Sigh. I know, them's the breaks of military life and I should be happy that I got out so it's not twice the separation with the addition of separation from my children, but it's hard all the same.
The base is so overtasked, Charlie's intel people are at a 1:1 dwell pattern. Which basically means that for every six months they spend at home, they are six months gone. Charlie's number came up and he'll be leaving sometime in December until June or July. I'm trying to focus on being grateful that he will be here for Timmy's birth in September and not look too closely at Christmas apart and his missing yet another of Connor's birthdays.
I'm going to be moving down to Washington DC while he's gone -- winter up here is hard enough without being by myself with a toddler and a newborn. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the house in the meantime...maybe pay a neighbor to make sure the drive is shoveled and the house isn't freezing in horrid cold snaps, plus making arrangements with housing. I'm so thankful mom and dad are amenable to me crashing their party down there in DC for so long -- I think I would just go crazy with stress and loneliness in the -50 degree months by myself.
Okay, Connor's acting up...I need to go deal out some mommy justice.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
We picked up our first CSA last night
We joined the Rosie Creek Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group this summer. I wrote to them in February to sign up and was placed on a waiting list, and then got word on Monday that our first pick up was Tuesday!
For those of you who don't know how CSA works, you basically buy a "share" for the run of the CSA (here it's 11-13 weeks) and every week you pick up lovely locally grown organic produce -- whatever is freshest and ready to be picked. Here's a sampling of what they offer: Salad Greens, Braising Greens, Radishes, Scallions, Lettuce, Broccoli, Beets, Summer quash, Cauliflower, Snap Beans, Carrots, Peas, Potatoes, Onions, Pumpkins, Garlic, Winter Squash and Tomatoes.
It's fun...it's like a Russian roulette of fresh yummy veggies. The best part is that you usually get so much produce you can save some by canning or freezing. Yes, not as fresh, but still...I like to support local agriculture and the organic is really important to me. It's tough to find in military commissaries. The price was good -- $375 for 12 weeks of mounds of fresh organic stuff is pretty comparable or even favorable to the prices of the grocery store and the quality is better.
So last night we picked up our first week of produce. We got two gorgeous Bok Choy, two heads of lettuce (I believe romaine and butter?), a big bag of spring greens with edible flowers, and some really nice broccoli raab. We had BLTs for lunch, I'm making Charlie a chef salad for lunch tomorrow since I'm going to be downtown, we're having stir-fried garlic and broccoli raab with our salmon, spinach pie and red pepper-rice pilaf for dinner tonight. Then tomorrow night we're going to have fresh tomato linguine and a wilted lettuce salad.
I think I might shift my menu planning and shopping to Wednesday so I can make some plans for my fresh produce. I'll let you know how this goes for the rest of the summer, but so far we are really enjoying this...feeling good about supporting local agriculture, giving our money to an organic farm rather than a large corporation, and getting lovely food to boot.
For those of you who don't know how CSA works, you basically buy a "share" for the run of the CSA (here it's 11-13 weeks) and every week you pick up lovely locally grown organic produce -- whatever is freshest and ready to be picked. Here's a sampling of what they offer: Salad Greens, Braising Greens, Radishes, Scallions, Lettuce, Broccoli, Beets, Summer quash, Cauliflower, Snap Beans, Carrots, Peas, Potatoes, Onions, Pumpkins, Garlic, Winter Squash and Tomatoes.
It's fun...it's like a Russian roulette of fresh yummy veggies. The best part is that you usually get so much produce you can save some by canning or freezing. Yes, not as fresh, but still...I like to support local agriculture and the organic is really important to me. It's tough to find in military commissaries. The price was good -- $375 for 12 weeks of mounds of fresh organic stuff is pretty comparable or even favorable to the prices of the grocery store and the quality is better.
So last night we picked up our first week of produce. We got two gorgeous Bok Choy, two heads of lettuce (I believe romaine and butter?), a big bag of spring greens with edible flowers, and some really nice broccoli raab. We had BLTs for lunch, I'm making Charlie a chef salad for lunch tomorrow since I'm going to be downtown, we're having stir-fried garlic and broccoli raab with our salmon, spinach pie and red pepper-rice pilaf for dinner tonight. Then tomorrow night we're going to have fresh tomato linguine and a wilted lettuce salad.
