Putting down Roots

By the time Andrew and I had been married two and a half years we’d already lived in four states. We’d rented seven different apartments and would have two more to go before we would buy a house around our ninth anniversary.

I kind of liked it—it was exciting to see new places, each area of the country had its own strengths and beauties and in all those moves I met great people while learning not to clog up life with lots of possessions that would just have to be boxed up and moved. But after nine years when we finally signed the papers on a house five minutes from where I’d grown up I remember how it felt to spend that first Thanksgiving Day in our own home and I thought that I might want to live there until I died.

We’ve been in that same house for nine more years and while we’ve considered moving once or twice (for about ten minutes) we love our house. It’s not fancy, it’s not cutting-edge but it has a nice floor plan and a great backyard. My roses have grown ten feet high on the trellis, the sun hits the front room in the morning and the back rooms in the evening and the raspberry bushes give me fifty-four jars of jam each fall (give or take). It’s not big but then I’ve never been one who likes to spend my hours vacuuming so that suits me just fine.

It all makes me think about how much we move. Not "we" as a family but "we" as a civilization. I suppose we’re circling back to our nomadic, tribal roots but it seems that no one stays put anymore. It used to be that people lived and died in the same town, knowing each family and homestead but now that’s the exception rather than the norm.

I don’t want to get all eulogistic here, moaning about how small towns are disappearing because I’m not one to say that everything was better in the good old days but all this moving around does change us. Moving is about change and sometimes too much change can be regressive. We're not close to neighbors, we don't form attachments as easily, we're unaffected by the currents of humanity around us ebbing in and out with each new job or assignment. We worry more about our privacy than we do our neighborhoods and we live as if we're camping--never mentally unpacking all the boxes or really getting too comfortable because we know we'll just be on the road again in a short while.

Only one of the six houses next to us have the same occupants as when we arrived here. If you ask my husband where he's from he'll pause for a minute then say, "Well, I was born in Utah, grew up in several states but the largest chunk of my childhood was spent in Colorado. So I guess that's where I'm from."

He's not unusual, in fact he's lived in Alaska and in our house longer than any other place in his life. Most people in Alaska are transplants, born and bred somewhere else then drawn north by the oil pipeline or the promise of a good place to raise their children and in many ways our state is more like a giant hotel than a hometown--a holding place for people to make their living and raise their kids before checking out to retire south where it's warm.

The farther along I get the less I appreciate an uprooting. At this point in my life I don’t want to find myself in a new house, getting around in a new town and trying to make a new set of friends. We have history here--I love going to a store and running into people I know, of knowing the other parents at my kids’ school, of knowing every single street in town and how to drive it in ice and snow or where to avoid the potholes.

I like having ski trails and salmon streams nearby and I love it that we can drive ten minutes and see oceans, mountains, whales or movie theaters depending on the direction. It’s not a perfect place but I’m used to it and it’s used to me and while I have thought about retiring someplace warm and sunny with beaches and bungalows deep down I also know that I do not want to start my life over, not at 40 nor at 60 nor at 80.

While I can appreciate that change can be good and moving around often can't be avoided I think we’ve gone too far in that direction. People don’t stay in the same job or house or marriage and I think that all that movement—instead of giving us freedom—just makes us unstable, shifting around like so much loose dust.

Dare I say it? Are we all just dust in the wind? (Or at least something like that. . . . )

But I guess the point is, I’d rather not be blown to a new place. And as much as I've fought in the past against living in Alaska forever, when it comes down to it I love knowing exactly where I'm from and where my home is.

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Buttermilk Syrup

We eat a lot of pancakes around here--a lot. I've made up the batter by hand so many times I haven't needed to look at the recipe since 1997.

And while plain old pancakes are heavenly (I've eaten more than my fair share, thank you very much) you must never, ever, ever partake of them with store-bought syrup. Ever. Are we clear on that point?

The only time I'll allow you to do so is if you're camping or staying in a Red Cross shelter. Then, and only then, is it permissible to desecrate your pancakes with Aunt Jemima.

I grew up with my mom making the homemade syrup recipe off of the Mapeleine box and while for 15 years I thought it was very good (even posted it) I was quickly called to task from those of you who know what real syrup tastes like. I was sent this fabulous buttermilk syrup recipe which I tried on panettone and lapped it up like a puppy. It was like a whole new world had opened up for me.

But I recently saw Tracy's recipe at Dandelion Mama and it's even better--probably because it doesn't use corn syrup--and I've switched over for good.

Here's my own version with a few tiny modifications. I promise you it will make your mornings pure bliss.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
dash of nutmeg

Melt the butter, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla together in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Make sure you use a pan that is about twice as big as your mixture because it will foam up later and you'll need the extra space.

Let it boil for about a minute then remove it from the heat and add the baking soda and nutmeg. The mixture will foam up to about twice its size but once it's died down serve over your favorite pancakes or waffles. If you store it for later it can be reheated.

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Looking for Some Good Video Rentals?

I wouldn't normally have so many movies to review but when we flew to India in March the Air France seats each had DVD players built into the headrests and with a total of 60 hours in the air I confess I did see a bit more television than I normally would watch (I also knitted a hat and read a book. Sixty hours, people, sixty hours).

Take my reviews for what they are--an opinion. And probably not that intelligent of an opinion, I tend to have erratic reactions to movies and you never know what I'll like and what I'll hate. But doesn't that just prove that I'm human?

1. John Adams
We borrowed this HBO miniseries from my sister on her recommendation and expected to love it since we're typically big on historical dramas. We would have seen it on cable when it came out but without actually having cable that was difficult.

Everything about the movie was flawlessly executed--casting, cinematography, story, attention to detail, etc.--and we did like it quite a bit though I liked the first disc and the time up until the Constitution was signed the best. Once things were in place and the war over, once he'd left for France things slowed down quite a bit and I found it less interesting. By the time he'd retired from politics and was no longer president I found it bordering on boring until finally as an old man he was grumpy and irritating until I caught myself wishing he'd just get on with it and die already (he lingered for quite a few episodes it seemed).

One part I found interesting was the relationship between Adams and his children. Essentially he was absent for most of their lives and the effect that had on the parent-child bond seemed as pertinent today as it did two hundred years ago. All in all a good film and a solid B grade.

Oh, though I forgot. I hadn't paid much attention to it being an HBO movie (hadn't seen a rating on it) until we got to a part that had a scene of tar and feathering where they stripped a man down and edited nothing (if you get what I'm saying). I'm not sure why they felt it was necessary--it's not as if we need to see that men 200 years ago are anatomically the same as they are today--and it irritated me. I wouldn't have watched it if I'd known about it. Seemed pretty pointless and tasteless.

2. Duplicity
This movie left me feeling kind of sad. I've always liked Julia Roberts and while I didn't necessarily expect much from this corporate spy thriller/comedy I still expected to like Julia. Don't tell anyone I said this but she looked kind of old. Old and irritating.

Now don't get me wrong--I'm about the same age as she is and there's nothing wrong with a woman aging. I much prefer it to the alternative but your favorite movie stars aren't supposed to remind you of your own mortality. She looked wonderful for her age, wonderful for a woman with twins, wonderful for any woman (much better than I do) but I think the part would have been better with a younger, fresher actress.

It's just kind of sad to see a 40-ish woman chasing a younger guy and still absolutely unsure of who she is or what she is supposed to get out of life as a character. I guess I'm saying you expect to be more grounded by that point in your life and it distracts from the plot. If there is one in this movie.

