News from the North

Hello everyone,
Here's a great picture of Mom.

I worked on the ferries this summer for my new job for the AK Marine Hwy. System. Found it isn’t exactly my cup of tea. I prefer to have my feet on land the majority of the time as does my tummy when it gets rough on the water.

Actually, it is the big swells that do me in, which happen with regularity every time we are in open waters. Usually if I am busy it doesn’t bother me, but I had a couple of bad experiences that made me wonder what in the world I was doing out there. I do have to admit that I loved the ever changing view , when I had time to look at it. Got to see whales bubble feeding for the first time. I enjoyed talking with the passengers and getting to know the crew too, so it wasn’t all bad. My favorite job was Officer’s Messman. For that you take the officer’s orders and serve them. Many interesting and varied subjects popped up during conversations at mealtime. They were a nice bunch of people to work with.

The money was great, starting at nearly $20 pr hr. and ending at over that. I miss being home with my plants and my dog though and being able to get out and walk on solid ground. Those steel decks don’t agree with my feet . They could probably handle 8 hr. days, but not the 12 I do out there. I am looking for a land job again while I am laid off due to several boats being down for maintenance.

Rob and his friend Jack Sisson got in a 10 day hunting trip over on Zarembo Is., a 15 minute boat ride from Wrangell. They enjoyed each other’s company and finally got two deer the last two days.
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Mom and I have been doing a daily walk on the days I don’t run. She has only bailed out on me one day so far. This day was a rough walk as there wasn’t much of a track broken through the snow and Mom only had her walking shoes with Yak Tracks on them. I have had them on my shoes ever since the snow started, Nov. 7th.
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We haven’t had clear sidewalks since, except in front of the hospital, schools and a few businesses. It has been a very unusual Nov. for us, as the majority of snow usually hits in Jan. and Feb.
Now it has switched to clear skies and cooler temps in the 20s and dipping down into the teens for the next several days. There was a brisk north wind today, and Mom was a real trouper, even though she hates the wind. We’ve agreed that we always feel better getting out in the fresh air even when it is nasty out.

The rest of my days have been spent being lazy, working crosswords and my new interest, the Sodoku puzzles. I thought they were silly at first, but am hooked now. I found a difficult one that took me several tries, but I finally conquered it today.

Now I’ve got to get started with my scrapbooking. I’ve been away from it for so long that I feel I’ve lost my touch. Maybe the photos of Mom will be the inspiration I need to spark my creativity again. I am also getting the urge to bake gooey, delicious treats. I’ve been wanting to tone it down to healthier fare as most of us these days don’t need the extra calories. But then many say that Christmas is the one time of the year that they splurge on those comfort foods. So what do all of you think... should I stick with traditional sweets or try to remake the recipes to be healthier?

Nanc of the North