It’s November!! Woo hoo. Winter is definitely here, a dusting of snow to welcome November’s arrival. It’s day one of my birth month. Gifts and adoration accepted daily, of course.
November also brings some of my favorite things. Pumpkin pies and cornbread dressing. Birthday cakes and ice cream. My Mom’s birthday too. And her anniversary, in no particular order. A surprise visit from my Seester!!! As well as an early Hanukkah. It will be a busy week starting with Thanksgiving, then birthdays and rolling right into the feast of dedication.
November is a huge birthday month in our realm. There’s the twins, Thing 1’s boyfriend’s birthday, MaKayla, Me & Mom’s and a few other friends and memorial days thrown in there.
Grandpa’s was the 21st and my dear friend Katherine’s was the 28th, both of blessed memory.
I like to think of November as a month of feel-good, like a warm sweater, sitting around a bonfire with a hot cocoa and all your loved ones kinda feel good.
We’ve been busy this summer working and doing everything else so our woodshed is looking pretty empty. For the last two Sundays we’ve been felling beetle kill at an elder friend’s house. Both to keep her safe and fill our heating needs. It’s a win-win.
Everyone helps, in some way or another. But of course it’s the biggest and strongest who do most of the work.
The wood stacker
The felling feller
The red dot in the brush pile is the little guy staying out of harm’s way.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
We’ve dropped 7 trees at her place, with a couple more to go. Those beetles have been busy. That has given us with a full cord and a half. 5 more cord to go. It takes a lot to heat this big old house when it gets cold.
The biggest helper trying to avoid the camera. He’s cute when he’s not making scary faces
This past week has been a whirlwind of activity. I’m not sure if I’m coming or going but it’s been great. The tail end of the previous week I spent time out hunting for moose, with no luck yet. Saturday we headed into town, the kids and I that is, to see Niki who’s home for a quick visit. And Sukkot is happening too.
We have enjoyed the time with our dear friends and have tried to do most all of the things we used to do when she lived here full time: foraging, bonfires on the beach (it’s not fish camp but it’s close!), Solstice Sisters Dinner, MNO, and just visiting while the kids all play.
True friends are never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart.
Author Unknown
All in all it’s been great for us. I know Niki has been going non-stop and these kind of trips aren’t really relaxing! But it’s been wonderful having her back, even for a short while. And having my Solstice Sisters all together again has been magical.
She’s been out on the road for two years. That separation has taught me to be thankful for all of our times together and share the gratitude I feel with others. Life is too short to do otherwise. Tell someone special in your life that you appreciate them today and why. You never know what your impact your words can have for good!
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Melody Beattie
She heads out to Wasilla today, we said our goodbyes last night. Until next time!!! 💕❤️💕
Riding the Alaska Railroad is a dream come true for many a tourist and resident alike. It stays a dream for countless others who only venture to Alaska with their mind’s eye. We get to live that dream on a daily basis. And some days are more dreamy than others.
This was just such a day.
A vivid rainbow greeted us at the depot. So close it looked like we could reach up and touch it.
Portage Train Depot is right on the highway, near the Placer river, at sea level. We loaded up onto car A, the double decker with full glass viewing panels. We had quite the vantage point. We also had a Chugach USFS ranger as our guide for the trip. He had interesting local lore, history and flora & fauna information for us.
Off-loading rafts.
Sitting on the train while they off-load rafts on the Placer River, watching my kids unaware. Talking to their friends, sharing snacks, playing games. There may or may not have been some musical chairs with these assigned seats. They are in their element. The simple pleasures of life.
…what thrills me about trains is not their size or their equipment but the fact that they are moving, that they embody a connection between unseen places.
Marianne Wiggins
We rode from Portage to Grandview past Spencer, Bartlet and Trail glaciers. From the train station we traveled through marsh and flat lands, into cottonwood forests and gained more elevation until we were in hemlock and spruce forests. It’s cloudy with a little rain every now and then. Once in a while the sun pokes it’s rays through the fog and illuminates a mountainside. Glorious.
Spencer Glacier
Just a little past Grandview Whistle Stop we topped out at 1061′ elevation where we stopped to gaze at Trail glacier. We stopped to see Snow White falls, named for its seven drops, the source of the Placer River.
Snow White Falls
We had a short stop at Grandview so we could hike up to a couple if vantage points. One to see the train and another to see a waterfall. We enjoyed the remaining flowers and berries and mushrooms growing along the trail.
Huckleberries
Trail side shrooms
The view of the train.
A pretty little flower.
A lovely waterfall.
Our trail discoveries.
We rode through 5 tunnels and over one trestle 104′ above the raging river below.
We saw snow drops, rock slides and a lake full of ice floes.
We passed over sheer rock walls, roaring rapids and glacial erratic in kettle ponds.
