Little Bits

Matt and I are both a little under the weather, so we've not really been up to too much, but here's a sampling of what we've been up to (ok--honestly, it's all we've been up to!!).

Yesterday we drove up the valley to Wasilla--hometown of our awesome Governor. The objective?? We're attempting to get our guest bed together for all of the visits we're expecting from y'all, and had found a bed frame on craigslit! The drive took about 1 hour, and it was sensationally beautiful. The landscape is a pure, vibrant green that just goes on and on and only stops at the sheer mountains. There are these gorgeous birch trees everywhere--it's the predominant tree around here--and wildflowers dot the undergrowth with vivid color. We drove over a tidal river that was just huge--much more of a river than what we have in Colorado. The water is a blue-green in the rivers, but in the tidal flats it's mostly grey--the color of the mud. It was a nice little opportunity to see a little bit more of the landscape around here.

Last weekend we took a walk along Ship Creek Trail--my neighbor Luis calls it the "12 million dollar trail" because that's how much the city spent to build it. It has this neat corkscrew bridge up and over the railroad, and starts basically at the bottom of the hill we live on. The trail was a strange mix of lush and lovely landscape and creek on one side, and train yards and commercial trucking, equipment, and junkyards on the other. The more I'm here the more I understand that, especially in Anchorage, that kind of contradiction embodies this place. The lovely hill we live on is bordered at it's base by the port operations of the city--so you look out over these huge gas/oil tanks and cranes and railroad cars to a lovely view of the cook inlet and the mountains beyond. The unbelievably clear blue-green waters of Ship Creek stood out the most to me, though. You can tell just by looking at them that they originated from a glacier.

Today we went to an art festival in the Alaska Botanical gardens here in Anchorage to hear Matt's supervisor, Debra, play cello in a string band she's in. The had all these local artist booths strung along the trails of the garden. Very neat, plus we got to figure out a few of the names of the flowers we've been seeing. At first I balked at the $5 entry fee, but later realized it was really a pretty good deal for music, art, and nature all mixed up in one. A few weeks ago we shelled out $15 each to see a Scottish pipe and drum recital in a local church--and this was equally enjoyable.