Mother’s Day was good this year.  The kids were really sweet: breakfast in bed, thoughtful gifts that expressed their own unique personalities, and pretty good attitudes :) Always a plus.  They took me on the Outer Point Trail in Douglas to sit on the beach and do some fishing.  And the sun was out! First day in awhile.

we saw more skunk cabbage on this trail than i have ever seen in my life!  the smell was crazy terrible/heavenly all at once.

leave it to jonah to start the fart bomb war. poor little sweet lola.

good stuff

Brian, Jonah and I are leaving on a little trip tomorrow. We’ll be joining some friends on a five day boat journey down the Inside Passage. Making a few secret stops along the way to set pots… then we head down to Petersburg for the Little Norway Festival. I’m pretty damn excited to see what the heck happens when you mix Vikings and Alaskans.  I can’t really imagine the debauchery!  Poor Jonah’s innocence might be compromised a tad.  Bon voyage to us!  

A few weeks ago, I heard a piece on public radio about Midwest poets. There was a Louisa May Alcott poem featured, which of course reminded me of how much I loved Little Women when I was younger. This fired me up to read more of her work, and by and by got me exploring more of the American transcendentalists. Maybe it’s something about this time of year, being aware of nature fluxing and awakening, but I am finding all of this reading very connective and restoring.  And once again, drawing similarities about the way my body and soul mimics the seasons in Alaska. My jumbled up words could never say it more eloquently than Emerson:

The first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature. Every day, the sun; and, after sunset, night and her stars. Ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows. Every day, men and women, conversing, beholding and beholden. The scholar is he of all men whom this spectacle most engages. He must settle its value in his mind. What is nature to him? There is never a beginning, there is never an end, to the inexplicable continuity of this web of God, but always circular power returning into itself. Therein it resembles his own spirit, whose beginning, whose ending, he never can find, — so entire, so boundless. Far, too, as her splendors shine, system on system shooting like rays, upward, downward, without centre, without circumference, — in the mass and in the particle, nature hastens to render account of herself to the mind.

- “The American Scholar” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

We didn’t get to see the Super Moon because it’s been raining buckets for days now (and cold as heck).  My sister asked how I can stand the rain, and I say I accept it because it gives me what I love about this place. Does it suck big time? Um, yes. I hate it today and I’m a little worried that the sun won’t grace us at all this summer. I digress. That unseen moon did give us the benefit of some great low tides.

We’re pretty lucky to have beach access so close to home. I was able to escape before everyone woke up and go for a nice, long Sunday morning walk.

It never struck me how feminine sea anemones are. 

I’ve never seen a survivor with only two legs. Amazing that he’ll be whole again someday.

A chiton in a sea of baby barnacles

I’ve never been so muddy on a walk all by myself.

After all the great sea level exploring, Jonah, Allison and I went up East Glacier Trail. A wet, wet hike but well worth the high. And I think Jonah knows how I feel, despite being just nine.

Carob Date Squares (original, I know)

1 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
5 ounces dates, pitted
1/4 cup carob powder, plus more for dusting
1/4 cup honey

Whirl up the nuts in a food processor until they are finely chopped. Remove the nuts and add the dates to the food processor. Pulse it until the dates are pasty.  Add the nuts back in, along with the carob powder and honey and process until everything is uniformly incorporated.  Press into a waxed paper-lined 8×8 pan and stick in the fridge for a bit until hard enough to cut into bite-size squares. Dust with carob powder (to prevent from sticking together once stored).

I’m not loving these pictures. But, they’re good. I promise.

When I play tour guide, I get this renewed vibrance for this place. It’s refreshing to have that reminder, and always a treat to be witness to another’s awe.  It helps that I can’t remember the last time it rained. We’ve played in the sun at the beach, explored the downtown scene (it’s Alaska Folk Fest week!), hiked, cooked, watched for Northern Lights beside a campfire… it’s been a whirlwind week. It’s always funny to introduce someone to Alaska during a feverish sunny spell. She’ll soon learn that when it rains… everything ramps down a good few paces. Oh, the Juneau cycle. But still, the sun beckons, spring is everywhere, and we keep our manic velocity.

