Not much happening here...

It's been over a month of busy work and completely full weekends since I've sat down to update this. I feel I've done nothing really significant to even post here! Some of the days at work have been extremely stressful, with staff problems and more work than I can keep track of. I've been going in an hour early and working through lunch, so at least I'm managing to keep it up and not drop anything.

I'd go home, grab a salad or something to eat, and fall asleep early. Weekends mean grocery shopping and morphing into a vegetable.

However, as March moved into April, we started seeing longer daylight hours (YEAH!) and warmer temperatures. It hit 50 yesterday at my house. There's still lots of snow on the ground, but we're starting to see bare earth in the driveway and we can see the snow (slowly) melting into the ground. What once reached my knees is now at calf level.

The great news is the geese are back. This rite of spring always picks up my mood. Every April the field at Creamer's Field (a local waterfowl refuge) is plowed and strewn with seeds (barley and others) for the birds. This is a joint effort between the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Fairbanks International Airport and local military airfields, to keep the birds away from the runways and avoid bird strikes to the aircraft. It's very successful, with hundreds of geese, ducks and sandhill cranes, among others, spending a couple of weeks there on their spring northward migration. I love going out to watch them flying in and out or just meandering among the ponds and seeds. To us, it's a sure sign winter is done. Two Canada geese showed up Thursday. We stopped by Friday evening after a wonderful dinner at the Princess Hotel, and there were about a dozen geese and ducks. I'll be dropping by frequently until they have eaten their fill and flown on to the northern part of the state.

In two and a half weeks, I'll be leaving for PA and DC. I'll have a few days to spend with my parents in central PA, just north of Harrisburg, then go back to Washington for a conference. I'm looking forward to seeing lots of folks in the public affairs field, some of whom I haven't seen in 10 years or more. I hope to see some of my former bosses and co-workers, as well as those I work with now via e-mails but don't see often. I'm planning to attend some sessions in Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. I really need to learn more about how best to use those sites.

This morning it's bright and sunny - looks like a gorgeous day.

Soon we'll be sweeping sidewalks instead of shoveling. Maybe that's why I love spring - the longer days, warmer temperatures, everything greening up - it's a new beginning.

Happy spring everyone.

trying new things

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Though I didn't grow up in the heart of Lancaster County, it was about 1-1/2 hours away, and we had Amish families living within a few miles of our home. That translates to plain cooking - lots of fried foods and starches. I've found my family and friends are not necessarily interested in trying exotic foods. When the trip to Hawaii came up, I decided I would try some of the items I had seen on television. (I'm a Travel Channel and Food Network junkie.)

I had enjoyed seeing a Hawaiian chef named Sam Choy, a rotund man with a constant smile on his face. On one particular show, he enthused about something called poke (po - kay). It's a raw tuna marinated in pa`akai (Hawaiian salt), limu (seaweed), kukui (candlenut) and chilies. Not being very adventuresome in my culinary experiences, I have not (until this trip) tried ANY raw fish. It simply didn't compute. However, this was something I was determined to taste. Our regional public affairs officer in Hawaii told me, "be careful what you wish for, girl." That didn't fill me with any confidence I would like this stuff.

Our first day in Honolulu we found Sam Choy's restaurant - http://www.samchoy.com/restaurants_bigaloha.html - and decided to lunch there. I ordered the raw poke (tuna) and a seared poke (marlin), and found both delicious. The tuna was very tender and soft, making me wonder if it had been "massaged," which I know the Hawaiian chefs do with salmon before serving it.

On our second day, we went with our counterparts to The Willows, a beautiful restaurant built on artesian wells - http://www.willowshawaii.com/. Our table was situated under a roof next to a pool. The side wall was completely open to the air. Their poke was even better than Sam's. It had a wonderful bite from the chilis and, I think, a better flavor. I went back for seconds on that.

The most disappointing food of the trip was the kalua pig. I tried it at two different restaurants, including The Willows. The smoky taste was almost too strong, and at both places it was dry as bone.

I was told (later) there was poi at The Willows, but I didn't see it and therefore didn't get to try it - though from what everyone says, it's an acquired taste and I probably wouldn't like it.

One of my favorite foods there was the mahi-mahi (or dolphinfish, not related to the mammal). This light flaky fish was delicate and absolutely wonderful. Though I'm not overly fond of ginger, this was grilled with just a hint of it, enough to give it a little ginger bite but not overpowering.

I also ate a delicious dish at The Willows called haupia. This is a light, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth coconut pudding. It was exceptionally creamy, and I tried both the regular and the fried haupia - though the original recipe was better.

