You Know You're From Haines if You Remember.......

Recently someone started a group on Facebook that has garnered quite a following.  It’s been a fun trip down memory lane.  Here are some of my favorites:

·         Feather and Fin restaurant

·         Moose Horn restaurant

·         Doody’s store

·         Wileys restaurant

·         All the “put the fear of God into kids” adults:  Retha Young, Florence Lammers, Ethel Powel, Bill Battrick

·         Roller skating at the old barracks

·         Swimming at 11 mile

·         When the bakery was a row of apartments

·         The big outdoor stairwell into “Schnable’s apartments” with the Post Office below

·         The “Rack & Que” (someone even still had a Tshirt!)

·         Mrs. Berry’s pink everything!

·         Powell’s Store

·         Hakkinen’s Store

·         The Corner store (owned by McDowells)

·         Curfew siren going off every night.....10 pm on weekdays, 12 on weekends

·         The police station up by the legion hall

·         Customs down at 1 mile with a sign saying if you missed us, check in tomorrow morning

·         Riding the cable car at 26 mile

·         Sourdough Pizza (taught me to love of sprouts atop my pizza)

·         The old yellow truck on the playground

·         The rope swing up by Menakers

·         The Smell of the Yukon

·         Strawberry Festival

·         When the “Food Center” was brand new and it seemed so big

·         Porcupine Shorty’s strawberry patch

·         When you could go to the movie theater and pay $.50 for the ticket and $.50 for popcorn & soda

·         Dr. Jones cutting the cast off my leg in front of my 2^nd grade class

Piper the Bear Stalker

Saturday night I was awakened to Chris’ frantic voice saying “there is a bear in the yard and Piper is trying to stalk him”.... so I got up and sure enough, Piper was probably 15 feet away crouched down in stalking mode while the bear lay under the peanut tree eating the layers of sunflower seeds under the mulch, completely oblivious to the danger lurking nearby.  This is a good time to insert this is a cat who is afraid of his own shadow.   I yelled for Piper to come in but he didn’t so much as look in my direction.  I turned on the back porch light hoping to scare the bear away but he didn’t even look up from his snacking.  I watched this ongoing saga for about 15 minutes and finally, in desperation or exasperation, not sure which, I grabbed a broom off the back patio and in my nightgown and bare feet (and hoping no neighbors were watching) I chased the bear off and grabbed my cat. The things a feline mother has to do....

P.S. It was too dark for a picture or I would have taken one but I leave you with the visual of angry woman defending her brood.

Of Books and Floods....

Recently a friend of mine commented that she hates to try out new authors for fear of being disappointed.  Those words have been gnawing at me ever since.  She is an avid reader so I find that sentiment really sad.  I LOVE discovering new authors, it’s one of the great joys of reading.  To limit yourself only to the tried and true ones seems really confining to me.  I fear more being disappointed by an author I’ve always enjoyed.   Jodi Picoult is a good example, I always buy her newest book but in the 20 or so that I’ve read of hers there were a couple I struggled to get through.  But c’est la vie.  Whether or not a story appeals to one personally has a lot to do with the topic at hand and some topics are not as interesting as others to me.  I didn’t particularly care for the one about an autistic boy for instance, but her last one that deals with several hot button issues in our society today captivated me.  Infertility, gay rights, conservative Christian views, love.  How can you go wrong with that?

In other news we are under a flood warning in Juneau! They are not sure why but speculation is there was a lake that has been trapped by the glacier that is now free. This morning the water level was 13.7 feet and rising.  Minor flood stage is 11.5 feet while moderate flood stage is 12.5 feet.  It’s a little disconcerting to say the least.  Here’s hoping it doesn’t get any worse.

Hailey Mae July 13, 1993 - July 2, 2011

It was June 7, 1993, I had just returned from a trip south and had one more day left of vacation.  It was sunny and bright out and I relished spending the day in the sun.  Then I got a call from a friend of mine who lived in Washington and she was in town and wanted to go to lunch.  Perfect.  After getting ready I headed out the door and I noticed my cat, Gretchen, following me down the stairs. I thought it was funny that she seemingly didn’t want me out of her site after being gone a couple weeks.  I got in my car and spent 3-4 minutes with the engine running searching for the beginning of a song on the tape,  (remember those days?) then I put the car in gear and started to back out.  I immediately heard a sound I will never forget, a scream, and I instantly knew I had run over my cat. 

