Seasons..Dec 2008

I am thirty years old and expecting our fourth child in less than 2 months. Rob and I purchased our first home at 10,000 Nantucket Circle in Anchorage two years ago but we do not plan to be here much longer. Opportunities are presenting themselves closer to family and the warm land we crave. To my surprise, it will be a typical departure, happy to go, however, sad to leave.


It is a surprise because at first, I was angry with Alaska, couldn’t wait to leave. But, one year into our stay, Angela was born and changed everything. After her birth, I fell in love with Alaska’s bold majesty. Could this be the same country I found intolerable? Was this the same landscape that made me feel so isolated? My greatest gift from Angela, the truth of life and death, altered my perspective and gave me new eyes.



The Great Land continues to intimidate me, but now my eyes see comfort in its nature and I not only respect its strength but stand in awe of its absolute beauty. I am in love.



The Summer landscape offers consoling delight. Bright green leaves grow abundantly along common town roads. Pines, Birch, Aspen and undergrowth cover the mountains with life below the tree line, and above, small patches of life, only inches high, grow on. Glaciers patiently smooth the land beneath them as they extend towards the sea. Salmon return, every year, following something within that calls them home. Families take pleasure in the traditional dip netting trips where those old enough stand side by side in the water, pulling in their filled nets, while those too young, play on the beach.



In Fall, delicious berries ripen and both man and beast enjoy the harvest; the mountains change from green to yellow, and above tree line the ground cover changes the upper climes to a soothing mix of reds and rusty orange.



To my greatest surprise, I no longer despise the Alaska winter but marvel, instead, at its startling beauty. We haven’t climbed above zero degrees in weeks. The long past snow storms left piles of white and weighed heavy on tree limbs. Even the smallest branches were long frosted over by a beautiful, thick white icing. My first set of eyes would despise the apparent death of it all but, my new eyes see differently. This is a true Winter Wonderland. Despite the Arctic cold, plants and trees in Alaska endure and they return each spring in vivid splendor. Despite its harshness, or perhaps because of such severity, Alaska is alive, and so am I.


My former self would be upset to know that Alaska holds such an influence upon me but I am thankful. Alaska’s vigor strengthens my own I stand more willing to bear with patience the winters ahead. In spite of Death and Darkness, Life and Light go on and so do I.

Goodbye Winter

Today when Susanna went off to school, she was not wearing all of her usual gear. Wow. 40 degrees outside and it's spring! Yay! I have to say, I really enjoyed this winter. One first we experienced was taking the girls ice skating, the babe (in tummy or in arms) and I watched from the sidelines. It is awesome to watch the girls half slide, half walk across a frozen lake. Better yet, it's free!! Just have to have some good ice skates. There are a few options to ice skate in Anchorage to do this, Potter's Marsh, Cuddy Family Park near the Loussac Public Library as well as Westchester lagoon (pictured below on a beautiful March afternoon), and more! Susanna's kindergarten class took a field trip to Jewel Lake, in town, to go ice fishing with the Dept of Fish and Game. (This is the same class that went to Campbell Creek, still in town, to see salmon spawn and then harvest salmon eggs to take back to the classroom to raise through the year!) We will miss this.

Mount Redoubt

Our neighbor, Susan, works for Chevron which has a plant at Drift River near the volcano. She shared some photos with us. Oddly, we were looking at them Sunday night, just hours before the first eruption. The ash did not come to Anchorage but we could see it hovering below Sleeping Lady across the Cook Inlet.

UPDATE-APR 15
On March 28 just after Rob came home from work ash started falling, we could see it on the snow, small little gray specks. It was enough to cover the snow, roof, and decks but that was it, only a dusting. Still, to protect the wee ones, we took all precautions to keep the ash out, taping up the sides of windows and doors, etc. Church meetings were cancelled. Rob still had to work that day at the hospital but the girls and I had a nice Sunday at home. I wondered when I would dare go out with little Corinne and my asthma prone girls. On Monday I was relieved to see that it had snowed quite a bit, covering the ash, and freeing me from my home! We also wondered how it would work trying to sell our home during this time but, so far so good!

Eruptions and Inductions

Susanna and Lucy are all excited about the recent developments with Redoubt, a volcano about 100 miles away from Anchorage.

Susanna came home from school and told us that they are covering the computers with plastic every night. She also carries a face mask everyday to school in her backpack.

Lucy just told me, "If the lava gets on you and you die, then you have to go to a dentist appointment." Also, "If you get hurt, the policeman will climb up the mountain and carry and carry and bring you to the hospital."

The doctor is planning to induce me on my 39 week mark (Feb 18), if the volcano goes it will make this birthing thing a bit more interesting. I haven't ever considered having a child at home....yikes!

