the great aleutian pumpkin run

so this is what halloween looks like here in palmer. we will be heading to the fair grounds for some indoor trick-or-treating with j-man. he will be uniquely dressed as casper. (he insisted on the mask, what can i say?)

i did hear a very interesting piece on alaska public radio this morning.
apparently, 8 years ago crew of one of the alaksa marine ferries (the 296 foot m/v tustumena, which services the aleutian chain), decided that during the last run of the season, it would be fun to deliver some pumpkins to kids along the aleutian islands. many of these kids had never seen a pumpkin!

what began then as crew collecting money and soliciting safeway for a great pumpkin deal, is now a growing tradition for these kids living in one of the most remote areas of the state. this year, the ship traveled with seven cribs, some 3.5 tons of pumpkins, all donated by the washington lettuce company and shipped to kodiak for loading onto the tustumena by safeway.

apparently, the crew gets into the action full swing, and now decorates part of the cargo hold with skeletons and other spooky stuff while donning wigs and masks as they come into port. this year, with snow flying sideways in dutch harbor at 4:30 in the morning, kids were lined up in costume waiting to climb abord this man made pumpkin patch.

every day i am reminded i am not in colorado anymore. i am residing in the great state of alaska.
happy halloween!

snow

family's back!
soup on the burner and a fire burning in the stove. as most sourdoughs have told me- there is always snow on halloween, the kids never get a real trick or treat expereince. so far this is proving to be true as the white stuff is piling up in the yard.

jade saw the snow this morning and said "i want to go skiing!" so around and around the yard we went. its a lovely late october day here in the mat-su valley. to top it off, no work for the next three days.
ahhhhhh. life is good.

cat and moose

so i think we are now down to just under 9 hours of daylight here. the sun is staying very low across the horizon after it decides to come up at the crack of 9:15. we will get a small reprieve this week as the clocks fall back, but it doesnt take long to catch right back up. its an amazing day here. 17 degrees and blue skies. snow (an inch or so) on the trees and in the yard. this first snow pic was taken at 9am as i left for work. what light!?

my family is returning from their travels today. (hooray!) i will head to anchorage this evening to pick them up. i am SO excited to have them home.

work has been good this week. for your reading pleasure, my top 5 diagnoses were:

1. abdominal pain (holy shit!)
2. sinusitis
3. bronchitis
4. peritonsilar abscess (holy shit again!)
5. rash

the 3 abdominal pains were all females of reproductive age. this makes for scary detective work. 2 of three ended up having ovaries adheased (sp?) to bowel. off to gyn for surgical consult. one is still somewhat of a mystery with a white count of 19, a nice left shift and inguinal lymphadenopathy. after lots of diagnostics and antibiotics, she was referred.

i have now seen a few peritonsillar abscesses. this does not look like a fun thing to have inside your mouth. here is the what i have been doing for this: IM decadron, IM rocephin, levaquin 750 oral x 7 days, decadron oral 16mg divided first day, 8mg divided dose x 2 days, 4mg divided dose x 2 days then 2 mg last day. the pateint returns 24 hours after initial visit for a look-see. if the swelling isnt any better (it has been on all three occasions) they will get sent to ent for an incision and drainage. oooooh what fun this would be! so far it hasnt had to come down to this. thank goddess.

so there you have a glimpse of what 15 minutes of my day might look like. arent you jealous?

elections are right around the corner. everyone out there make it out to do your civic duty, and vote okay? we are now registered voters in alaska. (im sure the only 2 registered dems here)

i have never heard the word oil so much as i have since moving here. every single detail about this election seems to be hinging on a new gas pipeline proposed for alaska. oil and natural gas is so very pleantiful here in alaska! we will never run out of oil here, we plan to drill it out and sell it only to alaskans. screw the wildlife, they will find somewhere else to go, it is alaska after all. its a big state! you will all be getting oil for christmas, but only if you are very, very good.