Eying the treats that are above her

Fast forward a month or so and my friend Caroline told me about some kittens a friend of hers had.  She took me to their house one night and I picked one out but the kitten wasn’t old enough to bring home.  Caroline seemed determined to get me a replacement cat but my heart wasn’t really in it.  I was worried I wasn’t ready yet and worried if I got one too soon I’d never bond with it.  Non-pet people usually assume when you lose a pet any old animal will do in its place.  I can tell you it doesn’t work like that with pets anymore than it does with humans.  They have such different little personalities and Gretchen I had definitely been in synch.  I loved that cat more than anything in my life and I was the only mama she knew. So I wasn’t really sure when the day came that I brought Hailey home. 

I shouldn’t have worried.  She had me from ‘meow’.  From the moment she arrived I was her mommy and she didn’t want me out of her sight.  She’d sit on the bathtub edge and cry when I was in the shower.  She’d sleep on my pillow.  I’d wake up in the middle of the night and just look at this cute little buddle of fur.  One of the cutest pictures I have of her was when she was a little bitty thing and I was sick.  One afternoon I fell asleep on the couch with my box of Kleenex next to me and when I woke there was Hailey inside the Kleenex box.  It was adorable. 

One of her kitten hood misadventures happened when she and Hillary were playing with a ball of yarn.  I had gone to lunch with a friend and when I returned it took me a few minutes to realize she wasn’t around.  And then I saw her...she was so tangled up in that yarn she literally couldn’t move a muscle and it was wrapped tightly around her neck.  That was the last time yarn was used as a cat toy in my house.

Her claim to fame was her ability to get plastic lids off.  Treats always came in containers with plastics lids and she was a pro.  I had to hid treats where she couldn't get them lest she open it up and eat the whole can.  One day I came home and she had gotten a can of Slim Fast powder off the counter and the lid off. She must have thought anything with a plastic lid was cat treats so she must have been sorely disappointed to go through all that work only to discover a weight loss powder....which I was vacuuming up for months out of my lovely 70s orange shag carpet.

I always had 1-2 other cats throughout her whole life and she was always my favorite.  I really loved that cat, everything she did was just so cute to me.  Unlike Hillary who sought to win Chris over when he joined our household, Hailey wanted nothing to do with him.  She was always a one person cat.  Somewhere along the line I gave her a middle name and always called her “Hailey Mae”......she was really very special.    But cats in old age can be as cantankerous as humans in old age and she was grumpy in recent years, compounded by the fact she did not ever befriend the two new cats or the dog.  She became increasingly isolated in the dog kennel.  She also quit grooming herself and developed mats of hair all over and she stunk.  She quit eating proper cat food and would only eat cat treats.  And she had stomach problems which translates into massive amounts of vomit......everywhere.  Then she started wetting herself so last Saturday I finally made the decision to end her life.  She was 18 years old and she had seen me through a lot of life.  I was pretty confident I was doing the right thing as I drove to the clinic and did fine as I was explaining my decision to the vet.  But the moment I bent down to kiss her goodbye I was hit with a wave of emotion that just about knocked me to my knees.  It was such a visceral reaction that I did not expect.  Emotions are a funny thing, even when you think you have them all boxed up and put away they can knock you for a loop. 

So here’s to you my sweet feline friend, rest in peace.

Friends Are Like a Box of Chocolates....

When we first moved into the home we now live nine years ago I noticed the woman who lived across the street.  She was tall and willowy and much younger than me.  In the following years I’d run into her occasionally when I was out walking or working in the yard but she never spoke to me and frankly I thought she was really stuck up.  After a few years she moved out and then it seemed everywhere I’d go  I’d see her. ...the Home Depot or the grocery store or gas station.  Then I got a new job and surprise, surprise, there she was. She didn’t actually work in my office but she frequently had to bring things in to be signed and she wasn’t any more friendly there.   At the next job she was dating the father of a coworker.  Then I saw her hanging out with an old landlord of mine and read in the paper she ended up marrying him. She seemed to be one of those women who couldn’t go a nanosecond without a man. This year in January there was an opening at the office I now work at and she one of the applicants.   I couldn’t believe my bad luck,  I didn’t like anything about her.  So imagine my dismay when the notice came out saying she had been hired.  Before she started I looked her up on Face book and there, everything I thought I knew about her  was confirmed.  Every day there was an entry voicing her very loudmouth conservative, Republican agenda and her outspoken discontent with our president.  Even if I agreed with her I don’t appreciate reading people’s political rants on FB and I always hide their entries if they get too obnoxious.  Then I saw another reason not to like her....she is an avid hunter! I am not opposed to hunting, per se, I just cannot relate to the desire to kill animals, particularly for fun or sport.   She has numerous pictures posted posing with an array of dead animals.  And she’s the president of the local NRA club.  The was the final nail on her coffin as far as I was concerned.

