To Remember

The ashes I sent to Minnesota have already been placed. Here in Alaska, Mum's ashes have been scattered for the last month. The first time was when we put some in the lake here at the house. There aren't any photos of that.This Sunday we went and took her to Homer and the last of dad's to Anchor Point. 

 When we moved to Alaska, it was to Homer. The picture below is from 1971 and the first photo of mom on the Homer Spit. Mom always wanted to return to Homer, we finally went back on September 22.

 I didn't have any pictures of mom's last visit to Homer. It was in 2015 and we were with JaLeen and Janet. This picture is from 2014, when mom and I stopped on the Anchor Point beach. 

 Here are mom and Obi on what was one of her last visits to Arness Dock in the late summer of 2018.

Before we took mom's ashes to Homer, Lee wanted to sing to her. He and Eric were playing at Jamfest in Soldotna. 

 One of the things I wanted to do was put dad in the Anchor Point cemetery with Grams. We finally found the cemetery, we never did find Grams. 

We did find one of my best friends who died a few months earlier, so we knew we were in the right time plot. 

So, that is about where Lee scattered dad. 

The tide was still fairly low on the spit. I was glad, It made for a mucky walk, but the patterns left by the ash were pretty. (they are the lighter white spots on the dark sandy mud) 

 I also scattered some down by Land's End. Another one of mom's favorite places on the Spit. It was a lovely day, full of laughter, tasty food, and memories.

 On Tuesday, Tamera went with me to Arness Dock to scatter ashes there. This is where Mom fished with NIkki and where Dad used to work. 

 The waves were a bit difficult to avoid, but Tamera made scattering ashes look so pretty!

 Mine was a bit less graceful, but mom is now a part of the  upper and lower inlet and these ashes I'd mixed up with some volcanic ash I found on the counter. Not sure which volcano, I do have another baby food jar with a bit more of mom and a different volcano. Not sure where those will go, yet.

Mom is now at rest. At least in body. Mother Teresa was one of her favorite people to quote. I felt this thought was apt as I look back and ahead:

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

Fall Colors Between the Raindrops

I have taken quite a few autumn pictures. I am just getting around to posting them! They are from the first of September through the 17th. We have had raining cats and dogs and then brilliant sunshine. These are sunshine days! 

Watching the neighbor dogs bark from across the lake. 

 I liked this picture. It is a golden eye sleeping on the lake. They are one of the few ducks that sleep in the middle of the lake during most kinds of weather. Rain or shine!!

This day was stunning, though. September 10.

I like the twists in this tree. You can almost see the far tree looking surprised around the larger tree's twist! (eyes and a nose)

 I took the burls on this tree from different angles. This one struck me as prettier with the popping color of the red rose hips.

 Gorgeous sunset from the house.

 Purple skies always make me smile!

The Monday of the digging, I stayed out of the way of the men and hunted for a few raindrop pictures. It had poured on Sunday, yet Monday had dawned warm and lovely. 

 Reflections of fall in a liquid kaleidoscope!

 These guys make me laugh. They are so funny. I keep wondering if it is the same ones up there. In one afternoon you can hear them and watch them as they circle and circle and squawk and circle and decide who is in front of where. I have said they are practicing migrating with the newcomers. These are Sandhill Cranes. You can see their long legs and necks in one of the photos-I took several, but decided to only post two!

Hopefully, they will get their act together and fly south. After all the rain, you can see new snow on the mountains. Termination Dust. Winter is definitely around the corner. 

Another Pit of Despair

There has been on ongoing problem with the septic lines in this house and one of the persons who came out to look them in June suggested there was a break. So, the man who dug up the yard last fall to fix the problem, came back. Jerry's tractor arrived over the weekend and he arrived with a helper on Monday. I was a bit annoyed cuz I had to move more rocks and garden than I had hoped, but it all worked out. 

 Carefully tying off the phone cord that runs directly over the septic line and down the drive in a meandering line.

 They did not find a break. They did discover the pipe wasn't at the right elevation/angle/ whatever. Jerry wanted to cut open the pipe and when they did, it was odd. They found it was full of sediment and some rocks and sand. Not much else. So, Johnny cleaned it out with the garden hose.

 They left to get a different fitting and attached it on their return. I was told to use the water to flush the system out. Jerry's not sure where the rocks and sand are coming from, (there was a small section of the drive that wasn't dug up this year or last year), but when Johnny sluiced the hose through, Jerry heard water in the pipe on the other end. I did not call anyone to camera the pipes.

On Tuesday, Jerry and Johnny filled in the hole. For some reason he had more hole than dirt, so Jerry had to find dirt from elsewhere in the yard. 

The lighter colored sandy soil is now dark from the rain. I wonder if it will lighten when it dries out?

 Unfortunately, in the movement of the soil, Jerry accidentally clipped the overhead power line. Homer Electric Association was called and they arrived promptly. They two linemen were informative and helpful.

 In this picture you can see the loop that was tugged free and a bit where the line the man's taping was clipped. We were fortunate. The loop looked bad and it appeared nothing at all was damaged! PTL!

 This was pretty cool, the man on the ground used a long extension pole to unhook the power from the house. Much easier, safer, and faster than climbing up the pole!

 The man in the basket twisted the lines back together til they look almost like they'd never been touched.

 The man on the ground opened up the breaker box and discovered all was still tight. The place where the power lines go into the house wasn't damaged either. The lineman in the air said it still looked secure. Which was good. I certainly wasn't going to climb up there to fix it Although, I probably could have hired Johnny if I needed to!!!

All in all, it was a long couple of days. Jerry's pretty sure everything is ok, but I"m betting the pipes still have problems. I'm going to have Peninsula Pumping out to hard vac them out every few months til something else can be done. I was going to replant all the flowers I dug up near the house and put the rocks back, but I'll leave it sort of plain and put the plants and decor elsewhere for the time being!

Snipe!!!

This bird exists, is unusual, and incredibly camouflaged for being popular as a previously hunted game bird. Today, it is hunted as part of a game. Many people don't realise this bird is real. During Boy Scouts, Tony tried to convince one of his scouting friends it was. It didn't matter, the younger woodsy soul insisted on taking new scouts out for jaunts in the Tillamook forest seeking a made up creature. On the All About Birds site I learned some very cool things about these little guys. Not only are their eyes set so far back they can almost see in back of their head, they have amazing long bills which have flexible tips. I spent a very long time up here in Alaska hearing an odd noise during night hours I could not identify. Finally, one spring morning, I discovered the noise in flight during daylight and after more detective work, discovered what it was. It was the snipe making a winnowing noise with the tail. Odd, but true! I wasn't sure I'd get to see one up close, they are fast little guys!! However, I did!

One afternoon, in late August, I went to look at the lake after getting back from town. No reason, I just did. I spied a really odd looking bird on shore and grabbed my camera. I took dozens of photos of this not a piper, quietly sneaking down the bank. I even snapped photos while it was bathing! Unfortunately, I think I got too close. It hopped up on the pallet, over the other side, and vanished. I was incredibly thankful to see it for as long as I did. I grabbed my bird app and book and was surprised. I was accidentally on a real snipe hunt with a lens and camera chip. I hope you enjoy looking at this fun small brown streaked bird with the super long bill and fairly long legs  known as a Wilson's Snipe.

It is always a thrill for me to discover an identity of a bird. Even more so when it is one I've wondered about and wanted to see for years! I'd probably have good luck actually going out where they tend to hang, but I think I am doing ok here in North Kenai at the house.