the lively laura

brining a chicken

2011-11-26T10:11:00.000-09:00

Oh, no! My leftovers are gone!! Typically not words uttered from me over Thanksgiving, but this year we skipped the turkey and roasted a chicken instead. Neither Nick and I care much for turkey beyond the first day, and due to there only being four of us for our meal we didn't want a lot of extra leftovers to deal with.

I didn't want to roast a boring chicken, and found this amazing recipe online for a citrus brine to soak the chicken in the night before. Not only did the meat turn out juicy and delicious, but the drippings made the most amazing gravy.

The recipe came from the "Former Chef" website, http://www.formerchef.com/2011/03/12/how-to-brine-and-roast-a-chicken/. A few things to note that the website doesn't directly address. Don't buy a chicken that's already been injected like a lot of the frozen ones are. You don't want or need to brine a chicken that already has stuff in the meat. I found a fresh chicken at my grocery. Also, this is going to require a very large pot. Don't change the ratio of salt to water. I mixed the salt and water together, and then removed some of the liquid mixture when my pot was dangerously full. Also, realize that kosher salt is different from sea salt and different from table salt. It was also at my grocery and cost about the same as regular salt. Finally, I did not have any juniper berries (or gin to use as a substitute) so I left it out and it still tasted fine.

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Citrus Brine Recipe
120 oz (15 cups) water
6 oz (wt) kosher salt
1 oz (wt) brown sugar
1 lemon
1 orange
1 grapefruit
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp juniper berries
4 cloves of garlic

Heat 2 cups of the water in a small pot with the salt and brown sugar until the salt and sugar dissolves. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Toast the pepper and juniper berries in a small pan for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Crush the pepper and juniper berries in a mortar and pestle or with the flat part of a knife.

Smash the garlic cloves.

Place the chicken in a 12 qt pot, large bowl, or large zip lock bag. Cut the citrus in half and squeeze over the chicken. Drop the citrus into the pot. Add the smashed garlic, spices and herbs. Pour in the remaining 13 cups of cold water and then the dissolved sugar/salt mixture. If the chicken floats, weight it down with a plate. Cover and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. Flip the chicken every few hours.

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The Former Chef website, http://www.formerchef.com/2011/03/12/how-to-brine-and-roast-a-chicken/ continues on to give instructions on how to roast the chicken after its prepared for those who have never done it before. I too, cooked mine at 400F and it took my 6.7ish pound bird about an hour and a half to finish. Unlike the instructions, we covered the legs and breast with foil first, for about an hour, and then removed the foil for those parts to brown. I also ripped off some of the rosemary leaves leftover from the brine and placed them all over the chicken after rubbing it down with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.

To make the gravy I poured the drippings from the roasting pan into a frying pan, added a large spoon or two of flour, poured in a splash of milk, and then started whisking and adding water until the gravy had the texture I wanted. I also put in a few shakes of salt. Some people strain their gravy, but I always leave the chunky stuff in.

We served the chicken with skin on mashed red potatoes, green beans, homemade angel biscuits, and some dressing made by my friend. Dessert was pumpkin pie (made from Libby's canned pumpkin) and a blueberry pie from berries I had picked earlier in the summer.

Hope you had a delightful Thanksgiving, and I highly recommend this method of cooking a whole chicken!

Nick

2011-11-25T10:30:00.001-09:00

This is for those of you aren't on Facebook, and didn't see what I posted. As always, I won't be discussing much of this on the blog. If you have any questions and I can answer them (and I know you) feel free to send me a message. Cards are always fun, so if you're interested in his mailing address get with me or either of our mothers and we'll pass on his address once he gets in country!

second fiddle

2011-11-17T17:27:00.004-09:00

New to me, but old to this world...
I picked up a second fiddle a few weeks ago when I was visiting my Grandma in Kentucky. It was a screaming deal, and once I changed out the strings I was amazed at how nice it sounded for how little I paid. I never find these kind of bargains...woo hoo! I've been looking for a second fiddle for some time, something to keep in Alaska for when the cat gets to be my second carry-on when I fly.

Based on a little research from the interior label and what I was told when I got it from the music shop, we're guessing it was a factory fiddle made sometime from the mid 1920s to 1930s. It's a little beat up and worn, but still has a lovely tone.

goat rodeo

2011-11-16T06:21:00.008-09:00

Earlier in the month we were watching the Colbert report and caught the interview and performance of "Attaboy" by Yo-Yo Ma and his colleagues Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile. Their album is entitled The Goat Rodeo Sessions and they're calling it a cross between bluegrass and classical music.