I think I might shift my menu planning and shopping to Wednesday so I can make some plans for my fresh produce. I'll let you know how this goes for the rest of the summer, but so far we are really enjoying this...feeling good about supporting local agriculture, giving our money to an organic farm rather than a large corporation, and getting lovely food to boot.
Monday, June 23, 2008
I think I'm in love with my chiropractor
I got an appt for this afternoon with Ridgeview Chiropractic. I've been making chiro appts and canceling them at the last minute because I've been so leery of getting to the hands of some witch doctor or spine cracking malevolent twit with a degree from Cuba. Besides, I was afraid he might hurt Timmy somehow, but my pelvic pain was so bad I couldn't stand it anymore and was ready to risk a very little bit to see if all my chiro-loving friends had a point.
I am definitely liking Ridgeview Chiropractic just from first impressions...their staff is nice, it's a nice location off Chena Pump Rd that doesn't look like Fairbanks ghetto or igloo-turned-into-mobile-home like so many places, they were able to get me in quickly and the best part...?
Dr. Todd Lovell is amazing. He's my new personal god. He laid me down, took a look, felt some alignment stuff, and said my right leg was 3/4-1 inch shorter than my left and I had an S shape curve to my body through my belly and up to my shoulder. He had me roll over to each side, did some pretty funky straddling and gentle pushes, and oh my gosh...the relief was, for lack of a better description, euphoric. I heard my pelvis pop loudly and felt a sharp click and was actually able to stand up and walk without wincing or looking like Tick Tock from the Oz sequel. That was the first time I've been pain free in weeks!
He had me stand up and walk around, did some more neck stuff (lots of Rice Krispie action, but oddly satisfying) and said he needs me to come back 2-3 times in quick succession, then once every few weeks until baby comes, then he'll see us together after Timmy's born. He adjusted his own children immediately after birth, and says he's seen it help many issues. Cha-ching! I would love for Timmy to feel good right from the start, because I think there's times Connor did not. He hated lying on his left side for three months or more, which is probably an alignment issue of some sort.
I told him how disappointed I was in just being handed flexeril and motrin for back spasms and now this pelvic pain was beyond the pale, and he was my last resort. A doctor at Ft Wainwright told me the only fix was having a baby, but that if it was bad enough I'd have to have a c section and a subsequent surgery to repair my pelvis and hernia! Dr. Todd shook his head, and we moved on to just plain wellness issues. He explained some about the relief vs recovery phase, and what he aimed to do for the next few appts and I sashayed my way out of there feeling about 6000% better than when I walked in.
I'm still feeling REALLY good, though honestly I feel a little funny not tipping side to side in an awkward waddle and my tailbone feels strange; not painful, but strange, almost like it is a funny bone and I hit it. He said it might feel strange until the immediate adjustment period was complete (within 2 weeks I'm guessin), but that I should have good relief for a couple days at least from this initial one. The next adjustment is free, he gave me coupons to hand out willy-nilly (free adjustments for all my friends!) and he has a military discount! Is it any wonder I'm in love with the man??
I'm just sad military insurance doesn't pay for it. But with a military discount and how good I feel, I think this is one splurge I am justified in making. Charlie took me out to celebrate my pain-free pelvis, and we drank a solemn toast to chiros everywhere and Dr. Todd in particular. Drop by if you get a chance...you won't be sorry.
I am definitely liking Ridgeview Chiropractic just from first impressions...their staff is nice, it's a nice location off Chena Pump Rd that doesn't look like Fairbanks ghetto or igloo-turned-into-mobile-home like so many places, they were able to get me in quickly and the best part...?
Dr. Todd Lovell is amazing. He's my new personal god. He laid me down, took a look, felt some alignment stuff, and said my right leg was 3/4-1 inch shorter than my left and I had an S shape curve to my body through my belly and up to my shoulder. He had me roll over to each side, did some pretty funky straddling and gentle pushes, and oh my gosh...the relief was, for lack of a better description, euphoric. I heard my pelvis pop loudly and felt a sharp click and was actually able to stand up and walk without wincing or looking like Tick Tock from the Oz sequel. That was the first time I've been pain free in weeks!
