July 7, 2008

Monday

ONE HEART BEAT

One heart beat is all that keeps us with our loved ones.  Conversely it is the lack of one heart beat that can remove us from this earth.  Yes, the heart beats multiple times a minute and if it skips a beat it may continue to beat.  On the other hand once a beat is missed it may not restart.  This lack of one heart beat can occur at any age.  So it is one heart beat that keeps us with our loved ones and the lack of one heart beat that sends us to eternity.  Think about that when are with your family and friends and when you are not.  Let it guide your words and deeds.

Rain waters the earth and the earth was watered here beginning at four a.m. and stopping at ten a.m.

Once the watering was over we rose and made coffee and tea.  The real watering was over but a light drizzle, almost a mist, fell from the fifty one degree skies.

Warm cinnamon bread made up our breakfast today along with a generous helping of crosswords, coffee and tea.

When the last crossword was finished we had the Southern Strangers serenading us via the CD player.  They are one of our favorite blue grass groups.

When the writer was dressed he set off with Kurt’s ten pound splitting wedge to split some firewood, on the way he stopped to help Kurt and Ted with Jay and Les’s storage building.  When the plywood sheeting for the roof was in place he continued on to the wood pile and his original chore.  When a good supply had been split he took a wheelbarrow load to the coach, returned the empty wheelbarrow to the wood pile and then went back to his laptop.

Butter clams, steamers, from across Katchemak Bay were on the menu for tonight.  They had been dug by Sidney, Kurt and others who had taken a day trip for that purpose.  At six Kurt put water on to boil and when it had reached that point we began placing clams into the pot.  We watched closely until one popped open and then it was removed and another put in its place.  In this fashion we were able to steam/cook all the clams by six thirty when the crowd gathered to begin feasting on the steaming clams, salad, spaghetti with cheese sauce and lobster, zucchini, rye bread, lemon bread and almond pound cake with French vanilla ice cream.  Seated and standing around the table were Sidney, Barbara, Kit and Martine as well as Kurt and Becky and Onie and PawPaw.  It would be fair to say that everyone there overate before waddling home after ten o’clock.

The writer made some notes of the day’s events and then joined the navigator for a little Tru TV before turning it off at eleven, in favor of sleep.

July 8, 2008

Tuesday

COLD IN AND OUT

When we woke at ten it was fifty one outside and sixty inside.  The coffee and tea were started and the maker retreated to bed to wait for the warmth to overtake the cold.  By the time the coffee was brewed the heat was starting to take hold so the tea was started.

Later buckwheat pancakes loaded with fresh blueberries graced our table. Next to it sausage steamed, fresh from the microwave.

Returning to the Sunday crossword we managed to get several more words entered before we paused for other things.

Onie worked in the kitchen while I read the morning paper and worked today’s crossword puzzle.  It was a basic fill in the blanks kind of crossword.

If a frost free refrigerator/freezer exists in a motor home I am unaware of it but if we ever become filthy rich and have a coach custom made it will have such an animal as well as a dishwasher in it.  Defrosting the refrig/freezer is a regular job and one that makes it cold on the person doing the work.  Today that was Onie.

Our neighbors from Texas, Norman and Cris, are in the spot occupied two years ago by Ted and Priscilla.  Cris has been having a bad time with her back and is unable to do much so Onie volunteered to cook supper for them tonight.  She worked for quite sometime preparing a salad, baked halibut, roasted sweet potato and steamed broccoli.  She was kind enough to even donate some of the brownies she had made, for me, for Norman’s desert.  Cris will miss out as she is diabetic and must stay away from such indulgences.

While that, the cooking, was going on the writer sat at the laptop and tried to read and answer the more than seventy emails that had accumulated since his last web session.

When supper time rolled around Onie put one of her wonderful salads on the table.  Another crossword was dispatched before we had the main course, gotto, as in got to eat it or throw it out.  Turkey, smoked brisket and chicken were combined with Vidalia onion and bell pepper to make a nice combination that was topped with some spicy salsa.  Mine was followed with milk and some brownies, eaten in desperation before they disappear on someone else’s supper tray.