It's a great album, on a recent roadtrip I made to Kentucky it may have been listened to on repeat for about 6 of the 10 or so hours I drove that day... and almost as much on the way back home. Go check out a sample on iTunes, or watch the video below!

100 books

2011-11-15T14:13:00.004-09:00

My neighbor recently posted on her blog the following list of 100 books and how many she had read. I had come across this list in the past (circulating on Facebook), but had never taken the time to see how many books I had read. I was curious to see how I would do... and then I got curious to what the BBC had actually written in their article.

When doing a little research over the history of this list, I discovered that like many things on Facebook that are sold as fact, there was little basis in reality. According to Facebook lore, it was put together by the BBC and the authors were claiming most people had read no more than six. In reality, the BBC did produce a survey across Britain to search for the country's favorite (or favourite) book in 2003 http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml, but its not the same as the below list. In fact, in my search for the article I found several websites disputing the origin of the BBC 6. http://www.purplecar.net/2009/03/how-do-memes-start-a-case-study-100-books-in-facebook/ or http://literarylunchbox.wordpress.com/2011/01/01/debunkingworshipping-the-facebook-bbc-100/ or, the best http://martinturner.org.uk/2011/04/03/why-do-we-believe-hoaxes/ .

Anyhow, just for kicks I bolded the books I've read (32) and have some good ideas for books to read in the future!

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy.
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth.
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt.
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Hindman

2011-06-14T19:12:00.005-08:00

Very busy month! Between dealing with the aftermath of my condo fire in Anchorage, flying to Alaska to retrieve Kitty so she can now stay with Nick in Georgia, driving to Cincinnati to visit Nick's family, driving to Louisville to meet up with mine, driving to eastern Kentucky for Appalachian Family Folk week, and then driving back to south Georgia I'm ready for a little peace and quiet at home. Well, for a couple of weeks anyhow... soon it will be time to return to work in Anchorage for the remainder of the summer.

Appalachian Family Folk Week, at the Hindman Settlement School, http://www.hindmansettlement.org/Folkweek, was so much fun, and I'm glad that skipping it was never a consideration. Between my grandma, aunts and uncle, cousins, and parents there were 9 of us from my family in attendance. We somewhat dominated the camp! Anyhow, it was an excellent experience. Lots and lots of great music--fantastic musicians and instructors playing fiddles, banjos, guitars, basses, dulcimers, and harmonicas. Shape note singing was taught as well. There were crafts such as quilting, wood carving, basket making, wood crafting, blacksmithing, jewelry making, doll making, and pottery. Plus daily singing of the old songs and folk dancing. They fed us well and the entire school was set in the beautiful mountains of eastern Kentucky.

I was able to take three classes; quilting, fiddle, and wood carving. In quilting class we made a "Log Cabin" quilt square and then turned it into a pillow. We used a machine to piece together the fabric, but then hand quilted the pillow top. Lots of work, I stayed up late several nights to get finished on time.

In the fiddle class we were instructed by master fiddle and banjo player, Jim McCown and worked on four tunes: Devil Eat the Groundhog and In Come a Bee by George and Snake Chapman, Rose in the Mountain by John Morgan Saylor, and Angeline the Baker by Stephen Foster.

Finally, in wood carving class we created wooden spoons. Our instructor Harvey Amburgery had carved rough spoon forms and then we whittled the forms down to proper spoons. There were other options of things to carve, such as bowls and birds. However, I was slow and could only attend half the class due to my fiddle class so I stuck with my spoon. The wood is from a buckeye tree about 130 years old.

quilted pillow and wooded spoon

My dad, Harvey and I with our spoons

Why blog?

2011-05-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

This blog has been running for almost four years and most likely will be visited 12,000 times by it's anniversary. That number is incredible to me, I would have never imagined so many guests.

Why write a blog? Originally, it was a great way to get information about what Nick and I were up to for our family and friends. Facebook and Twitter weren't as popular then, and we are terrible at consistently e-mailing. Later, I realized that it was a great opportunity to practice writing. Writing is such a valuable skill, but like everything it gets rusty when not used.

I don't write as often as I should, and I'm cautious about getting too deep on any particular subject. I realize this limits my postings to either topics of a shallow or informational nature. However, not only do I dislike having to explain myself, I don't want this to be a spot to rant and rave. There's enough divisiveness out there without me contributing as well.

