Fishing for coins during the summer humbles one. Or perhaps it just humbles me. It merely entails hopping into a boat and drifting into the Yukon waters to set a net, pull it back, and gather the salmon that happen to swin through. But there are days when hopping into the boat is only the beginning. The winds are strong, the waters are rough, and the rain is heavily dripping down your cheeks and into your hood to soak your dry clothes. Summer fishing on the lower Yukon has been slow this year... in fact it's been rather glum. And the very only opening we have had thus far took place last night- in the very worst storm this summer has yet to see. I was exhausted, wet, and grateful for nothing at all. We caught eleven fish... made enough pennies just to pay for the hole we put in our net. My piggy bank is running empty, but the river doesn't seem to care.
A Hundred Candles
Let's light a hundred tea light candles and open all the windows. By the shadows of the Alaskan sunset nights let's lay beneath the covers. Turn on the radio and let the static wash away our worries. Curl your fingers into the smalls of my back. I'll intertwine mine in the light curl of your brown hair. Flitter your eye lashes against my cheek and sit there with me in the silence of a dimly sunlit evening.
A Working Smile
Yesterday I walked into a door. Yes- I know, it's most certainly a big event. But in all reality it was a big event. When I was sixteen I was paralyzed in the left side of my face for some unknown stroke-like reason. It took a year for me to recover- and it was a painful painful experience. Even at that point it hurt to smile, my eye squinted when I smiled, I couldn't move my cheek, forehead, or nose. Things remained that way until yesterday. I was running through my home, as a five-year-old child at heart would run, and smashed my nose into a doorway. A loud crack came and immidiately my eyes filled with tears. My darling ran over, mortified of the bloody mess that was doomed to come from such a loud crack. But when I pulled my eyes away... there was no blood. When I went to look in the mirror I noticed something unbelievable. I could smile without an ache in my cheek. I could move, stretch, muscles that had priorly been left unattended for the last four years. And now I can feel. It's amazing. I can smile without pain. I can... do things. Things every other person takes for granted. And I'm completely in love with my new found facial expressions.
Alder Fay Playing
It's the longest day of the year. Here in Alaska it's the day the alder fay come out to play. Now that Mr. Sun is officially a full time part of the landscape, magical portals start to open up in the thickets. And I sense them. These little happy dancing wings swirling around the landscape. You see it. You see them in the sparkle of the river water, the long distance glisten of a passing cloud, and the small water splashlettes of a timber puddle. You find them everywhere. They're invisible... to some people. But they are evident. This mystical enchanted way of life overtakes the land and it's hard not to be overcome with a fairytale trance.
Romantic Midsummer Getaway
I want to spend a night outside in the breeze and just lay there. I want to watch the sun trace the horizon, barely peeking benieth its sunset stature only to rise again. I like the bright light's company and it's kept my spirits eternally high. One night I just want to set up a romantic white lace canopy in the trees and sit benieth it. I want to eat cheese and drink wine and rest my head on a prince charming's lap. I want to read Whinnie The Pooh and be surrounded by the flickers of a hundred tiny candles. I want a romantic midsummer Alaskan getaway, spent only in the company on the sun and a person who woos my heart.
Playful Pounce
I like the happy prance of a playful dog. When Coho sees me she bows her head to the ground, smiles, pushes her butt into the air, and then pounces up and back down again. I love it. I love how excited she gets, how happy. It's like she knows that she's mine now. I hope she knows. She's learned that it's okay to step foot inside the house. Something prior was not permitted and she was kicked very hard for doing. But now she happily walks in, tail wagging, and sits down on the rug where she belongs. I learn something new about her everyday, and I have yet to find a thing I don't absolutely adore.
Joyful Little Blooms
There's a hill near my home where wildflowers grow rampid. And as I ventured to the top the other day I was greeted with a hundred smiling faces of small dainty cankeroot flowers. Their white little petals reached out in a joyful embrace of the suns rays. They were happily dancing in the breeze, tickling my barefeet as I sat and watched the river below. It was beatiful, solumn, and filled with the upmost joy of little blooms.
The Most Perfect Weather
It's rare to hear the roll of distant thunder. Our tundra land will be struck by lightening only once or twice a year. So when the past two days blessed my ears with sunny morning and rolling clouds of thunder to cool the afternoon- I have found utter perfection in the weather. The bright sun awakens me- along with the loving whines from Coho outside my window. I spend the morning dancing the radio and cleaning. And then the clouds dim the sun and little rainpours bless my worked skin. I sit outside with Coho on the porch. She's too dainty to enjoy the rain- so she sits inside, while I let myself find a free shower beyond the doorway. It's the perfect way to spend an afternoon. I really couldn't imagine a better 12 hours awake.