But besides that the movie was stupid. Or maybe I was--I had a hard time following the twists and turns until I felt as if I was reliving the first Mission Impossible movie and the only thing of which I was certain was that there had to be one last final twist to jerk you around once more. I turned it off before that point so I don't know if it came through. A D from me.

3. The Conversation
I can't remember where I learned about this movie but I looked it up at the library and put it on hold. It's from 1974 and stars Gene Hackman as an audio surveillance pro who overhears a conversation between a couple in the park.

The statement Coppola makes (did I mention it's a Francis Ford Coppola film? He made it in between Godfather movies) about privacy and the ethics of surveillance are so 21st century that you'd swear the man had a crystal ball in front of his director's chair.

The cast, the director, the promise of a thriller all lured me in but the film wasn't what I'd hoped though I feel I need to give an explanation. It's a different type of film from the loud-mouthed action flicks we have today--there's no pounding music or car chases or gun fights or things that we've been programmed to expect from movies. I'd say it was completely boring but I think it's more that this film has the feel of a short story set to the screen. I could totally imagine reading the story and being interested but visually, as a movie, it felt small.

There are things along the way that string you along, hoping that it'll get more exciting really soon and the ending was better than I had expected but still--it's a quiet, introspective and psychological film and I don't know if anyone out there would like it after being trained with the likes of the Bourne movies. I give it a C- but then I have the unsettling suspicion that if I were just smarter I'd give it a B+.

4. New in Town See? This shows I am a stupid movie goer because I kind of liked this one. Not LOVED, but liked in a let's-kill-two-hours-on-a-plane kind of way. It's completely formulaic, predictable and cliche. It's not well acted and not particularly funny or cute but then it has two big things going for it. 1. It has Harry Connick, Jr. and 2. It's clean.

Rene Zellweger is a corporate hot shot assigned to close down a company plant in the middle of Minnesota (I forget where, but I swear I've been there) and it's a culture clash film with her high heels being eventually traded in for steel-toed boots as she learns to . . . you get the idea.

Totally predictable. But clean and not unpleasant. Though it was funny--Grace saw it just before I went down to Nashville and saw HC Jr. in person at Blissdom and she really didn't "get" it. To him he was just a hairy lumberjack because he spends most of the movie covered in facial hair. I had to assure her that there was a musician under there somewhere.

A B movie. And I liked her shoes.

5. Knowing
See that look on Nicholas Cage's face? It's been trademarked I think because you see it in every. one. of. his. movies.

And none of them will even come close to the perfection that he attained in Raising Arizona but we won't discuss that here. Instead we'll just say that Knowing isn't a horrible movie. It's just different from your typical world-is-going-to-end movies. To me it felt kind of like The Ring meets Deep Impact where you've got freaky supernatural things going on coupled with all life on the planet about to be snuffed out in a second.

I liked Deep Impact but I did NOT like The Ring so it's fifty-fifty on this one. I'll give it a salute for being a little different and not having any stupid, completely unbelievable solutions for the earth's predicament (would you care to upload a computer virus to your mother ship? or shall we just melt the aliens with water?) And I kind of liked the end in a weird way just because it was different.

It could be worse and I don't know that it could be any better so I'll give it a B-.

6. Sydney White
Have I ever confessed to you that I'm an Amanda Bynes fan? I know it's kind of like admitting that I like to dress up in my old prom dresses and pretend I'm a princess while I do my housework (I don't) but I can't help myself. She's cute and her comic timing is quite good. She's kind of a modern-day Gidget only with a killer figure.

She's the Man is pretty funny if you haven't seen that one but we're here today to discuss Sydney White. Sidney's mother has died and she and her father are very close when she leaves for college to pledge as a sorority sister in the same sorority where her mother had been a legend.

But Sidney doesn't fit in with the snobby girls and ends up with seven little geeky friends and . . . it took me half way through the movie to discover that it was a retelling of Snow White.

Yes, I'm slow. Anyway, it's rather funny and sweet. It's not high drama but compared to the duds I've been dealt lately I'll judge it to be an A-.

7. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
There are reasons why this movie should be at the top of my list--it's sweet, clever, cute, well-made, entertaining and perfect for Amy Adams' particular brand of flaky/froofy. It's one of those movies that comes along that's quite a treat and you enjoy it and think "Why don't they make more movies like this one?"

But then, for whatever reason, the people who make movies think the rest of us are ignorant enough not to recognize a quality production so they think that they have to add a few things here and there to get us to watch instead of letting the movie speak for itself.

The movie is so sweet and squeaky clean except for a scene of nudity that is merely thrown in so that the film doesn't get a PG rating and that disappoints me. Not only does it disappoint me but it reminds me that I need to be better about looking up a movie's content before I bother to check it out of the library. I'd give it an A but for that irritating scene.

8. Cloverfield
I don't think this one was supposed to be a comedy but it was so ridiculous that all you can do is laugh. And not in a nice way. When I borrowed it from my sister I had no idea what it was about so to find out I was watching a Godzilla remake was surprising.

Then to find out it was a Godzilla remake with Godzilla as a proliferating alien preying on promiscuous and unrealistically good-looking teenagers living way beyond their incomes in Manhattan was even funnier.

But then I've never been much of a monster movie fan. It's a horrible character flaw I'm sure. A D.

9. Time Traveler's Wife
I'd heard so much internet buzz about the book I was up for killing two hours on the plane with the movie. It was edited down to a perfect "G" rating so I don't know if the original was clean or not but it makes for a interesting take on the time-travel scenario.

Rachael McAdams plays a woman who, as a girl, meets up with a guy who time travels. End of story. Kind of--things jump forward and backward as they get more and more involved to the point where you can't tell when their relationship starts and when it ends--if it ends.

Very confusing but not unpleasantly so. For me casting is a big part of a movie and I like McAdams and Bana and it all kind of worked for me. Though the biggest problem with any kind of time travel movie is that there are always inherent problems with the plot--holes here and there where you say, "But if he/she/they can travel through time why don't they just do X??" Because if you can travel through time you have the power to ultimately undo any conflicts that may arise which completely implodes said conflict at the bottom floor. Or don't people who write time-travel books realize this?

But putting that all aside I still liked it enough to give it a B.

10. Confessions of a Shopaholic
Am I the only one out there who positively can't tell any difference between Isla Fisher and Amy Adams?? I swear it's like they cloned a Disney princess and think we can't tell what they've done.

But despite this case of double identity I liked this one. Again, it's very predictable and girly. In fact, Andrew gave Spencer quite a hard time when he came home and found his son watching this with me. It has a sweet little message about not valuing yourself through shopping and the problems that arise from materialism.

I suppose it's Hollywood's way of capitalizing on the economic issues of overspending and consumer debt and I guess I'm glad that someone in this country is making money on the situation because the rest of us aren't.

But if you're in the mood for perky, pretty and plenty of shoes then this is the film for you and I wouldn't begrudge you one moment of blissful oblivion. A B flick.

11. Crash
Ah, finally a movie that gets a solid, resounding A. Feels as if I've been mired in pathos doesn't it?

My sister had an edited copy of this movie and brought it home with her for the summer several years ago and all my family had seen it and swore I'd love it but it was only until our trip that I finally saw it. It's one of those cast-of-thousands film where they take a dozen stars and wind them over and around and through the plot, without any one of them having more than ten full minutes of actual screen time. But it all works so well you end up being caught up in each story and you feel as if you've had an epic adventure by the end credits are rolling.

Plot? It centers around a car crash (hence the title) and each of the characters is somehow touched by the incident. The theme is that of racism: how it's everywhere and unavoidable and colors every moment of our experience and while that may sound terribly dismal (it is rather) the film has its inspiring moments.

