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I have spent the last 8 months in a bitterly cold and iced over wasteland, and have begun to lose the desire to write....somewhat like Jack Nicholson, in 'The Shining'. This is where I am at, in the head.....
We are seasoned. We have been through our second winter. Our bodies and metabolisms have acclimated to minus temperatures for durations, lack of light and life in the winter North land. My aunt was cracking up when she asked me the other day if it has gotten warmer out. I replied that yes, it was 42 degrees out that day and it felt wonderful! Ya just don't realize how a meager 42 degrees with sunshine can be a God send and feel so wonderful to the human body and spirit!! But it is true. It does. Thank God and thanks to many prayers, my aunt survived and is recovering from a heart attack she had on Easter. We love you aunt Mary, and know you will be fine and back on your feet before you know it!
Today was a little overcast. Ok, alot of overcast with some afternoon drizzle. But tonight the sun is out and although it is butt chilly from the wind, it is marvelous outside. The days are getting long. It doesn't get dark until 10:30 PM with the sun coming up at....help me out here Erin, you are up before me...5:30AM?? And as I have stated before, it is really easy to lose touch with the time and realize that "oh crud", it is already 9:30PM!! But it is a great thing and we are so happy that the snow is melting fast, and the ice has finally made way to actual ground. And I kid you not this is the first we have seen of "ground" since October.
Actual real live "ground"!!!
This is the ash, after the break-up that we will be dealing with for a while, all the way down to mowing the lawn when the lawn finally gets green.
The lake is slowly starting to reappear. Still iced but hopefully it will turn soon.
The huge rock recently re-emerged! We have missed our rock!!The volcano is still actively erupting. Although most of the activity has been confined to low level plumes of steam and volcanic spooge that rise a few thousand feet in the air. No major explosions, although the forming lava dome is pretty impressive. But they say it is not over..... We wait.
Funny story. I went to lunch with Maryann today in Soldotna. After lunch I headed back towards Kenai to finish my work. We ran out of heating oil this morning so I loaded the auxiliary 55 gallon tank into the truck to take it in to get it filled. Mind you, we are avoiding tapping into the full 500 gallon main tank until next winter. The price dropped per gallon again last night so I figured "fill it to the rim!" I pull into Alaska Oil Sales and as I am coming into the parking lot I noticed the driver in the tanker building was kind of looking like he was seeing a ghost drive in or something. I figured he was just another winter stricken Alaskan with that crazy eye, anxiously awaiting spring. As I pull up to the fuel pumping dock, I back the truck to it for easy filling access to our tank in the back of my truck, jump out as Dennis says down to me "how is your day going?". I was a little disrupted to that question as I noticed that my left tire is just smoking and I am smelling total 'burning brake'. In the midst of the menagerie of sight and sound, I muddled back to him "well, it was going good but I don't think it is anymore...." By this point he is smelling 'burning brake' and comments on it, but notices that I am staring in dismay at my tire and not responding. This draws his attention to that side of the truck to notice that I have some serious smoke dispelling at a high rate. I looked at him as his mouth flops open and he says in a clam yet direct voice...."maybe you should move your truck out int the parking lot...like quick..." This is when it dawned to me that my brakes may well be on fire. I am parked within several feet of 6 fuel pumping ports which are connected to God knows how many thousands of gallons of fuel behind the dock building.....you do the math!?! Needless to say it was a hair raising moment and we both got a chuckle after the fact, over both of our desires for the utter need of less excitement in this day, as the brakes cooled and the smoke subsided. And eventually I got the drum filled and went merrily on my way. Now, why you ask were my brakes burning? I usually don't need my emergency brakes in the winter, not only for the fact that emergency brakes do no good to keep a truck in place on sheet ice, but also the fact that I drop the plow blade when I park and that is usually sufficient for a holding grip! Guess who put on his emergency brake today for the first time in 7 months?! Guess who forgot to disengage that brake after lunch!? Whoops, man! That is what happens when one is 'fat and happy'!
John graduates in less than a month. Then the real world. Will he be ready? I really hope so because he is jumping head on into it! He informed us this past weekend that he will be moving out after graduation. Actually, he informed us that he was moving out back on Saturday until we informed him that he was not going anywhere until after graduation where upon he re advised us of his plans to leave after graduation. We are happy for him. Just pray that he is ready for it because although he is welcome back at any time....after he leaves, his room is being renovated and I will be turning it into the parlor/clubhouse/music room/office. And, did I mention that it would be happening in short order?? Like I said and I speak for both of us, we really hope he is ready, It was thoroughly his decision and we will honor it. The more we realize that soon we will have the house to ourselves.....hmm.....life after the kids! Woo-hoo!!!! Nudism and freedom, here we come, man! (huge grin)
The end of this month our beloved 'Sweet Pea' will be hanging it up. She will officially be gone as Maryann is tossed into the official position of General Manager/Operations Manager/Booking Agent/Bookkeeper. All this and in less than one year! I am hoping on that note for an early retirement. Workout in the new clubhouse, relax in the new parlor, and enjoy smooth tunes.....in the new music room! Ah, a dream..... So for now, we hold tight to the arrival of summer, kiss break-up and winter goodbye, and hope for some excitement in this coming year. Our love to all!
1 comment:
Yep, dawn is around 5:30 and sunrise is around 6:15. We have also been enamored by the sight of dirt - who knew it would ever come to this? Unfortunately, we never raked our leaves from the fall, so it will be quite a job after they were compacted so nicely by the snow. I was also thrilled at 51 degrees the other day and called my mother-in-law to tell her how warm it was. She laughed. Today was... dull.
I hear the ash is great for fertilizing the ground, so at least there is a perk to us getting some!
Thank you for not blowing up the city and good luck with your new nudist colony.
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