Boredom is lack of imagination

I NEED INSPIRATION!
someone, send me some creativity will ya? i am dawdling this time off from work. maybe i will check out the drop in yoga at 6:30. it seems pricey ($14 bucks) but better than wandering around wondering how to get inspired.

anyway, the fam is having a great time in colorado. i wish i could be there seeing ya'll.
holleh, the chopper pics are too cute. had to share. thanks for loving my kid and being such a positive force in his life.

dia de los muerto

so given the opportunity to sleep in, no one to disturb my slumber- i awake promply at 7:30 and my brain begins to churn. why? when on any other day i would turn, hide my head under the covers and beg for just 5 more minutes?

things are quiet here in the palmer house with just me and the animals. my family is in colorado and then off to omaha for a visit to grandma. jade was endearing at the airport on friday nite in his pj's with his wheelie suitcase-
"dont cry mommie, okay?"
"dont worry, i wont cry, but i'll miss you."
it was hard to watch as he and jeff walked away knowing i am here in this big state all alone.

so the sun is barely above treeline this fine morning at 10:30. last nite coming home from work the sunset was amazing. the sun is different here, the light is more flat. the very top of all the trees was bathed in bright orange. very hard to convey with words, and i have no photo.

halloween approaches.
i have been doing some thinking about 'dia de los muertos', the day of the dead. i am fascinated by this ancient aztec celebration of honoring the memory of the deceased. it is celebrated on november 1st, (all saint's day) and november 2nd (all soul's day).
the idea of celebrating a subject matter many consider morbid- death- is, well, comforting to me. instead of tears, there is joy that the deceased have moved from this world to the next.

this national holiday is celebrated in latin countries around the world, (and is gaining popularity here) with homemade alters, with mucho food such as 'pan de muerto' or bread of the dead. (i mean come on! how fun is this?) and with 'calaveras de azucar' or sugar skulls.
"give me bread and sugar to help me on my journey to the next life," (this all makes perfect sense to me)

bread of the dead is sweet and baked expressly for dia de los muerto.
la calavera- the skull or skeleton- is the number one symbol for the dia de los muerto. it isnt meant to be morbid, instead la calavera represents the playfulness of the dead, as they mimic the living and frolic amongst us.

apparently, it is widely known that the dead love sugar (who knew?!)
'calaveras de azucar', (sugar skulls) are made from a sugar paste, then put in a mold. they are considered gifts and tokens of love and are eaten by all ages, and they adorn home altars and graves. mmmmm. my teeth hurt just thinking of it.

if i were in mexico next week, preparing for dias de los muerto, i would gather jade and prepare 'the ofrenda', the home altar. flowers, photos and some of my moms favorite things.

"mira muchachos, bring the pan de muerto here for your grandma, she is hungry. offer her a sugar skull, so she knows you remember her".

next cool winter day you wonder what you might do with yourself, consider whipping up some homemade pan de muerto, and think of someone you love who is no longer here on this earth.
bread of the dead is often shaped into skulls or round loaves with strips of dough rolled out and attached to resemble bones. enjoy.
ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
5 to 5-1/2 cups flour
2 packages dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon whole anise seed
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
in a saucepan over medium flame, heat the butter, milk and water until very warm but not boiling.
meanwhile, measure out 1-1/2 cups flour and set the rest aside. in a large mixing bowl, combine the 1-1/2 cups flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and sugar. beat in the warm liquid until well combined. add the eggs and beat in another 1 cup of flour. continue adding more flour until dough is soft but not sticky. knead on lightly floured board for ten minutes until smooth and elastic.
lightly grease a bowl and place dough in it, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours. punch the dough down and shape into loaves resembling skulls, skeletons or round loaves with "bones" placed ornamentally around the top. let these loaves rise for 1 hour.
bake in a preheated 350 F degree oven for 40 minutes. remove from oven and paint on glaze.
glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then apply to bread with a pastry brush.

the inspiration for one of my all time favorite shows "northern exposure" was supposedly, talkeetna. we didnt go to find the real shelly tambo or holling or find chris waxing eloquent about love or religion, but to see the great mountain. we were lucky enough to see it in all its glory. only wish we had the cash to get in one of those little planes and fly up close for a look. denali is the peak on the far right, (20,000ft) in the middle is mt. hunter and on the left is mt. foraker. they are known as "the mother", "the child" and the "high one".

jeff is having his "i wish i had done the small town thing" and fantasizing about living there. he'll have to keep fantasizing. its really, really small!

we were supposed to find a camping spot, set up the tent and camp, but decided to just make the hour and 1/2 trip back home. the current temp here in palmer at 10:35 a.m. is a chilly 26 degrees. i am happy with my choice. we can blame it on jade, he has a cough... (its not us, we would have done it man!)