Brendan Fraser plays the politician, Sandra Bullock his wife. Don Cheadle the L.A. detective, Matt Dillon the racist LAPD officer. Tandy Newton is the producer's wife to Terrance Howard's producer and yada, yada, yada . . . A solid A with solid performances and a story that will make you examine yourself and wonder how well you really know your own soul.

12. Push
Sigh. Back to the duds. Seriously, avoid this movie as if your television might leak toxic fumes once the DVD is inserted into your machine.

I think it was trying to capitalize on the popularity of Heroes but it was boring, bizarre, digitally graded to the point of a video game, disjointed . . . what else can I complain about? How about the disturbingly freaky bulgy-eyed Chinese guys? Seriously folks, avoid this one at all costs. It took me all of 20 minutes to figure that out.

If you need more to convince you I'll just say that it's as if an amateur camera man was paid to follow Dakota Fanning around Shanghai for a day and he kept tripping over his shoelaces. I hate that shaky-camera thing that's all the rage now, the only film I will tolerate with it is the Bourne movies--I'd suffer through any amount of bad camera work for that trilogy--but it's a supernatural world of people with special powers where the government is the bad guy and there are all sorts of stereotypical scary Asian gangsters that chase the heroes through alleyways. Grim I tell you, very very grim.

13. Up in the Air
This one, however, is a gem. Again, I saw this fab film on Air France where it was edited down to a G rating which begs the question that if, in its clean and family-friendly form, it's such a wonderful and high-quality story then why in the world did the producers feel the need to smut it up? It seems to me it's the equivalent of stocking your soda with caffeine. It adds nothing to the body of the movie and only is designed to addict you to the junk.

But enough ranting . . . back to the movie. George Clooney is great as this middle-aged corporate chop shop who finally hits that mid-life crisis despite his insisting for so many years that "he's fine this way."

Great story, great cast, the ending is interesting and satisfying in its own odd way and it somehow made me feel better about my own life after watching it. Though, oddly enough, I really identified with the whole thing and found myself easily slipping mentally into the story.

Definitely an A.

14. 2012
HAHA! This is the movie that made had me rolling in the aisle--it's simply hysterical. And if you haven't seen this YouTube spoof on the movie then click over right now and get your dose of culture.

In a nutshell the plot is this: the world is coming to an end because the Mayans--who as we all know are responsible for such amazing contributions as the first manned flight to the moon, the cure for polio, the Sistine Chapel, and Beethoven's 5th symphony--oh, wait! I forgot. The Mayans didn't do any of that. They were too busy conquering neighboring tribes and ceremonially eviscerating them.

Anyway, because the Mayans were such a technologically and culturally advanced civilizations it behooves all of us to take notice of their prediction that the world will end in 2012. Or at least that's how a bunch of internet geeks have interpreted things.

But the world is coming to an end and our heroes have ten minutes to drive to safety as California falls into the sea. And that's pretty much it.

I had free access to it on the plane and about the time the broken-down RV was jumping the Grand Canyon at 115 mph with a pyroclastic fireball gaining behind them I had a hard time seeing the screen through my tears of laughter so I turned it off. I hope they survived.

15. Bright Star
I love, love LOVE period movies and will see anything that guarantees Empire waists so I eagerly selected this Jane Campion movie in my little personal video player between Turkey and Iraq.

It's the true story of the romance between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne but the movie starts out with me wondering what she could possibly see in him (he's emaciated and sickly and slightly effeminate. Hardly your Mr. Darcy) and then continues with me wondering what he sees in her (she's grating and rude and proud and the kind of person who tells you exactly what she's thinking. I've never liked people who do that).

The plot is slow, laborious and the romance seems terribly unbelievable given the main characters. There's a lot more chemistry and interest between his roommate and Fanny--maybe that would have livened things up--but I gave up before that even became a possibility. In fact, if you go to Wikipedia and look up the movie instead of giving you paragraphs of plot and subplot all it says is this: "For three years, poet John Keats carries on a love affair with the girl next door, Fanny Brawne, which is cut short by Keats's death." That's it. Shows you how boring the movie truly is.

Anyway, I was so disappointed I cried then I turned it off--or I think I might have tried New Moon (that's how desperate I was) but could only stand ten minutes before my eyes began to bleed.

***

BUT . . . lest you think I'm an old movie curmudgeon I did see Sherlock Holmes and LOVED it. I didn't bother to review it because you've probably all seen it but I expected to hate it and had a nice surprise. I love movie surprises. It's not as over-the-top action as the previews make it out to be and if you've read the original stories it actually follows their essence fairly well. Holmes is a martial arts-style expert and boxing champ and only when the movies put in Basil Rathbone did the character become so wimpy and weak and solely-cerebral. I think it's a refreshing remodel but it did make me wonder why all Sherlock Holmes movies seem to be required to deal with the Egyptian occult? That's so totally been done before but I'll let it go for now.

And of course I'm eagerly awaiting the summer blockbusters. Knight and Day, The Last Airbender, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Prince of Persia, Iron Man 2, Letters to Juliet, Clash of the Titans, How to Train Your Dragon, The A-Team, The Karate Kid, Toy Story 3, Inception, Despicable Me, The Avengers, The Hobbit . . . I'd love to see them all. Can you tell I love action movies? It's because I identify with them so whole-heartedly. My life is very exciting I tell you.

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Kids' Summer Crafts: Build an Ecosystem

Welcome to summer! My kids have been home since last Friday and we're making lists of fun projects to keep the vacation fun. Each Wednesday this summer I'll be publishing kid projects and today I'm starting with something David's class did months ago.

They built a perfectly contained ecosystem that functions on its own (as an ecosystem is supposed to do) without any outside work or maintenance. They put it together and sat back to watch it grow and mature and I'll tell you, it's really quite fun to see.

There is pond life in the bottom and land life in the top and the two exchange water and oxygen so that you can watch bugs crawling on the second floor and fish swimming in the basement.

I'm not sure how long you can keep it this way but it's been months since they made it and it's still going strong. What a great educational activity and a step up from just going out and catching frogs (also fun). You'll never have to change water or clean a tank or feed an animal--I promise.

Here's what you'll need:
3 empty and clear 2-liter bottles
clear packing tape
aquarium gravel (or fine, rinsed pea gravel)
water
de-chlorinator (optional)
rubber band
4-inch square piece of netting
soil
mustard, rye or alfalfa seeds
fish, snails or other aquatic life
elodea or other aquarium plants
duck weed
crickets, pill bugs or earthworms
a couple dead leaves or small sticks

Step 1:
Cut the top off of the first clear bottle (make sure the labels are removed, you'll need the bottles clear so the sunlight can get through).

Don't cut it too short, just chop off the spout so you have enough of a bowl left over to fill with lots of water. This will be your "bottom floor."

Step 2:
Cut the top and the bottom off of the second clear bottle, making a clear coupler that will eventually link the two other sections together.

Step 3:
Cut the bottom off of the third clear bottle but save it, you'll reattach the bottom with tape after you fill it with good stuff and it will be your "top floor."

Step 4:
In the bottom floor (the one you cut up in Step 1) put an inch of aquarium gravel and fill it nearly full with water. Make sure it's treated with de-chlorinator to take out the chlorine or, if you don't have any on hand, you can set out the water in a shallow pan for 24 hours and the chlorine will evaporate.

