Quiet times

The past two weeks have been relatively quiet and productive.

I'm back into the regular routine at work after taking lots of time off at the end of the year. It's nice to see the sun up longer after work, as the daylight hours lengthen. We've had some sunny days here and I love seeing the golden glow on the snow-covered trees.

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready to go. By 7 a.m.I had a pot of chili cooked and packaged for the refrigerator. By 7:30 I had a stir fry of ham, veggies and Asian noodles also in the fridge. Now (at 8:10) I'm boiling eggs for breakfasts and a ham salad spread for sandwiches. So that means I have lunches and quick suppers if I don't feel like cooking. And . . . I have the rest of this weekend free - sort of.

We're taking our friend Cindy to lunch today to celebrate her birthday. Tomorrow morning I have to go for a diagnostic exam, but will hopefully be done by 10:30. Since I had an exam Friday, with anesthesia, I was pretty much out of it all day. Saturday we shopped and ran errands. I think I need some down time.

I haven't been out much with the camera. My favorite - the one with the longer zoom - hasn't been outdoors a lot lately. The smaller one, which fits easily into a pocket, is always in my purse. It's got a 10X optical zoom and a panoramic feature, so isn't too bad. I've shot a few photos with it, but nothing at all exciting. I'm so ready for spring. I don't go out for long periods in the winter because of my arthritic back and the fear of falling on ice. I did shoot this from my front door a couple of weeks ago. The sky was soft blue, and the flash highlighted the snow on the lilac bush right by the door.

I'm looking forward to following the progress of mushers in the Yukon Quest in February. The race starts in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, and ends in Fairbanks. I love watching the dogs run - it's very evident they are having a good time, doing what they love.

In March we have Ice Art, and we'll probably go out to see the ice sculptures again. They are so beautiful, intricately carved.

And, of course, Mae and I will be heading to El Paso, Las Cruces and Phoenix to visit our friends Bonnie and Junior.

All in all, the end of winter is looking pretty good. And with spring come the return of the birds to Creamer's Field, green-up and warmer weather. Lots to look forward to.

Happy days everyone.

Looking forward . . .

Happy New Year everyone. On the 2nd day of January, I woke to see the temperature at a surprising 37 degrees above zero. It's now (at almost 10 a.m.) 30 degrees, but that's still well above what we can expect to see.

I didn't ring in the new year, as I am not a night owl. However, Buddy was disturbed by people nearby who set off fireworks. He started to growl low about 12:15 a.m. and by 12:30 a.m. was frantic. He really does not like out-of-the-ordinary noises. By 1 a.m. I was up, drinking coffee, watching television and deciding when to put on the roast. I always cook pork, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes for New Year's Day in deference to my German heritage and my family tradition. I got that into the crockpot and threw in a load of wash.

I had company for an early dinner as several folks had to work, and got the kitchen cleaned up - all before noon. That left me the rest of the day to relax. Unfortunately, a sinus headache kicked in and I really didn't enjoy much of the rest of the day.

I am not unhappy to see the end of the holiday season. As much as I love it - the music, the goodwill that seems to envelope the season and everyone around me, the food, the kids - I am always glad to see an end to it. The end brings with it lengthening daylight, a return to my normal routine and lots to look forward to with the new year.

The biggest event on the horizon is our trip to the Southwest in March. My friend Mae and I will visit our friends Bonnie and Junior, who live in Las Cruces, N.M. We have our reservations, will fly into El Paso, Texas, then drive about an hour to Las Cruces. The next day we will drive to Phoenix, AZ, for some baseball. There is nothing better than sitting in a ballpark with my friends at the end of a long Alaskan winter. We know there's still snow on the ground here, and we're watching games and enjoying the warm caress of the sun. To help me remember that this is around the corner, I look at some of these from earlier visits:

If you look closely, you can see the ball just going into the catcher's mitt.

This stadium is in Surprise, AZ. We will be back here for a game or two and will also visit three new ballparks we haven't seen before. I loved the architectural style and bright white of this one when we visited it in 2005, its second year.

Junior is a wildlife biologist and he pointed out to us the different varieties of cactus in Saguaro National Park.

The San Albino Church on the plaza at Old Mesilla, just south of Las Cruces. I thought this old church was beautiful.

