First Street

Perhaps we should start a collection to buy Steve a scanner so he can post all of these for us...

Maple Leaf Drive

Faith and I went up the North Shore to check out the fall colors this weekend. We discovered a wonderful little road known as Maple Leaf Drive - also known as Heartbreak Hill. (Just off of hwy 61 near Schroeder.)

Though most of the trees are not yet at peak color yet the Maples are. You may want to take a day off this week and check them out.

Pig Roast - October 7 - Saturday

Pig Roast - October 7 - Saturday

Time keeps on moving! We've got to start planning! Mark your calendars! Start spreading the word among relatives and nephews and nieces! The pig roast is coming up! Fun! Games! Bonfire! Potluck! Celebrate Steve's 60th!! Singing around the campfire??? Starts at noon!

If anyone is available on the Thursday or Friday before, we could probably use a little help to get the pit ready and gather wood and rocks.

Cervidae!

Paul wanted photographic proof of 8 things. My original plan was to display the six we had and then, in some witty way, concede defeat regarding Fish and Deer.

I didn't feel so bad about the lack of a deer. We saw deer in middle Canada but didn't think it worth the time to stop and take pictures. Besides, we knew Paul's Deer was a dirty trick since there are no deer in Alaska or the Yukon. (A few by Sitka but that's not accessible by road.)

But last night, when I was putting together the display leading up to the forgotten halibut in Homer, Jon came up and asked what I was doing. I told him. And I finished my explanation by saying, "Now we only lose cuz of the stupid deer." Jonathan turns to go up and get a snack and says casually, "A moose is a deer you know."

A MOOSE IS A DEER!!! Er, I mean. . .a moose is a deer. You can look it up. Cervidae is known as the deer family. Here's a quote from zoobooks.com

Did you know that a moose is a also deer? Yes, the moose is the biggest member of the deer family. Our moose has three spots where you can pet her. Find them
to learn more about the deer family.

Or try this from Enchanted Learning

Deer are mammals that belong to the family Cervidae. There are many
species in the deer family, including various types of deer, moose, elk (wapiti), caribou, and reindeer. Some deer species are social, but others are solitary.

So that means. . .

This is a deer.

And this is a deer.

.

.

.

.

And this is a deer too.

Fish

With Paul''s challenge we're down to Deer and Fish. Up until a half hour ago I thought we'd have to declare defeat in the Fish category.

Dean and Kurt tried fishing but we have no photos of their attempts and they were thoroughly unsuccessful so no pictures there.

There were opportunities to stop where salmon were supposedly spawning but we didn't. At a particular spot on the Kenai we drove past thousands of fisher-people lining the river attempting to snag salmon. We have no picture of them nor their catch.

I knew we had photos of whales.



On our excursion out of seward on a boat we saw numerous humpback whales. The views were often spectacular but alas our trigger fingers never got them at their best. Here's a fin.


Here's a tail. But hold your comments because I realize that a whale is not a fish, (though personally the fact that the creature was probably larger than our boat should count for something).

So I was ready to concede defeat but then I remembered our excursion down to Homer.


Somewhere near the Salty Dawg


I took a photo of some guys making money. When the sports-fisher-people came in with their catch, the guys would, for a fee, fillet and package the halibut for them.

Mabel

Becky called this evening. She rushed back from Ethiopia a week ago because Mabel had been diagnosed with cancer. Becky had a good week with her and she died yesterday.

I had been under the impression that Mabel had been diagnosed with alzheimers years ago and was probably in a vegetable state, but Becky said the diagnosis was in error, and Mabel, who was 94, was lucid and vigorous of mind up to the end, living with Sharon and Peb in Colorado.

In case anybody's vague about the relationship. . .Harold Osell was Esther Lindstrom's brother. The funeral is at Bethany in Duluth this Thursday. I plan to be there and I'll express condolences as a representative of the family.

Since I haven't scanned the Stynsberg slides yet I had trouble finding a picture of Mabel so I reused this one from Mom and Dad's wedding.

Mt. Marathon, Seward

On Labor Day Holly, CBS, and i hiked up the back side of Mt Marathon. It was a nice hike that seemed to be easier to climb than the front side that they race up on the 4th of July. Most of Holly's pictures turned out nicer than mine.












Here is how you take selfish self portraits. You set the camera on a rock after hitting all the right combinations for the timer on the back. Notice Christoffers rain hat.













I was eating blueberries and the darker service berries that covered the ground.

What is it?

I was loading Holly's photos onto the computer and came across these two pictures showing abstract art in nature.

Nothing But Blue Sky

This was the funnest of Paul's challenges. The image imprinted on my memory of this trip is. . .nothing but blue sky!

After two arduous days of marathon travel we arrive in Dawson Creek.



Steve and Jo somewhere near the bottom of Sheep Mountain.



Others somewhere near the top of Sheep Mountain.



This is the typical scene of interior Alaska.



This photo was taken a few miles from Mark and Lois Ann's house.

By the way, I have shown the Alaska photos to numerous people. When we get to the Photos of Mark and Lois Ann's house, everyone. . .to a T. . .says their house looks extremely beautiful, rustic, and comforting. Like something out of Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings.

Did Anybody See Steve?

Did anyone notice that Steve posted a comment? It was succinct and profound too!

I've been showing our Alaska photos to people who come over. Nancy, a lady from our church, who has heard about Steve for years but never seen him, when she saw photos of him from the trip said, "That's not what I imagined him to look like at all. He's very distinguished looking."

Did Somebody Say Goats?

OK. . .back to Paul's challenge.

A solitary male. Between us was a canyon - the Sikhanni Chief river.

At the bottom of the canyon near a spectacular waterfall was a mama and two babies. She seems to be eating lichens or moss from the canyon wall.

Dean, Kurt and Mark saw these goats coming down from the Harding Icefields. Mark showed some pictures of the icefields.