I enjoyed taro-root pancakes, though not the taro root itself. I do not like sweet potatoes, and this purple yam-like dish had a texture I didn't like and the taste was too much like a sweet potato. The pancakes had none of that flavor, but were more like the buckwheat pancakes we ate growing up.

The best food by far was the abundance of fresh (REALLY FRESH) fruit. The pineapple was perfectly ripened, not picked early for shipment to places like Alaska. It was tender and juicy and so sweet, my mouth is watering as I type. Every buffet we ate at included a section of fresh fruits - pineapple, strawberries, guava, mangos, melons and papayas. I could have easily bypassed everything else, but my eagerness to try regional dishes made me spoon out just a little of everything.

As you might guess, I enjoy eating, and I found this trip full of wonderful aromas and flavors. It was such fun to let go of my "safe" foods and try something different. I look forward to returning so I can get it fresh and am thinking of trying poke and mahi mahi here at home (if I can find the mahi mahi locally).

Hawaii

I just returned from a wonderful (mandatory) trip to Hawaii, my first time in the islands.


We had a conference there, attended by our counterparts from Hawaii, Japan and Alaska, as well as from the regional office.


I arrived Monday, Jan. 26, about 7 p.m. As soon as we entered the airport, the humid air hit me full in the face. By the time I retrieved my bag at the baggage carousel, I was sweating. What a change from -20 degrees!


I traveled with Kent from down the road about 100 miles. We both had rooms at the Hale Koa Hotel, owned by the Army. It's in Honolulu right on Waikiki Beach. After a shuttle ride, we arrived at the hotel. I was surprised to see there was no front wall at all on the hotel. We exited the shuttle and walked directly to the desk with no doors or walls. The entire lobby is open to the air. There were a lot of large pillars to support the ceiling, and numerous little conversational seating areas, as well as two benches streetside. We checked in, then met downstairs to have some supper.


I did have a rice bowl on the plane (NOT recommended - it wasn't very good, and definitely not worth the $5 they charged).


Biba's restaurant on the lower level sits on an open courtyard with both indoor and outdoor seating. We opted for outdoors, as it was a pleasant night. Their mahi-mahi was wonderful - moist, flaky with a delicate fish taste.

After a good night's rest, Kent and I tried Koko's Cafe in the hotel and enjoyed an excellent buffet breakfast. The eggs were perfectly cooked and the buffet was full of fresh fruit, a rarity in Alaska especially at this time of year.


After breakfast, we walked through the Hale Koa grounds to the beach, where we shot some photos of Diamond Head and the grounds. I was bummed out that I had forgotten my good camera - it was on the desk at home. However, I had the smaller camera - about the size of a deck of cards - so I made do with that. I can get good photos with it, but the other one is much better.

We found a free trolley to Hilo Hattie's, which I'd been told I HAD to visit. The day was overcast, but very pleasant temperature-wise - about 60 degrees in the morning. The trolley skirted through the Waikiki area and on to the store. I was able to find a cool Hawaiian shirt and skirt, as well as a few items for gifts.

Bob from Anchorage arrived about 1:30 p.m. so the three of us went to Sam Choy's for lunch. I've seen him on television and read that he's an excellent chef, so we decided to try it. I had poke (raw tuna in oil and spices), which I heard on TV was a kind of Hawaiian comfort food. I liked the raw form, and also tried a fried poke (marlin seared and served with rice).

After lunch we decided to recon our conference location and drove out there. It was interesting looking at all the sights on the way, but the traffic returning to Honolulu about 3:30 p.m. was horrible, backed up and crawling. I noticed the houses are built very closely together, without enough yard for pools or much other activity. The city of Honolulu seemed to be full of high rises (and lots of high-end stores like Coach, Tiffany's, Prada, etc.)

Our conference lasted 2 1/2 days. It was very good to meet all the people we correspond with via e-mail all the time, to learn that we all face similar challenges and hear how they deal with them.

The second day of the conference was a "cultural day." We were booked on the Admiral's barge from Pacific Command for a trip to Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial. We motored past the memorials to the USS Utah and the USS Nevada, as well as by the USS Missouri, where Japan signed the surrender papers. We also saw the USS Bowfin. The USS Arizona Memorial was a beautiful white monument above the sunken ship. We learned the ship is still leaking oil and were able to see the oil slicks.

USS Missouri on left, USS Arizona Memorial on right

oil slick from USS Arizona

The USS Arizona Memorial was a solemn place. There's a place the park ranger called the shrine room, a room at the back of the memorial with the names of all the casualties on board when the ship was attacked. The white monument is beautiful and I think a fitting memorial. It's like the VietNam wall in my mind - a simple but emotion-provoking reminder of those young men who lost their lives.

