August 1, 2007

Here we are in the eighth month. Where has the time gone? It has flown away like a bird on the wing leaving us with only the memory of its passing and the sound of its being. And can it be the eleventh week since we left Lake Road? Has it truly been a fifth of a year since we last saw and smelled the sweet scent of the gardenias blooming in the woods? If all this is true then this must be Alaska where the fireweed is nearing its zenith and the sun has passed its. Warm days await us but cold nights will soon follow and then the time for leaving will be upon us. In the meantime we will continue to rise and make the coffee and tea.

This morning it was Onie who did the honors a little after seven thirty. Outside clouds hung low over the camp, preventing the sun from warming us, holding the temperature to a cool forty nine. A few minutes after Onie rose, the bed held no warmth for me and I followed her into our kitchen/dining room/ living room. It had been cold last night and the chill crept into the bed very quickly without her. In no time we will be bringing out the extra blanket that was deposited in the cupboard just a few short days ago.

Years ago on cool frosty mornings, waking in a two man tent next to the BMW motorcycle, we rose and cooked our eggs, bacon and potatoes in one pan. Then I had wished for a nice warm biscuit to round out the meal. This morning there was no wishing. Onie baked her whole wheat flour biscuits that turned the morning meal into perfection.

Chester was lucky enough to join us for our sumptuous repast at eight thirty. It would be one he would remember for some time and later today he would be very thankful he had been here this morning. He was flying home. It would be a long flight and the peanuts or snack the airline served would be of little use in satisfying the hunger pangs that would set in before he reached Houston about seven tomorrow morning. After breakfast, we posed for some photos.

After breakfast Chester and I set off to go shopping at what used to be at Malfunction Junction. The name has changed and it is not nearly so catchy and consequently escapes me whenever I need to recall it. It is very probable that it will always be Malfunction Junction to me. At the Junction we browsed the caps, tee shirts, pelts, carvings and perfumes before Chester decided on several caps and some tee shirts.

A few days ago we had been in the visitors’ center in Soldotna if you recall. While we were there Chester picked up several books and in one of them he found a recipe for fireweed jelly. He was determined to make some so on the way back to the Marlin and cabin we stopped to pick some fireweed blossoms.

While we were there he also pulled up a few spruce saplings that he was determined to take back to Giddings and see if he could get them to grow. As we were busy collecting all these things for Chester I picked up something for myself, a spider bite. It itched for several days but other than that was of no great consequence. When we had three gallons of fireweed blossoms we headed back to camp.

When we got back Onie was gone. She had left at ten thirty to go swimming. From the pool she had gone to Freddies.

A little after noon it was time for Chester to say goodbye. We had promised to visit back home in Texas but at the present time that seemed far off and a long time distant. His leave taking was almost a tear jerker for all parties but we got through it without a hanky being dampened even though it was with regret that we saw his car leave the campground.

Alone with my thoughts I turned to further cleaning of the smoker.

At one thirty Onie got home with a watermelon. After splitting it in half we settled down to snack on it while recapping Chester’s visit. It had been a long time and a short time. We had squeezed a lot into the allotted time but there was much he hadn’t seen or experienced. When he returns next year we will have list of recommended activities for him even though he is very self sufficient and likes to explore on his own.

With nothing left of the watermelon but a little rind we repaired to the bedroom where we took a well deserved nap.

When we arose a couple of hours later I settled in to make some expansions on notes while Onie played games on her laptop.

Later still we carried our laptops up to the laundry room where we logged on to the web. Onie posted week eight and paid some bills while I checked e-mail. One hundred fifty nine messages waited for me and before they were all read I had migrated to the deck of the lodge where it was cold, sixty two, for a tee shirt and jeans. The keyboard fingers were numb by the time they were back in the coach at eight thirty.

By then the temp had dropped to fifty five under the cloudy skies. For one of the few times this summer we fired up the central heaters to chase the cold from the Marlin. We had both chilled while we were webbing and now wanted to be warm and cozy. In a few minutes the chill was chased from the coach and we were on our way to warming up.

More comfortable now Onie watched LMN while I pecked away.

Later we had tomatoes and avocado before heating up the halibut steak Hawaiian, for supper.

Warm and well nourished we toddled off to bed a bit later.

August 3, 2007

Onie calls them slow days. I call them restful peaceful days. Whatever you call them we had earned one and today was the day.

It began when I woke at three to the sound of rain. A quick check, in the cold coach, showed it to be fifty outside. I hastily crawled back under the covers to wait for a more auspicious time to rise.

By nine o’clock it was partly sunny even though it was only fifty six. We got up and had coffee and tea with a coffee cake Chester had left us along with cheerios and banana.

By ten thirty we had set off for the high school and our morning swim.

On the way home we drove by the post office to drop off some envelopes before returning home at half past twelve.

The sun still had not conquered the clouds so it was still just partly sunny.

