We teachers herded and prodded them toward the exits. Waiting outside in the gentle Alaskan sun we watched them load the buses, and then waved farewell as the buses pulled away. "I won't miss you!" I called out as I did the parade wave for what seemed like forever. And as soon as all 10 buses were out of sight the staff of Mears Middle School let out a celebratory whoop too!
You guessed it, Jen has officially finished her last week of school this year. Now that summer feels like is has officially begun we've got plenty of adventures, large and small, underway.
On Thursday Matt took a trip out to Platinum, one of his communities, where he had a rare clear day for his flight. He said the views of anchorage and the surrounding mountains were stunning. As the plane descended toward Anchorage glaciers came into view, all three volcanoes along the Alaska Range, and he even could see all the way down the Kenai Peninsula into the Gulf of Alaska. It's pretty cool that he was on the clock AND earning airline miles while he got to see all this natural beauty.
While in Platinum he spoke with his contact there about goose hunting, which is happening big time right now. Black Brants and Emperor Geese are apparently flying (and being hunted) in in abundance.
As we learn more about subsistence food cultures (and the horrors of industrial factory farmed food) we are very intrigued by this way of life--envious even. But we are not yet hunting ourselves, just unsuccessfully fishing so far. Hopefully this summer we at least become mediocre anglers. Mom and Dad Paterson have recently purchased Matt a new fly rod that will certainly give a good start!
On Saturday Matt and I attended the grand opening of the new Alaska Writing Center called Raven Place. We have both been volunteering to help get the little house clean and ready to go for the summer season; it rents as a guest house in the summer and in the autumn and winter will house writing workshops and such. It's run by 49 writers, and it's very exciting to be a part of this project from the beginning.
The guest speaker was Heather Lende, author of If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name and her latest release, Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs.
In her first chapter she talks about the blessing of the ships in their harbor, a friend who lost her son in a shipping accident, literally being hit by a car, and losing her mom to cancer, and then ended it all with this incredible connection to the Aurora Borealis. I wish I could quote it all here, but that's what libraries are for, right?
I'm looking forward to reading the signed copy of this book in the next few months and promise to report back on it. I'm glad we are finding our way into little bits of communities like 49 Writers up here in this big city.
Matt and I also realized that we have seen more authors up here in the past year than ever before in our lives. We've seen Nikki Giovanni and Heather Lende, and I've seen Chris Crutcher. All three times we got signed books, which are the first books I've ever had signed by authors. I guess that's one of the perks of living in a city!
Today Matt, Jack, and I hiked the Powerline trail. Even though all snow has been melted for weeks down here in the city, and short 20 minute drive up into the Chuguach Mountains brought us to patches of snow, ice, and mud. We had a messy but beautiful hike, and even saw a moose. I think just a few more spotting of those huge beasts and we won't even be fazed by them any more.
Daytime highs are around 55, and at night it's been getting down to about 45. Plenty of light invades every corner of this place right now though, so growth of grass and trees is simply stunning. In some places literally overnight things grow more than you can imagine. I'm looking forward to putting in my garden this next week!
I cannot WAIT for my trip to Glacier Bay National Park in late June. The trip has been made even better by the addition of my best friend Angie. She has always wanted to come to Alaska, so I'm excited that we'll be able to explore this corner of the Last Frontier for the first time together. Check out the map below: can you just imagine what I'm in for? The "A" label is Blue Mouse Cove, where we're hoping to paddle around & camp for a few days. We start in Gustavus (lower right-hand corner) and take a park water taxi into the park (they'll drop us off and pick us up). I could go on and on, but I'll spare you my excited babble and leave off for another time.
View Larger Map
Until next week,
Jen (& Matt)
Book image from: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41bbMkVNoUL.jpg
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