Dick and I were sitting talking in the living room and the lamps and globe started shaking. Our first Alaskan earthquake! It was a 5.8 on the Richter scale. Chadd was working on scaffolding when he felt it. The first of many more to come I'm sure. Alaska actually has 50-100 earthquakes DAILY. . We have more earthquakes than all of the other U.S. states combined. And historically, three of the largest 6 recorded quakes in the world were in Alaska. Most of the quakes occur on the Aleutian Islands which follow the fault line between the North American plate and the Pacific tectonic plates precisely. You can see the ridge on google maps.Anyway, just in case you didn't think we lived adventurously enough ;)
The weekend that Chadd, Cyrus, and I took our fourwheeler up to the crashed B29 we spotted a large puff of cloud on the way back that we hadn't seen before. "Hm, wonder what that is?" It grew larger within a short amount of time. When we returned our suspicions were confirmed. A wildfire broke out in Willow. Some of our friends were on standby if they needed to evacuate. But thankfully their home and acres were spared. A total of over 500 square miles have burned in Alaskan wildfires this season. And over 200 fires are still currently ablaze. This summer's temperatures warmer than the average. But, fires are a normal part of Alaska summer's every year. Some wildfires are normal in the ecosystem cycle. Just not when it destroys peoples homes. The worst fire on record was in 2004, fires burned up a total area larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Alaska has called in Smokejumpers and firefighters form the lower 48 states and has the priority fires manned.
I'll keep you posted.
This sun is definitely affecting me. It's 10:25 and broad daylight outside with blue sky, pastel clouds, and snowy tufts of cottonwood tree seeds drifting through the air. I don't feel a bit tired. But I'll go to bed soon, with a mask over my eyes and melatonin under my tongue.
The pictures tell the rest.
A trail ride at The Reindeer Farm. You can find the business listing on a map of Alaska "The Reindeer Farm and Kim's Trail Rides." Kim is my new friend, pictured in the third photo below:
A baby reindeer!
Cyrus happily at a sitters while we were on the trail ride. They had cotton candy, watched Frozen, and played Toilet tag. Does he look like he's having fun?
Grizzly track....
Not sure what this is, but it looks mystically beautiful. Like wild Alaskan cotton.
Of course, where does he end up?
They hatched!! We had a poor turnout the first time, but we have 7 miracle chicks under a red lamp 5 feet from me right now (the incubator got cold twice). Another set of 26 eggs on the way.
I took a neighbor 5-year old foster girl named Heaven along with Cyrus and I to the local "Colony Days" in Palmer. It's similar to a mini fair. They had quite a blast :) And yes, I paid 8 dollars for her to have a pony ride.
Last Sunday we went on a four-wheeler day trip up to a downed B29 where all 8 souls on board perished in WWII
Chadd hiked up Lazy Mountain with two other men we've met. It's 3000 vertical feet of elevation in a very short distance. They hiked it in 1 1/2 hours.
Cyrus and I at a park in the record 85 degree weather with NO humidity!
I always hated thinning plants. Weeding is fun. Tear out those bad boys! But thinning my precious baby sprouts that I hand planted and fertilized and watered and mulched... It just seems so wrong! But perhaps this is a lesson of life, to simplify, focus, dejunk, cleanse, and organize. You can't do everything in life, and usually if you try, you end up having puny crowded production. Not us. We are looking forward to LARGE Alaskan crop.
So this is a summer lunch of freshly thinned swiss chard. At least if you can eat them it is a little less painful!
One of our late night rides after Cyrus is asleep.
Little worker
Some crazy Alaskans took a jacked up pickup truck up that horrendous mountain! It was CRAZY steep, rocky, mud holes and mud. I'm not sure how they made it!
The mountain top blog
Our grilling adventures #2: Grilling Moose ribs & Steak caught in a down pour!
Chadd jerry-rigged Cyrus' tricycle to accommodate pushing for a easier paced evening family walk.
Came across an old deserted mine. We didn't go it (only because it was barred off inside...)
Yay! We finally had a friend day. Tamira and her sister and two kids, who we met last Friday, invited Cyrus and I along to visit her friend Kim and her two girls. Cyrus was very excited, and insisted on being fully outfitted for the occasion, complete with his "helmet," froggy backpack, firemanboots, and "thingy" in his left hand. He had a blast. As you can see in the movie...
Yes, Kim has pet reindeer. She grew up on the renown Reindeer Farm, which her parents still run. This is Jenny. She's a two year old reindeer who thinks she's a dog. Kim bottle fed her and is teaching her to pull a sled for her kids and to do pull her in skijoring. He just walks around their house. It's quite amusing!
Is it a dog? A sheep? No actually it's a cow called a Highlander. Built for Alaska weather for sure. They are so short and fluffy I couldn't help laughing!
News of the week: Chadd got a job! It's perfect and exactly what we have been praying for. Thank you for any prayers you presented on our behalf! He will be starting Monday working with a very established company whose slogan is "Build, Remodel, Design." Ideal for Chadd's desire to learn the way of Alaskan construction business from those who are succeeding at it. TrailBoss Solutions is based out of Anchorage, but with a new and growing branch in Wasilla. So he will/may have to commute for a time, unless TrailBoss lands the two and more large commercial jobs in the Mat-Su Valley that they are currently bidding for.
I am still looking for the ideal position. Some exciting new connections just came from a new friend yesterday which I will seek out on Monday!
Cyrus has been adorably sad to me. He used to play every day with his two boy cousins all over Nana and Popop's awesome 7 acres. Now he has been so sorely deprived of friends that he has make believe "cousins" that he will play with! He was bored and running back and forth in the house one day, laughing to himself and saying, "I'm chasing my cousins!" awwww! :o( Every new friend that he meets at church he calls his cousin. Last week when driving in the car together I prayed with Cyrus that God would give him new cousin/friends. When I said, "amen" he clapped, "Good job Mommy!"
Well, Cyrus got to see the YES answer to our prayers x3 on Friday and again yesterday. We met three families with young children while going for an evening walk/tricycle bike. And yesterday Dick and Marian invited a young couple to dinner from their church who they've known for 10 years. Chadd and I really connected with them, and Cyrus tried to wrestle their grown up 5 yr old daughter and converse with their shy 3 yr old son. Tamara and I already have plans to bike with kid trailers and horseback ride while the three stay with her live-in sister as babysitter :)
Dick wanted to try the old time Native Alaskan practice of fermenting hooligan by burying them in the ground for 7 days then pouring boiling water over them, stirring until they brake up into a lovely soup, let it set, and spoon off the oil. The Natives use this oil for light lamps, a condiment, preserving other fish and berries, and as a cure all medicine. Blech!! It REEKED. I didn't get any photos of the after fermentation because I was too busy plugging my nose.
Finished Smoked Hooligan
Dick also heard about the Natives drying hooligan and using them as candles. Bet you never saw this hanging on an Amish wash line!
And a meal of fried hooligan and greens.... Not too bad actually. Maybe better if you haven't been processing thousands of them for a week.
Cyrus watched me get my Alaska driver's license photo and wanted to pose too.