The wonders of Southeast have not been shy about showing themselves:

gold creek bridge

low tide at point louisa

a walk with pockets full of good beer

view of the mendenhall glacier valley from north douglas

basking in the sun, watching the chilkat range, glassy water… alaska at it’s finest.

A spur-of-the-moment hike out to Nugget Falls. Mountain goats everywhere! And the signs of spring in the wildlife and plants just as obvious as the melting snow.

This is shaping up to be a stellar spring. The weather has been phenomenal.

Lola and I have been back from our trip to Texas for over a week now. I just can’t seem to sit down to write about it. It was amazing. Beautiful, emotional, grounding, just what I needed on so many levels.

We buried my uncle’s ashes on the family cemetery in a beautiful wooden box, made by his son and a friend. I caught up with cousins and felt the warm Texas sun on my shoulders. There were even sorely missed thunderstorms and the bluebonnets waved on the country roads as we made our way from Houston to Austin and back. Lola played in the Gulf of Mexico waters, splashing and running and laughing at the people who said “it’s too cold for such play!”

Yes, I needed a reminder of where I come from, where I am now, and what’s important and worthy of swirling and swishing in my brain. Truth is, I have been feeling incredibly low this winter… Getting away doesn’t really make the oppressive shit I bring upon myself any easier… but phew, I can breath again. Life is good, and damn I live in a beautiful place!  And (drum roll) my little sister is moving here!  I don’t know how long she’ll stay or wether or not she’ll love Alaska as I do, but it sure will be nice to have her. Knowing she is coming made leaving my family in Texas behind a little easier. And being away, wow, sure made me appreciate my own little family that I get to come home to.

And this brings us to yesterday. Just us, doing what we do most days. Exploring on our local beach. Collecting heart rocks, shells and whatever else strikes our fancy. We also played a little game of hide and seek (she’s a scary good hider) and did some climbing in the fort. Days like this, she misses her brothers and can’t wait for summer when they can provide a little more entertainment than mommy does.

{ I know I’m spoiled }

{ we found more whelks today than ever before }

{ the sea can turn up some amazing treasures }

At the end of our walk, we came upon a bald eagle nest in the top of a giant Sitka Spruce. It seemed likely occupied… the evidence of nest building scattered all around the forest floor and a murder of crows harassing the tree.  The bald eagle activity in Southeast Alaska is so fascinating to watch at this time of year! It’s a sensitive time for laying and incubating eggs.  We will have to take another route next time so we don’t disturb the process.

A spell of clear, c.o.l.d. weather left the glacier-fed Mendenhall Lake solid, with frozen ice palaces suspended until spring thaw. A busier day at the glacier I have yet to see. Lola and I were quick to explore with the masses.

Could this place be more beautiful?

I feel so lucky to share in these joyful days of wonder and exploration with my girl. She’s quite a trooper, this one.

……….

A walk on the beach back in early January. It was so cold and the tide was so low. There were frozen sea stars all over the beach, dozens of them. While it seemed like they must certainly be dead… we really didn’t know. Lola went on a mission to put them all back in the water. Just incase.

When the work was done, we scampered off into the shelter of the forest to play amongst the furry critters, who clearly had the same idea.

The sky was full of love for the occasion.

The British Soldiers are going nuts out in the sun right now. I love the perfect red bursts in an otherwise not-very-colorful month.

Jonah, explaining the cycles of the moon to me

Getting ready for dinner… finally getting a chance to use our bull kelp chutney from Simple Pleasures (we made a trade at Public Market, my print for her jellies, and we’ve been LOVING all of the amazing Alaska flavors). 

I have been seeing some amazing photos of the Northern Lights from last night! We didn’t ever see them out here, but I did see Mars glowing the brightest red I’ve ever seen, I think just for Valentine’s Day. Hope yours was full of love.