Not So Concealed Message

There was a woman in New Jersey (I think) who got so frustrated with her children while driving in the car that she made them get out and walk home. That mother ended up in big trouble with the law. I think she even got to spend some time in jail. If we lived somewhere other than Alaska, at this phase of my parenting life, I suppose I would be in big trouble as well. For I am a firm believer in the "Friendship March".

Do you see these two loving children? During the 11 mile car ride from our house to town they were anything but loving. As the driver, I was subjected to each and every whining phrase as it escalated to touching and then to poking. It was distracting and aggravating! Finally, the ultimate bomb was hurled, "DeeJay told me that you are not really my brother."

I pulled the car into the high school parking lot, made them get out at the trail head of the path that leads directly to Mema's Shack, and told them, in not such a calm voice to get out. Readers might think this is crewel or even dangerous punishment. Be assured, I spy on them.

Sure enough by the end of the first block they were joyfully picking flowers together and by the second block they were gleefully holding hands. By the time they arrived at Mema's they were working together in their fairy houses and forts and calling me at 8pm to tell me about how they had sabotaged someone from taking all the water from the creek. "The little creek creatures can not live without the water, so we stopped it!" I love hearing them talk in terms of their team!

Because Vince was working, DeeJay and Willie were at their friends house, and Falcom and Marina were overnighting at Mema's, I was going to be alone. I decided to shelve making pork chops for something I would enjoy eating. Sushi. Who should come over to enjoy a little sushi with me? Suzanne. And lucky she could because I planned a fine sushi meal and I didn't have wrappers. Suzanne did. Whew! I was too cheap to buy an avocado for our sushi and instead bought Chinese Meat Links (made in Canada) so that I could make some of my sushi Saipan style.

It was a delicious sunshine dinner where we were able to catch up on many topics that are not appropriate for family dinners. It was a real treat.

There is one topic that I was going to try to write into this post without actually writing it in...I was going to conceal it within the text so that my friend Laurie could hear what was happening without my having to give away details, but it is too difficult! And for historians of my life, which Laurie is one, she will laugh at the ultimate Karmic turn around. Here goes.

Someone I love in Hawaii is in the middle of a lawsuit against her former employer. The conversation started with questions to me about this lawsuit, but I'm no lawyer and I'm sure not familiar with any of that, but the lawsuit was only the beginning of the true story my loved one wanted to share with me. It seems that this person who I love in Hawaii has been getting phone calls from her Auntie in Saipan, the one who used to come to my loved ones house in CK ten years ago and parade around her children in their designer clothes and Prada handbags (yes real ones for 12 year olds) and brag about trips to Hong Kong and the spiritual benefits of not having to put her children in public school. She would do this even though my loved one didn't even have rice or meat for her young family. Auntie was never able to help my loved ones family. Oh, I should not sound like she was cruel. She did her part at Christmas when they would go to her house for a bar-b-que. Auntie had a job at a garment factory, she was in management. She was very important.

Now, in the ultimate turn of events, this Auntie has caught wind of the lawsuit and is calling Hawaii bi-weekly to see if my loved one has won her case yet, as Auntie is totally rock bottom broke. She is going to borrow money from R... Oh, I know. The island clan system is complex and convoluted and as a white girl I could never understand the full impact of these family ties. But in my heart I am saying Ha! I remember so clearly a phone call I got from my loved one. "Auntie is not happy that I sent Falcom to be with you." Whatever... I love Karma...

Pictures from the Weekend

With Vince taking the kids to the Wild Flower Cabin for the weekend and DeeJay and Willie each being fully employed, this weekend found me in fine spirits focusing on that which I do best: Drinking coffee, playing sudoku, hanging with friends, and laughing. The weather (as documented in above photo taken from my living room window) was stormy, and the wind blew more strongly than it has all summer. I felt no guilt in partaking in indoor activities. Mom and I took the opportunity to go out to dinner together to Cafe Cups and then to a movie. Valda joined us. At Cups, I chose an unusual selection; Cuban pulled pork on a cooked banana. It is hard to know how something so unusual is going to turn out. I would like to say, for the record, that it was fabulous! It was like a sweet and sour pork South American style. It was spicy and yet not overwhelmingly sweet. I loved it! I also loved the fun company. Getting to spend time alone with my mother and with Valda (without kids) is unusual and a real treat.

Afterwards we went to the movie theater where we watched 'The Proposal'. It is one of the first films I've watched that include an Alaskan that don't use the same overdone Alaskan stereotypes. (This reference to stereotypes also includes the stereotype of knuckle head Sarah Palin.) Thank you Mom and Valda for a great time.

I've been considering a blog posting about delayed gratification and it's role in developing successful adults. This post would focus on the inability of Alaskans to model delayed gratification. This is an entire blog post onto itself, but the example I was going to use revolves around Vince bringing fish home from Kenai."The fish are in." When the fish are in you get the fish. You don't wait for your schedule to clear. When you have fish, you must process that fish, even if you don't get home from Kenai until 10.30 pm. Even if you know that you won't be able to fall asleep until 1.30 because fish takes 100 minutes in the pressure cooker. Even though you know that you have to get up early in the morning to take your children to the wild flower cabin (and you have to go to the cabin now because the marsh is dry-ish and you will be dragging a post hole digger out there with you to dig holes for the new sauna that you have to drag the wood out for when the ground freezes).