So imagine my complete and utter surprise to find I actually liked her!! We have absolutely nothing in common.  She is very girly-girl in some ways....she wears 6 inch heels and perfectly manicured fake nails and is very fashionable with her long processed hair.  On the other hand she is this Harley girl with crazy tattoos and when she isn’t on her bike she’s out hunting or fishing. Or working on machinery.  Or some other manly  pursuit.  She is such a contrast between ultra feminine and masculine.   The funny thing is though we really enjoy each other’s company and get along great.   We play endless games of Hangman and Word With Friends and we have such a hoot just hanging out.  She really brightens my work day and she has a fantastic sense of humor.  I still have her hidden on my FB but every once in a while I sneak on to see what she has written.   There are subjects we avoid but all in all it’s quite a miraculous friendship!   I guess the moral of this story is one of my favorite quotes that says:  don’t ascend so far into your own beliefs that you villainize anyone with an opposing point of view.

All in a Day's Work

Yesterday I was reading Susan Stevenson’s blog and admiring her many wildlife and scenery photos.  If you haven’t yet checked out her blog (it’s on my sidebar – Living in Alaska, Life in the Last Frontier) you really should.  She is an AMAZING photographer who lives in Fairbanks and makes frequent trips to Denali park.  She appears to have an understanding with wildlife, they appear at her command and she in turn takes very flattering photos of them!  She also has some great stories too, such as the attack of the marmot.  Very funny stuff.  So it got me thinking of the wildlife we raised when I was a kid. 



This is Porky, another squirrel friend from recent years

 One of my favorite animals was the squirrel my dad brought in on Easter Sunday one year.  He had fallen out the birdhouse where his mother had nested.  We named him Peanuts and he was quite the character.  My dad had him in his classroom at school during the year but he spent a fair amount of time at home too.  The most infamous story about Peanuts (besides him biting the Superintendent) was the day he ran across our wood -heated cook stove.  Ouch.  And then my sister was washing dishes and he jumped in the water.  That was a rough day for poor little Peanuts.  We eventually let him go but he would still come to me.   The West Tours buses had a stop at our house and I would go out and bottle feed the moose and then I’d go to a tree and yell for Peanuts and he’d come running down to be held.  The tourists would all ply me with treats and take my picture.  I’m quite sure buried in attics across the U.S. are old pictures of the grandparent’s trip to Alaska in the 1960’s and I must surely be in a few of them.

We also raised quite a few baby moose.  There was Bruce the Moose, then Benny, then Bruce the Moose #2, Molly, Sally, Bernadette, Bernice, & Bullwinkle.  I think there were others but I can’t remember anymore names.   It was always my job to feed them from this over sized baby bottle and they always ran to me when they saw me.  We had goats too and the moose calves grew up thinking they were goats.  The goats would always get down on bended knee to eat their grain and the moose quickly learned to imitate that stance.  They were great fun to have.  They never lasted long in the wild though, F&G would come and tag them and release them at a new location out the road and they usually met their end by a bear or hunter.  One story has it that a lady was out petting one with a bright orange tag in their ear and her husband shot it.  Another was overdosed on tranquillizer by the F&G guy when they were fixing to release it.  Most of the neighbors were generally happy to see them relocated, and usually discovered they had eaten more than their vegetables and flowers, my dad included, when he discovered his apple and cherry trees had been devoured.




My dad and I feeding Bruce #2  & Benny

 

We also had two deer, Shy & Bold.  They used to follow me to school, I’d be halfway there when I’d noticed them behind me and I’d have to return them.  One day I didn’t and they showed up on the playground at school and my dad (who was a teacher at the high school) was informed and that night at dinner I got in trouble.  That story made it in the local paper too I remember correctly.