Step 5:
Choose your guests! In David's case the class used two little guppies or other tiny pond fish along with two little snails. They also put a couple elodea plants (you can find them in any pet store that sells aquarium supplies) and the snails and guppies live quite happily by eating the plants and algae that accumulates in the bottle, keeping the system in balance. The class also put a bit of duck weed that floats on the top of the water, its pretty little roots dangling down. The plants help keep oxygen in the water and filter the water.

Step 6:
Now fill your top floor. Place the piece of netting over the neck of the bottle and secure it with the rubber band. With the bottle upside-down and the bottom off fill with about an inch of gravel then with a couple inches of soil and plant your choice of seeds (alfalfa, rye or mustard work well and are easily found in health food stores).

Step 7:
Choose your top floor guests. You can use pill bugs or an earthworm or crickets. Lots of possibilities. Let them loose among the grass seeds and throw in a few dead leaves and a stick or two for decomposition.

Step 8:
Replace the bottom to your top floor bottle and secure it with packing tape. You might want to have the top edge fit slightly down inside of the bottom edge (and that's when the bottle is upside down and the soil is in the spout) because as moisture collects in the top part it will trickle down the walls and if the seal isn't tight you'll get water on your counter. Fix this problem by putting the edges down inside of the edge they're to join up with. (Make sense?)

Step 9:
Slip the taped up bottle down into the coupler, secure it with packing tape and then slip the bottom edge of the coupler down into the top edge of the water-filled bottom floor. Secure it with packing tape.

Step 10:
Place in a well-lit spot where sunlight can get through the clear plastic to do its work. Sunlight will allow photosynthesis which will keep the cycle in motion. Keep an eye on your guests, our snails had a population explosion and we had baby snails everywhere. It's really quite exciting.

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My Garden Surprise

Last night we finished our spring yard work as a family in a special ops assignment we mysteriously named Operation Raspberry Mice.

What??

Yes, raspberry mice. We had a "To Do" List that included pruning the raspberries and taking care of the two dead mice the trap caught in our crawl space but of course we weren't so stupid as to tell the children about our plans. We just told them we were going to have a really, really fun family activity code named Operation Raspberry Mice.

The marketing ploy worked and they were rabid with anticipation. Until they eventually found out what the whole "raspberry" and "mice" thing actually was and were handed some plastic trash bags.

But to finish the story, Operation Raspberry Mice was a success and the garden looks gorgeous. I'm not sure why (maybe it was our mild winter?) but I've got more daffodils than I've ever had before. I've got bulbs that I planted six or seven years ago that never came up which are now inexplicably flowering. I've never had so many beautiful yellow flowers and I think I like it.

But while I was chopping back my chives, clearing out big handfuls of last year's dead stalks, I uncovered this:


It startled me so that I knocked the nest over and thought for a minute that the other eggs had fallen out but then after examining things more closely I think there was just the one.

At first we were worried that I'd knocked it around so much that the mother wouldn't come back but then after thinking about it I think it's an abandoned nest with an egg that didn't hatch.


It's a junco hyemalis or Dark-eyed Junco and I know this because we found one nesting on the side of our house six or seven years ago about the same time I had expected all those daffodil bulbs to be blooming but waited in vain. Now my daffodils are back and so are the juncos. It's a sign I tell you.


They nest in grasses on the ground (which, as our seven year-old pointed out, doesn't seem to be too smart) and they usually lay three or four eggs speckled brown eggs at a time. It doesn't take the babies long to leave the nest so I think this one must be the egg that didn't hatch.

Now I'm just waiting for the crab apple trees to blossom and my climbing roses to bloom. They're towering at ten feet this year.

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What's the Hardest Thing You've Ever Done?

I've been thinking about this a bit--thinking about how absolutely wimpy I am. On March 27th I was skiing and it was incredibly icy; to make a long story sound as impressive as possible I fell while going about 78 mph (or so it felt) and because I am old and not as graceful as I once was and because my ski binding did not release I twisted my knee and spent the next half hour howling in pain.

As I lay there cringing and thinking that I'd most likely ripped my lower leg free from the rest of my body I thought, "I need to move because eventually Andrew is going to notice I'm not behind him and once he comes back for me he's going to think I'm dead if he sees me lying here like this."

So I moved my head--at least a little bit. When he finally came back for me and got my boots released and moved my leg for the first time I could feel the place where my tibia met my femur and how the bones scraped and slapped together around inside my skin and in my delirium I remember thinking, "Great! I must have dislocated my knee--I've heard about people dislocating joints and how much they hurt, so that must be the feeling of the joint going back together."

Oh how wrong I was and when he finally got my on my feet--or on my foot rather--I had my suspicions that it might not be so simple as a dislocated knee. Something just didn't feel right. Besides all that pesky pain one isn't supposed to be able to feel one's bones grinding away like that and slipping in and out of connection.

I crawled home and immediately slept--I think I might have been in a bit of shock because I was shaky. Not as bad as after you go through childbirth and you're shaking so hard that they throw one of those marvelous, wonderful, magnificent giant blankets they keep in their hospital ovens over you and you just melt with joy but still, I was shaking and I kind of collapsed into sleep and slept for hours.

When I woke up I started thinking realistically. About the inconvenience of going to a hospital, of the cost of going to the ER for help, of what they might tell me about what I'd done to my body so what did I do? I did what any other injured techy would do and I turned to Google.

Yes, Doc Google, who seemed to indicate that I'd torn my medial collateral ligament or MCL. The good news? It's usually not necessary to repair surgically but the bad news was it was painful as knee injuries go (as if I hadn't already figured that one out). Rest, ice, Advil and elevation were the best things to do so I decided to wait things out and see if muscle would heal on its own. Even if I eventually needed help everything indicated it would be 4-6 weeks of waiting while the swelling went down.

After a week or two I was able to get around on crutches with a brace in place and while the joint would give out completely if I wasn't very careful I started to see some gradual improvements. It was beyond frustrating to be stuck inside just as the weather was getting warm and I was crazed with irritation at my condition and isolation but most of the time there was no one around to hear me banging my head against the wall. So I waited and the weeks went by.

"Ha ha!" I thought as my knee joint began to hold together better, "I've outsmarted all you doctors and health care professionals with my sneaky no-doctor policy! I've beaten you all!"

But after six weeks of not being able to bend my leg properly and limping around like a chicken on pain pills I finally sucked it up and decided maybe I'd better see a doctor. After x-rays and an MRI (I tried not to think of how I could have bought five--count them five--tickets to Maui for the price of that one visit) they delivered the gracious and thrilling news that I had not only torn my MCL but had also torn my ACL (anterior collateral ligament, or that tiny ligament in the back of your knee) and my meniscus. I could tell that for the doctor it was an every day event to deliver this kind of news to an injured patient and the equivalent of handing me my two burritos with mild sauce at the drive-through window of Taco Bell but for me it was horrible. I cried all the way home, thoroughly crushed that I hadn't quite been able to beat the system and thinking of what I was now in for.

You see, everyone and their dog has a knee story and they'll tell it to you if you happen to have a knee injury of your own and can't run away as efficiently as the rest of the population. How many times did someone recount the story of their own ACL surgery? The most memorable was a tale of how the pain of the surgery was more exquisite than the actual injury and how, after having had his hamstring tendon harvested for grafting, the victim never regained proper flexibility and still remembers the pain of it all to that very day.

Then there was the thought of being back on the couch again and hobbling around on more crutches for weeks (no one ever tells you how uncomfortable crutches are--the palms of my hands hurt worse than my knee from the pressure of supporting my weight). Forget how much it would cost us or missing the part of the year Alaskans live for (June) but to be rather helpless and quarantined once again only to follow it up with months of physical therapy and nearly a year of recovery was depressing to say the least.

