Bike Update

Here's an update on the bike scheme: what a fabulous idea!! And I have decided that I do not need the Springer Dog Jogger device (a bicycle attachment for jogging your dog alongside) after all. Just tying her leash around my waist as we go is working out well so far. She loved it, and it was pretty fun. I saw a couple drivers smiling when they passed us (they may have been laughing, I don't know), I think it was probably kind of funny. A couple things- I bought her a harness today, as I don't like the thought of her neck getting tugged when I change directions suddenly. I also have to teach her how to recognize a verbal command for turning left and right, and to speed up and slow down. I think she'll catch on pretty quickly, and I think it would be safer than just hoping she's paying attention when I make a turn.

Overall, though, I'm pleased.

Also, my garden looks great. The peppers are blossoming, the lettuce is getting bigger, and the tomatoes are even taller now. The cabbage has new little leaves on it, and the radishes and beans are finally sprouting. Everything looks pretty good.

That's pretty much it.

202 Carolina Avenue

Well, I have found my first real house. It doesn't matter in the slightest that it's not even on the market yet, or that I have no idea how expensive it will be. It's absolutely perfect for me. If I had a way to post a photo (hint, hint), I'd be able to show you all just how perfect it is. But for now you'll have to settle for my description.

It's a small cottage size place on a short, quiet, well-kept avenue full of small, neat little houses. You'll find no grotesque, oversized and charmless goliath houses here. Instead you'll see small places with charm and character. There are fully mature trees making shady havens in the sun, and little white fences that good-naturedly divide one neighbor from the next. My house (202 Carolina Avenue) is small, with khaki colored siding, and white trim. There is a huge shade tree in the front yard just begging to have some hostas planted beneath it. Red brick stairs invite you up on the porch (which seems custom made for two giant hanging ferns reminiscent of the south). There are smaller windows to the left of the house which I imagine to be a kitchen where I could stand and look out into my front yard while I'm doing dishes. To the right of the front side of the house is another set of windows (a living room, maybe?) and a red brick chimney (you know I couldn't live in a house without a fireplace). The back yard is fenced in, which is perfect for Maddie.

I haven't been inside, obviously, so I can't say what it looks like. But I just have a feeling it will be equally adorable. I just hope it's not $80,000-90,000 adorable. $65,000 adorable is doable. So keep your fingers crossed, as I know (via a sign in the front yard) that it'll be on the market soon.

I have half a mind to forward my mail to that address as a good omen. Do you think that would be presumptuous of me?

A new bike, and a new scheme...

Well, so far the vegetable garden seems to be holding its own. But plants aren't the only things rearing their little heads into this world...Andrea and Bill had their baby Will (I don't know if they're going to call him Bill, Billy, Willy, Will, or William, so I just chose one that I like) yesterday at roughly 5pm. Andrea, of course, had as lovely a childbirth as one could possibly expect given what must take place in the natural course of the process. Both mom and baby are doing well and there's a proud new papa in Gillespie right about now. Actually, I think they all three made it home today to spend their first night together in their house. They make such a cute little family. I'll post photos if I can ever get my stupid laptop wireless connection going again. If anyone wants to send me another wireless notebook card and router, that would be great. But judging from the fact that no one ever sent me the book I requested back in March, I guess none of you love me that much.

Just kidding.

So what did I do today? I bought a bike. It's not fancy- I didn't need any of the gears or handbreaks or anything, so it's pretty basic and that suits me just fine. I still have the helmet I bought and decorated when Andrea and I decided that rollerblading would be a good workout and that we'd probably get pretty good with some practice. We never got good, and we never practiced, so the poor helmet got stashed away with all the other things I never use but can't throw away. Now I can dust it off and strap it on again. I don't care that there are foam letters and cutouts all over it. I am not easily embarassed.