the small airstrip in town is right in town. the short time we were there, someone was practicing landings and takeoffs right over our heads. talkeetna is a cute, quirky little place that is mostly closed up for the winter. there are dogs running lose and people walking their dogs via the 4 wheeler. i saw a hairy man pull up to the liquor store on his rig, complete with shotgun, grab his beer and puttputt away.

weekend!

seems like i've been slacking on posts of interest lately. work has been good, getting into the groove of things. the hours are a little hard on all of us, working till 9pm is definately a change but its nice getting the hours in over just a few days.

speaking of days, they are getting shorter all the time. funny that the sun doesnt rise until after 8:30am. jade says, 'the sun is being lazy mommie?' he aint seen nothing yet.

i've been gearing up to become a creative and successful artist while living here in alaska. (come on gals! send inspiration this way!) i've been checking out other people's blogs and never knew there where so many fantastic sites related to crafty, artistic mamas out there. here are a few to check out: www.rosylittlethings.typepad.com www.greenkitchen.com/blog www.loobylu.com

we are heading north for the weekend. this is a change from our usual southern escape to the coast. we wont be making it all the way to fairbanks as planned, but heading instead to talkeetna which is about 100 miles from denali. this amazing mountain stands at 20,320 feet at the south peak. the north peak is slightly lower at 19,470 feet. together, these peaks are known as the churchill peaks.

denali is an athabascan indian name meaning "the high one" and this is the name recognized as the proper name by the state of alaska's geographic names board- for north america's highest mountain-- it's also called mount mckinley.

the view of denali, if its a clear day, is supposed to be amazing from talkeetna. the forecast calls for sunny skies (unheard of here. not partly sunny, but sunny!) -but highs in the 40's. we are loading the dogs and our camping gear and going to howl at the moon before the snow flies.

sunday

lazy sunday here. surprise, its another gray day. papa on the couch, jade on papa. dogs and cats curled up at our feet with matagascar on the tube. jaden is howling in delight.
it was a long work week which has left me grateful for 3 days off. wednesday will come too soon i'm sure.
wish you were here!

visitors!!

alas! social activity and the company of friends!! sheila wins the hero award for coming many, many miles for a girls weekend. we packed in lots of sightseeing over just three short days.

day 1: jeff and sheila pick up jen (hero #2) who is in town for a cdc conference in anchorage. (there are a bunch of people converging in anchorage who study the plauge, sounds exciting, doesnt it?) jeff had a brunch with 2 beautiful girls-to snow city of course. (me, working-uggh!) then to girdwood and chairfive for some beers and to show off the beautiful "neo-hippy" community and feel the local vibe. (we'd live there too if we could).

day 2: sheila and i head to seward for a kenai fiords tour of aialik bay and glacier. (rich and leslie, you guys rock!) the 5 hour tour was beautiful and chilly with blue skys and glaicer ice. no whales but some dall's porpoises, steller sea lions and the token bald eagle. a lovely dinner with les, lydia and sheila capped off the day at yollies. 175 miles back to palmer, with a stop in anchorage to pick up jen and show her "the valley". whew!

day 3: we went for some breakfast (lattes, quiche, at our upscale joint in palmer) - vagabond blues, then we went to see the art train- check it out! (www.artrainusa.org) in the afternoon, jen, sheila and i headed up to hatcher pass to stroll along the little susitna. it was socked in and snowing lightly. sheila got stuck in the mud (hence the photo, we laughed and took photos before giving her a hand, what are friends for?) we had beers and nachos at the motherlode (www.motherlodelodge.com) then back home to veg out by the fire before returning the gals to anchorage.

it was so nice to have company! whos coming up next?! come on, its fall, (which doesnt linger here in alaska) in the 50's, still light out, sort of.. and beautiful.
thanks gals! it sure is quiet around here now.

p.s. seward weekend

couldnt let these get away! i forgot to post these with our seward weekend. we attended the seward music and arts festival which was held inside the cruise ship terminal. the place was decked out with all sorts of kid (and adult,.... ahhem, beer garden) friendly things to do. jade and lydia had a hoot. the music was not the highlight, but a great time was had by all. have i mentioned, we like seward?