I guess you could sum it all up by saying I was bathing in self-pity. Soaking in it until I was wrinkled as a raisin.

But then I started thinking--thinking rather than just reacting and mourning. I thought about how much I had loved skiing with Andrew this winter and how good it was for us to have done it. I thought about how great it was to be healthy enough to go skiing and to be so healthy that the thought of surgery is new and scary to me rather than something I face regularly. I thought about how 100 years ago I'd be turned out to pasture in the village square as the newest Village Crone, limping from house to house to sell wilted bundles of flowers or something.

I thought about how much knee surgery has improved since my friend had his hamstring harvested and that as a result my own surgery wouldn't be so painful. I thought about how, expensive as it would be, that we have modern medicine to take care of things like this and that we could afford this procedure (kind of).

I was grateful that my kids are old enough to be able to take care of things while I recuperate and that if all goes well I will have a good-as-new knee in a year, though it will feel nearly normal in 6-9 months. And I'm grateful to have found a surgeon who seems to know what he's doing with his scalpel (not like that first guy at that Taco-Bell-drive-through-clinic).

It all got me thinking about how soft we have it nowadays and how soft I've become as a result. I tried to think about the hardest thing I'd ever done and couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. I haven't gone to war, I haven't swam the English Channel, I haven't faced a life-threatening case of polio, scarlet fever or influenza. I haven't done anything that pushed me to the point where I really thought I would die or where I worried that I'd make it through yet found the strength to keep going. Sure I've done my small share of hiking and camping and playing at roughing it but as for epic battles of heroism or strength my life is rather empty and suddenly I felt that emptiness. Or rather, I felt sheepish at how much others throughout history have endured while I have had to endure very little.

Here I am facing a knee surgery and whining about how it will probably hurt. I think about battlefield amputations or 48 hours of laboring through a breech birth or of pioneers trekking across mountains and deserts just to settle in a new land and I think about how maybe this knee surgery will be a good thing. I'm going to have to do a bit of work to get myself back in shape and it's going to be pretty inconvenient but if I play things right maybe I can come through it with a greater appreciation for doing hard things and a greater reverence for the good life I have.

And who knows--with all that physical therapy and training maybe it'll get me to run a marathon? I might just surprise myself someday.

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These Omelets Were Made for Walking

We went out camping this weekend to Eklutna Lake. How was it you ask? Cold. Very, very cold but we did have a bit of fun anyway because we came prepared with tasty vittles and lots of firewood.

You've probably seen tinfoil dinners before--those dinners where you wrap up meat with potatoes and carrots or other veggies then season and seal in aluminum foil (don't forget to double wrap!) Well we had sausage tinfoil dinners with roasted corn on the cob and Dutch oven Mississippi Mud Cake (a favorite) for dessert.

But for breakfast the next morning we tried a new gizmo: The Walking Omelet.

How to Make:

1. Take a heavy Ziploc bag (it doesn't have to be as heavy as a freezer bag, just heavier than the sandwich variety) and crack a couple eggs into it.

2. Whisk your eggs thoroughly until they are frothy and light and no egg whites remain.

3. Add a couple tablespoons of cream or milk for lightness and flavor, whisk lightly to blend.

4. Add salt, pepper and any other spices or omelet fixings you desire. We were going easy this time so we stuck to the standbys of ham and cheddar. Seal the bag carefully, squeezing gently at the top to get as much of the air out as you can.

Note: You can also complete these first four steps at home and bring the bags along in a chilled cooler if you'd like to make it even easier on yourself. But make sure you keep them chilled and use them before 24 hours are up. You may need to squish the bag around a bit to remix the ingredients if they separate before cooking.

5. Bring a pot of water and boil the sealed bag for exactly 13 minutes. No, the bag won't melt unless you let it overlap out of the pot onto the hot stove or hot pan. Just use medium weight plastic as instructed.

6. Remove the bag (or bags--we used a large stockpot and had six bags cooking at once) and turn the contents out on a plate to eat. Voila! Instant omelet without any messy cleanup and a minimal amount of work.

Of course you may get some jokes from the customers who might try to claim your omelets look like haggis but just let it roll right off of you because once they take a bite and all that warm goodness hits their stomachs they'll be thanking you.

See--here's proof in a picture. They don't seem to be complaining now do they?

Sponsored by Storkie.com for baby birth announcements.

Traveling in Luxury

Hey! (Or should I say "Hay")?

Look carefully. We were following this truck leaving Bangalore when we noticed a man taking a nap on top. He was jiggling back and forth with each bump and I was sure the whole pile would shift and send him over the side but he appeared not to notice my concern.


Luckily Dad had his camera at the ready.

You'll see everything in the world piled on trucks in India--and usually overloaded to the point that you can't understand how it was piled so precariously. The cargo may be as simple as hay or it may be a more human commodity.


All the trucks are overloaded and all the trucks have bald tires. No tire is so worn that it can't be passed on and reused on another vehicle. It makes you wonder if anyone bothers to actually buy new tires or if the whole country just rotates the same sets of wheels from car to car ad infinitum.


Great pictures Dad.

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Activities for Families in Anchorage: Summer 2010

School's out!

For the fifth year in a row here is my list of free or inexpensive activities for children and families in Anchorage. Some of it you've seen before but quite a few things are new so read carefully.

If you wish to download this list in a pdf format for distributing you can click here. Just please leave the URL and credits in place (it is copyrighted after all).

1. Visit the Loussac Library
Sign up for the 2010 Summer Reading Program "Make a Splash" where children earn rewards for reading. Each Tuesday from noon-1pm there are local bands performing on the library lawn June 1-August 1. Some extra Loussac events throughout the summer held at 2pm in the Wilda Marston Theater (see the website for repeat performances at the other branches around town):

June 1 Mad Science
June 8 A Pirate Party
June 15 AK Zoo Critters
June 22 Dance on the Waves with Imamsuat
June 29 Read-Beard the Pirate

Join one of the reading groups at the story theater in the Loussac Library:

Mother Goose (birth-18 months) on Thurs 10:30 am, Fri 3:00 pm
Lapsit (18 months-3 years) Tues 10:30 am, 11:30 am Wed 10:30 am, Fri 10:30 am
Storytime (3-5 years) Thurs & Fri 11:30 am
Family Storytime (families and children under 5 year olds) Thurs 6:30 pm

2. Enjoy outdoor concerts at the "Music in the Park" concert series.
These free outdoor concerts run all week long from noon-1pm at Peratrovitch park in downtown Anchorage and this year they're doing things a little differently.