This blog has been a great experience, and I'd recommend starting one to anyone who wants to work on writing. There are a lot of different programs out there, but the three that I've seen some of my friends use include Blogger, Wordpress, and LiveJournal. All have their pros and cons, but there are many websites a google search away dedicated to sorting out these questions out.

iPad 2 review

2011-05-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

I broke down and purchased the iPad 2 several weeks ago. When the original iPad came out last year I was skeptical of how useful it would be. It looked like a giant version of the iPhone, but without the capability to make calls. Plus, it seemed so fragile--with that big glass touch screen so prone to fingerprints and scratches.

My mind started to turn to the iPad after watching some co-workers use theirs. While I was waiting for my laptop to slowly boot up, they had searched and found the document we were looking for; while I was groaning at the 15 minutes of battery power left, they smugly knew they had 6 hours more to go; when I schlepped my backpack full of work/travel items and what felt like an amazingly heavy laptop, they deftly slipped their iPad in it's case and barely added any weight to their bags.

So when the iPad 2 was announced I decided to go for it. The iPad 2 is a little faster than the original, and I liked the front facing camera for Facetiming with Nick. Using apps instead of my Mac's interface was a little frustrating at first, but now I've found the ones that are really useful for what I like to do. Typing on the screen is getting easier, but for long e-mails (or blog posts) a regular keyboard would be easier. Although, I'm typing this blog entry on the device with an app called Blogsy and the more I type the easier it gets to not make typos.

This month will be the biggest challenge for proving how useful the iPad can be. For my time with Nick I chose to leave the laptop in Anchorage and see if I could get by on just the iPad for over a month. Being able to carry less on the road between Alaska and Georgia would be such a plus.

Humidity on the Horizon

2011-04-24T00:48:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that April is almost over. In less than a week I'll be heading back to the sweaty south to spend some time with Nick. Temperatures have been in the nineties several times this week in Georgia, I think I may melt... We were ecstatic to hit fifty in Anchorage, I went running in shorts.

Aside from seeing Nick; I'm also looking forward to green grass, thunderstorms, humidity that will heal the painful crack in my thumb, no more bananas that look yellow on the outside only to be full of bruises on the inside, Jackson, lots of fresh produce, alligators, the ocean nearby. I'm not excited about the heat, not at all.

The Road Not Taken--Robert Frost

2011-03-28T21:47:00.002-08:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

--Robert Frost

I heart the banjo

2011-03-25T22:31:00.003-08:00

A few weeks ago I picked up a banjo.

Secretly I'd been admiring the instrument from afar for years, but just didn't know how or when to get into it. My fiddle teacher had been suggesting these old time musicians to check out, many which played both the fiddle and banjo. The more I heard those old recordings the more I wanted to play one too, so a few weeks ago I sort of blurted it out during my lesson. I was expecting to be told to wait a few more years, but was delighted when he told me that it made perfect sense to learn the same songs for both instruments at the same time.

So, that's what we're doing. Today was my 3rd banjo tune to learn in as many weeks and I'm having a great time with it. Even better, we're learning it all by ear.

Run!

2011-03-13T23:02:00.004-08:00

Run! That's the title of a new book I picked up (er, downloaded) by Dean Karnazes. It's been a light (but enjoyable) read so far, mostly just entertaining stories about his ultra-marathoning experiences in racing and training. He includes a lot of good quotes in the book, from others and just things he makes up. I thought about one of his today on a slightly blustery run along the coastal trail this afternoon. "Getting motivated can be tough, especially when you're not motivated". He includes much more profound ones than this, however this was the one I was thinking about during my hour long stint in the cold.

For me (and I'm sure many of you) the hardest part of getting out there to exercise is just the getting ready part and maybe the first 10 minutes or so of the activity. It's much easier to make an excuses not to go... too cold out, too hot out, too windy, too full from lunch, it'll be dinner soon, too tired, too much work to do, got to finish this tv show, the traffic will be heavy, it'll be dark soon, it looks icy out, the gym will be crowded... etc, etc. However, it never fails that once I actually begin the activity completing it is never that bad. And once its over I always feel better for having completed it. The hemming and hawing over it was just a lot of unnecessary drama. I'll try to remember this tomorrow when I begin the debate again.

sunrise sunset

2011-03-06T16:10:00.002-09:00

Last weekend I left the warm and balmy south to travel back home to Anchorage. It was sad to leave Nick and Jackson behind, but Marzipan and Kitty did a fine job welcoming me back home. Other than getting readjusted to the cold, most of last week was spent on paperwork and computer based training so I could start flying this upcoming week. The weather is forecast to be great, so hopefully the planes will be good to go as well.