He had me stand up and walk around, did some more neck stuff (lots of Rice Krispie action, but oddly satisfying) and said he needs me to come back 2-3 times in quick succession, then once every few weeks until baby comes, then he'll see us together after Timmy's born. He adjusted his own children immediately after birth, and says he's seen it help many issues. Cha-ching! I would love for Timmy to feel good right from the start, because I think there's times Connor did not. He hated lying on his left side for three months or more, which is probably an alignment issue of some sort.
I told him how disappointed I was in just being handed flexeril and motrin for back spasms and now this pelvic pain was beyond the pale, and he was my last resort. A doctor at Ft Wainwright told me the only fix was having a baby, but that if it was bad enough I'd have to have a c section and a subsequent surgery to repair my pelvis and hernia! Dr. Todd shook his head, and we moved on to just plain wellness issues. He explained some about the relief vs recovery phase, and what he aimed to do for the next few appts and I sashayed my way out of there feeling about 6000% better than when I walked in.
I'm still feeling REALLY good, though honestly I feel a little funny not tipping side to side in an awkward waddle and my tailbone feels strange; not painful, but strange, almost like it is a funny bone and I hit it. He said it might feel strange until the immediate adjustment period was complete (within 2 weeks I'm guessin), but that I should have good relief for a couple days at least from this initial one. The next adjustment is free, he gave me coupons to hand out willy-nilly (free adjustments for all my friends!) and he has a military discount! Is it any wonder I'm in love with the man??
I'm just sad military insurance doesn't pay for it. But with a military discount and how good I feel, I think this is one splurge I am justified in making. Charlie took me out to celebrate my pain-free pelvis, and we drank a solemn toast to chiros everywhere and Dr. Todd in particular. Drop by if you get a chance...you won't be sorry.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Connor accomplishments
I realized I finished the blog entry today and didn't get to brag about Connor...he is doing amazingly well with his learning! We have been casually counting for years with him, but he's able now to count all the way to 20 (though we're still trying to convince him 3 is not optional), and actually count objects up to 10. He's also doing an incredible job of his alphabet, though after F or G he just starts saying his favorite letters til he gets to W, X, Y and Z. He ALSO is reading four different words, and now that he's interested, we're working on teaching him more -- he's even starting to try to sound out a few.
Connor still prefers signs to talking, but can string sentences together with a little prompting. Definitely not a very verbal kid, but obviously pretty bright. He gets his point across very well with his Connor-patois of signs and words. He cracks us up when he asks for "nools, nools, nools" (noodles), and eleven is actually "Llewelyn" in true Welsh style.
So there's my brag...feel free to smack me, but I'm bursting with pride.
Connor still prefers signs to talking, but can string sentences together with a little prompting. Definitely not a very verbal kid, but obviously pretty bright. He gets his point across very well with his Connor-patois of signs and words. He cracks us up when he asks for "nools, nools, nools" (noodles), and eleven is actually "Llewelyn" in true Welsh style.
So there's my brag...feel free to smack me, but I'm bursting with pride.
My husband rocks...know why?
It's hot in Fairbanks. I know, I know, 80 degrees would have Las Vegas people chortling at the "heat wave" but really, it is VERY unpleasant here. The houses here are built specifically to retain heat, there's very little air movement and 80 degrees is just sweltering. I have been suffering in my sleep at 75 and I just about broke down in tears thinking of what 80 would be like in our top floor bedroom. Seven months pregnant, hot flopping toddler and pubic bone pain in addition to heat makes for a cranky woman. So Charlie hauled the guest room mattress down to the basement on Friday night and we've camped out there since. I LOVE this man. And I LOVE permafrost.
I will just tell you now, people can tell you all the horror stories you want of construction snafus, mucky roads, etc, but I LOVE permafrost. Why? Because it means my basement hovers somewhere between 58 and 64 degrees all summer long. I had such a blessedly peaceful night of sleep on Friday night I could smile beatifically on all those around me, which is probably a good thing...I have not been a nice wife and mommy lately with the achiness, heat and exhaustion. Last night was less restful because the cats have decided to entertain themselves at 3 am by bounding across my head AND I watched Resident Evil after Connor went to bed...not a good sleep inducing combo. But still, much more sleep than I would have had in the convection oven of a bedroom upstairs. Oh and did I mention the basement is DARK? Huge boon this time of year.