This lifestyle can be exhausting. Rewarding but exhausting. Why do I mention it?

I had fruit that was going bad and decided that instead of fulfilling it to those ungrateful chickens, I should make jam. Maygen and Iris came by to talk with me while I was processing the blueberries. When my jam was successfully processed I got to take Iris (and Maygen) out to dinner.
We tried to go to Wasabi for sushi, but for some reason, even though the restaurant was only a third full, the wait was going to be over ten minutes. That lead me to think just how long the wait for the food was going to be, and so we decided to go to Lands End. The place was crowded, but the staff was excellent. Iris did some food explorations of her own by challenging her taste buds with a maraschino cherry dipped in Clam Chowder. She didn't seem to mind it, but chose not to re-experience it for a second dip.

With Mars being closer to the Earth now than it has been in the past 75,000 years, Maygen and I have both been feeling it's influence on our personal lives. Fortunately, the good omens are with us. One of these omens being Maygen finding money in the bathroom stall!
After dinner, Iris played her music for us while Maygen drove me to Mema's Shack. Iris said, "Mus ta ma." Translation, "Thank you Grandma for this great birthday music."

Mom and I then went to the movies with DeeJay, Willie, and Suzanne and saw Year One with Jack Black. In this reviewers opinion the best part of the movie was listening as the jokes hit home with their intended target audience, the 16 to 18 year old male. Poo eating and foreskin jokes were especially appealing to this demographic.

The next day the family returned from the cabin, happy and filthy from the experience. We got them cleaned up and ready and rushed them out the door for the annual Aziza Bali Birthday Bash!

Ziza has a magical relationship with nature. Each year, regardless of what the weatherman proclaims, the sun comes out for her birthday.

What a fun birthday it was. The yard was flooded was friends and family. Kids were slip and sliding. Kids were balloon tossing. Parents were having cocktails. Mindy said, "I must face my chair toward my Goddess." and so we all turned toward the sun and baked! Fabulous. Thanks everyone for helping me have such a terrific weekend!

Strawberries!

Today Falcom, Marina and I ventured into our secret berry patch and behold! Tis the season...to pick some berries!

It was with little effort that we quickly filled our bowls with the small pink wild Alaskan strawberries. There was plenty of munching, and picking, and replanting (tossing the ones the mice had taken bites from).

At one point Falcom broke into the tune from one of our favorite, "Not For School" songs. It goes:

"Oh, my baby is sexy for sure
I had to have him when he walked through the door." and
"You think cuz you hit it you get it just like that.
Wait a minute."

I sang, "Oh, my berries juicy for sure. I had to munch it it when plucked it for sure."
Then Marina sang, "Oh why did I get so fat? Its cuz I ate all my berries Just like that! Wait a minute." We all were laughing and riffing and having a blast.

By the end we were sitting on four pounds of fruit. Beautiful children, beautiful fruit, beautiful day.

Our Anniversary

These pictures were all I was able to take before my camera died...I think it's condition is terminal.Vince and I spent our anniversary at our snow machine cabin. When we were at the Summer Solstice Music Festival, one of the singers from Canada made a comment that really hit home for me. She said, "I don't know if it is this way around here, but where I come from in Northern Canada we have back country cabins that we escape to in order to get away from the hustle and bustle of our daily small town living." I was laughing. "Because," She said, "Living in a town of a couple hundred people and no stop light, well, it can really get to be a grind!" By this point I was howling!

During the winter our cabin is deeply buried in snow. It is a snow machine cabin. Because we did not own a 4 wheeler, and I have no desire to hunt, I had never been to the cabin in the summer. Vince tells me about it, but the stories revolve around hunting, mosquitoes, book reading, snoring, and more hunting. For me, there was no real urgent need to visit the cabin...

When we arrived I could not believe my eyes. Our cabin is an oasis of flowers!

I think I will no longer call the cabin 'the snow machine cabin'. Instead, I am going to refer to it as 'the Wild Flower Cabin'.


It was unbelievable. The fireweed was a blanket of pink across each rolling hill. The pink was speckled with the deep purples of delphinium and monkshood. Then there is the violet of the wild geraniums and lupine. The Indian paintbrush was an eye catching splash of gold in all those purple hues. I was spellbound.

The rain held down the pollen so I was not an allergic mess. It also slowed down the mosquitoes so that I could take a few moments to enjoy the show before being overtaken by them. The new 4 wheeler is like a Cadillac and so I was cruising across the swampland like the princess that I am.

The cabin was silent. Silence is an experience that I do not often encounter. Vince read nearly an entire book as I was joyfully playing sudoku without interruption.

After dinner Vince took me on a long ride out to Moosehorn Lake to look at more flowers.

As I rode behind him on the back of that Cadillac of a wheeler, I told Vince, "I much prefer 4 wheeling to snow machine riding." (The following interaction clearly shows the difference between men and women.)