We learned about T-Bone Clark and Alaska Nellie and back country road houses.
The kids were amazed that the telegraph and telephone poles were still standing with some insulators in place.
Trains tap into some deep American collective memory.
Dana Frank
Best of all we got to experience some of Alaska’s rugged beauty with our friends. Memories for a lifetime.
Somewhere along the way he has lost his little baby face and looks like a growing boy.
Such a cutie pie.
But one thing has stayed the same, there’s always food all over that sweet face when it’s dinner time.
He has sprouted up this summer and is getting taller, soon he’ll pass Lil Bit by. He’s been learning to ride his four-wheeler, and after an initial oops moment, he’s been doing pretty good.
Helmet, check ✅
Alaska boy 💯, winter attire doesn’t require shirts or coats.
This dog tho. These two are quite the pair. There’s no stopping them when they are on a mission. Panda Bear is such the perfect dog for our family and she loves her boy as much as he lives his doggo.
What’s an Alaska summer without some mud, eh?
They may be fewer and farther between but there’s still time for snuggles with Mom. Melts my heart ❤️
Sweet snuggles.
I’m a lucky Mom, two birthday boys in the same month. Party is tomorrow so more pics to come. Happy birthday boys!!
Thing 2 has been interested in kayaking for several years now. I bought him a starter kayak about 4 years ago I think. We don’t often use it but every once in a while a kayaking opportunity arises and we must go!
We’ve been kayaking to Cain’s Head out of Seward, across Kachemak Bay out of Homer and on Arc Lake and Stormy Lake. Once again we had the opportunity to kayak to Cain’s Head with IDEA for our beginning the year field trip.
We booked a cabin for the night before at Miller’s Landing. It’s a quaint little Alaska campground. It started out as a family homestead and the campsites are named after people. There’s a Wes and a Janet among others. I don’t recommend “Matt” as he’s a muddy mess with lots of tree roots!
Our cabin was a “tree” cabin, Alder, and sleeps 4. Me, my teens and one extra: Thing 2’s buddy, since it was his birthday trip and all. Trips like this are always the best because our friends are with us.
Staying over the night before is important, a 7:30am roll call on the beach with a two and half hour drive before isn’t very fun! So overnight it was.
We managed to get to the beach on time and started out paddling at 8 am.
Our crew on the beach.
The weather wasn’t awful but it wasn’t stellar either. Overcast and light to moderate rain all day. We had a brief moment of partly cloudy skies then the rain returned. But we managed to stay mostly dry with good rain gear. There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.~ old Norwegian saying.
Five miles out to the North Beach access. A nice uneventful paddle. Lots of birds and jumping silvers. We saw a jellyfish waiting to make our landing.
All that’s left of the Army’s dock at the North Beach site.
Then a two mile hike up to Fort McGilvray. An altitude gain of 650′, a “moderate” hike on the difficulty scale.
A scenic vantage point along the trail. The Seussical trees bordering a wetland.
We saw so many berries on our way up. Thing 1 was taking photos every other step. Moss, mushrooms, flowers, berries, her boyfriend, me…. Trees and rocks and … Everything.
Me and my girl on the Fort Trail.
We made it to the top and a quick walk through the Fort and then lunch break. Thing 2 discovered that he forgot to pack his lunch in so we all shared a bit of our lunches to help him out.
While eating lunch he spotted a porcupine up in the top of a tree above us. Strange creatures porcupines. Stellar Jays we’re fussing at us the whole time. We were in their space.
Then we started our descent. The trip back is always quicker. Too quick to pick all the berries I saw. I hate walking past berries and not picking them.
Safe to say that we’re all pretty tired at this point. Five miles kayaking, 4 miles hiking. Now another 5 miles back. Oy vey
Settled into our kayaks, ready as we’ll ever be.
All the muscles fussed at us on the way back. Even those we didn’t know we had. But by 3:03 pm we were back on the beach at Miller’s Landing.
These children decided they deserved ice cream after their efforts. We headed into Seward for ice cream and coffee for the Moms. There were still some congratulatory posters and banners up for Lydia Jacoby which was cool to experience.
Looking forward to the next kayaking adventure! But maybe not so far next time? Maybe.
Sixteen years ago, on a hot humid Kansas day, in a pool full of warm water, a baby boy was born.
Isn’t he just the cutest??
Doesn’t seem possible that 16 years have passed. Now my “baby boy” is taller than I am.
He’s starting his sophomore year. He still likes LEGOs, some things never change! He has great taste in music and a wacky sense of humor. He’s a whiz at history, especially relating to WWII. And he likes to make goofy faces when I take his picture.
Goofy face number one.Goofy face number two…Number three…Finally got a good pic of him!
Alaska on my mind... 