Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Tags: Quoting
I don’t know that I’ve ever told you that I am a gleaner. A spotter and collector of edibles, mostly fruits. Yesterday, while out with the hubster at the hardware store to buy a post hole digger (Oh, yeah! We dig.), I spied a passel of trees heavy with tiny apples. I’d seen them other places, but this was somewhat less conspicuous than collecting them at the library. So, while the hubster shopped, I picked. They were mostly overripe, so I didn’t get as many as I would have liked, but enough to try a batch of jelly. I hadn’t made jelly before, generally preferring jams and other whole fruit preserves. It’s a bit more labor intensive, as I forgot to document the step where I strain what is essentially apple sauce in a drawstring bag dangling (by tying it to a broom handle balanced on dining chairs – fancy!) over a glass bowl. In this case, it was WELL worth the effort. It is as delicious as it is beautiful, slightly tart and fragrant, the skins of the apple turning it that marvelous color! I’m calling it, with a serious nod to my 80s roots, Pretty in Pink.
Grandpa, are you ready for a jar?
And we pray, not for new
earth or heaven, but to be quiet
in heart, and in eye clear.
What we need is here.
Wendell Berry
Tags: Quoting
Anchorage
Only one in eight tourists gets this view of Mt. Foraker and Denali, apparently. I was super-duper lucky, as I got to see them every day! Also super-duper lucky to witness the mesmerizing magic of the aurora borealis after sunset. How I love this beautiful world…
Moose!
The Last Frontier. Land of the Midnight Sun and Dr. Seuss-like flowers. Alaska! Did you see the glacier in my last post? Giant and gorgeous, let me tell you. The mantra for the entire state, I think.
I went to cuddle and bounce a sweet baby boy; jump and run and play with a delightful three-year-old; and while the hours with fantastically neat adult persons. It’s Solveig and Family, with the fine bonus of traveling to Alaska to get the job done. What a wonderfully jam-packed and magical time, truly. I saw mountains, so many mountains, verdant and snow capped; glaciers, ice, changing tides, mystical boreal forests, and practically needed to wire my jaw to keep it from dropping at the stunning beauty of it all. We visited the state fair. I ate wild salmon and reindeer, syrup and tea made from birch trees, jams and jellies from salmon berries, fir tips, and Sitka roses.
And the baby boy is perfect – cuddly and healthy, and, probably goes without saying, adorable. Luna – do you remember Luna? – is a scrapper, a full belly laugher, and light up the room smiler. She calls me “Your Friend.” “Will Your Friend jump on the trampoline?” “Will Your Friend play with me?” “When can your friend push me on the swings?” “Can Your Friend read me a story?” “Where is Your Friend?” “WHY does Your Friend live so far away?!!”
Beautiful Mama. Proud, too.
Artist:
John Grade – “Floats”
At the Anchorage Museum now, one of the most unique I have ever visited, as the collection and the various exhibits are very specific to the far North (Anchorage lies at 61 degrees). There is art (and sound) that explores the existence of polar bears, the isolated life of the Arctic, as well as indigenous works. They are beautiful, often stark, and sometimes haunting. They also have places for kids (and, ahem, their adult companions) to learn about science by blowing bubbles, jumping, climbing, even making earthquakes!
The highway to Seward and a stroll along the coastal trail, which hugs the Cook Inlet. If I had one regret on this trip, it would be that I left my long lens and tripod at home. My eyes devoured what my camera could not. Next year!! The hubster and I will return together and make up for it.
Tags: Traveling