(From the Las Cruces Convention & Visitors Bureau website):  Mesilla is a small town by today's standards but, 150 years ago it was the major stop for travelers going between San Antonio and San Diego. Mesilla hasn't changed much over the years, allowing visitors to see what an 1800’s border town looked like. Western Legend Billy the Kid once stood trial for murder in a Mesilla courtroom, and the Mesilla Plaza was once a major stop for the Butterfield Stagecoach. Originally, Mesilla was part of Mexico, but with the signing of the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, the village became part of the United States. Today, Mesilla offers a wide range of historical and cultural events, shopping and dining on the town's plaza.

So with friends, baseball and warm weather coming up, I'm looking forward to 2011. Happy New Year to you all.

Much like our Alaskaland (Pioneer Park), Mesilla's historic buildings house gift shops and eateries on both sides of the mall.

Winter solstice - musings on 2010

It's almost noon on the shortest day of the year. The sun is shining on the snow-covered birch tree across the street and the thermometer at the front of the house reads 10 below zero. I'm always happy to see this day come, and happier still to see it go, because it means we'll start gaining daylight. It may be less than a minute for a day or so, but to me every second counts! I am really looking forward to seeing patches of light in the sky again before midmorning.

All of my Christmas shopping is done, cards and gifts mailed. All I need to do is make sticky buns for Christmas morning and that will wait until Friday. My family will visit in the morning and I can relax the rest of the day.

I'll take the tree down either Christmas night or the next day - it blocks the window and I want all those short minutes of gained daylight that I can get! Besides, it's been up since the day after Thanksgiving and it's time to start looking toward spring.

As always, this time of year I find myself thinking back on the past year. Healthwise, it was pretty good, with no major illness or problems. I spent time with my daughter and granddaughter, talked with the Spokane family on the phone and kept in close touch with my parents and sisters.

I only took one major trip this year, to San Antonio, Texas, in March. I went down for a conference and was able to spend some time with my good friend Paula while there. She drove down for a day and took me to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk. We had a terrific day, catching up on news in our respective lives and enjoying each other's company. Thses bluebonnets along the roadside were the first ones I had ever seen.

We made our annual visit to the Georgeson Botanical Garden this summer and the flowers there did not disappoint us. As always, they were spectacular. The folks at the University of Alaska Fairbanks do a terrific job planting and maintaining that garden every year.

This flower was gorgeous. I took several photos of it, this one and another in macro. It's just one of many varieties there.

In September my friend Mae and I made our annual trip to Denali National Park on the Alaska Railroad. I think I prefer the park in the fall rather than the spring. The colors are vibrant and we generally see more wildlife. We go for just one night, a relaxing getaway from the office, telephones and bustle of our daily lives.

2011 is looking promising. Our good friend Bonnie is retiring this spring and she and Junior, her husband, have invited Mae and me to visit them in Las Cruces. We are going down in March and will drive to Phoenix to see some baseball games during Spring Training. When we return to Las Cruces we will play tourist, visiting the local area and spending catching up with Bonnie and Junior. March is a perfect time to go down. I love baseball, and prefer the smaller Spring Training parks to the big city arenas. After a long winter, the temperatures in New Mexico and Arizona are so very welcome. I look forward to getting some good baseball photos and hopefully some really nice photos of the New Mexico and Arizona scenery. We will likely visit El Paso, Texas, for a day as well.

After that, I'm not sure what the new year will bring - still talking about an Amtrak trip from Seattle to PA, possibly in the fall when the leaves are changing. We'll probably do our usual summer treks to the botanical gardens and around the local area. I'll go to the Midnight Sun Game and enjoy the summer in other ways.

To all of you, merry Christmas, happy holidays and the happiest, healthiest new year.

wierd weather

We have experienced some strange weather this week. Monday morning it started to rain. As soon as the rain hit the ground it froze, turning the roads into huge skating rinks.

I had already decided to take off Tuesday through Friday, but the deteriorating conditions of the roads and walkways helped me decide to leave early Monday as well. I really wanted to get home before the evening traffic and into the house before my sidewalk got even icier than it already was. Because of my back problems, falling is one of my biggest fears. And since I'm not the most agile person, especially on ice, I really just wanted to get indoors.

When I left the office, about 11:15 a.m. Monday, the main roads weren't too bad. Traffic was moving slower than usual, but I didn't see anyone really skidding or slipping, although there were reports of numerous vehicles ranging from small cars to fire trucks and semis, off into ditches. Intersections and side roads, however, were another story. I was truly grateful that I only live about four miles from the office and that traffic wasn't heavy.