So what's the plan with the bike? More physical activity that can include my dog. I have recently concluded that she must be part border collie. I always suspected, since she is such a spaz, but I thought maybe, just maybe, she'd settle down. Now I can say with some degree of confidence (since she is now almost 3 and 1/2) that this is unlikely to ever happen. What she needs is to run. A lot. Then she won't have the energy to be such a spastic ball of relentless energy. At least, that's my hope. Since there is no way that my energy level for running could ever match hers, I thought I'd add wheels underneath me and see what I could do. Initially I did consider rollerblading (quickly dismissed because I cannot see myself ever being able to go fast enough to do her any good), and building a little wagon setup so she could pull me around at high speeds (also quickly dismissed due to the ridiculousness quotient). At one point (I am genuinely embarrassed to admit this) I even considered driving my car somewhat slowly while holding a leash and running her alongside it. But that's obviously too dangerous, and I need the exercise, too, so finally I settled on biking because I can go fairly fast, and for long distances. She is in for it now, I tell you. She is going to be the most fit dog in Madison County after I'm through with her. People will comment on what a docile, laid back dog I have all the while unaware what lengths I have gone to in order to achieve what appears to be a calm temperament.

The first "run" is tomorrow evening, and I will most definitely keep you posted. I would be happy to post accompanying photos, but someone has to send me a notebook card and router first...

Entertainment like that is surely worth it, don't you think?

Freud or Farming?

If you read the previous recent posts (before Alaska) you know that I haven't exactly been shy about how my whole family situation has affected me emotionally. I have continued to struggle with myself and my thoughts regarding the situation, and was close to making an appointment to see a counselor who could help me sort through all of it so that I could have some clarity in the matter. I may do that yet, I don't know. But I'll tell you what's helped most of all: gardening. Yep, you read right. I planted a garden in the hopes that the hard physical work and the distraction would help me sort of work through the situation a bit. It's incredible that working with dirt can really work out all sorts of frustrations. I gardened for six hours the other day, and as a result, I have planted a vegetable garden containing: eggplant, cauliflower, romaine lettuce, asparagus, cabbage, rhubarb, tomatoes, 4 varieties of peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and yellow squash. Going back today to water and weed I just stood there looking at it with a feeling of accomplishment. Tomorrow I plan to plant my herb garden which will have: basil, parsley, oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, chives, and sage.

And I have to say that things are looking up. It's not that I've reached some great understanding or acceptance of the way things are, but my frustration level with the whole thing has dramatically lessened.

So it seems that Mother Earth makes a pretty fine counselor, indeed.

Anyone?

Anyone out there ever been to/heard of Plano, Texas? Wanna tell me about it? I'm all ears...

It's all over...

Well, this is it. Our trip is done, and before long we'll be homeward bound. This trip, like nearly everything, was not what we expected. In fact, I can't even remember anymore just exactly what I did expect. But now I've been to Alaska, and I can honestly say that I know Anchorage really well. It was not a wasted trip. Over a lovely dinner of grilled fish and micro-brewed beer last night we both agreed that we'd made the best of what we were given. The skiing was really the highlight of the trip, and the scenery really is breathtaking- besides that, in April there's not much beyond the usual tourist-trap shops and some quite good restaurants. I think we're both happy to go home. Actually, I know it for a fact. And what's funny is that nothing will have changed when I get back home...but, then, isn't that the point of home?

I guess for the actual trip home, I have just one hope. I don't want to hear another announcement like the one we heard as we were flying in for our landing at Anchorage...it went like this: "Ladies and gentlemen, you're on your own. It's too turbulent for the flight attendants to be walking around in the cabin, so you'll have to prepare yourselves for the landing."
And this while the plane is rocking violently back and forth in the seconds before actually landing. If I can avoid this scenario again, I'll have nothing left to complain about.

Have a great Saturday, everyone.

Where has all the wildlife gone?

We've now been here for 8 days, and let's see what I can tell you about Alaska:

1. Alaskan drivers are almost as rude as Missouri drivers
2. This is one of the most beautiful states I've ever seen
3. There is wildlife here. At least I think there is. I mean, that's what everyone keeps telling us, anyway.
4. There are more espresso huts per capita than anywhere else I've been
5. The rate of rape in Anchorage is the highest rate rape of anywhere in the nation. Do I need to remind you that the male: female ratio is 2:1?