I had a very special surprise on this trip. My dad told me he spent a few days in Hawaii as he waited for transport to the Philippines during World War II. He said the name was Aiea Landing, but he wasn't sure it still existed. All I'd been able to learn was that Aiea today is primarily a residential area. I couldn't find Aiea Landing anywhere on a map or on Google in today's geography.

When we arrived at the Admiral's boathouse, the young sailor on duty said, "Welcome to Aiea Landing." So I was able to get a lot of photos for my dad. I'll print them out and mail them this week.

Following our tour, we shopped a short while. Though I wasn't all that interested in shopping, I decided to check out the electronics. And there it was - the cameral model I'd been eying for a couple of months. It's an upgrade from the one I left back in Fairbanks, with a better optical zoom, and it was about $150 less than online (it hasn't hit Fairbanks stores yet). So I came out with a new camera.

The shopping trip moved into a tour of part of the island. We visited the Punch Bowl National Cemetery, another solemn place, and very beautiful.

Punch Bowl National Cemetery

Bird of Paradise

We visited the windward side of the island, but it was very cloudy and rainy. We drove to Hanauma Bay and watched the surf, then on the Blow Hole, where the water surges up through a hole in the rocks in a spout. The tide wasn't right, however, so we didn't see any spouts. We did see some whales spouting and the surf surging into the rocks was cool.

surf crashing at Blow Hole

We also drove by the Iolani Palace and other sights on our way back to the hotel. The lushness of the place astounded me. I love palm trees, and there were so many different varieties. There were gorgeous flowers everywhere. What a wonderful sight for eyes that have been looking at nothing but white for the past few months!

Following our conference end, we had about 7 hours to kill before turning in the rental car. We drove to Hickham Air Force Base where Kent lived a while back and to Kaneohe Bay Marine Base where Bob lived when he was a small child. Both installations were beautiful, so green.

We got back to Alaska Saturday morning, and I spent the day sleeping. There was little of that on either the flight to Oahu or the return flight. Both planes were packed and I have trouble sleeping when I'm crowded in like a sardine.

The trip was great in several ways. I'm so glad to have met my counterparts and to get some great ideas, as well as support for the challenges we still face. I loved the warmth (the locals were all cold - they were having a "cold spell" with temperatures dipping to 60 degrees at night!) and the green and the blue of the water. And the friendliness of the people we met was unmatched.

I will say, however, it's good to be home again. As much as I enjoyed myself, I still found it a little too warm when the thermometer hit 70 and the humidity was high. I don't think I'd want to live there - too many people, too much traffic. I do want to return, though, for another visit. I didn't get to the North Shore and I spent the entire time on Oahu. I'd like to see more of the islands.

It's definitely something I'll remember for a long time. I've already set a photo of one of the beaches as my desktop background, so when the winter here drags on a little too much, I can remember how warm and nice it was.

cold, cold and more cold

Happy new year to everyone. I made it through the holidays with little stress (not an easy thing for me).

Christmas was great, with my daughter and her family. It's such fun to watch little ones open their gifts. They open one, ooh and ahh, then set it aside and rip the paper off the next one. And I get such joy from my granddaughter. I have a new granddaughter this year, as my daughter's partner brought his 8-year-old up to Fairbanks. She is a quiet child, very polite and very pretty. She and the 4-year-old get along well, and Maddie (the 4-year-old) adores her.

New Year's Day meant the traditional pork and sauerkraut dinner. The potatoes have to be mashed with no lumps. I can only remember one New Year's when I didn't have this dinner, after I was married. It's family tradition, and even the little ones eat a little sauerkraut. My friend has black-eyed peas on New Year's day, and another friend has whatever she wants.

By New Year's, the temperature was 30 below zero, and has stayed that way. My poor aging furnace will need to be replaced this summer, I think. I've had to replace two parts so far, and I don't want to keep buying new parts for an old system. One night I got home from work and it was 33 below outside and 38 degrees inside. The poor little dog was under a blanket on the chair. I was fortunate enough to catch my furnace repairman between jobs. It needed just a small (but vital) part, which he had on the truck, so he replaced it within a half-hour. That was good for me, but it took the house a LONG TIME to warm up so that I felt comfortable.

I go out to work when I must, to the grocery store only when I have to and spend the rest of the time in hibernation mode. I've watched lots of DVDs and movies and read a ton of trashy and not-so-trashy books. Barnes and Noble must love me by now. I haven't spent much time on the computer (as evidenced by the several week lag in updating this) because it's not in the warmest area of the house. I have spent lots of hours curled up with the down comforter and the dog.

