Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

Sunrise  6:03 a.m.  Sunset  9:20 p.m.

It's Break Up season.  Let me tell you, this may be more painful than late winter.  As you can see we're having lovely long hours of sunlight.  And we've been fortunate enough to have numerous days of sunlight, despite occasional snow showers here and there.  

The white is slowly disappearing, and yuck and brown is taking it's place.  Slushy roads can be frustrating, and fun.  With the 4 wheel drive it's pretty harmless.  My floors are muddy, the dogs are muddy, and Cash has a penchant for rolling in all things stinky.

The sun warms my face.  Enough to have me trekking through 3 feet of snow to plop my behind in the depths of it to soak up as much heat as possible.  I find myself wishing for the dusty trails of summer, looking forward to riding through the depths of night with the sun at our backs, and getting virtually no sleep.

In the past week we have seen the return of the geese, swans and even a small flock of cranes.  Soon all the water ways will be spotted white with swans, as well.  Song birds flit about, seeking the promise of more food to fuel their bubbly bodies.

The buffalo have moved back to the plains and fields behind Donnelly.  We haven't been so fortunate as to see them yet, but we've been tracking their movement through the things they leave behind.  I'm hoping they stick around for a while to have their young, I'd love to see them play in the meadows.

This winter has been long and hard for us.  I've heard mixed reviews of whether or not it was a harder winter than most.  The long-timers will think that perhaps this is nothing, but I know better.  Alaskans are tough.  

For now I'm imagining fields of wildflowers and endless trails to come.  Think Spring!

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Sunrise 5:09 a.m.  Sunset 10:09 p.m.

As the title states, it is indeed the 5th of May.  Guess what greeted us on this gray May day?  Yep, you guessed it.  Snow.  SNOW.  Ugh. I was really hoping that we'd keep the rain, if absolutely necessary, and lose the snow.  But nope.  Not so lucky.  And some of it is sticking.  Pffft.  Snow, mud, rain, mud...

So, we've been wading, in mud, water, snow, more mud.  And having fun, while we're doing it.  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?   

In an effort to socialize Cash, and have some fun of his own, Brent took Cash on a playdate with a couple of his friends, and his friends dog, Early.  Early is a pitbull/lab mix pup, who is about a year old.  And since Cash thinks he's the King of Kings, we decided to put the pups together and see what happened.  Well, as you can tell, he had a lot of fun.  And he got really, really muddy.   Silly boys.  What's a little more mud?

A couple weekends ago we took our first ride on Coal Mine Road.  It was a gray day but fairly warm, and the ride was enjoyable.  We hit plenty of puddles on our ride, but I was happy to report they weren't nearly as deep and rutted as last year's puddles this time of year.  Last year I thought we might all get swallowed up, but not so this time around.  This time we skated across a number of them, and broke through the rest.

As we wound up and around the path (road) was covered in snow.  Amy and Trevor, our Alabama friends, decided to take their Rzr up and over, in hopes that if they didn't make it, we could pull them back out.  Luckily for all of us, we all made it up and through.  Though a couple times I had to take Cash and Ches out to walk, so we didn't turn the Rhino over and break their little necks.  It was a great ride.  Despite the gray.

That evening Amy treated us to a gourmet Southern style meal. I even tried my first helpings of collards, and am happy to report that I loved them.  Amy treated us to twice baked potatoes, steak, pork chops, ptarmigan, and pot roast.  A feast.  I'm telling you.  Delicious!  And such a treat.  

I'm happy to report that I have finally been feeling better.  Much more like myself than I was for a while there.  It was a rough month of April, and May is looking up.  Promising indeed.  I'll stick with May.   We've had a day or two of sun, and for the most part it has rained.  But we needed the moisture, as April left us with an early season burn ban.  I'm thankful for the rain, as the smoke and haze last summer was bad enough.  I'm really hoping to avoid it.

In other news, it's been an exciting week at work.  Chuck came to visit and say Hello.  Chuck is Hailey's hubby from Alabama, and he's new to Delta.  It was nice to meet him and I'm looking forward to meeting Hailey and their daughter when they reach Alaska.

Also, I was sitting at my desk on Tuesday and a nice couple walked in.  We chatted a bit, and the gentleman handed me his business card.  Turns out they were from Park Rapids, MN.  Small world indeed.  They're thinking about moving up to Delta, and I am anxious to see if it works out for them.

So, here we sit.  Waiting for the sun to come out so we can play, play, play.  No moose.  I think they're in hiding.  Maybe they joined the Witness Protection Program.  Hmph.  In all actuality, I think they're calving somewhere.  Enjoying some peace and quiet before the woods light up and get really noisy.

And I'm studying.  Studying away for my real estate license. I only want to take the exam once.  So, I'll be studying for awhile.

Happy Spring!