Onie returned to the kitchen to clean up and I sat down to write this little discourse on the days happenings.

Later we went to Sidney and Barbara’s to play Skip-Bo with them and Kit and Martine.

Kit and Martine played as partners to me and Onie while Barbara and Sidney helped them as they had never played Skip-Bo before.

The group broke up after midnight and we made our way to the coach in twilight.  We are losing about thirty seconds of daylight each day.  By the time we leave it will five or six minutes a day and long-term darkness won’t be far behind.

July 9, 2008

Wednesday

CLEAN UP

Living creates dirt.  Today we would remedy some of that dirt.

The writer rose at seven ten to begin the process of filling the fresh water tank and draining the holding tanks.  Last night a little bit of water backed up in the tub telling anyone who cared to look that the gray water tank was absolutely full.

Once a little space had been gained in the gray water holding tank and a little fresh water taken on the draining process was stopped long enough to start the coffee and fix the tea water.  Onie would finish the tea when the coffee had finished perking.

Onie sat on the bed drinking coffee and watching some news while the writer returned to his chores.  After our tanks were clean and the honey wagon emptied a trip was made to Kurt and Becky’s to drain their tanks.  The honey wagon was emptied again, rinsed and stored for use another day.

Onie had been busy in the coach, sorting clothes, picking up rugs and cleaning the floors.  The clothes basket and collapsible hamper were waiting when the writer got back to the coach.  He helped Onie tote them up to the laundry where she started the wash.  He went back to the Marlin to retrieve a fresh set of clothes, for himself, a clean towel, shampoo and soap and then returned to the shower.  He scrubbed himself mercilessly until the last vestige of dirt had swirled down the drain, then dressed and went back to the coach to write.

Onie stayed with the wash, reading between tending the washers and placing things in the dryers.  When the clothes were clean and dry she brought them home for us to store prior to getting them dirty once again.

How much time would the average person have if he didn’t have to wash clothes, clean house, cook, tend the yard and pay bills?  The answer is the same amount of time he has now--he would just use it differently.

A late lunch consisted of a big salad and a rice dish with smoked brisket, onion and cream of mushroom soup in it.

More writing and game playing took place while Onie surfed the www.

Tonight Onie was relieved of cooking chores.  We went out, sort of.  Kurt cooked razor clams at his rig and we joined him and Becky.  Martine came and ate her share and Kit’s as he doesn’t eat seafood and Barbara took some to Sidney as he was helping a fellow camper elsewhere. 

Back in the coach we watched TV before retiring.

July 10, 2008

Thursday

PICKLED WHAT?

We were up at eight for breakfast at Sidney’s.

Kurt and Dwaine

LaVon and Mike

It was cold and folks sat close to one another trying to keep warm while they drank orange juice and waited to eat.  Sidney labored over his outdoor grill cooking eggs to order while Barbara served up hamburger and onions cooked in gravy served over toast.

Hostess Barbara and Host Sidney

For those of you who served in the military you may have a familiar acronym for this concoction but whatever you call it everyone present enjoyed it.

We were back home at nine thirty, full but frozen.  We went back to bed to rest and warm up.

When we woke at one it was not as cold but still overcast.  No one in this part of Alaska is likely to get too much sun this summer as it has been seen little and missed much.

The writer watched GSN while Onie started the afternoon meal.

We ate salad and an Onie creation at three thirty before heading off to the showers.

When we came out of the showers the sun was out.

All over the camp folks were sitting out enjoying this seldom seen phenomenon and the warmth it brought with it.  After leaving our towels in the coach we went to Kurt and Becky’s to join them.  Soon Onie and Becky left for the Marlin to discuss recipes and other lady things.

Kurt and I talked about fishing and then did the real thing.  We had been on the grate but a few minutes when he hooked and lost a big second run red.

By nine o’clock yours truly was in need of warming up again so he and Kurt went back to Kurt’s rig and brewed up some hot chocolate before seeking out the girls, still in the Marlin.