He said, "Really? Why?"

"Because I can hold onto you. It's not cold. We don't go fast. We can talk. It's not loud. I can see things. This is a lovely experience."

He said, "That's funny because I was thinking exactly the opposite. I much prefer snow machine riding. You can hold onto me snow machine riding. And really, if you let me buy new four stroke snow machines this winter it will be much quieter..."

"Don't get your hopes up." I told him.

It was a great night.

Kilcher Family Homestead Games

This sign was not present 14 years ago when Vince lived at the Homestead. Can you see the eagle in the tree?

After three years of not being able to attend these annual homestead festivities, the Greear Family was finally able to attend this years event. We were greeted there by many friends and many opportunities to spend money on Kilcher Memorabilia.
Marina had a terrific time. She did OK at the skillet toss and didn't have patience to wait her turn at the frozen fish toss. She did come in first place at the nail pounding competition and won a delicious cookie. She was thrilled! Falcom wanted no part in the 'Run for the Coal' which is a race to the beach and back. I don't blame him. It is a steep road.

Jeff M. drove the kids on a hay bale ride. It was his birthday. He grew up right up the road. He paid to get into the games. He had to work the ride? Hum...

Mostly, I want to post these as a prelude to the next post I will do which will feature our wedding anniversary. (Click on this to check out last years Igloo-versary here) For those of you who may not realize, this is where Vince was living when he and I met.

The value in attending the Homestead Games was for us to giggle and think fondly about the days when we would meet in this cabin with Yule over seeing us. Falcom could not believe that this is where dad slept! I could not believe that they were selling t-shirts that said, "WWYD" What Would Yule Do. After a couple months with Yule, I know what he would do and it is definitely rated NFFB Not For Family Blog. I can do a great interpretation for you all someday.

The family has made this historical cabin into a museum of sorts. It honors Yule's role in Alaska's statehood. Janet and I enjoyed sitting in what used to be an honest museum to mudrooms on homesteads; a room full of boots and gear and guns. Now it has a bench and a bulletin board. It was good to get out of the rain. Vince looked on the bookshelves doggedly for a book he read when he was there, hoping to find the author because he had such great memories of it, but it was gone. I guess it was not Alaskana enough for the museum.

Speaking of children, the children loved watching Wertzie do her puppet show; The Little Bull. It was beautiful! The little bull knocked down the hedgerow! Very delightful and imagination inspiring.

Tonight we leave on four wheeler to our cabin. Thank you Kilchers for our great, funny memories of those early days!

Iris's Birthday

Friday night found the family at Maygen and Iris's house for Iris's second birthday!

It seems like just yesterday that Maygen was super pregnant and we were hiking to the iris fields with the kids and Valda. (This is when I first realized my hay allergy and my eyes were swollen shut by the time we got there, so the pictures were not my best... another story).

Many of Maygen's friends came baring gifts. Falcom was elated that her favorite gift was the dress up shoes he got her.
Iris's Aunt sent her a faboosh outfit to blow minds at daycare. Aunties know just what a girl needs. She also got a fabulous art station that was getting plenty of use by everyone under 10.

In such a rustic Alaskan environment, an outsider would not expect such glory in cake baking as what Maygen presented. Not one cake, but two. Yes, those are mint leaves and candied carrots on that carrot cake. Yes, this cheese cake is decorated with organic berries in a festive design that matches Iris's dress. This is why I can not loose weight! This is why I am constantly congratulated for not being 300 pounds.

Iris, as the years roll on you may not remember the details of your early life. I do hope that you will remember the feeling of bare feet on plush chickweed and pineapple grass as you pick flowers, friends enjoying the summer days with bluegrass music and delicious food, the quiet sounds of the birds and breezes,the sometimes frantic sounds of your mother shouting, "Wait Iris, Stop!" And your friends catching you with a hug.

Iris, you are loved.

Another Side Effect of Global Warming - I'm Tan

In an unusual celestial move, we have had non stop sun all summer. It has been HOT (for us) and Irene and I have been spending many of our days lounging about, enjoying the kids and tall glasses of whatever we pour. Day before yesterday we went down to our neighbors lake (pond sized really) and she drank margaritas and I had raspberry spritzers and we chatted and gossiped in that summertime way that I love.

(When a bottle of cocktail mix says, "Avoid exposure to sunlight" believe it!)

Even the Paag brothers came down to join us. They took to canoe-ing like a couple of Micronesian warriors. We laughed imagining them out paddling with their boat full of coconuts and breadfruit. Like most teens, I think they much prefer the idea of red meat and Pepsi.

We have not been doing as much fishing as we would like because this weekend the bay was a velvet fog. It is interesting how the bay can be a cold and dreary place, but since our house is at a higher elevation, we stay in the sun.Vince and the big boys did get out yesterday and brought in a successful catch. While sitting lakeside with Irene, I explained to her that this was the feeling in Saipan that I love. It is a, "no obligations sunshine sweetness", Saipan way:

Vince and I, walking on the beach, with our kids, watching the windsurfers, laughing... The only difference is that there is grey instead of white sand beach.