Blast from the Past

Pictures coming soon, check back!

Mom's Trip to Alaska
My mom came to visit me in the great state of Alaska a few weeks ago, and we had such an awesome time. Every day held some new adventure, and Mom got to see a lot of South-Central Alaska, from Glenallen to Seward. Our big trip was to the Alyeska ski resort and hotel in Girdwood to break up our trip from Palmer to Seward; I had planned out a Kenai Fjords tour on Thursday morning with Karla, so Mom and I traveled to Girdwood, which is an approximate halfway point between Palmer and Seward. It was such a comfortable place to stay...they have a saline pool, a HOT tub instead of a lukewarm-tub, pillowtop mattresses, cozy down comforters and a beautiful tram ride up to the top of the mountain, where the Seven Glaciers restaurant lies.

We woke up early Thursday morning and got off on a good start to Seward, which is 80 miles south of Girdwood. However, we barely made the tour because of all the construction--5mph roads, long waits for the pilot car to lead us through heavy roadwork...finally ended up in Seward just in time to catch the shuttle with Karla over to where the tour boat office is. After all that hullabaloo the rest of the day was so incredible. Magical. We saw so much wildlife--tufted puffins, breaching humpback whales and orcas that came up right next to our boat, sea otters, Stellar's sea lions, harbor seals, varied seabirds--and the backdrop of mountains and glaciers was amazing. Mom got seasick, but enjoyed seeing the bounty of Alaska's oceans anyway. The end of the trip held a prime rib, Alaska salmon and King crab meal at the dinner hall on Fox Island; we were treated to a very dry, uninteresting National Park Service talk, which made me sad (there's so much exciting stuff to talk about, how could anything about AK be boring?!!) and the best seafood meal I've had in a long time. Before we got to the island, we had seen a humpback breach about 30 yards from the boat, so our dinner consisted of oohing and ahhing over all the pictures we'd gotten of the magnificient creature.

In heading east to Glenallen Mom was finally able to see where she's been shipping coffee all these years--the crew at Omni Parks Place were delighted to meet her and gave her an honorary apron and of course, Rick said, "Can I give you a cup of coffee?" We also bombed all over my valley, going to the Reindeer Farm, Hatcher's Pass, Vagabond Blues, Matanuska River Park, and my farm. It was so good to have her here, and it'll be good to bring back the memories when the winter semester starts getting a little too long before I am able to get home for Christmas. Finally, we were able to connect my homes...my home on the prairie, with my lover and families, and my life up here, with the friends and families I will eventually leave behind when I finish my schooling.

Farm School
Speaking of schooling, there are 13 new little cuties running around the Farm lately on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays! We just started our summer session of Farm School yesterday, and now broken into two groups by age: K-1 in the Chickadees group, of which I am the lead instructor, and 1-3 in the Magpies group, of which Jenn is the lead. Sierra will be my co-instructor. There are 8 little ones in the Chickadees and 5 in the Magpies...and all of them are smart as all get out, rambunctious and ready to learn. I have so many plans for this session: picking berries at either Hatcher's Pass or the Crevasse Moraine, going to the Matanuska River park to explore and gather stepping stones for the Children's Garden, doing a study of Spring Creek and making a map of how it runs through the farm, and making berry jam are all on my agenda for the next 5 weeks. Pictures to come of us doing fun stuff with this new class!

Graduate Work
Now that I am a second-year graduate student, I will be putting in more work on my thesis in the next year. I still have two electives, a practicum and thesis credits to finish up before I can graduate. This semester I am taking two classes: Environmental Ethics, and Advanced Leadership Topics; both should be interesting and enjoyable. My schedule works out perfectly this semester: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays hold Farm School, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are my class days in Anchorage. On the weekends I will be barista-ing at Vagabond Blues! I just got a job there a few weeks ago and am excited to not only have another paycheck coming in to supplement my teaching, housesitting and kidcare, but to be back in the coffee shop scene. It's definitely been challenging to learn a new rhythm and routine, but I am so grateful to be working in a shop that takes their food and espresso seriously. Quality stuff! : )

Boyfriend Charlie
Boyfriend Charlie and I are doing very well. We had our one-year anniversary on August 10th, paired with the anniversary of my departure for Alaska. Having been in a long-distance relationship for over a year now I can say that it totally sucks for the physical presence side of things, but our conversations via email and phone are fun and fulfilling. Care packages, cards and letters help to ease the pain of being away from each other for so long, and I'm looking forward to my move home next summer to really start being with him. So many plans. He is coming to visit September 3-14th, and there are about 50 people plotting myriad ways to try to get him to stay. : ) Although I don't think that'll happen, I am excited for him to finally bear witness to the side of my life that has for now only been through stories, pictures and videos. I miss him so incredibly much when we're not together, mostly because the big, beautiful things that I experience every day...the mountains, wildlife, the kids I teach...need to be shared with my partner. It's so much better to experience amazing things with someone you love.

Other than that, not much is new. I am fast sinking back into a busy and fulfilling schedule, and loving the transition. Every day I sense winter approaching...a new tree has gone yellow, or a crop of once-blossomed fireweed has topped out and finished its blooming for the year. This morning it was 49 when I drove into town, and hot tea is feeling extra good when I get out of bed. I'm craving more carbs and fats, and am anxious for all the good things fall and winter bring to Alaska...skiing, hiking, rolling in the leaves with a pile of dogs and kindergarteners...Life is well.