The weeks leading up to Father's Day were hard for me. It was so difficult to hear all the ads on tv giving gift ideas and realize that for the first time I wouldn't be buying a card and gift for my dad. I think of him every day and miss him so much. I would love to be able to talk with him, tell him what I spotted on my drives and hear his laugh again. I miss that I can't just call him out of the blue and ask "what was that plant that grew near the creek?" I miss his homespun humor and his wisdom.
Some mornings when the missing him is strong, I'll take the back way to the office. There are lots of wildflowers and occasionally I'll spot a moose or fox (so far this summer I've struck out on the wildlife, though, except for terns and ravens). Next to fireweed, the wild iris is one of my favorite flowers. They grow in profusion out there and I love seeing them along the road.
A couple of weeks ago my friend Mae and I had lunch at a local restaurant. We opted to eat on the deck (delicious meal, gorgeous sunny day that wasn't too hot, good company). I saw a large bird land on a pole near the far end of the deck. After a short while, it swooped down to the riverbank and returned to the pole, where it proceeded to eat whatever it had picked up. I checked with my friend, a wildlife biologist, who told me it was a dark phase, rough-legged hawk. We watched it while we enjoyed our meals.
While we ate, we saw a number of boaters on the Chena River, a few in vessels with motors, others in canoes and kayaks. There was a small duck mostly just floating along. When a boat approached, he would swim out of the main channel of the river and wait out the boat in the grass along the side. When the boat passed, back he'd go into the river.
I went to the big July 4th celebration yesterday. Although it was cloudy and breezy, it was comfortable and it did not rain during the ceremony. I've been to some of those celebrations when temperatures were in the 80s and higher, and I was very uncomfortable. Yesterdays temps in the 50s-60s were very nice.
I decided I would try to get a photo of the Air Force flyover. That's hard for me to do, as I'm never sure I'm fast enough. Those F-16s come in and out so fast they are hard to capture. I wasn't sure from exactly which direction they could come in, and the side I picked was wrong, so my first photo on approach only got two aircraft. My second photo got only sky. Finally, as they left the park, I got all three in the shot.
I'm a little like a kid when I see something like this (and fireworks). The celebration wasn't much different from those of the past 24 years. The speakers vary, sometimes there's no flyover and the Army provides a rifle team for salutes instead of the howitzers they used to fire. But the script has changed very little and there's still the Army band and the salute to the states, when the emcees read the name of each state and its nickname, each state followed by a rifle firing. It's very patriotic and I love it.
I decided to take a long weekend, so am off today and Friday. I've already done my shopping and will try something new today. I bought an electric pressure cooker. I'm going to cook up a pork roast and make some pulled pork barbecue. I'm looking forward to it. I also plan to make lots of soup this winter. I'm a soup lover and can't wait to try some of the hearty recipes I've found. When I was growing up, my grandmother used her pressure cooker frequently. I remember the enticing aromas in her kitchen - especially beef - and the delicious, tender meat that came out of it.
Mae and I are all set for our train trip to Denali National Park in September. We used to go in May, but I prefer the September trips. The fall colors are gorgeous and it's a good way to end the summer.
It's a beautiful sunny morning here, with the thermometer saying about 50 degrees. I think maybe I'll put Buddy in the car and go to the car wash. He'll enjoy the ride and the car will enjoy the shine.
Happy July everyone. I hope your summer is filled with fun.
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