Celebration of Earth Day

Sunset in Martha's Vineyard a few years ago.

Evening camping in Homer, Alaska

Sunset over the Alaska Range near the mouth of the Kasilof River.
We caught 9 beautiful sockeye salmon the next morning.

Hi everyone! Happy Earth Day!

Despite the gray day we're having here in Alaska, I'm feeling good. Slept like a baby and my arm is feeling better a bit today after I did WAAAY too much with it yesterday.

I have a fractured bone in my wrist - an injury I first sustained when I was like 7 or 8 years old - and it never healed quite right, so I've re-fractured this same dang bone probably  5 or 6 times over the years. It doesn't take much. I was digging in the garden and heard the distinct "snap" when it came apart.

There's nothing anyone can do except immobilize it and try to rest it. But, for those of you who know me all too well, I'm kinda gung-ho about cooking or moving furniture or gardening.

Kinda like a bull in a China shop when it comes to my body. I'm always and forever bruised, cut or hurt! Right now my right groin is not quite right again, my index and ring fingers on my right hand are all cut up and my wrist is bad and my back is all tight from vacuuming and moving couches yesterday (don't ask).

Ugh.

I cannot sit still. I'm sure I've got some form of ADHD or some such thing. I'm definitely a whackadoo. I know that for certain.

Today started very nicely with blue sky and birdies tweeting all over the place. Right now I've got juncos, red polls, nuthatch and chickadees chirping and beeping outside the window!  The Stellar's jays come through later, magpies are always around and then my Raven friend who makes the sounds like a dripping, echo-y faucet is never too far away.

Eagles circle overhead all the time. Gyrfalcons, Marsh hawks, owls, a million duck species, ring-necked pheasant, Sandhill cranes, falcons, osprey (in MA), kestrels (in MA)...

I've also seen some HUGE starlings in the yard, Mountain chickadees, pygmy nuthatch (so cute), brown creepers, yellow flicker, warblers (of some variety), white-banded crossbills (amazing), some sort of small swallows, Plain titmouse, Winter wren, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

So fascinating the different critters that inhabit this part of the world. We get these interesting accidentals, too, like the Asian Waxwing that were mixed in with a BIG flock of Bohemian Waxwings we had here in January and February. I've not seen a lot of them lately.

In the course of the last year, I've seen well over 100 new animal species (in the wild, of course) including a LARGE red fox, caribou, many moose, 1 grizzly bear, 30+ black bears, many Beluga, a Pacific white-sided dolphin, a Dall's porpoise, several Stellar's sea lions, river otters, sea otters, giant Sun Stars, GIANT jelly fish, harbor seals, Dall's sheep, mountain goats, and on and on the list goes.

All the changing landscapes as I traveled from The North Atlantic to the North Pacific were so interesting. Seeing the Rocky Mountains for the first time? Crazy. Absolutely overwhelming.

A quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne.
I worked and lived across the street from the House of the Seven Gables.

Black bear Momma.

Canadian Rockies in Banff.

Kayaking with icebergs in Portage Lake.

All the different trees I've seen - Alders, scrub willow, scrub sage, huge redwoods, Sitka spruce that are GIANT, Aspen, HUGE birch. I've got a spruce tree in the back yard that is only about 50 years old and he is just gigantic. Made thousands of spruce cones for the birds and squirrels this past year. Still has cones up top!

I've also met people from every corner of the Earth. Native Alaskans that live in the Pribilof and Aleutian Island chains. People who herd reindeer, people who live from the Earth and respect the Earth and all of its wonders.

People who would never, in a million years, litter and leave their trash behind.

People whose spirit is so strong it sometimes overwhelms me.

People who have recognized my love and reverence for animals and plants and even little natures like spiders and beetles.

People that tell me I am a whisperer of animals. Which I find to be the highest compliment you could ever give me!

Since I was a kid (and my Mom and Dad will attest), I've had a probably unhealthy attachment to all of my animals and even the ones that are supposed to live outdoors. I go to Switzerland, for instance, and come back with a million pictures of the Swiss Brown Cows!

Mammals are not in my diet now, either. The very occasional piece of bacon may jump into my mouth, but 99% of my protein intake is seafood and organic dairy. I can barely even eat chicken anymore. I love chickens. I love their personalities!

I never wanted to kill any of the animals I found (except maggots and slugs - they give me the heebeejeebees!), I only wanted to understand them and talk to them.

For a long time when I was a kid I thought I was a fish - I'd be in our pool or in the lake or in the stream pretending I was a fish. My poor parents would have to basically drag me out of the water to get my skin to un-pickle! Ironic that I hated taking baths, right? I was a grubby little thing.