High On Stream Waters
Coho and I spend many hours together now that she is mine. Today we ventured into the thick timber of willow and alder in my backyard. There's this beautiful creek filled with small waterfalls leading into the deeper part of the trees. Coho walks in the water while I trail the muddy sides in my white boots. Her paws, also white, find cleanliness- while my white boots seem to only find dirt. But I've always enjoyed staying un-clean, and the fresh air enlightens my body in a way no bathtub could. It was such a lovely walk. We spent a half hour or so exploring through broken brush and new-leafed trees. The sound of the water could clear a mind more than any therapist's prescriptions. I've felt sad numerous times in my life, but the solumn sweet greeting of a slow-flowing stream has always been the friend that lifted me back up. I wasn't sad today, but just the act of being in the company of the water escalated my mood to a truly natural high.
Wind On Wood Walls
The sun is finally warming the landscape enough to open the windows. In fact, his firey warmth has heated it so much that opening the windows is a necessity- not a choice. But nevertheless, the rush of cool air drifting through wooden walls is such a pleasure. I've found motivation to wash my neverending stack of dishes. For the first time in quite a while my small kitchen area has enough space to set a cookie sheet. The lace curtains are pulled outward by the currents and then let loose to tickle the windowpane with their slow relax of the fabric. The air smells of baby grass and damp ground. It's one of those moments where the day has left you no room to feel the littlest bit of sadness.
A June 13th Miracle!
Today is June 13th 2012, a day I want to remember for the rest of my life. Today little miss Riley officially became adopted by me. The girl who owned her brought her over and asked if I wanted to keep her. She said as long as I kept calling her Coho I could have her, as she couldn't take care of her anymore. And I said... well I said no- because my landlord won't let me. But after some thought I said 'screw the landlord' and took her for my own. So Coho is officially mine. She has a brand new huge dog house, a big tub of fresh water, a huge pile of dogfood and treats ready for her disposal. A 15 foot chain and a collar will be temporary for her when I'm not outside. This will prevent the police from shooting her as pest control. But when I'm out she'll be off and by my side. I can't stop smiling. I can't stop smiling. I had to say it twice, just so you realize how amazing today is for me. It's a miracle. An amazing twist of fate. And it... well it happened to me and Coho. And my life just feels like everything is falling into place.
Feeling Summer
Yes, yes it's that time of year again. The time when for no apparent reason my heart flutters. I get that little... butterfly that won't leave my stomache. Flowers are beginning to bloom. The children play games- I often accompanying them (for how could a girl with a childish heart pass up a day of frog catching and puddle jumping?). And the first rain of the summer brought forth an awe-inspiring array of green. In a matter of minutes every tree opened it's leaves, every blade of grass poked it's head up from the mud below. And I felt it.... you know, that first real whisp of warm summer wind that flows through your hair and tickles your heart with the idea of what's to come.
Walking With Riley
Riley is so beautiful. She's connected to me now, the way a sleddog should. I don't keep her on a leash, yet she follows me no matter where I wander. I drift up through the thick groves of willow and she stays right near me. We take a seat on the tundra and she lays her front paws and floppy ears on my lap. She's so fast... so so fast. If I could have her as my own I would take her and run her every day. She'd be such a great sleddog. She's lean and graceful. She runs and jumps of puddles that are much too big for even my long awkward legs to get across. She's everything to me. That little inkling of happiness that makes it's way into my heart when I see her happy tail wagging at my appearance is a sort of glee that even the most riches couldn't compare. I couldn't imagine yet another walk in the woods without her playful footsteps beside me.
Connecting Nature Dots
There's a small clearwater getaway not a far boat ride from my village. We rode there today. There's something so utterly magical about the twists and turns of a long forgotten waterway. Ducks peer out from the brush. Moose gaze onward as you stride by. And the reflections of the trees on the water is inspiring. You'll never find anything more beautiful than the echo of a timber in a stream. The little alder branches reach out as if they want a hug from the wind. And the water below sings the same song back to them through their reflection. There's something about the way that everything connects here. The air connects to the trees in a soft sway. The trees connect to the water. The water connects to the land- marking it in little traces until it reaches the Bering Sea.
This Summer Land
I shall take a wildflower and pluck it and place it my knotted blond hair. I'll take my shoes and leave them in the mud, because my barefeet are craving the curve of the tundra. Then with a sleddog by my side and a cloud chasing my fingertips, I'll run to the willows and follow them to the riverside for a Yukon nap. I'm an Alaskan child, dear, and this summer land is calling my name.
Gathering Driftwood
My hunny and I ventured out to get wood. Now that the river has unthawed we can leave land and swim with a boat into the fast waters. Most years the wood will drift down stream. This year, unfortunately, it did not. So we had to scavenger the banks pushing logs into the water and tieing them onto the back of our boat as a raft. These logs will be our winters warmth. A necessity that so unforgivingly finds it's way into our front yard each year. This is the first year my darling took me. I like to jump along the logs, chase them into the water as fast as I can. I balance my tip-toed boots and make my way out on them until I feel a lack of confidence that brings me back to the safety of land. I like wood. I like trees, and I like the idea of taking one that passed away and using it to keep me alive during the chilling cold of our nine months of snow.
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