Great is temperatures in the upper 20s/low 30s and sunshine. Too much warmer and the snow will start to puddle and everything becomes an icy mess. It's already getting a little slurpy out there. We're gaining about 5 minutes of daylight a day, tomorrow's sunrise is at 7:44am with sunset at 6:38pm. Two weeks from now, sunrise will be at 8am and sunset at 8:14pm (daylight savings time in effect too) Yay!!

fiddle sticks

2011-02-24T18:39:00.012-09:00

My transient lifestyle had been creating a challenge in finding a fiddle teacher. There were a few instructors around Anchorage that taught the kind of music I like to play, but their schedules were packed and they didn't have time for a student who might only be around for a month or so, and then gone for a few months. Understandable of course, they're trying to make a living and need consistency.

I know there must be at least one old-time fiddle teacher around this part of Georgia, but he or she has proven to be really hard to find. The closest I could find was in Tallahassee, which is about two hours away...and still the problem of only being around for a month or two at a time.

However, a few months ago I met a guy who told me about how he was taking his lessons online. I was intrigued, but a little unsure on how the online forum would work. It didn't seem very practical, but I was getting super frustrated with my lack of progress and decided to go ahead and give it a try. At the start of the year I contacted the online teacher and by February we had a lesson time (which would work well in either Georgia or Alaska).

It's going great, we use gmail video chat as the forum and there isn't any delay or much static to cause a problem. Plus, there's no dashing across town at rush hour only to get caught in a traffic jam, be very late, and then have to deal with a crabby teacher and a lesson too short to do much with. Anyhow, I'm really pleased with the lessons. They're very challenging and I'm learning a lot.

last week or so

2011-02-23T17:42:00.009-09:00

Oops, I disappeared again... but what can I say, its not everyday that Nick and I get two weeks off at the same time to hang out and spend time together. He had to go back to work today, and I think getting up at 0630 was a little tough on him. I think getting up early is going to be a little rough on me when I get back to work too. At least I'll have the advantage of a four hour time difference for a day or two until my internal clock resets.

The creature that will probably suffer the most will be poor Jackson. He's really enjoyed having me home with him almost every day for the last two months. Plus, since Nick has returned we've taken him on day trips and special hikes and visits to the dog park on an almost daily basis.

He did have to spend a little time in the kennel over the past couple of weeks. Nick and I went on a few short trips. The first was to Indian Rocks, FL; just outside of Tampa. We stayed at a nice B&B called the Laughing Lizard, http://www.laughinglizardbandb.com/. Sometimes a name and a nice website is all it takes. We were randomly searching for places nearby in Florida and once the name Laughing Lizard showed up on the browser I was sold. It was cute, just a street away from the beach, a 5pm wine tasting, and great restaurants within walking distance. The weather was my favorite, sunny and upper sixties. No swimsuits, but perfect walking conditions.

Our second little trip took us to Chattanooga, TN to meet with Nick's parents. We picked Chattanooga because it was a convenient middle point; however, it turned out to be a great place to visit. We stayed at the downtown Courtyard by Marriott which offered a fantastic military rate and had an amazing location. We were across the street from the aquarium and IMAX theater, the art museum was very close, we were within walking distance to lots of restaurants, there was a great riverside walking/runinng path that was merely seconds away, and Lookout Mountain and all of its attractions were only 10 minutes away! I would easily go back to Chattanooga again. We spent most of our time on Lookout Mountain because the weather was so nice, but we left plenty of things to explore for another time both on the mountain and in town.

Top of waterfall at Rock City

dog park

2011-02-11T10:08:00.007-09:00

Jackson is peering through the door looking anxious. He's been sentenced to stay in the backyard until his fur dries off from and impromptu bath with the garden hose....

* * * *

We found a really nice dog park in Valdosta today. There were three large fenced in areas. One was for small dogs and one was for any size dog. Both of these had dog "playground" equipment in them. The third was an even bigger fenced in area that maybe could be used for training retriever dogs.

With a little bit of encouragement he was willing to climb up the ladders, jump on the platforms, and walk across the beams. No amount of encouragement would get him to go through the tunnel.... too much like flying in his kennel I guess.

up and down the ladder

over the fence

and into the only mud puddle in the entire park...hence the bath.