My Mom would have to sneak into my room to wash these disgusting blue polyester pants I had that were my favorite. Those pants probably could have walked out of my room they were so dirty and disgusting!

Now, of course, I'm a neat freak. Organization is EVERYTHING to me, from my work stations, kitchen, bathrooms, garden equipment.

The only thing I allow to get messy is my car. It's the dog car and gardening car. Why clean it all up when Beebles is just gonna snot it up, get it hairy and then I'm gonna throw dirt and 8000 plants in there? Silly to clean it.

Man, I've still got hair in there from Lady, Koty and Sadie! It's basically a time capsule with wheels.

Tangent there much? Yeesh. My brain. Gotta wonder what the hell happened to me that my brain is so bazonga.

Right now I'm texting with a good friend, Kari. She's gonna come by for lunch. I love feeding people. In the fridge I've got fresh, homemade marinara, crab/vegetable chowder, Dungeness crab legs, turkey breast, croissants, sourdough bread, cheeses, salads, vegetable lasagna (no noodles) and lots of juices like V-8, San Pellegrino Arranciata and Limonata, Orange Juice, 9-berry juice from Costco, Limeaid...

So, what better way to celebrate Earth Day than to have lunch with a friend, play with my pooch in the back yard, watch some birds (and chat with them, of course), then will go out to Balto Park and Point Woronzof and pick up trash.

Sending love out there to all of my peeps near and far. Love you all and miss you.

Ciao for now.

xoxo

A public garden in Seville, Spain. Amazing.

Gardens at an amazing Hotel called Barcelo de Bobadilla in Loja, Spain.
One of the most incredible places I've ever been.

Oleander is everywhere in Spain. Luscious.

Snorkeling near Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands.

Parrot fish smiling at me! He's actually at a cleaning station - see the fishy on his back?
He's got more in his mouth that clean his chompers. This was in Roatan Honduras.

Puffer fish. I love these guys.

Enough

Happy as a clam snorkeling off Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands.

This is a lovely post I grabbed off of Facebook. It didn't have a specific author that I could see, so I'm just re-posting this as I found it.

It was inspired by an elderly woman saying goodbye to her daughter in the airport. She wished her daughter "I wish you enough." And the daughter responded in kind.

Upon asking the woman about their tearful departure and the words they exchanged, the woman explained that she knew that was the final goodbye with her daughter...

And the part about wishing someone enough? This is what that meant:

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. 
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. 
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. 
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. 
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. 
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. 
I wish enough "Hellos" to get you through the final "Good-bye.."

I so get that. Until you are there for the final moments of someone's life - be it a friend, family-member or even your beloved dog or cat, you just cannot understand the value of having "enough."

Being wealthy is fine and dandy, but being lonely? There's no amount of money that can fill that void.

Money is grand, but when you have all the money in the world, but cannot make your Mom or Dad any younger or you cannot cure the cancer that is killing your best friend? Money suddenly is dumb.

There have been a lot of losses in my realm in the last few years. Grandparents, young friends, old friends, dogs, cats that were my friends...It just sucks. I was just crying because two of my Auntie's cats passed away in the last few months. I adored both of them.

So, for today, not a lot to say except that all I want is enough for you, for me, for anyone who is going through a tough time (which seems to be rampant right now).

I just want to live a good life and be happy. I don't need fancy or complicated. I surely don't need or want drama.

I just want a good life. Good food. Health. The ability to travel on occasion. The ability and wherewithal to work, heal my hurts and make a little money.

Hope this post finds you well.

Ciao for now.

xoxo

Happy as a clam again playing in my garden last summer in Alaska!

A Blog about Blogging

This causes me great fits of laughter. It goes on for pages like this...

Did someone lose a kitten?

Then.

Now.

If you click on this and enlarge it, you will see the totem that was given to me by a new friend who is a Native Alaskan.
She felt moved to paint this without even knowing my background.
It is a blue-eyed Eagle with Orca teeth and an open mouth calling out.
The Eagle's eye has silhouettes of a Magpie, a Raven and an Eagle in its pupil
Amazing. Gives me chills. Thank you again, Karen.
You can also see the logs that were fitted
and shaped to make the walls. Each was handmade to fit.

So, I just went on Twitter because I got another request from some stranger who wants to "follow" me on there. Such an odd concept, really, this whole social media weirdo thing.

People from every part of the world read this blog (I have no idea why) and people from all over the world and every walk of life are "friends" with me on Facebook and then now want to follow me on Twitter.

It's really confusing to me. I can see if you've met someone in person and enjoyed a conversation or have a common goal or interest via other friends, that you might connect with someone you don't necessarily know.

