Ten Years Later

It’s hard to believe 10 years have passed since that fateful day.  Like so many others, I remember it like it was yesterday.  I remember hearing a local radio announcer say something about a plane hitting the world trade center, and then ANOTHER plane and I thought they were joking.  I remember thinking what poor taste it was to joke about a thing like that and just to make sure it was a joke I turned on the TV, and was so sure I wouldn’t see anything to confirm what I had just heard that I shut it off just as fast.  And then I realized it HAD been on the screen.  In that second of realization my world changed forever.

For the rest of the day I sat mesmerized in front of the television at work.  There was only one other employee on my floor that day, the rest were traveling and would be out for a few days.  My coworker Joan and I sat listening in stunned silence throughout the day.  It was just so hard to wrap my head around.  I had never even heard of Osama bin Laden.

Ten years later so much has changed.  We’ve been at war ever since.  Thousands of Americans have lost their lives as well as our allied forces from other countries.  Many civilians from the countries we have invaded have lost their lives.  Billions of dollars spent.  Our economy is in dire straits, at least partially due to the war.  Our futures seem to dangle precariously, particularly our financial futures.

We live in a world where ‘terrorist’ is a word we are all familiar with. We all know the significance of orange and red alerts.  We are familiar with invasive airport procedures.  We all live with the certainty that there are organized groups of people out there whose mission it is to do us great harm.    Were it not for the comforting hand of God and the peace that comes from knowing Him, I don’t know how I would survive.  All I know is the years ahead will bring more uncertainly and more struggle and strife.  God help us all.

We can, however, be thankful for the people and their brave spirits that have emerged from this tragedy.  I think of Todd Beamer from flight # 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania and his heroic last act to proclaim “let’s roll” as they took over the cockpit.  And the operator who prayed with him before the plane went down as well as his wife, Lisa, who became the iconic picture of survival.  I think of Lauran Manning and her incredible story after being burned over 80% of her body in the World Trade Center.  And all the other heros of the downed flights and all the first responders who put their own safety at risk in order to try to save others.  It was the worst of humanity and the best of humanity.  My heart goes out to all the survivors, those people who lost loved ones and to those souls that perished....may they rest in peace.

Grateful For Our Soldiers Sacrifice

I know blogs are not generally used as book reviews but once again, I can’t resist.  I just read possibly one of the greatest books I’ve ever read, it certainly captivated me more than any book I can remember, and that’s saying something because I’ve read a lot of really great books.  It’s called Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.  It first chronicles the childhood of Louis Zamperini who is any parent’s worst nightmare.  If he were a child today they would probably have him diagnosed  ADD, ADHD and anything other acronym code for wild and unruly child.  As a young adult he held the national record for the mile and went to the Berlin Olympics in 1936.  He became well known for his athletic accomplishments and learned to appreciate attention given for good deeds instead of bad ones. 

He enlisted into the Air Force in 1943.  After the plane he was in crashed into the ocean killing all but three on board he spent 47 days drifting on two life rafts with two other men and very little provision.  They battled the sun, sharks that surrounded the rafts constantly as well as dehydration and starvation.  Then the real saga started when they drifted into Japanese territory and were captured as POWs.  This story was not always easy to read, the abuse they suffered as POWs was unimaginable.  The beatings, the degrigation and humiliation, the diseases they got from the lack of sanitation and lack of food and clean water, it was incredible any of them survived.  Louis entered three different camps and each one was worse than the one before.  They were enslaved by their captors who worked many to their deaths.  Overall, 37% of POWs died in Japanese camps compared to 1% in the German and Italian camps.

Eventually they were freed and he reunited with his family and married.  But the scars and nightmares of prison camp persisted and he turned to alcohol to numb the pain.  For several years he a prisoner of his own hatred and shame.  He couldn’t exorcise the demons of war.  One day at a revival by Billy Graham he was able to give all it all to God in one of the most beautiful and inspirational accounts of God’s glory, mercy, love, forgiveness and redemption I have ever read.  From that moment on his nightmares ceased.  He was finally free.  God literally took all that hatred from him and became a committed Christian.  He founded a camp for boys with behavioral problems, worked for a church and did the circuit as an inspirational speaker.  He returned to Japan to the prison that housed all the war criminals to express his forgiveness.

This is truly one of the most extraordinary accounts of a life well-lived that I have ever read.  What I have touched on here is only the tip of the iceberg.  The lessons it teaches are about faith, perseverance, hard work and so much more.  It cannot help but inspire you and make you a better person.  When the book is over you will long for more.  I have discovered Louis Zamperini wrote his own autobiography Devil at my Heels which is already downloaded to my Ipad.

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.