I’m wearing the silliest slippers …
But the good thing is that I’m wearing them while sipping tea AT HOME! I love traveling, but I think that coming home is just as nice. The trip to Alaska was awesome, over all. I have two more pictures for you - both of these were taken while standing on the Matanuska glacier. Maybe it’s just me, but the idea of a massive moving ice formation is humbling, and to be standing on one is … wow!! You can see where I am (the green arrow) on the glacier in the picture.
The one on the left is me. The one on the right is my brother, Jeremy. He is the reason I traveled to Alaska, as he’s been living there, and I wanted to spend Thanksgiving with him. My brother and I are very close - he’s been such a great friend to me over the years, a really loyal supporter, always willing to tell me like it really is, and hash things out with me. The way he lives without fear - of change, of opinion, of ideas, of danger, of disappointment - is inspiring to me.
In crochet news …
So today my mother-in-law gave me the silliest possible slippers. They should be called “elf shoes.” I don’t know who made them - her sister? - but look at the balls on them! And they’re laced! Aren’t they hysterical? I’m absolutely going to have to wear these. How could I not wear something this silly?
Finally, a new project I’ve been working on while traveling. (just what I need while those other ones aren’t done, right?). This is supposed to be a Christmas present (if it turns out right). This project is an afghan for my grandparents. Like all of my projects, it is designed to be a crochet learning experience among other things. Because I’m (1) a slow crocheter and (2) it’s late-ish to make a full blanket, I decided that investigating this whole speed hook thing would be profitable at this juncture. So this afghan is being made holding 3 strands together with some ridiculously large hook - like an N or a Q or something (which is smaller than the recommended S, but that one’s just silly). It makes very puffy fabric. I used three colors and will be using them together for a border, and striping the colors in the middle. So what do you think so far - like? fail?
Alaska
Hard to believe, dear readers, but NaBloPoMo(Fo) is almost done. Five more posts, including this one, and that’s one every single day in November. I received a notice this morning from one of the organizers about the end and how there will be winners … winners?! Do I get points for posting while on a week-long trip to Alaska?!
Speaking of, I have been in Alaska since last Thursday doing one thing or another. I thought that for today’s post I’d share some of the stuff I’ve been seeing. There is a lot as far as beautiful scenery goes here. It is fairly cold scenery. Arriving here from Texas is like being stuck suddenly in a freezer. Of course, the Alaskans think they’ve been having balmy days lately, so I’m a big dork in my coat, scarf and hat and they’re walking around in shorts and a t-shirt …
So here’s some really pretty pictures of some really pretty scenery in the great north. Enjoy!
Standing in Earthquake Park looking across the salty mudflats (muddy saltflats?) and the Cook Inlet to Anchorage with the Chugach Mountain Range in the background.
That’s the Hatcher Range of the Talkeetna Mountains (Hatcher Pass) in the background across the Cook inlet.
Jeff in the Chugach State Forest on a snowy ridge overlooking Anchorage.
A view east down the Matanuska River in the Matanuska Valley. It’s a wide glacier valley and most of the river is frozen over right now.
Looking across the taiga - the Copper River Valley - at the Wrangell St. Elias Mountain Range. That’s Mt. Drum (12,010 ft) on the left and Mt. Wrangell (14,163 ft - top hiding in the clouds) on the right. The road is Highway 1 to Glennallen.
The sun begins to set over the Cook inlet. We were traveling along the Seward highway which runs along the inlet going south to the ocean. This looks across to the end of the Turnagain Arm. This is probably the most beautiful drive I’ve seen. The mountains come up straight from the water.
Friday in Anchorage, Alaska
Well, it’s about 10:00 at night here in the far north, and it’s been pitch black out since about 4:30 pm. My internal clock thinks it’s about 1:00 am, and so does my computer, because both are unaware that I’ve moved to the west a couple thousand miles.
It’s been a long couple of days. I did cook Thanksgiving dinner today, although with ham instead of turkey. It was good, and I’m about to have a piece of my husband’s pumpkin cheesecake. I expect to pass out completely after that. In the next couple of days there’s going to be some exploring around Anchorage and some venturing off into mountains and near glaciers. Should be really interesting.
Sadly, Jeff’s grandmother, Dolly, passed away yesterday evening at 7:30. I miss her already, and I’m so sad for Jeff and his mother. I love you guys. I’ll remember Dolly like she is in this picture (not sticking out her tongue!), laughing - I knew her to have an inimitable sense of humor and an indomitable spirit, and I admired her. I was privileged to know her the last seven years.
Dolly was a unique woman: in her life she was everything from trucker to mother, from Hell’s Angel to caretaker, and most things in between. Dolly was an immensely strong woman. Her life taught her to be tough, and she learned to do what she wanted to do and to say what was on her mind, and damn anybody who wanted to stop her. There was a lot to admire in her way of staring down whatever came at her and then giving it hell. A lot of what she said was was funny and smart-assed, and she was perfectly fine saying what she thought even if you didn’t want to hear it.
She had a lot of children and grandchildren, and even a few great-grandchildren as well as two husbands who were gone well before I met her. She had many priceless stories, and as I love stories, I heard a lot of them. She was a born and bred south Texan, complete with accent - she knew the fields and oil rigs and the sun and small town life. She knew the hardships and joys of a life that’s half job, half family, half farm. Dolly always had her own preferred way of doing things, much of which she’d “prefer” you to do as well: I once received detailed instructions on making iced tea, which I’ve done a million times, but Lord don’t you know I made it her way that day (well, I had to argue, but that’s me)!
I can only begin to hint at what sort of an enormous personality Dolly was, but maybe you also have known and loved someone like her. Her life experience and personality were larger than life.