Trash was taken out and then the vacuum packer and supplies were set up on the picnic table. Last night’s fish were wrapped in cling wrap and sealed against the time we would need it. Then we placed it in the freezer.

For supper Onie prepared salmon salad. When we had eaten our fill she settled in with LMN and I kept the laptop company before trying my hand at the grate one last time for the day.

August 4, 2007

The routine lately seems to be Onie rising first. She did this morning, at eight. I followed her at nine. After a few cups of tea the writer headed off to the shower at the lodge while Onie stayed in out of the rain that was falling sporadically but more rain than not.

When the grime was gone the trek back to the coach was taken where more tea awaited along with apple strudel Chester had left.

With the advent of the eighth month one starts thinking about deer season. While the strudel was still a fresh taste David Matthew called to visit about the lease and changes in management there as well as soaring corn prices. We also talked about Chester’s visit and the impressions of Alaska he had taken back with him. David sent Onie his love before hanging up.

While Onie watched Fox News a few notes were stored on the hard drive of the laptop as well as Solitaire being beaten once or twice.

The thermometer had climbed a whole degree since we rose and with the constant rain, there were a few breaks of five or ten minutes but then it returned; no one was fishing.

Late in the day the thermometer eeked out another degree gain to fifty seven before beginning to fall again.

With the rain still falling I ventured out to empty both the black and gray water tanks. There was no one out to retard my progress.

Slightly damp but now accustomed to the rain the grate was visited for an hour. A few were strung.

Stu found me and told me he was cooking fried pies later this evening and we were invited. In the meantime he needed some help getting a full propane bottle stored in his rig. We got ‘er done. The wood he had for his campfire to cook the fried pies over in his pie irons had been soaked by the rain. Some of mine was retrieved, split, laid and lit before returning to the grate to fish a little more and then fillet the fish that had been caught earlier.

A crowd could be seen gathering around the fire pit at Stu’s in the evening mist. Leaving the grate I told Onie it was time to eat pies. Not feeling well and wanting to avoid the cold dampness she sent her regrets along with me.

The fire sputtered from time to time as the rain still fell in fits and spurts but the pies did get cooked and enjoyed. I had apple. When most present had eaten a pie or two and the fire was struggling to stay lit, it was raining again, we folded our chairs and headed to our respective rigs. It was nine o’clock and a cool fifty four. The rain made it feel colder.

In the coach the laptop felt warm on my lap as notes from the day were added to the week before a few games were played at eleven.

Onie had gone to bed shortly after the pie party began and had lay in bed reading until my return when she had turned on LMN until she was ready to sleep.

At twelve I joined her.

August 5, 2007

Onie was feeling better and got up at nine. This summer her allergies were acting up even before we left Lake Road. Ordinarily we each have a little flair up. This year I have missed mine but hers’ has persisted.

We had our coffee and tea at ten and followed it with half a cantaloupe, each.

Drizzle had stayed with us thoughout the night and now it continued to fall.

Still not up to snuff Onie elected to stay in out of the fifty two degree dampness.

When the prelude started at ten fifty five I was seated in our pew, fourth row from the front. First Baptist Church Sterling still doesn’t have a pastor but their pulpit committee is working hard to find one. In the meantime the pulpit is filled with those who supply. This morning it was a retied missionary, retired in the sense that he no longer has a specific place he works. Now he travels a lot and helps out at churches with no pastor.

His message this morning was "Don’t Faint" as in don’t quit, be strong in the face of adversity, keep the faith, run a good race and finish the course with as much vigor as you had when you began. It was well received.

After the service I visited with Louis who had been seated directly behind me. He is from Oklahoma and spending three weeks here. This is his last week.

The rain had quit while we were in church but the pavement was still wet and the sky very overcast. It looked like the clouds could open any minute and flood the whole place.

Sitting in the coach notes were expanded into stories and the stories edited, pictures indicated and then the whole reviewed before moving on to another day.

Weather can change quickly in Alaska just as in Texas but today the change was gradual with the sun doing battle with the dampness and clouds. At last around four the sun won out over the clouds and with the sun came high winds which blew away all traces of dampness. Now the anti-flap gizmos on the awning had their work cut out for them as the wind whipped over and under the awning trying to tear it loose and send it flying over the Alaskan landscape. A check of the devices and the awning showed them to be working so a decision was made to leave the awning out, for now.

While the stories were being written Onie got out and went to Freddies. Just before she got back home Bill Hager called at four thirty. They were on the Seward Highway and had been driving for quite a while. He was concerned they were lost, had missed the turn for the Sterling Highway. The expensive Garmin GPS they had bought prior to leaving Magnolia was lost and on the verge of mental breakdown. Just recently it had told them they needed to get off the pasture onto the jeep trail and follow it back to the pavement. Another time it told them they were in the ditch. Bill’s vision still isn’t good enough to drive but he and she can still see fairly well and they knew they had been on the pavement the whole time. The call had been placed. He told me they had passed the Hope cutoff about ten miles back. That placed them very close to the Sterling Highway and I assured him they were not lost just in the big state of Alaska and that they should be seeing the Sterling Highway any minute. Even as we talked Nancy made the turn and they were headed for the Kenai Peninsula. He soon lost his signal.