365 fail

2011-02-10T16:51:00.002-09:00

So, the 365 project made it about 3 weeks before it sputtered and died. I may regroup and try again, but it was a lot to keep up with. Sometimes there were tons of awesome photo opportunities and other times it took a lot of work to try to come up with a fresh idea. I felt a little constrained by the daily photo requirement.

However, I'm glad I tried. I learned a lot about my camera in the past few weeks. I really respect those who can stick with a project like this. There are some great amateur photographers out there.

the landfill

2011-02-09T19:16:00.008-09:00

We went to the local landfill to get rid of some old furniture that we'd been hauling around the country for the last several moves. It was time... the furniture was all broken and dinged up, it was only for sentimental reasons that we were still holding on to it I guess.

I've been to the landfill several times in Anchorage. They make it very easy, and very easy not to think about where the waste goes. In Anchorage the trash is dropped off into a concrete pit, and trucks scoop it all up and move it wherever it goes. Throw away and forget.

Not the case in southern Georgia. Here we drove the truck up to some scales, got weighed, and then went down a muddy lane straight out to the landfill. There was earth moving equipment zipping all over the place moving trash, burying trash. I think we were suppose to take the lane straight onto a cleared area of the landfill and drop our trash there, but I got nervous about getting stuck in the mud...stuck in the landfill, so we took a little dirt road to the side and walked across some grass to the edge of the dirt and set our broken furniture there.

The smell was intense, and it was only about 55F. Can't imagine what it would be like in the summer. There were the strangest things stuck in the dirt... one glove, a sponge, part of a box.... Birds were everywhere. Thousands of seagulls and turkey vultures. The picture below doesn't even begin to describe.

Anyhow, guess I'm just writing about landfills as a reminder of how much we throw way and where all of that trash goes. All of those paper towels, plastic water bottles, plastic wrap ends up somewhere after all.

Ironically, after we finished our morning chores we went and grabbed lunch. It came in a paper sack, with plastic cups, and we used paper napkins. Sometimes its hard to even know where to start.

walk in the park

2011-02-06T10:41:00.005-09:00

It was rainy almost all of last week, and it's suppose to rain the majority of next week, so I was thrilled to wake up to sunshine today. We packed a quick picnic lunch of PB&Js and drove north to the Reed Bingham State Park, http://www.gastateparks.org/ReedBingham. It's a small park, but has the advantage of being close.

Jackson was happy to come along and search for squirrels and other small rodents. He would have loved to been let off the leash to give chase.

Saw Palmettos were everywhere

Following our walk and lunch we decided to do a little Geocaching, http://www.geocaching.com/. Geocaching is basically a treasure hunt of sorts using a GPS device to navigate to some hidden object. The GPS device gets you within about 10 feet and the rest is up to the searcher to find, either by clues provided or just by searching around. We found two caches that were in the area and decided to call it a day. We don't Geocache very often, but its free and we have fun when we do. To Geocache you can buy an app for your cell phone or use a GPS device.

Nick with one of the day's caches.

Nick's home!

2011-02-05T18:04:00.006-09:00

Nick and Jackson happy to see each other!

Nick made it back on Wednesday, yay! We've had a nice past few days getting caught back up and getting him reacquainted with normal life after being away for the last 7 months.

happy news

2011-02-01T19:22:00.004-09:00

So for those who haven't heard, Nick has returned to this side of the planet. He's not home yet, and I'm hoping he won't get caught up in tomorrow's weather mess. He sounds good though, just tired. It was very short notice that he was going to be leaving when he did so he sacrificed sleep several nights in a row for packing and then traveling. Happily, he's in a nice hotel tonight. I'm to be the third alarm clock in the morning... he's been known to turn alarms off in his sleep when he's really tired. :)

Once he gets checked back in to work and completes the required checklists, he'll get two weeks off to hang out and decompress from the last 7 months. We have to remain in the local area, but there's plenty of daytrips to do from here.

first basket

2011-01-22T17:43:00.005-09:00

I finally finished the basket I started at Berea Christmas Country Dance School late in December. It's a small Appalachian egg basket made out of natural and burgundy dyed reed. The design at the handle is called a God's Eye. While I'm glad for the experience of making a basket, it wouldn't be an activity I would use for relaxation. I found working with the reeds a little aggravating.

365 project

2011-01-15T19:08:00.006-09:00

Before the New Year I was hearing people talk about this photo project they were going to start as part of their New Year's resolutions. The project was called the "365 project", http://365project.org/. To get involved, a person would need to create a profile at the above mentioned website and then take and post one photo every day for an entire year. The idea sounded intriguing, but I didn't start thinking about it until after 11:30pm on New Year's day. By that point I was toasty in bed and roaming around my in-law's house in the middle of a chilly night to take a photo didn't sound too appealing.