The roads have been bad enough that federal, state and local offices called in only mission-essential employees. Many were closed. The schools sent kids home early Monday and have been closed since.

It has continued raining and all that beautiful fluffy snow is now either waterlogged or a mass of slush.  Normally I have someone who comes out and shovels my walk and ramp and plows the driveway. However, because of the hazardous driving conditions, he hasn't been out this week. (And I'm not complaining - no one should be out driving in this stuff.) I think I will put on my boots and try to get the worst of the slush off the walk and at least shovel a small path to the mailbox.


The mess on the sidewalk is mostly liquid, because temperatures have been hovering between 34 and 37 here. The poor little dog doesn't like wet feet, so he doesn't want to leave the ramp - and that's the last place (except for the house, of course) where I want him doing his business. It's a chore taking him out.

But this will all pass. It's supposed to start cooling off and turning colder. That will allow us to get the roads scraped again and more gravel down for traction, getting driving back to normal.

This may impact our Thanksgiving plans to go to Pike's for the buffet. If the roads are still bad, we will not go out. On a whim last weekend at the store, I bought a half turkey so I'd have some leftovers. So I'm very thankful for that - I can still have some Thanksgiving dinner even if I do have to take care of the cooking and cleanup. I have a warm dry home and plenty of food. I can call my family in PA and talk with all of them. One missed buffet at Pike's won't be a disaster.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.

November

It looks as though winter has finally arrived. Several snowfalls have left some ground cover. We've had a couple of days with below-zero temperatures, but for the most part it hasn't been too bad. One night the forecast called for a possibility of 35 below, but that didn't materialize. I did have about 10 below when I got up, but that's tolerable.

The fresh snow has left the trees with a beautiful cloak of pure white and I love the look of my yard under the white cover.

I shot this one on the low-light/no-flash setting in the darkness. The city has replaced the streetlights with LCD lamps, and the reflection off the snow combined with the slow shutter speed makes the sky look almost light.

My spruce tree still has lots of snow on the branches despite the efforts of the raven who habituates the upper branches. He'll sit there and vocalize, then fly off. His takeoffs and landings usually knock a lot of the snow off.

Again, this was shot in the dark (this is the original photo, not edited), and the sky looks light from the LCDs and slow shutter.













As we returned from shopping and lunch out, my friend and I commented on how big the falling flakes were. Our normal snowfalls produce much smaller flakes. These were really pretty.

Our biggest news this week was the loss of Maddy's first tooth. She said she was surprised how little her teeth are. She told me she got a dollar, but the tooth fairy forgot to take the tooth. It appears she was playing with it before she went to sleep and the tooth fairy couldn't find it. Her mom decided since Maddy was already paid for the tooth, she would make sure the tooth fairy got the tooth.




 
 
 
My friend Mae and I will be going to Pike's Landing for Thanksgiving dinner. We've done this for several years. The buffet is terrific - turkey, ham, roast beef, salads, sides and desserts. The food is good and well worth the cost - and there's no clean-up. I did, however, buy a small package of turkey so I can have something for lunches. But there will be no day of just cooking and clean-up. I will probably watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on tv - that's a tradition - and talk with my family in Pennsylvania while they're gathered at my sister's house.
 
I will NOT be shopping Friday. I don't like crowds, don't tolerate rude people anywhere and hate the running, pushing and jostling of Black Friday. So I'll relax at home and watch some tv. I'm off work Tuesday through Friday, so will do a little shopping earlier in the week. Friday will be a good time to compose the Christmas letter and get my cards ready for mailing.
 
I've already got a few gifts purchased and have a couple more I want to order online. I don't decorate the house until after Thanksgiving because I firmly believe the two holidays should be separate. Thanksgiving was always a special holiday when I was growing up. My family and my dad's sister and brother and their families always gathered at Grandma's house. We kids (even as teens) would be relegated to the living room to watch the Macy's parade; the men went duck-hunting and the women were the (relatively small) kitchen cooking. I really think any more people in the kitchen would really be too many people. We always had duck and some other fowl - sometimes chicken or goose and rarely turkey. The food was spectacular and we loved getting together with our cousins. After dinner, the women cleaned up, the men went hunting again and we kids would go off for a hike or walk around town. One year we collected small plants and went to my cousin's basement, where we made winter gardens (terrariums) in quart jars for our grandmother and mothers. The memories of those days are warm and still remain special to me.
 
