a bathroom with the staff. I spent the day we were there walking around Seward and going to the Sealife Museum. On the way back to Anchorage so that I could catch my flight, we took a side trip to Exit Glacier, just outside of Seward. I watched my last sunset over the Cook Inlet, and it was time for me to head home.

I never did make it to the job fair or the Museum of the North. My trip the the Anchorage Museum was informative and insightful. The play at Cyrano's was so much fun and the environment was inviting and friendly. The flagstop train ride was such a blast. We stopped along the way to pick up travelers literally in the middle of nowhere, just to drop them, their dogs and their generators off in front of cabins just north of nowhere. In those 10 days during 2005, I felt more at home and more at peace and more grounded than I ever had in my life. I knew that I had to live in Alaska. The spirit of this place, when I opened myself to it, poured in and filled every cell of my being. Leaving Alaska and flying back to Virginia Beach, I felt my heart being ripped out of my chest. I was crying before the plane even taxied to the runway! The entire plane ride back to Virginia, I was making plans to move to Alaska. By my next birthday, I was living in Anchorage.

Now, two years after my initial trip, my life has changed in more ways that I could have ever imagined. I'm still in touch with some of the people I met at the youth hostels I stayed at here, and I will never forget the others I met that left their mark on my life during those 10 days. They will never know how much their kindness, friendship and advice changed my life and helped me become the person I am today, and who I will be in the future.

Walking boldly into 2008 with my arms open wide to all that life has to offer me, I'm excited about my life, excited about the friendships I will make this year, and the ones I will continue nurturing this coming year. I find myself more in love with Alaska than I thought possible and love it more every day. I've lived, truly lived, more in the past year and a half that I've been here than during my 35 years before my first trip here.

Alaska isn't just a place, it's an experience, a spirit, a way of life. Alaska is my heart.

Christmas Snowflakes and Earthquakes

We were worried for a while that we wouldn't have a truly "white Christmas" here, even though we live in Alaska. The snow has been sparse, and what has accumulated has been washed away by the rain that followed these past few months. Yesterday, however, we awoke to falling snow.

I've been here for a year and a half, and was here last winter. But, I have to admit that I have never in my life seen snow like I saw yesterday (and I've seen a lot of snow, having lived in Utah and Montana for most of my youth, and having lived in Connecticut for a while during winter time). The snow that fell from the sky yesterday was the perfect powder. It was the consistency of instant mashed potatoes before adding the liquid. The snow was light, crisp, and the flakes were perfect "snowflake" shapes complete with the "arms" extending from the center with pointed ridges. It was as if Jack Frost spent Christmas Eve cutting out perfect snowflakes, then let them fall from the sky on Christmas Day. The flakes were large, and looked like flat glass shards that could be broken in half instead of melted. They were so dry and lacking in moisture that they couldn't be packed into any sort of snowball at all and ran through my gloved fingers like sand on a beach. It was a magical day, except for the earthquakes.

We had an earthquake during the morning while opening presents, and another in the afternoon while we were watching a movie on the television. While earthquakes are nothing new in Alaska (we live in the state with the most earthquake activity and active fault lines of any US state), living now in a house perched on a mountainside above a river it didn't make me feel safe feeling the jolts and hearing the house creak the way it did. I told Alex it is a fear of mine that the hillside will sluff like the hillsides along the fault in Anchorage did during the 1964 earthquake, and our house will slide down the bluff with us in it. Both earthquakes registered at about 3.5 on the scale. Neither would have made our house slide into the bluff, but I can just imagine the headlines "Christmas Quake Of 07 Turns Hillside Home Into Sled For Owners On Eagle River Bluff."

In spite of the jolts, we had a wonderful Christmas day. It was a wonderful White Christmas!

Felt Up in Eagle River

HA! I knew the title would get SOMEONE's attention! It's not what you think though... it's another post about knitting.

I FINALLY finished my first knitting project. I made a felted tote called a Booga Bag. I didn't stab anyone even once while I was making the bag. No sheep were harmed during the making of the bag, and neither were any children, my wonderful fiancee, our dogs, cats, or myself. We did catch a squirrel in the live trap on the deck that froze and died before we could move it, but that has nothing to do with the bag.

I'm not totally digging the bag. I'll take a picture and post it when I get home. There's nothing wrong with it, if you ask everyone else. Probably the fact that I'm a perfectionist control freak is blurring my enjoyment of my very first completed knitted project. I don't like the color, the size, the shape, or the top of the bag. I like the handles (which is funny because it's the one part of the bag I really thought I'd dislike the most when I was knitting them up).

Right now, we have zero snow on the ground. That's right folks, zero snow. All the snow that fell 2 weeks ago was followed by a week of rain that melted it all. Now, our neighborhood looks like fall again, but without the fall foliage, more dismal, muddy and the sun sets at 4:30 pm. I love winter, but I'm not liking this at all. The lack of snow and warmer weather is providing me the opportunity to clean the hot tub on the deck and get it going. I cleaned 1/3 of it the other day, and I'll finish it tonight if it's not too cold out. The weather may be clear, but the odd phenomenon of clear weather in Alaska is also that on the clearer winter days, the temperature is freezing. The clouds of dismal snowy days keeps the warmth in and the temperatures up.

I'm rambling, but I was wondering... I read that the aurora borealis is shifting to the west and in 50 years the center of the aurora will be over Siberia and not over the Arctic Circle. How much of "global warming" has to do with the orbital rotation of the earth and the fact that it changes and the location of the poles change? I'm going to have to read some and research it.

I'm off to start another bag. I wouldn't have admitted it a few months ago, but knitting is kind of addicting (don't tell the longtime knitters I cussed out for saying the same thing to me months ago that I said that). I still like crocheting better, but having another hobby that keeps my hands busy is a good thing.

From the Stacks, Winter Reading Challenge

On my birthday, I decided that I needed to go ahead and make a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish by my NEXT birthday (October 24, 2008). Reading more books was one of the things on that list. In an effort to actually accomplish this goal, I cruised the net looking for inspiration. I found it. I couldn't believe how many readers had blogs out there. And, from the amount of books they read, I am equally amazed they have any time to blog!

One blog I read mentioned a reading challenge called "From the Stacks Winter Reading Challenge." It goes from November 1st to January 30th. The premise is to read 5 books during that time frame that are already on my bookshelf, without going out and purchasing another book. Wow, what a concept! So, I'm joining that challenge. My actual final goal is to read 26 books this year, with authors whose last names range the full spectrum of the alphabet, A to Z. Starting with 5 books by January 30th will be the jumping off point where I'll begin.

I'm off to post my list! Happy Reading!