The project slipped my mind until I was visiting with my sister-in-law and she was showing some of the photos from her own 365 project. They were really good and I liked that one of the reasons she started was to get more comfortable using the special features of her digital camera. In the camera realm I'm still a point and shooter, but my camera is decent and it has a lot of options that have been ignored since I got it.

Anyhow, I'm on day four of the project. I try to keep my camera close now, and everywhere I go I look at the surroundings and think about how they could be turned into art. My photos certainly don't compare with a lot of the art that others are posting. However, the whole "it's a journey, not a destination" thing keeps running through my mind. There are 361 more opportunities to get closer to art.

Hoosier String Players

2011-01-14T18:26:00.004-09:00

My parents play and sing with a local group called the Hoosier String Players. Throughout the year the group performs at luncheons, festivals, and senior centers. They've even put out two CDs. Whenever I'm in town they let me play along too.

The music is primarily gospel and old-time and there are fiddles, dulcimers (mountain and hammer), autoharps, guitars, recorders/tin whistles, and banjos.

winter running in Indiana

2011-01-13T16:09:00.010-09:00

So, I despise winter in the Midwest. It is generally both windier and damper than Anchorage, and thus significantly more miserable. For me, winter running in the Midwest is an obstacle that is difficult to overcome. Since I'm spending more time here than usual I thought I'd get a week by week membership at a local gym to run in the comforts of the indoors.

However, I neglected to consider the opinions of my large, furry friend who had a different idea on how I'd get my daily exercise. So on the day I planned to go to the gym I was met with sighs and glares and throwings of his body on the floor. He won, and I'm now suffering in the windy outdoors to keep my buddy happy.

So what to wear at 16F and a 6F degree windchill... If you're faced with a similar situation I thought I'd share what I wore to help you plan your winter running wardrobe. Temperature wise I felt good, although we were running in very powdery snow so the going was slow. If the terrain had been dry we would have gotten warmer because we could have moved faster. Also, we were running in a wooded region so the wind was only a factor when we broke into the clear. All in all, if I was going to be exposed to the wind longer I would have worn a thicker base layer shirt or worn a fleece shirt instead of the vest.

Legs:
Insulated Tights
Loose Running Pants

Upper Body:
Base Layer Shirt, long sleeves, thin material
Fleece Vest
Jacket

Feet:
Smart Wool hiking socks
Gore-tex trail runners

Accessories:
Fleece lined hat with ear flaps
Gloves (I missed my fatty mittens that are in Anchorage)

snow on the roof

2011-01-12T12:28:00.009-09:00

If I had this much snow on my roof it'd be time to shovel!

Yesterday I drove back to Indiana from the the Washington DC area. It was one of those "between a rock and a hard place" kind of things. There was a major storm system over the Midwest moving east, there was a major system over the south moving north, and there was a crossing of the Appalachians that needed to be accomplished. I decided to leave early so I could pass through the mountains in the clear. If the snow got too bad in Ohio my plan was to stop and get a hotel. Miraculously though, a corridor of decent weather opened along I-70 and while it was a bit slick, there was very little precipitation for my drive.

I left for DC last Wednesday to attend the burial of Capt Jeffrey Hill at Arlington National Cemetery. A C17 was flown from Anchorage for a flyover during the service, and in addition was able to carry down aircrew and their families from both squadrons. Many of us stayed at Andrews AFB and then took group transportation to Arlington the next day. The weather was cold, but very clear; and the people at Arlington did a great job. The best words I can come up with to describe the service would be very respectful and very professional.

On Friday when everyone returned to Alaska, I went to visit Nick's Aunt Jennifer just outside of DC. We had a nice time trying a new restaurant, going to a few museum's, playing with Molly the black lab, and watching a movie.

Jennifer and the simulator at the Air and Space Museum near Dulles. It was an experience... Hah!

The Space Shuttle Enterprise

Sunday I drove up to New Jersey to visit with Jason and Jamie, my brother and sister in law. We had hoped to walk around Philadelphia, but they had gotten hit by the weekend snow storm. With the howling wind we decided to stay local for lunch and hang out indoors. It was nice to spend time with them though. Living on opposite sides of North America we don't see each other often.

I finished the journey at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Maryland. It had been years since I had seen them so it was nice to catch up.