Here is a link to the latest updates on Redoubt
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/

Hello Winter! Check the Calendar..

The first thing Susanna said when she climbed in the car this afternoon was, "It was 23 degrees at our school today! We wrote it in our journals!"

Susanna's school is located, not at the airport where the Anchorage temperature is registered, but in the Campbell Creek area, which tends to be the coldest part of the city, the temperature variance is huge! 10 degrees or more!

Blueberries and Brussel Sprouts

Last week, the Boyle family headed up to Blueberry Hill, just above town and found a bush plentiful with big, dark blueberries. We had found this bush with my sister Anna, last fall, and we were happy that it was still there for the pickin' this year. We had a great time. The fall colors of the hills were spectacular, coupled with the dusting on the nearby peaks. It was a beautiful setting for a beautiful harvest. I wish there were more berry bushes in the world, people might be happier. Kuplink, Kuplank, Kuplunk. Lucy and Sue enjoyed emptying out their ziploc bags before we could get them to the freezer. :) It was amazing to see the difference it made on my spirit that day. This is our third year berry picking and each year it is enriched. The first was more recon than anything productive but still amazing, the second it developed into something approaching addiction and this year has been just sweet. My sister Anna is visiting again this week with two of her five children and I think we might just be jamming (we might just turn on some Bob Marley to enhance the experience. :) )

On the first day of Lucy's Preschool, I took a picture of her out in front of our home. A few hours later, Susanna and I were sitting on the front porch enjoying some fleeting sunny rays and working on "homework" (She loves it so far, and so do I! Let's hope we can keep it that way!) All of the sudden we noticed something different about our Brussel Sprout plant...it had been attacked! I checked the picture of Lucy in front of it and verified that it had been alive and well at 8:50am. All of the leaves had been eaten and there was a big moose hoof print in the dark soil near the base of our anticipated tower of tastiness. The sprouts were just starting to take off! We had a mixture of emotions. Last night, I dreamt I had six moose in our yard...

Farewell to Summer!

Despite reports that this was the 3rd coldest Alaskan summer on record, we had some good times.

Some even asked us if we'd "been outside" (meaning out of Alaska) recently, looking at the girls' color on their cheeks. No, I'd reply, we've just jumped at the chance of being outside whenever the sun was out. It wasn't often but, Alaskan winters are good motivators to make Vitamin D while, and when, the sun shines!

As we head closer and closer to 32, we look back at the days of 60s and those 3 days of 70s and say, "See you next year!!!!"

Moose in Sprinkler!

Mother moose and twin baby moose were in our friend's yard this summer while we were there. My friend, Cathy, had the great idea to turn on the sprinkler and we had our camera's rollin', she has posted her shots on you tube and it is great! Check it out!

paste into browser or go to youtube.com and look up "twin baby moose in sprinkler" http://youtube.com/watch?v=yNy9jTeolUk

Alaska Rhubarb Cake

This comes from our nice friends, the Marvins.

1/2 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 c. milk
1 1/2 c. rhubarb, chopped 1/2 in. slices
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
Cream shortening and brown sugar. Add egg and milk to mix. Stir in rhubarb and vanilla, then add flour, soda and salt (after sifting them together), into the mix.9x9 pan, 350 degrees, 35-40 min.topping:(PS I like this cake ALONE, I've never made the topping)
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1 T. butter
combine in a bowl and sprinkle on hot, baked cake

Dipnetting at the Kenai River

We had a great and dreadful time dipnetting at the mouth of the Kenai this year (dreadful for the fish and or our pack up job! :)). It was an adventure, our first time camping on a beach, we improvised our car mat into a tent rug entry...bad idea but, good effort! It was sunny the first day and rainy, windy and cold on the second. We were very happy to be packed up and in the car by the end. The fish run was slow but, we still managed to have the excitement of feeling a few salmon tugging in our nets. It is one of my top experiences in Alaska, seeing all of the folks lined up on the shores with their nets in the water and family and friends on the beach watching for them to pull in their nets and start the process of "processing" the fish. Some do everything there on the beach, which makes for plenty of work on the part of the seagulls. This year I saw a few people quickly filetting their salmon with ulu knives, some on coolers, wooden planks or even well-used ironing boards! I love the atmosphere, even with the fish remains (you should see those Kings!), there are a lot of families there, kids playing on the beach or helping out with the fishing. It's great. We even ran into the Elders serving in the Kenai area, one of them was in our Anchorage ward last year, Elder Bedke from Oakley, Idaho. We wore mom out, but she was great sport and the toys she brought were a big hit with the girls while they played in the tent on the second day!