They tell us this should break by tomorrow (Monday) and we might see temperatures of zero t0 15 below. It'll seem downright balmy! I figure with my luck, the weather will change about the time I head to Hawaii.

However, I've been counting my blessings. Several people here have lost their homes to fire. One woman I work with has spent lots of money to repair her vehicle after the power steering pump and other parts failed in the cold. Another woman had her pipes freeze, then burst. My house may not be as warm as I'd like, but it's intact. My car is running. And the only health issue I have with the cold is the way it affects my asthma. I simply cover my mouth and nose when I go out and spend as little time outdoors as is necessary.

Here's to warmer temps and a great 2009.

Fresh snow and white Christmas

I got up this morning to fresh snow, still falling. It's so white and fluffy - looks gorgeous on the trees and fence. The air (even in town) smelled fresh. My yard looked like a Christmas card, exactly what a white Christmas should look like.

I was very saddened this week by news of the beating death of Dan Frederick, a local businessman. I've met Dan numerous times, didn't know him really well, but enough to know he was a gentle man who loved animals and wouldn't hurt a soul. He was always very pleasant when I talked with him. It's a terrible thing, and has taken some of the goodwill feeling away from this season.

I've spent much of the day getting the final things done for tomorrow. Some friends are stopping by and my daughter and family will be in as well for a late light breakfast or early lunch. I am not cooking a huge dinner this year (yea!)

I made some ham salad and have rolls for sandwiches and will also have deviled eggs. I will wait until morning to make those. The Bailey's is all set for the coffee, and my daughter is to bring some sticky buns. As everyone else is having a big dinner, that's all we're doing here.

I cleaned the living room and swept the floor. Buddy is not a fan of the vacuum. He was on the attack until he was between the recliner and the machine. He leaped onto the recliner and tried to jump to the easy chair right next to it. He missed the 18-or-so-inch jump and slid between the two chairs, but was immediately off the floor and on a chair. I had to stop the work to laugh - he was so brave until it cornered him at the recliner. When I stopped, he stayed on the chair barking out little "huffs" until the vacuum was out of sight. He's happy again.

I am looking forward to spending some time tomorrow with my daughter and her family. My 4-year-0ld granddaughter is such fun now. She delights me with her observations and her little-girl affection. She is full of enthusiasm (except for picking up toys) and is excited about the smallest things. I smile the entire time she's around.

I do wish I could be with other family members as well. I miss them all year, but especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas. My parents, sisters, brothers and assorted nieces and nephews will gather at my sister's house on Sunday and I'll call them. If I can't be there in person, I can call and feel a little closer.

I become very introspective this time of year, and often long for the "good old days." At age 8 or 10, we could walk safely from one end of our small town to the other, with no fears of kidnapping or other terrible fate. We left doors unlocked on houses and cars. We stopped to say hello to people on their porches or in their yards. There was a feeling of being safe that I believe our kids today don't have. I'm sad to see those days are gone, and sadder still that my daughter and grandchildren will never know them.

May you all have a wonderful holiday no matter what you celebrate and a happy, safe and healthy 2009. My prayer this year (as in past years) is for peace to begin spreading throughout the country and the world. I would love to see some of our military folks coming back and the deployments decrease. I would love to not have to read of more deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps it's naive, but we've prayed for world peace since I was a child. Maybe if we continue that prayer, one day it will come to us.

Holidays;

Once again, I've let more than a month go by without a post. I really need to just sit down and write every now and then.

Thanksgiving was a nice family affair here, and a lot of fun with granddaughters and the dog, as well as other friends. The only downside was bronchitis. I saw the doctor the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and started the meds that day. The antibiotic was a good one and was coupled with Prednisone, which I hate. The side effects include an insatiable appetite and insomnia, as well as bloating - my head looked like a balloon! I took off Wednesday-Sunday, then went back to work. I functioned (a little) on 2-4 hours of sleep a night, all of it broken into 45-minute blocks for nearly 2 weeks, until the Prednisone wore off. I am now fully recovered, but it really knocked me down. I'd go to work, come home and fall asleep at 5 or 5:30 p.m., then sleep in those little blocks of time that the meds would allow.

I went in to the office Monday this week and took a look at my calendar to schedule some leave time over the Christmas holiday. I realized that I have so much use-or-lose leave I had to leave 30 minutes early Monday and remain on leave until Jan. 4 or I would lose some of the time I've worked hard to earn. So - I'm now off for three weeks. I'm not sleeping in. Both yesterday and today I've awakened before 2:30 a.m. (My internal clock usually has me up by 3 a.m. every day.)