All in all it was a memorable trip. I'm grateful that the weather held for my drive east, especially to be able to attend the service at Arlington. I'm still not sure what the next few weeks will hold, but hoping Nick will get back to this part of the planet soon.

2010 Christmas Country Dance School

2011-01-03T18:56:00.005-09:00

New Year's Eve Banquet

The week between Christmas and New Year found myself and quite a few of my family in Berea, Kentucky at Christmas Country Dance School. CCDS is a weeklong school that offers courses in traditional English, Irish, and American dance, music, and crafts. Classes run throughout the morning and afternoon, there is a morning and evening Parlor (a time to share stories, singing, music, etc), and a two hour evening dance. Following all of that are the after dances and after parties. The dances mostly were made up of traditional English, Contra dances, Appalachian dances, a few squares, and a waltz at the end. The days were long and the sleep was little, but we had a great time.

There were four class periods offered this year and I signed up for beginning clogging, Appalachian Dance (which specialized in flat-footing this year!), a dance band class, and beginning basketry. My favorite class was Appalachian Dance because I really enjoyed the music and learning how to flat-foot to it. Both clogging and band were good too... although band started to go into the world of theory and a lot of that was above my level. Basketry was more frustrating than I expected, but I was trying to make my basket perfect and that caused me some problems. My basket is almost complete though, I should try to finish it tomorrow and post a pic. I would have liked to have taken some other dance courses, but with only four periods this year (every other year there are five) I was limited in my options.

One of the great things about the program is that in every dance class there were live musicians playing. Each evening dance also had very talented live bands. Some of these musicians were local, while others came from across America and even across the pond from England and Ireland. It was all very fantastic. Someday, I would love to be able to play my fiddle well enough to play at something like this. Many of the artists also gave impromptu performances at Parlor as well.

While the school had lodging available at Berea college, my family all stayed at Grandma's house just outside of Berea. It was a little crowded; but cooking meals, sharing cot space in the basement with cousins, battling wasps who kept sneaking indoors, rationing out the very limited hot water supply, sharing shoes, and car-pooling led to some good family bonding with my extended relatives.

For more information about this school go to http://www.berea.edu/peh/dance/ccds/default.asp or send me a comment with your e-mail address. Comments are always viewed by me first and do not have to be published.

vagabond

2010-12-15T23:54:00.001-09:00

Incredibly, my 6 months of Alaskan living has passed and it will soon be time to return to my vagabond ways. I've shipped the dog, made arrangements for the cats, said a few goodbyes, and tried to wrap some unfinished business up the best I can... leaving is never satisfactory or clean cut.

I'll be east of the Mississippi (but can venture west if need be) for the next month and rambling about before Nick returns home. If you would like to meet up (and I know you) shoot me an e-mail or Facebook message.

Perhaps this spring both Nick and I will be able to return to Alaska together, on a more permanent basis. We can always hope.... otherwise this wandering lifestyle will have to continue for the foreseeable future.

Guam

2010-12-14T00:04:00.001-09:00

Last week a short notice trip came up that gave me the opportunity to go back to Guam again. Flying to Guam is always a little special because that's where the whole seed of being a pilot was dropped. In fact, I doubt I would have ever gone down this road if it wasn't for Guam. I went the first time during the summer of 2006 as the "weather chick" supporting a fighter squadron. I was surrounded by people who LOVED their jobs and that led me to decide I wanted to try this flying thing that they were so crazy about too. Also in Guam was a flight doc who had recently received PRK, and he was recommending big time that I go for it when we got back. So within a month of returning to Alaska I was scheduled for eye surgery and beginning ground school for a private pilot's license. Why not jump in with both feet?

This trip was fun because it was the first time that Katie and I had gotten to fly together. Although we didn't have much time on the ground we did get a good run in and a little time at the pool before it was time to get back to work. Plus, you can't beat some sunshine and warmth in the midst of an Alaskan winter.

Lost Everything -- the song

2010-12-13T23:25:00.000-09:00

So each week I try to make this local jam session for old time music. I posted about my struggles with playing earlier in the fall, and am happy to say that things are going much better now. The biggest help has been recording 5-10 songs a week on my Edirol at jam, downloading them to the computer, and then learning to play the ones I like by ear.

Anyhow...tonight I found this song we played last week that I really like. I only got half of the title at the time, but after some online research I discovered the name of it is "Poor Little Mary/Lost Everything" by James Leva. Now, I think we only played the "Lost Everything" part of the song and that doesn't begin until around the 1:22 mark. The first part isn't bad, but I don't like it nearly as much as 1:22 onward.