We went to the Midnight Sun Festival yesterday...they are not kidding when they say 40,000 people attend! It runs from noon to midnight to celebrate the solstice and hence the longest day of the year. The sunset at 1248 am last night and rose at 258 am. That is a LONG day. There were tons of booths, stages and crafts all shoved into a small four block area and it was so hot the lemonade and ice cream lines were truly awe-inspiring. It was right off the banks of the Chena river, so Connor had to throw a few obligatory rocks in the water after he enjoyed a hot dog and cinnamon pretzel. It started being quite windy and looked like it was blowing up a bit of a squall, so we headed home at 2 pm or so after running a few errands. Perhaps it cooled the festival off...I hope so! There was also a Midnight Sun fun run and baseball game, but neither started til 10 pm, long after little boy bedtimes, so we had a rest and then a walk over to Polaris Lake for Connor to throw even more rocks.
While there we spotted a moose and her baby on the opposite shore, but we don't know if it was OUR baby or not. If I hadn't said it, or you hadn't heard through the grapevine, our moose buddy from the backyard stakeout during mom and dad's visit decided to calve back there the day after they left. i think they were disappointed to miss the moose birthing. She must have thought the bananas and apples the neighbors threw out to her were wonderful maternity treats, so she had her baby right there. I walked around to warn all the neighbors to keep their kids away from the area so she didn't feel the need to defend the baby. I thought there was something wrong with the baby -- it didn't get up for the longest time and seemed awfully small -- but they eventually moved off. Later there was an article in the paper about this new baby moose being a victim of dwarfism, and as it's in the same family grouping as our base albino moose, they think there might be a sire out there with some genetic problems. It did look small but every time I've seen it again it seems quite hale and hearty. The mama looked a little young and skinny herself, so who knows? Well, winter will be the real test for it, I'm afraid.
Well today is a day to get a few chores done and let Charlie get some much needed relaxation time before having to head back to work on Monday. We have an airshow here on Tuesday so we'll try to take some pics and video of Connor going nuts over the "airpanes" for everyone to enjoy. Have a great Sunday!
I will just tell you now, people can tell you all the horror stories you want of construction snafus, mucky roads, etc, but I LOVE permafrost. Why? Because it means my basement hovers somewhere between 58 and 64 degrees all summer long. I had such a blessedly peaceful night of sleep on Friday night I could smile beatifically on all those around me, which is probably a good thing...I have not been a nice wife and mommy lately with the achiness, heat and exhaustion. Last night was less restful because the cats have decided to entertain themselves at 3 am by bounding across my head AND I watched Resident Evil after Connor went to bed...not a good sleep inducing combo. But still, much more sleep than I would have had in the convection oven of a bedroom upstairs. Oh and did I mention the basement is DARK? Huge boon this time of year.
We went to the Midnight Sun Festival yesterday...they are not kidding when they say 40,000 people attend! It runs from noon to midnight to celebrate the solstice and hence the longest day of the year. The sunset at 1248 am last night and rose at 258 am. That is a LONG day. There were tons of booths, stages and crafts all shoved into a small four block area and it was so hot the lemonade and ice cream lines were truly awe-inspiring. It was right off the banks of the Chena river, so Connor had to throw a few obligatory rocks in the water after he enjoyed a hot dog and cinnamon pretzel. It started being quite windy and looked like it was blowing up a bit of a squall, so we headed home at 2 pm or so after running a few errands. Perhaps it cooled the festival off...I hope so! There was also a Midnight Sun fun run and baseball game, but neither started til 10 pm, long after little boy bedtimes, so we had a rest and then a walk over to Polaris Lake for Connor to throw even more rocks.
While there we spotted a moose and her baby on the opposite shore, but we don't know if it was OUR baby or not. If I hadn't said it, or you hadn't heard through the grapevine, our moose buddy from the backyard stakeout during mom and dad's visit decided to calve back there the day after they left. i think they were disappointed to miss the moose birthing. She must have thought the bananas and apples the neighbors threw out to her were wonderful maternity treats, so she had her baby right there. I walked around to warn all the neighbors to keep their kids away from the area so she didn't feel the need to defend the baby. I thought there was something wrong with the baby -- it didn't get up for the longest time and seemed awfully small -- but they eventually moved off. Later there was an article in the paper about this new baby moose being a victim of dwarfism, and as it's in the same family grouping as our base albino moose, they think there might be a sire out there with some genetic problems. It did look small but every time I've seen it again it seems quite hale and hearty. The mama looked a little young and skinny herself, so who knows? Well, winter will be the real test for it, I'm afraid.