However, this whole notion of someone who has NO connection to me whatsoever would want to read my drivel or see the environmental or social justice stuff I put on Facebook and Twitter? I find that just strange!

I'm an old fashioned gal. Verging on 50 years old, I am told again and again that my attitude and looks do not match the number. I'm thankful that I look and act young - however that gives some people the need to discredit the fact that I AM almost 50 and have that many years of experience under my belt.

The conclusions I've reached over the course of a half century have been hard-learned lessons. Since I am terrible at receiving advice or "constructive criticism" I have made many mistakes and have had my heart broken a bunch and have endured several disasters.

I've done a lot of therapy is what I'm saying!

And therapy is not easy. It's really one of the hardest things I've done. I've done marriage counseling with all three husbands now (yeesh), have done individual talk therapy on several occasions - a year of intensive therapy just a little over a year ago. I also did two years of group therapy with men and women in the group lead by a wonderful therapist.

It's very strange to be in therapy with another person or other people. I once was in a different group for a short time and quit after just two sessions because there was a woman in my group who intensely hated me for no good reason. She resented my femininity and positive attitude.

???

What the hell? How the hell does that make me a bad person?

People are so damn strange. That's why I like animals and plants so much. They do no pre-judge and make ridiculous claims.

That's also why I cannot STAND working in an office environment. It's ridiculous the rumours and stupid gossip that inevitably happens in those places.

Give me the ocean, a hiking trail, a lake or a garden. Thank you very much.

Even this whole thing of living with another person or other people. It's HARD to live with someone and constantly feeling like you have to compromise.

I'm lucky in that I get to work out of my home. I get to write here in my living room. I get to have my alone time as much as I really need it.

The idea of the forced social interaction ALL DAY LONG with other people you work with? Ugh. Makes my skin crawl.

So you gotta be social ALL DAY and then go home and have PEOPLE there that want to talk to you? UGH.

Again, it's likely an only-child thing. Only children just are different, I think.

If I don't have time and space to myself each day, I really feel like I'm going to explode. And I've talked to so many other people whose experience is utterly the opposite. They HATE being alone. I simply cannot imagine hating being alone.

Truly, the thing that makes me happiest is being out in the yard frutzing around in the garden with the birds and the insects and my little sweet doggie. If you think about it, that's hardly being alone. The plants are all living things, the birds and the bugs and my dog - they are all living things....

Maybe that's my twisted weird way of viewing the world, but even my house? I feel that it has a soul and is a living thing - especially living in a very old log cabin home.

In fact, this house I live in is a very famous home here in Anchorage. It survived a HUGE earthquake that happened in 1964 and was moved from its original location to the place I am right now.

This house has seen a lot.

Of course, my home in Massachusetts was built in 1800, so imagine the things THAT house has experienced. There was a fire upstairs in that house, it's been a brothel, a shoe store, a grocery store, a home, part of the Underground Railroad, a couple restaurants and even the most favorite bar of a whole generation of Salemites called The No Name Pub!

All the people who used to frequent the No Name wanted to see my house after my husband and I put it back together and made it a happy home again. We had lots of parties so that people could enjoy that amazing, incredible house. I never felt it "belonged" to me, but instead that I was lucky enough to be tasked with the joyous duty of loving and caring for that amazing home.

I feel very much like that in my current home. When I moved here, this was a shell that was where my husband was living. It was not being properly loved or revered.

That's MY job. I understand what this house needs and that it was feeling very unloved for the last few years.

So, yeah. I'm weird. Super sentimental and sappy and all that crap. And I don't feel the need to apologize for ANY of it. I'm weird. I own it. I don't care if you like me or don't.

That's freeing when you kind of cease giving a crap if other people "approve" of the way you go about your business. I'm not here to hurt any one or be mean or unkind. I'm just trying to take care of myself, my home, my garden and my family and friends.

I've made a lot of wonderful friends upon arriving in Alaska. Loads of wonderful women and a few really great young men.

Looking forward to my visits from family and friends this summer! Come WEST my peeps! Summer in Alaska is unbelievable. Gorgeous, lush, long warm days, short warm nights...

Despite all the mistakes and do-overs I wish I had, I've really got no regrets. Maybe regret that I didn't have a child to pass on my weirdness, but that's it, really.

Otherwise? Yaaay for the next 50 years! Bring 'em on!

Ciao for now.

xoxo

My beloved Boaty. I miss her. Altair.

My little pine that made it from my driveway in Massachusetts,
was put in my container, rode by rail to Tacoma, Washington
and then came by boat to Anchorage!
2+ months in the dark with no water. God bless this little pine!
And he survived his first Alaska winter with flying colors.