So we had a couple fun-packed days on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday we drove to the ski resort town of Aleyaska on a mission to hike and have fun, damnit! So we picked a trail and decided to hike a total of 4.5 snow covered wilderness miles. Signs and people told us that we may encounter bears and/or moose. But we were determined to experience the great Alaskan outdoors, and so we pushed onward. I whistled for a long time to alert any wildlife to the fact that we were coming. I needn't have bothered- the wildest creature we saw was a *gasp* squirrel. And I'm telling you, we were in some pretty remote land...we didn't see another human being (or any signs that anyone besides us had been trecking around there in the snow) for the entire 4 hour jaunt. We did see a spectacular gorge that had crytsal clear water rushing through it and huge icicles hanging on the sides. And in case you're wondering: hiking in the snow is even harder than hiking in the sand- we kept breaking through the snow up to our knees and having to pull ourselves up and out. During one part, we were required to hike dangerously close to a very steep ledge covered with ice. For this, we developed the butt scoot method whereby you sit on your butt and scoot past anything remotely dangerous while whistling like a lunatic to make sure the moose and bear (or, in our case, the squirrels) know that you're coming.

Anyway, the next day we went back to the ski resort- this time to ski with the help of our faithful instructor Ruth. For two hours she patiently taught us how to ski on one foot, then the other, then both, then stopping and turning, etc. Tiffany got frustrated because instead of being allowed to practice what we'd learned, Ruth kept coming up with different things for us to try. By the end of the lesson, I was ready to go, and Tiffany was fed up. We ate lunch at the lodge, and I talked her into trying it one more time (sans Ruth). That was the trick! Without Ruth, she was able to convince her left leg to OBEY (damnit!) and turn her in the direction she wanted (instead of the left leg getting all the say). By the end, she was swooping and stopping like the best of them- and we have the video footage to prove it. One of these days we're going to send it to Ruth.
For my part, I have to admit that I never learn my lesson. I broke my knee several years ago when I was skiing for the first time after I insisted that I was ready for the bigger hill. After our lesson with Ruth this time, I skiied the baby hill again and again and was finally sure that I was ready for the ski lift (despite the fact that Ruth had not been able to show us how to get on/off the lifts). I went to ask the ski lift guy how to do it, but to do that you had to approach him and risk the danger of the lift swooping behind you and carrying you off before you're ready. That's what happened to me, and I ended up yelling to the guy that I didn't know how to get off as I was being carried up the mountain. The trip up was nice (kinda high, so a little scary), and I assured myself that I would just do whatever the person in front of me did. He got off and skiied down the little lift slope and was gone. When my turn came, I eased off the lift and promtly fell backwards and skidded down the lift hill. I looked up to see the ski lift guy trying to hide his laughter. I told him it was my first time, and that the instructor hadn't shown us how to get off the lift. Then I asked him which run I should go down (as a complete beginner). He said, "If you want the beginner slope, go that way. But if you want to go slow, take this [moderate difficulty] hill." So I decided that, above all, I needed to go slow. Down the moderate difficultly slope I went. But it was anything but slow. I was skiing at what felt like 45mph, and was dangerously out of control. I tried to make a wedge (as Ruth had shown us) to slow myself, but no matter how wedged I got or how hard I dug my skiis in, I wasn't slowing down at all. I tried so hard that I ended up on my ass and then on my back skidding down the hill at an impressive rate. I nearly took out two skiiers ahead of me, I was going so fast. But I eventually stopped, got back up and skiied VERY carefully down the rest of the way.

Needless to say, that day was finished on the baby hill.

My time is up, more later.

So this is Anchorage...

After a couple harrowing experiences flying (and some awe-inspring volcanic activity as a backdrop), we have finally arrived in Anchorage. And what first greeted us in the airport lobby? Two fierce looking polar bears (I TOLD you all there were polar bears in Alaska!!). So we're here, then. We were exhausted last night and after unpacking quickly in our very non-luxurious (but perfectly comfortable) hotel/hostel/bed and breakfast, we ate some ramen noodles and popcorn. We nearly broke the sink in the kitchen (I use the term "kitchen" very loosely here...it's quite interesting, really), and the microwave is too small to allow for the expansion of a bag of microwave popcorn, but we're happy. It works. And it's only $18 a night. We are centrally located, but we've come to learn a thing or two about what that means here. Does it really matter if you're centrally located if there's nothing going on in the center? So we've decided to rent a car, because there has to be more to Alaska than what we've seen so far (besides the Glacier Brewhouse, which we loved). So tomorrow we're going to the slopes to witness the "Big Air" competition and perhaps do a little skiing and/or snowshoeing. We may even enter the snowshoeing competition that's open to the public. After all, at this point, we may be expert snowshoers and we just don't know it. Either way, we've got nothing to lose.

More later...(maybe a trophy of some kind, even...)