Well today is a day to get a few chores done and let Charlie get some much needed relaxation time before having to head back to work on Monday. We have an airshow here on Tuesday so we'll try to take some pics and video of Connor going nuts over the "airpanes" for everyone to enjoy. Have a great Sunday!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wow, I haven't posted in a long while
It's been very hectic here, as I'm sure a lot of you know...we jumped straight from a visit with my parents at the end of May into a Connor illness and Exercise RED FLAG-Alaska madness. Poor Connor was afflicted with adenovirus, a particularly nasty little tummy bug making its rounds up here in the junior jet set, and it meant that mommy was mopping up various disgusting liquids for almost 2 weeks. It resulted in his needing to be put on a high fat low lactose diet to help his poor tummy recover and we're finally seeing some real progress toward normal tummy function.
I hate RED FLAG-Alaska with all my heart, soul and being. Charlie is always super busy leading up to a Flag, trying to get everything admin-wise done ahead of time and chivvy his people into being prepared for an onslaught of thousands of people and hundreds of aircraft. And then Flag itself...well, let's just say my husband does not choose to be a slacker and that translates to lonely days and nights for Connor and Erin. He works no less than 14 and sometimes up to 18 or 20 hours a day, and it's pretty exhausting for me alone with a toddler and a seven month pregnant belly. C'est la vie, but I'm not always reasonable enough to accept it with grace. Thank goodness it's over tomorrow. But then Charlie's troops have TWO parties planned on Friday, which means no Charlie that night. He's promising some time off in July. We desperately need it...Charlie hasn't had a "day off" in nearly seven months other than the rare weekend day and he has nearly three weeks of excess leave accumulated that needs to be used or lost before October.
At least Red Flag is always good for some laughs. The one in April was fun because it was still a very much Arctic experience with several inches of snow and temps well below freezing, so all the guys coming from subtropical Okinawa were shivery and unhappy -- i gave more rides than I care to think about to some poor guys huddled in their summer weight uniforms against the cold. This latest was a multinational flag, which means lots of people in foreign uniforms cruising about...I actually had some Japanese gentlemen ask to take pictures of me doing yard work so they could prove to their wives that Americans did their own. Allllrighty, sure. I'm not sure if that meant Americans are supposed to be lazy or they were marveling at our peasant antics. Either way, it probably wasn't all that flattering. Or maybe they want their wives out raking the lawn and needed to prove we did it too. Huh. Some Germans ignored the wildlife briefing and decided to take pictures of themselves petting a moose mama and her calf. That did NOT go well for them, though only one was actually moose stomped. As the survival guys say, "That's 1100 lbs of angry" dancing on your butt. Not a pleasant experience.
I managed to crack two toes a couple nights ago coming back from my endless peregrinations to the bathroom...I tripped over a cat and kicked the bed post, gouging a good bit of flesh from my toes, losing part of a toenail and as I said, cracking them. I felt so badly that I had to wake Charlie up to help bandage my toes, but at 29 weeks pregnant, reaching my toes easily is really a pipe dream. I "wove a tapestry of obscenity" that still hangs over Moose Lake, and have been hobbling around the house trying to do the chores that take me forever anyway. I think every pregnant woman should be automatically issued an able-bodied person to their bidding, or at least pick crap off the floor. Can I tell you how exciting I am that our house is three stories? Woo.
