To the Sea

By The Sea Emily Dickinson

I started early, took my dog, And visited the sea; The mermaids in the basement Came out to look at me. And frigates in the upper floor Extended hempen hands, Presuming me to be a mouse Aground, upon the sands. But no man moved me till the tide Went past my simple shoe, And past my apron and my belt, And past my bodice too, And made as he would eat me up As wholly as a dew Upon a dandelion's sleeve - And then I started too. And he - he followed close behind; I felt his silver heel Upon my ankle, - then my shoes Would overflow with pearl. Until we met the solid town, No man he seemed to know; And bowing with a mighty look At me, the sea withdrew. Our Alaska summer is coming to a close.  Termination dust has already been reported in the mountains and work will start in two days.  I am so thankful to have this time off in the summers, but each year it gets a little more difficult to return to work.   Heading down South once again for work and am looking forward to the little one having the time of his life in the firgid surf.

Trip South

I love saying we took a trip South because it sounds warm and really it was a bit warmer.  We went to visit our yurt and land in Homer.  I found some white lupine.  It seemed the tips of all the lupine were turning white.  Not sure if it was a disease or what, but interesting.

 I love Homer because you can drive down a dirt road and come upon this.

 The view from our land is amazing.  Why don't we live there?  The view from our house ain't bad either.

 Our land has an amazing amount of wildflowers so I picked myself a bouquet.

 Jonathan found a heart coal which is way cooler than a heart rock, but much more breakable especially when a toddler drops it on the ground.

Amazing weekend of beach walks and kite flying.  Perfect Alaska holiday.

This Moment

This moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. An idea from Soulmama.

Pretend the finger is not there:)

Salmon Running

Happy days in Alaska.  The salmon are running and dip netting is hopping.  We travelled down to the Kenai River on Sunday to catch our fill.  We had just a bit of time, drove more than we fished, but we were rewarded with 9 beautiful salmon in 2 hours.  Thank you salmon.

Dip netting is when you take a large net on a very long pole and "dip" it into the water.  It is a bit more complicated that than, but the fish swim in or near your net and you scoop them to catch them in the net and pull them in.

Here is the little guy checking out the first catch.  I did not fish on this trip. It was cold, and raining so the little guy and I played on the beach, warmed ourself in the car, and played some more.  Lots of fish waste to dodge on the beaches, but we had a blast regardless.  Now "fish head" is part of our vocabulary.  Lots of processing and we now have a freezer full of fish.  We hope to go again in a day or two to catch some more.

Muffins and Beaches

I made some yummy rhubarb muffins this weekend using this recipe.  I googled healthy rhubarb muffins and well, I am not thinking these are really healty, but they are for sure yummy.  Let's say they are healthier.

The little guy and I went to the beach today.  I have never seen a beach this clean. There was not a shell and barely a stick to be found, just beautiful sand, water and mountains.

Life is beautiful right now here in Alaska.

This Moment- Toddler Hike

This moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. An idea from Soulmama.

The Little Guy that Could

We have had such amazing weather this summer.  My veggies are rocking, and our son is sprouting and in good health.   I am amazed at how far a 3.5 year old can hike.  We went up one of the trails to the top of the ski hill (mountain) and he hiked about 1/3 of it on his own.  

I can tell he is proud of himself with all the new things that he can do.

He had to ride in the pack on the snow because he had his Keen sandals on.  Love those sandals.

 This is the view that overlooks our town.  It was chilly on top, but the tram ride down was nice and cozy.  I have had no time to be creative.  The summer is all about sun and recreation to me.  I am a summer gal at heart.