A bottle of pickled pig’s feet had adorned our counter top for some few days now not tempting the author one whit but perhaps causing some salivary reactions for the navigator.  It was very likely Kurt had also been thinking about this rather unusual delicacy (?).  Tonight the salivating and thinking were over as the bottle was opened and they were treated to the odiferous emanations from the bottle.  Becky and I wanted to hold our noses but being the good spouses and polite people we are we merely grimaced as our mates began eating these “things”.   Unfortunately for our spouses but luckily for me and Becky the bottle only held five or six pig’s feet and they were mercifully gone in a few minutes.  As soon as the air cleared we would be able to forgive our spouses of this grave departure from genteel society.

Full of hot chocolate and pigs feet Kurt took Becky’s hand and led her home shortly after ten.

Onie and I settled down to play Skip-Bo.

Part way through the game Ted came by to tell us about the nice Dolly Varden, commonly referred to as a Dolly; he had caught while fishing for trout.  It would be on his table tomorrow.

Our Skip-Bo game lasted until midnight.

July 11, 2008

Friday

FRESH RED

Phone calls from Mike Rivera, a friend, woke me at nine.

Outside it was fifty four and cloudy.

After starting the coffee and tea I sat at Onie’s laptop and checked email and the market.  One held good news and the other did not.  You can guess which was which.

Summer is still missing in action as far as this writer can tell.

Barbara came by to say they were going to some yard sales and invited us along.  Since Onie was still asleep we passed.

When the smell of fresh brewed coffee reached Onie’s nares she woke.

While she enjoyed her coffee the oatmeal with raisins and walnuts cooked on the stove.  She fixed bacon and warmed up some sausage.  With breakfast over and the crossword completed we began some chores. 

She checked her investments and surfed the www while I talked to Medco about prescriptions that had failed to arrive and to Sean about a new six month supply of contacts for my right eye.  Later we talked to Mike about some of her investments before I turned to writing.

Kurt was down at the grate, fishing.  Onie was watching and saw him land a nice fresh red.   That lured us from the confines of the Marlin and onto the grate where Onie fished for half and hour before calling it quits.  Yours truly stayed with it another half hour before calling a halt to his efforts due to a resounding lack of success.  In the meantime Kurt had caught another red and announced that there would be fresh grilled red this evening at seven.  We were invited.  Our next meal assured the writer returned to the coach.

Onie was occupied with games and I settled down to write.

Near seven, under clear cold skies, Onie and I walked the short distance to Sidney and Barb’s where Kurt was busy at the grill.  Sidney had a fire going in their chimenea and some folks were already huddled around it.

Onie put her tapenade and spicy crackers on the picnic table.  She and Becky joined Barbara next to the fire.  The writer went inside the camper to visit with Kit and Martine.

When the salmon was ready the group settled down to eat; salmon, corn on the cob grilled in the husks, a new salad from Becky’s kitchen, baked sweet and Idaho potatoes and sweet tea.

When the party was broken up at nine by cold and gathering clouds all parties were stuffed to the gills and beyond.  Barbara’s home made apple pie went begging for lack of takers since no one had the slightest room left, to fill.

Back at the house the thermometer was reading fifty four.

We undressed and got under the covers.  The writer dozed while the navigator watched TV.  During the news the writer woke.  When the news was over Onie went to sleep.  The writer rose to go to his laptop.

The heater ran constantly trying to keep the cold at bay and the writer tapped on until it was apparent the heater was losing the battle.  He went to bed at twenty minutes to two.

July 12, 2008

Saturday

SHAKE IT BUT DON’T BREAK IT

The driver rose at twenty minutes to eight.  Outside it was cloudy and cool.  Inside the silent tapping at the laptop went on while the coffee brewed and the tea steeped.

Onie came up front at nine to get her first cup of coffee, for the day.  A cup or two later she stepped over to the kitchen and began preparing biscuits.  The driver’s spirits soared as the smell of fresh baking biscuits permeated the entire coach, all three hundred twenty square feet of it.  Onie soon added the smell of ham and eggs and then it was time to sit down, thank the Lord, and enjoy the labor of her hands.  Enhancing the pleasure were numerous crosswords.