Last but not least, summer solstice is in a few days. That may not mean much in the lower 48, but wow, does it mean something here. Last night the sun set at 1243 am. It came up at 244 am. And it never TRULY goes down...that just means it's ten shades dimmer outside, really. You can read with no artificial light outside at 3 am. That plus some temps in the 70s (which is HOT here) means uncomfortable sleep for the whole Freel clan. Connor has not been wanting to go to sleep til well after 11, and then wants up at 6 am. He's running on fumes. And we have tried everything...closing all the blinds and curtains at 7 or so to help make a transition, taking calming baths, going into the darkened room and reading at a normal time...but if it's hard for me to figure out what time it is, it's doubly hard for a 2 year old. You wake up at 3 am and it's bright as 3 pm outside. And I toss and turn a good bit from pregnancy related woes anyway, so we are not in a good place sleep wise. We're looking forward to the solstice so that we can finally be on the downward trend of sunlight. I'm finding all this sunlight much worse to deal with than all the dark of winter...we're all very tired but unable to sleep.
So that basically is my litany of excuses and complaints for ignoring the blog for so long. Sorry, I'll try to do better soon.
I hate RED FLAG-Alaska with all my heart, soul and being. Charlie is always super busy leading up to a Flag, trying to get everything admin-wise done ahead of time and chivvy his people into being prepared for an onslaught of thousands of people and hundreds of aircraft. And then Flag itself...well, let's just say my husband does not choose to be a slacker and that translates to lonely days and nights for Connor and Erin. He works no less than 14 and sometimes up to 18 or 20 hours a day, and it's pretty exhausting for me alone with a toddler and a seven month pregnant belly. C'est la vie, but I'm not always reasonable enough to accept it with grace. Thank goodness it's over tomorrow. But then Charlie's troops have TWO parties planned on Friday, which means no Charlie that night. He's promising some time off in July. We desperately need it...Charlie hasn't had a "day off" in nearly seven months other than the rare weekend day and he has nearly three weeks of excess leave accumulated that needs to be used or lost before October.
At least Red Flag is always good for some laughs. The one in April was fun because it was still a very much Arctic experience with several inches of snow and temps well below freezing, so all the guys coming from subtropical Okinawa were shivery and unhappy -- i gave more rides than I care to think about to some poor guys huddled in their summer weight uniforms against the cold. This latest was a multinational flag, which means lots of people in foreign uniforms cruising about...I actually had some Japanese gentlemen ask to take pictures of me doing yard work so they could prove to their wives that Americans did their own. Allllrighty, sure. I'm not sure if that meant Americans are supposed to be lazy or they were marveling at our peasant antics. Either way, it probably wasn't all that flattering. Or maybe they want their wives out raking the lawn and needed to prove we did it too. Huh. Some Germans ignored the wildlife briefing and decided to take pictures of themselves petting a moose mama and her calf. That did NOT go well for them, though only one was actually moose stomped. As the survival guys say, "That's 1100 lbs of angry" dancing on your butt. Not a pleasant experience.
I managed to crack two toes a couple nights ago coming back from my endless peregrinations to the bathroom...I tripped over a cat and kicked the bed post, gouging a good bit of flesh from my toes, losing part of a toenail and as I said, cracking them. I felt so badly that I had to wake Charlie up to help bandage my toes, but at 29 weeks pregnant, reaching my toes easily is really a pipe dream. I "wove a tapestry of obscenity" that still hangs over Moose Lake, and have been hobbling around the house trying to do the chores that take me forever anyway. I think every pregnant woman should be automatically issued an able-bodied person to their bidding, or at least pick crap off the floor. Can I tell you how exciting I am that our house is three stories? Woo.
Last but not least, summer solstice is in a few days. That may not mean much in the lower 48, but wow, does it mean something here. Last night the sun set at 1243 am. It came up at 244 am. And it never TRULY goes down...that just means it's ten shades dimmer outside, really. You can read with no artificial light outside at 3 am. That plus some temps in the 70s (which is HOT here) means uncomfortable sleep for the whole Freel clan. Connor has not been wanting to go to sleep til well after 11, and then wants up at 6 am. He's running on fumes. And we have tried everything...closing all the blinds and curtains at 7 or so to help make a transition, taking calming baths, going into the darkened room and reading at a normal time...but if it's hard for me to figure out what time it is, it's doubly hard for a 2 year old. You wake up at 3 am and it's bright as 3 pm outside. And I toss and turn a good bit from pregnancy related woes anyway, so we are not in a good place sleep wise. We're looking forward to the solstice so that we can finally be on the downward trend of sunlight. I'm finding all this sunlight much worse to deal with than all the dark of winter...we're all very tired but unable to sleep.