Yesterday I did a little shopping and saw the doctor for a routine check-up. All is good. I plan to stay home today and wrap gifts, do cards, etc. Tomorrow I'll finish the shopping and hit the Post Office (not my favorite thing at normal times, and certainly not my favorite thing at the holidays).

The little dog seems happy to have me around. He's discovered another toy that was sent to Paco as a gift, but one that Paco never played with. I'm glad Buddy is enjoying it, though it's sometimes annoying when he starts biting it to make it squeak (loudly). He usually does that when I'm on the phone.

I will go to the office Monday for a short while to certify time cards and take care of a few other items that need my attention, but will not be there long.

We've been pretty lucky here so far with temperatures. It's been relatively warm with just a couple of days in the -20 range. On one of those days in November, my furnace's fan motor decided to quit working. I had to call someone out to repair it - to the tune of almost $600. That blew Christmas shopping that week :( However, it was so nice to feel warm air once again circulating. The temperature in the house got down to about 50 degrees - which I would welcome in April or July, but in November it just felt downright cold. I rarely use my down comforter, but I pulled it out and sat on the bed wrapped in it while the repairman was downstairs. Buddy curled up next to me and had just his little nose sticking out, so I'm sure he was comfortable.

I bought a few sundresses for the January trip to Hawaii. I'm now really beginning to look forward to it. My reservations (plane and hotel) are made and I've got arrangements for Buddy settled. All I need to do now is arrange for someone to take me to the airport. I bought a book on Oahu to read through. I'll have one free day before the conference starts, and I plan to play tourist for that day.

Since I'm not sure when I'll update again, I'll wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and prosperous 2009.

Veterans' Day, this and that

How quickly the last month went by! I've had some thoughts about updating this, but something always took priority.

We have completed our move to new office space and I am beginning to feel comfortable now. There are still numerous boxes to unpack, but none of them hold critical stuff. I'm also trying to shred unnecessary papers as I unpack, so that takes up some time as well.

Additionally, though the supervisory and admin stuff at the job keeps me from writing as much as I'd like, I did write two commentaries for the weekly newspaper. I enjoy keeping my hand in that now and then, but every time I sat down at the computer I was editing or changing my work and that kept me from updating this journal.

It's been a somewhat stressful month with the move and other things at work. I've been coming home, grabbing a salad or something and reading until I fall asleep. The weather has kept my asthma active too, and I frequently wake up coughing. The last few days have been much better, so hopefully that's under control now.

Friday I attended a luncheon for women veterans sponsored by the Disabled American Vets. It was wonderful, with ladies from all branches of the armed forces attending. They were all ages and served in numerous eras and jobs. One Air Force vet enlisted in 1955. Others served as nurses in VietNam. There were several who, like me, served in the Women's Army Corps, and lots of young women in uniform today. The food was great, but more so were the stories we heard. This was a terrific event and made me feel very special.

Tuesday I'll be taking photos at the annual Veterans' Day event in Fairbanks. This is always a very nice program, with a lot of veterans from WWII to Operation Iraqi Freedom. It's very patriotic and, like the women vets' lunch, instills in me a great sense of pride in having served. Be sure to thank a veteran for his or her service.

It's finally getting a little colder now. It broke the zero mark this past week at my house, with the coldest I've seen at the house about -6. I'm not crazy about this time of year, but realized that we're just about 6 weeks from gaining daylight again. I love winter solstice for that very reason.

I've been trying to get some Christmas gifts together early this year, and have been a little successful. I made note cards for my sisters, mother and some of my friends. I have gifts for one granddaughter and my dad, as well as a couple of friends. I'd like to get packages and cards mailed early for a change, so am dedicated to getting this done. I will NOT shop the day after Thanksgiving. I often say jokingly I'd probably end up in jail after assaulting someone. I went out one year, and thought many of the shoppers acted shamefully. I've seen better-behaved animals. I'm rather intolerant of rude, pushing, running people in public places. So I find the after-Thanksgiving shopping weekend stressful and not at all fun.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family here in Fairbanks. It was always a family day when I was growing up, first in my grandmother's house with my dad's two siblings and their kids. When we cousins grew up and married and had children, we moved across the street to the social hall at the fire house. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of love and great food. It always ended with my grandfather playing a fiddle that he had made himself. A lot of my favorite memories center on those Thanksgivings.

If I don't get back on here in the next couple of weeks, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.