A break had been taken from story telling around one when I went to fish. Richard and Mary were on the grate and he netted the one fish I added to my stringer before heading back to the coach.

Before Onie started to cook supper we called Bill and Nancy to see where they were. They had stopped at Suzies and ate before heading on to Freddies where they intended to buy Nancy a jacket and a radio for their room. It doesn’t have one nor does it have a TV. He wants to be able to listen to something.

Onie went to fish and added one more to our stringer before she came back and fixed a Caesar salad for supper. The steaks she had seasoned were placed on the charcoal grill long enough to restore the body temperature before we sat down to dine on them and broccoli.

With Bill and Nancy’s arrival we sat to visit a while before they went to check in, unpack and settle in.

When they had gone Onie went to fish but to no avail.

With daylight fading fast the job of filleting the day’s catch was under taken at eleven thirty. With Onie helping I worked quickly and by midnight we were in the coach which was rocking and rolling under the buffeting of the strong winds.

While Onie played Snood I wondered if the awning should be taken in. While the thoughts were still being contemplated a knock came at the door. It was Sonny and Birdie. They had come by to ask me to help them get in Dennis and Sandy’s awning. They were concerned that the increasing wind might damage it. With the wind whipping it about we managed to get it in in one piece but not before Sonny fell. I was unaware of the significance of that until the next morning.

When the Camp’s awning was secured we went back to the Marlin where the anchors were taken off our awning and it was rolled up and safely stored. Birdie and Sonny thanked me for my help and I thanked them for theirs before we went into our coaches and escaped the howling gale.

At one my clothes were shed and the bed was found.

August 6, 2007

Bright sunshine bathed the coach at nine when I rose. Onie was up at eight thirty and made the coffee and tea. The rocking of the coach had ceased as the wind had slowed to a strong breeze.

Raisin Bran and bananas were eaten, swim suits, towels and soap containers gathered and then we left to swim. The sixty five degree sunshine felt good after the high cool winds of last night.

Stopping at Safeway, after the swim, we enjoyed a latte & Chai tea while we shopped.

Back home at one we visited with the Hagers while their rods, reels and lines were rigged. Then fresh water was added to our holding tank.

While the tank was being filled Chuck rode by on the lawn mower. I asked him why he was mowing. He said Sonny had a gone to the Soldotna hospital with chest pains. They had run some tests on him and called life flight. He and Birdie had been flown to Anchorage in a helicopter and were in Providence Medical Center.

Cranking up the push mower I began doing the mowing that can’t be done with the riding mower, due to terrain, size or configuration. I mowed until Onie called me for supper.

She and the Hagers had been playing dominoes.

The Salmon Oriental and salad at seven tasted really good after an afternoon of pushing, pulling and sweating.

When the dishes were cleared away we played dominoes until one fifteen.

August 7, 2007

The sun was already high in the sky and had warmed the air to fifty five when we rose at nine. The few clouds that drifted high aloft did little to dim the brightness that surrounded the coach.

Onie and I enjoyed our coffee and tea sitting across the table from one another but soon it was time for her to chop, slice and dice the ingredients for Zip Loc omelets.

At eleven the Hagers arrived for breakfast. We visited about home and health while we ate. Then our talk turned to Sonny. Before they got here for breakfast I had stepped out to get an update on him. He is doing well, sitting up and eating breakfast this morning. He had suffered a mild heart attack. Some testing had revealed some blockages and four stents were put in place. With no complications he should be home again in a few days but it will probably be a little longer before we will see him in the familiar setting, mowing the lawn. He usually does the push mower part and Birdie drives the riding mower.

Until then the rest of us will take up the slack.

At one the four of us set off for the grate. The next five hours saw us flipping, dragging and snatching with some of us lasting longer at it than others. Of course Bill and Nancy haven’t had the benefit of the whole season to get used to the movement or the standing so they rested some now and then. Some where along the way Onie and Nancy called it a day on the river and went to the Marlin to play dominoes. Bill and I fished on. When the last fish was strung Onie had three, Bill and Nancy none and me, six.

Bill and I headed off to Custom with the fish. After they were delivered we stopped by Safeway before heading back to Castaway, with salad fixings.

At the Marlin Onie prepared a salad while the cal-rod started the charcoal in the grill. Soon we were enjoying the salad, steaks, mushrooms, potatoes and broccoli.

More than full we began playing cut throat dominoes and stayed with it until eleven. By eleven fifteen we were in bed.