So that basically is my litany of excuses and complaints for ignoring the blog for so long. Sorry, I'll try to do better soon.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Wilderness adventure
When people say you don't have to go far to be in the wild here in Alaska, they are not kidding. We decided to go for a walk last night, but Connor had different ideas. He wanted to go get ice cream at the BX, so we tacked on a drive out around the Bear Lake and Chena Lake road so we could see the Fam Camp and have a scenic drive. As we munched on ice cream cones, we rapidly found ourselves in quite the wilderness.
The drive we took borders the live fire range, but really all you see are these scrubby pines, boggy grasses and white birch, dense, stretching as far as the eye can see. We were grateful for four wheel drive at that point because the road was not the best with the thaw and recent rain.
Almost immediately we saw two moose enjoying all the melted rain and revived grasses. They both stood close to eight feet tall. That sure is an impressive animal...I'm not sure when the fascination is going to wear off with them. We pulled over and watched one closely (from maybe 20 feet away) while he/she went unconcernedly about munching a fair swath of new growth foliage. We decided to drive on, and after circling the Fam Camp -- it's not open yet, but the campsites looked very nice with some amenities like bathrooms -- we drove on to the Chena Lake campsites. Chena Lake stands about 12.5 miles from where we were...it's actually very close to North Pole, but the side closest to the base is still a controlled access area because of the range and base borders, so we drove with abandon. We got about six miles down the road when Charlie slowed and pointed out something largish trotting on the road.
It was an honest-to-goodness black wolf! It stood probably a little under three feet at the shoulder, so definitely large -- apparently Alaska gray wolves are some of the largest in the world because of the size of the prey they hunt, reaching an average of 140 lbs. The biggest one ever caught was in the Interior in 1939, and weighed a whopping 175 lbs! We pulled over to look at him and he slunk into the bushes and watched us as well from only about fifteen feet away. He was black with a goldish undercoat, and dull yellow lantern eyes. Both Charlie and I were just silenced by the wonder of it all -- how many people have seen wild wolves from that close? You could sense the power and immense wildness of the animal even from that far away.
I then of course said one of the dumbest things I have said in a long while, and asked Charlie if we shouldn't lock the doors. After he stopped writhing in uncontrollable laughter, he did indeed punch the lock buttons -- if that wolf had opposable thumbs, Charlie would have been very sorry for laughing at me! And yes, I realize just how stupid a question that was, but I justify it by thinking that any woman heavy with one gestating child and a chocolate-coated Connor bon bon in the back seat would have done the same thing surreptitiously.
We drove on, sighting Canadian geese, mallards, loons, an Arctic hare and some grouse along the way. We pulled up to a wide fishing ground on the Chena River, which was frothing and foaming energetically with all the snow melt and admired the view of the surrounding mountains and roiling river. There were warnings about salmon fishing from the spot -- apparently by the time the salmon reach this point they are tired and only have a few more hours/days to spawn and die, so they are distinctly untasty by that point. But rainbow grayling and trout are still tasty and very popular there, so Charlie made a mental note of a good fishing spot and vowed to return. We were going to get out and walk around a bit, but the large and importunate mosquitoes bumping aggressively against the windows were desiring that same thing and we hadn't brought repellent. Connor was still coated in ice cream detritus, so we decided not to serve him up for voracious insects as dessert.
On the way back we spotted another moose and more ducks, and kept an eye out for our wolfish friend, finally encountering him a couple miles from where we had previously seen him. He was trotting along the road, but hid in the nearby brush when we got close. Apparently the road was nice and pleasant to travel on, and he used the surrounding foliage for camo when necessary -- though really not trying that hard to hide. He was definitely not all that afraid of us. We sat for perhaps ten minutes til he got bold enough to venture out again and he came out on the road to investigate the car more closely, coming within ten feet or so, sniffing experimentally. He then slunk away, and loped gracefully along the verge and into the woods. How we wished for a camera! But since it was originally intended to be an ice cream outing, we hadn't thought to bring it. Damn and double damn.
Charlie pointed out that we were only four miles from Fam Camp at that point...it gave me shivers to realize there were predators of that power and size within six miles of our house. I know, I'm just sheltered...and probably far safer than I was in Las Vegas from human predators...but still, the fact that we could venture down a dirt side road and come face to face with a wild wolf was a bit startling and disconcerting all the same.