Each Monday features "Cruise Ship Entertainment" as follows:
May 24
11:00am — Robin Hopper
12 noon — AK Dance Theatre
1:15pm — Matt Hammer
2:15pm — Eagle River Jazz Band

June 7
11:00am — Robin Hopper
12 noon — Music for Little Ones
1:15pm — Matt Hammer

June 21
11:00am — Robin Hopper
12 noon — Music for Little Ones
1:15pm — Matt Hammer

July 5
11:00am — Suzy Crosby
12 noon — Music for Little Ones
1:15p Carhartt Brothers

July 19
11:00am — Robin Hopper
12 noon — Music for Little Ones
1:15pm — Matt Hammer

August 2
11:00am — Robin Hopper
12 noon — Music for Little Ones
1:15pm — Matt Hammer

August 16
11:00am — Carhartt Brothers
12 noon — Hurricane Dave
1:15pm — Carhartt Brothers

August 30
11:00am — Carhartt Brothers
12 noon — Sourdough Bisquits
1:15pm — Carhartt Brothers

September 13
11:00am — Suzy Crosby
12 noon — Hurricane Dave
1:15pm — Matt Hammer

Wednesdays Jun 2-Aug 25 noon-1pm are "Military Music in the Park"
Thursdays Jun 3-Jul 29 noon-1pm feature local artists
Fridays Jun 4-Aug 22 noon-1pm feature local artists too
Saturdays in July 10am-4pm "G Street Art Fair" on G Street between 4th and 5th Avenue

Also . . .
Jun 12 1pm-5pm is the Jazz Festival
Jun 26 1pm-5pm is the 9th Army Band Jubilee
Aug 7 is Galway Days for Irish music and festivities
Aug 14 1pm-3pm TBA theater company is presenting "Tribute to Broadway"

3. See auto racing at The Northstar Speedway.
This track in Wasilla has Saturday races May 22nd through September 11th. The gates open at 4 pm and races start at 6pm. GCI customers can go to any GCI store for free tickets to the July 17th race otherwise it’s $10 for adults, $5 for kids and free for kids 10 and under. We went a couple years ago and had a great time--there was even a demolition derby before the races.

Check the website for weekly events including free Coke day, Scout day, military day, free picnic day, etc. where you can sometimes get a discounted ticket price.

4. See a free movie at the Regal Theaters.
Twice a week at 10am the theaters hold their Free Family Film Festival where two movies are shown concurrently both days, no age limit. This year there are two lists--the first are the movies being shown at the Dimond Center 9 Regal and the second is the list of movies being shown at the Totem 8 theaters. Make sure you get the right one! If you're in Fairbanks the Goldstream Theaters have a similar program you can view here.

Dimond Center 9 (showing Tuesdays and Wednesdays)
Jun 22-23 Tale of Despereaux (G) and Coraline (PG)
Jun 29-30 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (G) and Astro Boy (PG)
Jul 6-7 Charlotte's Web (G) and Planet 51 (PG)
Jul 13-14 The Movie (G) and Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (PG)
Jul 20-21 Rugrats In Paris (G) and Kung Fu Panda (PG)
Jul 27-28 Wallace and Gromit (G) and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (PG)
Aug 3-4 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (G) and Monsters Vs. Aliens (PG)
Aug 10-11 Doogal (G) and Hotel For Dogs (PG)
Agu 17-18 Muppets From Space (G) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop (PG)
Aug 24-25 Muppets Take Manhattan (G) and Aliens In The Attic (PG)

Totem 8 (showing Mondays and Tuesdays)
Jun 21-22 Muppets Take Manhattan (G) and Aliens In The Attic (PG)
Jun 28-29 Tale of Despereaux (G) and Coraline (PG)
Jul 5-6 The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (G) and Astro Boy (PG)
Jul 12-13 Charlotte's Web (G) and Planet 51 (PG)
Jul 19-20 Rugrats The Movie (G) and Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs (PG)
Jul 26-27 Rugrats In Paris (G) and Kung Fu Panda (PG)
Aug 2-3 Wallace and Gromit (G) and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (PG)
Aug 9-10 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (G) and Monsters Vs. Aliens (PG)
Aug 16-17 Doogal (G) and Hotel For Dogs (PG)
Aug 23-24 Muppets From Space (G) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop (PG)

Also note: The Century 16 theater also has a summer movie clubhouse event running all summer long where shows are $1 at 10 am or prepay for 10 shows for $5 and get 50% off.

May 27 The Tale of Despereaux
Jun 3 The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything
Jun 10 Horton Hears a Who
Jun 17 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Jun 24 Space Chimps
Jul 1 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Jul 8 Everyone's Hero
Jul 15 Shrek the Third
Jul 22 Alvin and the Chimpmunks: The Squeakquel
Jul 29 Charlotte's Web

5. Catch a Bucs Baseball game.
Playing at Mulcahy Stadium several evenings a week (usually at 7pm) June 6-August 3 (see their schedule here), this is great fun. Bring a big bag of peanuts and show your kids what baseball at sunny 10pm feels like. The library's summer reading program often gives out free passes for four to the games otherwise admission is $5, six and under are free.

6. Go gold panning at Indian Valley Mine or at Crow Creek Mine.
Off of the Seward Highway just before the turnoff to Indian and open from May 15th-September 15th 9am-9pm. Admission is $1 per person for the mine and museum and then $5 and up for a bucket of dirt to pan--depending on the amount of dirt. It's very clean and very easy for small children and the views of Turnagain Arm are worth the trip. This isn't quite free but it's nearly so.

You might also try Crow Creek Mine a bit further down the road for a couple dollars more. We went last summer and you can see pictures here.

7. Build something at The Home Depot and Lowe’s kid clubs.
Free to children of all ages, each store's kids' club provide aprons (to keep), tools, safety goggles and kits to build various easy woodworking projects such as birdhouses, bookshelves and wooden toys. Home Depot on Abbott holds their kids' club the first Saturday of every month 9am-12pm while supplies last (and I've never seen them run out but it can get crowded around the tables). Lowe’s on Old Seward and O’Malley holds theirs the 2nd Saturday at 10am. Children get certificates of completion and patches to put on their aprons each time they complete a project. It's great fun and our kids have loved participating.

8. Go fossil hunting in Sutton.
Anywhere where the rock is layered and loose you can find plant fossils from the late Cenozoic period (50-70 million years old). Bring a good map, take any road into the Talkeetna Mountains, find a good place to turn off and you'll find fossils. The kids like carrying picks and buckets--but the picks are more for fun than necessity. It's just fun banging rocks. I've got a post coming on this one later this summer with pictures from when we went.

There is also a Rock Hound class at Spenard Recreation Center on Thursday Aug 4 and Friday August 6 6:30-8:30pm for kids 12 and under ($15) that teaches about rock identification and all sorts of other rock-related things. Call 343-4160 for details.

9. Visit some of Anchorage's lakes.
Rent paddle boats at Cheney Lake (on Baxter road), swim at Goose Lake (the corner of East Northern Lights and Providence Drive) or picnic at Lake Hood (near the airport) and watch the planes take off at the world’s largest and busiest float plane harbor. Friday June 18 1-3pm there's a family day at Goose Lake that the library is organizing. Register at 343-4138 to take part in the games and fun.

10. See paragliders jumping off the mountains.
In Girdwood (near the Alyeska Prince Hotel) on a clear day the updrafts start around noon and though it's free to sit and watch them land down around the hotel grounds for the best view take the tram ride ($14 with an Alaska ID, $7 for kids 7 and under) up the mountain for a picnic and first-hand view of their takeoffs. Hatcher’s Pass is a bit farther from Anchorage in the opposite direction but also has a great view and is popular with the paragliders--and it's free from all viewpoints.

11. Pick blueberries on Flat Top or at Hatcher's Pass.
The Flat Top Trailhead starts at the top of Upper Huffman Road and though the entire trail (2 miles) may not be suitable for small children, the lower alpine area known as Blueberry Hill is great for picking berries in town. It's best to check about the first week of August to see if the berries are ripe, if you wait too long they'll be all gone.

Hatcher's Pass, though farther, has more blueberries than you could ever pick if you're up for a two-hour drive. For an easy hike (even with a stroller) try the beautiful Thunderbird Falls. Follow the signs from the Glenn Highway twenty minutes north of Anchorage. For a longer hike that has a spectacular prize at the end try the Winner Creek Trail in Girdwood. Andrew and I were there for our anniversary last year.

12. Ride Alaska Live Steamers miniature train.
In Wasilla between the Museum of Transportation and the airport this 7.5 gauge miniature train is big enough for children and adults to sit on the individual cars as the train travels through the woods on a 20 minute train ride.