We had a baby mountain goat for a while, an owl named Aristotle, a beaver, a baby bear and several chickadees I rescued.  Anytime anyone found a wild animal they brought it to our house.   They all kind of blended in with the donkey, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs, peacocks, guineas, horses  and numerous dogs we already had.  Is it any wonder I’m such an animal person???

Blind Allegiance by Frank Bailey

I read this book over the weekend and I am still too shell-shocked, flabbergasted and mentally crippled to write a review.  I never cared for (half-term) governor Palin, mostly because she was so rude to Juneau when she was governor but that was our problem from the start, she knew Juneau didn't support her in the election and she did everything she could to "punish" us from then on. That's the Sarah Palin way.  I had a front row seat to politics in my days in the AG's office and I am cynical - I didn't think anything could really surprise me but I was wrong.  This book details a very shameful chapter of Alaskan politics and I'm using a great review I read on Amazon to share with you.  This person said everything I wanted to and couldn't. 

By 

Justina - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years (Hardcover)

I was shocked to read this book. Yes, I expected "Blind Allegiance" to document the lies and crass self-aggrandizement of Alaska's Sarah Palin. I did not expect such a beautifully written, well-documented and ultimately spiritually inspiring saga of the disintegration of one man's moral integrity as he works for Palin. This is a journey of a well-meaning soul's travail through hell and his ultimate spiritual re-discovery.

Initially, being a total new-comer to political activism, Bailey naively perceives Palin to be a self-less political reformer who expresses his ideals and warrants his help. In end, after five years of hard work at the expense of his family and reputation, he recognizes that he had sold his soul to a shattered idol.

As Bailey participates in Palin successful efforts to become a wealthy national celebrity, he begins to understand that she does not have the emotional stability or common sense that he assumed. He sees that she does not really care about the people who elected her or care about fulfilling her governmental responsibilities. He sees that his faith in her has been betrayed. She seeks not good government but good personal publicity.

Frank Bailey was a 35 year old political innocent when he was captured by the charm and apparent political courage of Sarah Palin. A Republican disgusted by the corruption of Alaska's then governor, Frank Murkowski, Bailey signed on to Palin's seemingly hopeless primary run against the well-funded governor with the willingness to clean the toilets of her shabby campaign headquarters, not with the goal of being Governor Palin's chief of staff. But during his five year Palin career, he went from an innocent to a dirty political operative himself as he carried out the erratic, arrogant and unethical demands of his political idol -- his "Reagan in a Skirt".

Bailey documents his descent into Palin's emotionally strewn nightmare with e-mails he received from Palin, her husband, Todd, and others in the their inner political circle, a circle which changed as old members were thrown aside and new members of the faithful recruited. With Bailey's help, Palin got to the very pinnacle of Alaska's government and then to the pinnacle of Republican Party national politics as vice-presidential nominee for John McCain's run against Obama.

The chronicle shows that virtually Palin's only political skills came in the form of marketing herself to voters through her physical looks and charm. Her skill set did not include knowledge of the real problems facing her state or her country, much less knowledge of how to actually run a government.

The majority of Palin's time in office was spent putting her considerable power to use in demolishing anyone who she perceived to be an enemy. She included in her enemies her former brother-law, Trooper Wooten and anyone who dared to voice the slightest criticism of anything she did or said. Palin was ruled by her emotional whims not reason, and thus she ruled Alaska. "Off with their head" said the queen of public charm and vicious attack, while her minions, of which Bailey was one of the most loyal, immediately proceeded to sharpen their swords and attack. Many innocent people were badly injured in her forays.

Bailey was not innocent and it is not a pretty story to read of his own moral disintegration, but this chronicle of Palin's rise to fame and fortune, is extremely well documented through e-mails sent to Bailey by Palin herself, her husband, Todd, and members of the shifting inner circle. The writing/editing team of Ken Morris and Jeanne Devon is to be congratulated for this work.

It is an important book for all voters, everywhere, to read, as it shows how easily we can be fooled by physical and emotional charm, or the glittering words of potential candidates who seem to express our ideals.

We need to look at candidates' deeds, their actual experience in governing, before we allow them election to critical offices. We only just missed electing Palin to the second highest office in our land, as vice-president to the 72 year old McCain, by a few million votes. We can't allow effective political marketing of shallow candidates to over-ride effective governing, and this applies as equally to the Palin-bots as the Obama-bots.

Read this beautifully written book!