While the crosswords were still occupying us LaVon came by with the mail.  Shortly thereafter Kit and Martine’ came by to say goodbye, exchange email addresses and extend a warm invitation to visit them in Florida.  We will probably do that.

With a wonderful breakfast beneath our belts and several crosswords completed Onie set off to do the wash and shower.

The writer/reader sat down to write and read the paper.

At one oh seven a good shake rocked the coach and brought the writer out of his writer’s trance.  It took just an instant to realize what was taking place, and as after shocks continued all afternoon one had to wonder if something more attention getting was in the works.  The last time we were at Eilson Station in Denali we had watched a seismograph arm as it continuously flicked up and down the graph paper.  The ground seems to move constantly here but for the most part it is undetectable.  Most locals probably never paused when the earth decided to shake but the writer was glad it didn’t break.

Folks were on the grate trying to catch a red but with yesterday’s count being only one thousand forty seven the odds were against them.  Still, they fished on.

Onie left to wash our sheets and the writer tagged along to go to the shower.

Dawn called and we visited for a while before the writer turned his attention to email, games and then pecking.

Bills were waiting to be paid and I took care of those.

Chores at an end, or at least under control, we both went to the grate to fish.  The fishing was great but the catching was a washout.

Kurt and Becky bought reindeer sausage and reindeer wieners today.  With Onie’s cold slaw and spicy crackers in hand we walked across the drive to their place, at five thirty. Sandy brought Jambalaya when she and Dennis came over.  Sidney and Barbara joined us for supper.

With a campfire going in the fire ring marshmallows were brought out, for roasting.  The roasting rods were brought from the Marlin as LaVon gathered the group.  Becky brought out graham crackers and chocolate bars so those who wanted to could make S’mores.

Before LaVon left for the lodge it was agreed that Kurt and Becky, Sidney and Barbara, LaVon and us would go to Heights Baptist Church at eight thirty in the morning for the contemporary service.  That is where LaVon attends.

Even with the campfire blazing those gathered round were getting cold.  We wondered where summer was residing since it hadn’t taken up residence in Alaska.

Nine o’clock found us back in the coach watching a movie Onie had borrowed from the lodge.  It can be said without reservation that one shouldn’t waste their time watching Feeling Minnesota.

Gratefully we went to sleep at midnight.

Outside it was clear and cold.

July 13, 2008

Sunday

WRITE, WRITE, WRITE

The rain began at three.

Apparently when the alarm was set last night everything was done except to enable it.  Since there was no alarm there was no waking and we slept on until nine.  The group had left without us.

Outside it was fifty.

We made coffee and tea with notes being made while the coffee brewed and the tea steeped.

Onie came to the front at nine thirty when we enjoyed (?) cold cereal while we worked a crossword.

We left for church at ten forty five and got back at twelve fifteen.  It had warmed up to sixty.

Recently, while at Fred Meyer, the writer has visited with a man who has lived here twenty three years and another man who was born here on the peninsula ninety years ago.  Both of them remarked as how this is the coldest spring/summer in memory and then opined that Al Gore should quit talking about global warming and talk about something he is informed about.

Onie had chickens baking in the oven as I filled my pill box for the next two weeks. 

With that chore out of the way I switched gears.

At the laptop it was write, write, write.

Onie had an eye on the grate and saw Kurt’s fishing pole bend under the strain of a fighting red, not communist, fish.

Grabbing a pole the writer hustled off to the grate where Dennis was fishing along with Kurt.  Dennis had strung two.  After a while yours truly was still at zero.  Kurt had one but soon added another.  Now Dennis hung and landed a big male.  He was done. 

The writer fished on for another half hour, in the cold rain, with the same results.

In the coach he returned to writing.  Onie was boning the chickens that were now done and cool.

When she was finished we headed off to Fred Meyer to do some shopping.

Back home we stored our purchases, watched some TV and retired.