The train runs the 1st and 3rd Saturdays the middle of May through the middle of September 10am-4pm. Cost isn't free (they don't accept credit cards) but it's minimal ($4 for adults, children under 2 are free) children under 3 need a car seat but the owners have one to loan in a pinch. We did this in 2007 and had a fun time if you'd like pictures and video footage.

13. Attend the summer solstice celebrations.
Celebrate the longest weekend of the year in downtown Anchorage at the Summer Solstice Festival on Saturday June 19th from noon to midnight on 4th Avenue and in Town Square.

Enjoy the Hero Games, live music, professional skateboard demonstrations, Rage City Roller Derby Girls Solstice Showdown, children’s activities, a car show, plus a midnight concert in Town Square featuring Wild Child. All free.

Then of course there are also festivities for the Independence Day celebration July 4th which will include a parade, kite flying, fireworks, all free to the public. The governor's picnic is an annual event usually held toward the end of July at the Delaney Parkstrip between 9th and 10th Avenues downtown with activities and free food for all. Check the Anchorage Daily News for times as July draws closer.

14. Visit the Eagle River Nature Center.
I have wanted to visit ever since I discovered their claim to be home to Alaska's 27 indigenous species of orchids (or something close to that, the details were sketchy). Who would have thought? Open every day from 9am-5pm (7pm on Fridays and Saturdays) the center has nine miles of hiking trails and conducts free nature events for kids all summer long. See following for June:

Jun 5 2pm "Loony Tunes"
Jun 12 2pm "Catch and Release Insect Hunt"
Jun 15 10-noon "Explorer's Club" (K-2, $8 fee)
Jun 16 10-noon "Explorer's Club" (3-6, $8 fee)
Jun 19 2pm "Flowers and Their Pollinators"

Each Monday through Friday from June 2 through August 29th 1-2:30 pm they have guided nature hikes on their trails. Then there are also their "Junior Naturalist" programs on Saturdays at 2pm for children ages 5 and up where they can earn a Junior Naturalist Badge after attending 12 sessions.

Here in Anchorage there is also the Campbell Creek Science Center that has trails of its own where you can see eagles and bunnies and even eagles eating bunnies (seen it). Check their calender for lectures and programs or take part in their free Moms, Pops and Toddlers Outdoor Program with instructors that lead "brief hands-on activities outside in natural areas around the Science Center" and parents also receive resource materials for continued study with their kids. Schedule is below:

Jun 19 10-noon
Jun 24 3-5pm
Jul 17 10-noon
Jul 27 10-noon
Aug 5 10-noon

15. Visit Seward for the 82nd Annual Mountain Marathon.
Every 4th of July Seward, Alaska hosts the Mountain Marathon and though you may not be prepared to participate it's fun to see. I quote from the website:

The foot race is a climb and descent on Mt. Marathon - a mile and a half up and a mile and a half down, complete with cliffs, scree fields, waterfalls, and a spectacular view. This annual event draws runners from around the world.

Over the years, this home town historical event has drawn increased participation ~ resulted in new milestones. 54 women finished the first-ever women's race in 1985, juniors began logging their records in 1994, and 2005 heralded the beginning of the "staggered start" for the senior races. The popular Mini Marathon race starts them out young - toddling just a few feet to victory!

The tradition of the Mt. Marathon Race, according to folklore, began when two sourdoughs had an argument about whether it was possible to climb and descend the mountain in less than one hour.

If you think running is hard, you need to see running Alaskan style. When they come down they're sliding and skidding and tumbling--usually a bit cut up--but it's quite the sporting event to see.

16. Visit Elmendorf State Fish Hatchery.
Here you can view fish at various stages of growth at the facilities located at the corner of Reeve Boulevard and Post Road. The best time for viewing coho salmon is September but the hatchery is open from late May-September 8am-10pm.

17. Join a bookstore reading club.
Most bookstores in town have a reading hour for kids, some with crafts and other activities. Many have reading programs that offer rewards in the form of coupons and free books to children who complete the reading goals. Barnes and Noble has Preschool Story Time on Wednesdays at 11am and Beginning Readers Story Time on Saturdays at 1pm. Borders has their Story Time on Tuesdays at 11am and 1pm and Saturdays at 11am, call the stores for more details.

18. See dogs catching frisbees.
Skyhoundz is the organization for dogs who love to catch frisbees and the local canine frisbee catching championship (not to be confused with the canine catching frisbee championship--watch those modifiers folks) will be held June 11, 12-4pm at Delaney Park strip on the soccer field at 10th and L Street. All the cool dogs will be there.

19. Bike the coastal trail.
The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail reaches 10.5 miles from downtown Anchorage, along the coast of Cook Inlet and down to Kincaid Park. With easy terrain and beautiful scenery it's a great bike ride for kids--there are plenty of parks along the way as good places to stop for a picnic if little legs get tired. The Copper Whale Inn on L Street above Elderberry Park near the beginning of the trail has bike rentals. Pictures of one of our trips can be seen here.

20. See some flowers.
Saturday June 5th noon-6pm in Town Square there will be a fund raising event (free to the public) for Anchorage parks with seminars from master gardeners, live music, activities for kids, flower walks, and raffles. Call 279-5650 for more details.

Also, the Alaska Botanical Gardens gets better each year and I particularly love the herb gardens with their gorgeous raised beds. There are lots of events going on all summer long (check the website for details but May 29th, July 10th and July 11th are "free days," May 22-September 18 Tuesdays through Sundays families with children ages 4-9 can rent $5 "Discovery Duffles" that are filled with activities for children (presumably related to the botanical gardens). I haven't tried it but it sounds like it could be fun.

Also, June 2-September 25 each Wednesday at 6 pm is Story Time in the Garden for children ages 3-5 (weather permitting). They meet in the lower perennial garden area.

21. View some wildlife.
Eleven miles past the turnoff for Girdwood on the Seward Highway is the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center with 140 acres of room for the buffalo to roam. Or rather the moose. You can see all sorts of Alaskan animals from 8 am to 8 pm May to September.

I've heard several people say it's a great trip--be sure to bring cameras, warm layers, binoculars and shoes for walking. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $5 for kids or $25 per car load.

Of course you can always visit the Alaska Zoo for about the same price and they also have Story Time at the Zoo on 10:30 am each Wednesday April 1-September 1 which is free with the price of admission.

22. Study the planets.
From the website which explains it best: "The Anchorage Light Speed Planet Walk is a scale model of our solar system. Taking the walk, you experience the relative size of the planets and their distance from the Sun. The scale was chosen so that a leisurely walking pace mimics the speed of light. On this scale, each step equals the distance light travels in one second (300,000 kilometers or 186,000 miles).

"It should take you about 8 minutes to walk from the Sun station at 5th and G to the Earth station at 5th and K, just as it takes 8 minutes for a light beam to travel from the real Sun to the real Earth. Similarly, it takes you and a light beam 5 1/2 hours to reach Pluto at Kincaid Park."

Sounds like a fun activity for a sunny summer day, huh?

23. See some salmon.
Anchorage has lots of waterways within the city and if you haven't already you must go down to Ship Creek and see the salmon run. The hatchery is just up the road and last time we were there we spent time watching a beaver at work above the bridge making a dam. You can read more about the activity at the link above.

24. See some glaciers.
You might be really adventurous and head all the way down to Seward to hike out on Exit Glacier (we did that several years ago and had a great time) but closer to Anchorage there are always the billions of glaciers you can see around Portage. The Begich-Boggs visitors center is free and always has fun things for the kids to see and you can walk into Williwa campground to see salmon at the right time of year.