Humbling, awe-inspiring and exciting all in one...without ever getting farther than ten miles down the road from home. Alaska sure is incredible!
The drive we took borders the live fire range, but really all you see are these scrubby pines, boggy grasses and white birch, dense, stretching as far as the eye can see. We were grateful for four wheel drive at that point because the road was not the best with the thaw and recent rain.
Almost immediately we saw two moose enjoying all the melted rain and revived grasses. They both stood close to eight feet tall. That sure is an impressive animal...I'm not sure when the fascination is going to wear off with them. We pulled over and watched one closely (from maybe 20 feet away) while he/she went unconcernedly about munching a fair swath of new growth foliage. We decided to drive on, and after circling the Fam Camp -- it's not open yet, but the campsites looked very nice with some amenities like bathrooms -- we drove on to the Chena Lake campsites. Chena Lake stands about 12.5 miles from where we were...it's actually very close to North Pole, but the side closest to the base is still a controlled access area because of the range and base borders, so we drove with abandon. We got about six miles down the road when Charlie slowed and pointed out something largish trotting on the road.
It was an honest-to-goodness black wolf! It stood probably a little under three feet at the shoulder, so definitely large -- apparently Alaska gray wolves are some of the largest in the world because of the size of the prey they hunt, reaching an average of 140 lbs. The biggest one ever caught was in the Interior in 1939, and weighed a whopping 175 lbs! We pulled over to look at him and he slunk into the bushes and watched us as well from only about fifteen feet away. He was black with a goldish undercoat, and dull yellow lantern eyes. Both Charlie and I were just silenced by the wonder of it all -- how many people have seen wild wolves from that close? You could sense the power and immense wildness of the animal even from that far away.
I then of course said one of the dumbest things I have said in a long while, and asked Charlie if we shouldn't lock the doors. After he stopped writhing in uncontrollable laughter, he did indeed punch the lock buttons -- if that wolf had opposable thumbs, Charlie would have been very sorry for laughing at me! And yes, I realize just how stupid a question that was, but I justify it by thinking that any woman heavy with one gestating child and a chocolate-coated Connor bon bon in the back seat would have done the same thing surreptitiously.
We drove on, sighting Canadian geese, mallards, loons, an Arctic hare and some grouse along the way. We pulled up to a wide fishing ground on the Chena River, which was frothing and foaming energetically with all the snow melt and admired the view of the surrounding mountains and roiling river. There were warnings about salmon fishing from the spot -- apparently by the time the salmon reach this point they are tired and only have a few more hours/days to spawn and die, so they are distinctly untasty by that point. But rainbow grayling and trout are still tasty and very popular there, so Charlie made a mental note of a good fishing spot and vowed to return. We were going to get out and walk around a bit, but the large and importunate mosquitoes bumping aggressively against the windows were desiring that same thing and we hadn't brought repellent. Connor was still coated in ice cream detritus, so we decided not to serve him up for voracious insects as dessert.
On the way back we spotted another moose and more ducks, and kept an eye out for our wolfish friend, finally encountering him a couple miles from where we had previously seen him. He was trotting along the road, but hid in the nearby brush when we got close. Apparently the road was nice and pleasant to travel on, and he used the surrounding foliage for camo when necessary -- though really not trying that hard to hide. He was definitely not all that afraid of us. We sat for perhaps ten minutes til he got bold enough to venture out again and he came out on the road to investigate the car more closely, coming within ten feet or so, sniffing experimentally. He then slunk away, and loped gracefully along the verge and into the woods. How we wished for a camera! But since it was originally intended to be an ice cream outing, we hadn't thought to bring it. Damn and double damn.
Charlie pointed out that we were only four miles from Fam Camp at that point...it gave me shivers to realize there were predators of that power and size within six miles of our house. I know, I'm just sheltered...and probably far safer than I was in Las Vegas from human predators...but still, the fact that we could venture down a dirt side road and come face to face with a wild wolf was a bit startling and disconcerting all the same.
Humbling, awe-inspiring and exciting all in one...without ever getting farther than ten miles down the road from home. Alaska sure is incredible!
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