I have purchased a few Christmas gifts, some of them over the year, and a few within the past few weeks. I will have two packages to ship off, but I'm trying to keep them small enough to fit into flat-rate boxes and have the USPS pick them up here at the house. Gone are the days of paying in excess of $50 to mail heavy packages!
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Easing into winter

Had another busy month - work, house, preparing for winter, shopping for Christmas (already!). Dealing with various issues with my back and trying to adjust to new diabetes medication has left me feeling less than perky. However, the latest bloodwork shows the A1c dropping, so I guess the new pill is working. I just wish it didn't plummet my sugar levels so low. I'll just have to remember to eat a snack earlier than usual and try to raise the levels before the pill takes hold of me.

Buddy has had a super busy month, growling and woofing and barking wildly at all sorts of things. He lies on the back of the couch and looks out the window. Then he alerts on everything and everyone who dares enter his space. It doesn't matter if it's a car driving by or the yard guy shoveling the walk (and boy is THAT worth the money - my back is spared) or a bird flying or the squirrel on the fence.

This isn't as sharp as I'd like, but it's shot through a window and between the lilac branches. Note his stash of cones from the spruce tree. He was eating there when I pulled into the driveway and remained there until I came in, shot a few photos from inside the arctic entry and didn't move until I brought Buddy outside. Then he ran to the spruce tree where he sat and chattered at us until we went back indoors.

He chattered so long and loudly that Buddy - Mr. Tough Guy inside the house - just sat and looked. He didn't make a sound. In this photo the squirrel's mouth is open. I guess we disturbed his dinner.










The days are getting longer now, and this morning (for the first time this winter) I had single-digit temperatures at my house. However, the sunsets are gorgeous. This one had just a hint of pink and a promise of what was to come. Since I was on my way out, I snapped it before it reached its peak, because I knew I'd be driving by the time it was at its best.

I like the colore filtered through the branches of the spruce tree. Although summer is by far my favorite season, there's something about all four of them that I love. Each season has a special beauty all its own - and each one makes me so glad I live in a place with glorious things to photograph.








I'll be taking some time off work to use up some leave between now and New Year's, and I'm truly looking forward to it. I plan to do some housework (not looking forward to that!), some shopping for Christmas and birthdays and some cooking.

I bought a convection oven this morning after much research. I hope it's all I've read it is. I'll give it a try today with a baked potato and some cookies for my granddaughter. Maddy is coming over to show me her pirate costume :), and she's always hungry when she gets to my house.

I'll also be making some gifts for my sisters, so that will keep me busy in the weeks I'm off.

Happy November everyone.

It's here

After an unseasonably warm September, it appears our summer and fall have ended. Although there's not much of it, the snow has finally arrived.

Thanks to Maura & Micah, my leaves were all raked and bagged before the snow. This one was pretty easy to sweep from the ramp and sidewalk this morning. It's still rather warm - 33 degrees at 11:30 a.m., but I figure we're in it now.

Some sort of virus kept me off work Thursday and Friday. Thankfully I'm fully recovered and back to normal. I was too sick and dizzy to even make it to the computer. I stayed in Saturday and started to update my genealogy files. Nothing new this week, but I'm forever an optimist when it comes to the family tree.

I ventured over to Fred Meyer's pharmacy this morning and to my gas station downtown. The roads weren't too bad, but Fred's parking lot was a virtual ice rink. I was walking like a toddler on a new unfamiliar surface. It's time to adjust not just my driving, but my walking.

I do look forward to the gorgeous scenery that comes with the serious snowfall - trees and yards looking like Christmas cards. It's a whole different world.

I spoke with my friend Bonnie in New Mexico yesterday for a long while. We talked politics and baseball as well as what's happening in our lives. We are talking about maybe going to Phoenix for Spring Training in March. I'm pretty excited about that. After a long cold winter, there's nothing quite like sitting in the stands watching a baseball game, with temperatures in the 70s and 80s. I love stepping outside of the terminal in Phoenix. (My socks and shoes have been replaced by sandals in Seattle during the layover.)

So I guess this winter will be full of genealogy and Arizona dreaming.