You can even take a trip through the Whittier tunnel. It's not as if there's really lots and lots to see in Whittier once you get there, but if you want to see a very long tunnel that would be the place for it.

25. Visit some museums.
Now everyone knows about the Anchorage Museum at the Rasmussen Center but there are a few other little museums around town that can be fun.

The Alaska Heritage Museum at Wells Fargo (301 W. Northern Lights) has 900 pieces of Native artifacts, gold and fine art. The Anchorage Fire Department (100 E. 4th) has fire department memorabilia. The Oscar Anderson House Museum (420 M. Street near Elderberry Park) is open for tours for seeing what life was like in the early days of Anchorage. The Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum (4721 Aircraft Drive) has exhibits on aviation and a flight simulator and of course there's always the Imaginarium has fun science exhibits for kids and is now part of the Anchorage Museum at the Rasmussen Center.

However, the one I'd like to check out is the Alaska Museum of Natural History which has a summer line up of classes for kids that looks pretty interesting (dinosaurs, whales and space) and the activity fees are reasonable ($1 for ages 3-5, $3 for 6-12, $5 for over 12 and $15 per family).

June 8-13 Treasure Trove
June 15-20 Rock Art
June 22-27 Living Fossils
July 6-11 Ice Age Alaska Style
July 13-18 Violent Volcanoes
July 20-25 Monsters of the Air
July 27-August 1 Monsters of the Land
Aug 3-8 Monsters of the Sea

26. Visit some markets.
The outdoor farmer's market on 3rd and E street runs May 8-Sep 5, 10am-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Not only can you get great produce but there's now entertainment, food and more with over 300 booths.

If that doesn't appeal then there's the indoor flea market. 3:30-8:30pm on Fridays and 10am-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays it's at 7521 Brayton Drive and claims "a variety of food, arts & crafts, specialty, clothing and antique vendors display their products and services each weekend. Free entertainment available."

27. Learn the drums.
April 24-May 24 at Grass Roots Fair Trade Store you can learn to play the drums with free drum lessons 2-4pm. They even say that they'll provide the drums if you don't have any. This weekend may be the last chance on this one so get busy if you're interested. Call 929-5835 for more details.

28. Learn archery.
Free for kids 8 years and up at Kincaid park and running on Saturdays Jun 5-Jul 24 this is a great deal and you can bet I've signed my own kids up. Call Margaret at 343-4217 for an over-the-phone registration but hurry, space is limited.

29. Learn swordsmanship.
Free for kids 14 and up at Fairview Rec Center you can take either a beginner's class in German Longsword wielding or 18th century Highland broadsword. "Freedom!"

It cannot get cooler than that. Call 343-4130 for more details.

30. Learn to garden.
Kids can take the Chickweed and Beyond class (ages 12+), the Composting 101 class (ages 12+) or the Fairview Rec Center gardening club (ages 8-16) and get your fill of seeds and all sorts of growing things. Again, call my friend Margaret at 343-4217 for details.

The Chugach-Eagle River branch of the library is offering a family gardening workshop (free) May 22nd at 1pm where there will be crafts and activities all around the garden. Small kids need their parents but it's open to kids of all ages.

31. Take a hike.
The Fairview Rec Center is also offering a youth hiking series May 26-Aug 11 1:30-3:30pm where they hike all over the Anchorage bowl area on various trails. It's free to join and it's for ages 7-13 years. You can also join in the "Parent and Me" walks for parents and kids of all ages at trail systems around Anchorage on Tuesdays May 11-July 20, 11am-noon. Call 343-4130 for details on all programs.

There is also their free Nature's Encounters series for ages 12+ that explores different life forms around town according to the schedule below:

Sat Jun 5 10-1pm "Migratory Wetland and Shore Birds" at Goose Lake parking lot
Sat Aug 28 10-1pm repeated at Westchester Lagoon
Wed Jun 30 6:30-8:30am "Trailside Plants and Wildflowers" at Kincaid outdoor center
Wed Jul 28 6:30-8:30am repeated at Hilltop Chalet Center
Wed Aug 11 6:30-8:30am "Mushrooms and Lichen" at Goose Lake parking lot
Wed Aug 18 6:30-8:30am repeated at Hilltop Ski Area

Call 343-4160 for details.

32. Go geocaching or letterboxing.
There's a geocaching clinic and a letterbox clinic to teach you all about this fabulously fun family activity. Geocaching is Sat Jun 5 and 12 10am-noon ($15 per family) and letterboxing is Thursday Jun 3-July 29 6:30-8:30pm ($20 per family). Call 343-4130 for details.

33. See the airshow.
The Elmendorf AFB airshow is back this year with Arctic Thunder July 31 and August 1. Not only will the Blue Angels be performing this year but the Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be flying as well. Can't wait! Bring the earplugs--no really, I'm serious. Make sure you have earplugs for everyone, especially the kids or it might damage their ears.

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Alaskans and Their Coffee Stands

By contributing writer Kim Christopher of The Mommy Machine

***

My brother-in-law was visiting from Ohio. As we sat at the kitchen table enjoying breakfast he began describing his favorite coffee to me, detailing his morning routine of running into his coffee shop and ordering his delicious cup o’ joe to go. I stopped him right there.

“What are you talking about?” I asked with skepticism. “You park? And get out of your car? For COFFEE?”

He stared at me with a puzzled brow. I frowned at him in disbelief. This conversation was going nowhere fast.

You see, in Alaska, we have coffee stands. You drive up to the sliding window, order your poison, toss your money to the barista, and go about your merry way. Our coffee stands are located, well, everywhere. Every street corner. Every back alley. Every empty lot. Some coffee stands share a parking lot with a gas station or a bank. Others sit by themselves on lonely stretches of road, where truckers and campers depend on them to provide a hot mug of pick-me-up in the middle of a long drive. The point is, I haven’t had to step out of my vehicle for a warm beverage since 1997, but when I explained all this to my Buckeye brother-in-law, he refused to acknowledge the vast superiority of our drive-up stands to his inconvenient park-and-walk shop.

It’s not like these coffee stands are fly-by-night operations, I clarified. They’re not pouring hot water into a Dixie cup of instant crystals. We’re talking real businesses that take pride in their product, with each stand specializing in a particular brand of bean. Some serve a local roast; some sell only organic; others import from Hawaii, for crying out loud. They call themselves by cute names that play off the theme of the coffee, like Holy Grounds or Jumpin’ Bean. Some use alliteration, like Motor Mocha, or hint at the exotic, like Terra Bella or Caffe d’Arte. My brother-in-law was unimpressed. What was it going to take to get this guy to see the light?

Each stand has its own punch card, I continued. Buy 9 drinks and get the 10th free! That brought a glint of interest to his eye. I hurried on, appealing to his sense of tolerance and diversity. Neither my husband nor my kids drink coffee, but that doesn’t keep them away. Alaskan coffee stands sell hot chocolate and chai tea and fruit smoothies and steamers. They offer muffins and cookies and Rice Krispies treats. They’ve got newspapers and bumper stickers. And they’re quick! No fuss, no muss . . . and definitely no parking and having to walk inside some strip mall just to place your order.

I quit talking and waited for my brother-in-law to concede. “Eh,” he shrugged, “I still like my coffee shop. They make it just the way I like it.” Some people simply won’t listen to reason.

***

This week's post "How to Throw Things Away" is up at BlogHer. Right next to the enticingly sensational piece entitled "Burka Rage." Doesn't that just make you wonder?

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