If you're interested, you can hear it for free at http://new.music.yahoo.com/james-leva/tracks/poor-little-mary-lost-everything--40508293. It's also available on iTunes.

cartoons on Facebook

2010-12-05T14:08:00.000-09:00

A few of my Facebook friends have been displaying some irritation in the past few days over how many people are changing their profile pictures to cartoon characters this weekend. For those of you not on Facebook, this originated a few days ago with a post along the lines of "Change your FB Profile Picture to a Cartoon from your childhood. The goal is to not see a human face on FB till Monday December 6th. Support the fight against child abuse by copying and pasting this as your status and joining this group to support this sometimes over looked cause! Invite friends to join and do the same."

Does it sound a little silly? Maybe it is, but I still changed my photo all the same. Why? I guess I had a couple of reasons. I did it at first because it's been interesting to see what cartoon characters my friends think are memorable enough to deserve a spot as their Facebook profile. Plus, I had to share who I think the most awesome cartoon character of the mid 80s was as well! Bottom line though, regardless of what you may think about succumbing to a fad (especially a FB fad!), I'm glad to have changed the photo. Just like those pink "I HEART BOOBIES" wrist bands that made the news a month or so ago, the whole FB thing is generating conversation and awareness about a topic that doesn't get as much consideration as it deserves.

So who was my cartoon character? None other than "She-Ra, the Princess of Power" of course. Episodes are currently available on Hulu for those who need a refresher.

birthday fun

2010-11-29T23:38:00.000-09:00

Holidays and birthdays are hit and miss with Nick and I... and usually they're a miss. This year was no exception, although I think we set a new personal record by missing everything except New Year's and Memorial day. While the military is usually to blame for why we are apart, the military is also how we've met many of the great friends that we have. Friends who become family when family is far away.

To help me celebrate my recent birthday Katie hosted a birthday dinner and hike with a few of our friends and their families. The plan was a short hike at the Eagle River Nature center followed by tomato soup, grilled cheese, and Thanksgiving leftovers that people wanted to share/"dispose" of.

The hike was fun... we did the Albert Loop trail. However, we may have been a bit optimistic with the distance, the weather, and the cheerfulness of the kiddos in dealing with both. They road along in sleds and were great sports until about halfway through when they started to get cold and there may have been a few (or a lot) of meltdowns. That's the problem with trails that have "Loop" in the name... there's no easy early turn back. However, all of the parents were highly trained individuals so with kids on shoulders, backs, and under arms we high-tailed it back as fast as we could go. Needless to say, all wildlife in a 3 mile radius were successfully cleared out of our path.

Besides the grilled cheese and tomato soup people brought all sorts of leftovers... turkey, stuffings, potatoes, vegetables, our Singaporean beef and smoked salmon (that sort of stood out on the table!), pumpkin pies, apple pies, sweet potato pies, pumpkin cheesecakes...

Katie and Allison at the table before everyone attacked the food!

We finished the evening with a beer taste test. Surprisingly, Kirkland brand beer (from Costco) beat out Alaska brand beer in almost every category. Well not a total beat down, usually within a vote or two...but still. I was cheering on the hometown team, a little disappointing.

Thanksgiving from the Pacific

2010-11-25T20:37:00.001-09:00

This year I went to my friend Katie and Jake's house for Thanksgiving. We celebrated a little differently this year, and instead of preparing the traditional Thanksgiving food we attempted to recreate some of the dishes that represent the kinds of foods we eat when we fly around the Pacific. From Japanese curry, to a Singapore salad and a pepper beef dish, hummus, baba ghanoush, wine from California, smoked salmon from Alaska, sweet potato pone -- ok that was a random Cajun dessert I wanted to try to make-- this was totally not normal Thanksgiving food, but it was a lot of fun to do something different and to spend time with good friends.

Katie and I stirring the pots... Kelly in the reflection of the microwave!

While the kids took a nap Katie and I went outside to give Jackson some exercise... the sledding hill was just too much fun. We'd go down and Jackson would race us to the bottom.

For those who are wondering, even Nick was able to get some Thanksgiving food after his flight today... and apparently it was even pretty good. He's been staying very busy, but at least that makes the time go by faster. Hopefully, we'll have him back on this side of the globe in less than two months.

Happy Thanksgiving!

inversions

2010-11-22T22:17:00.000-09:00

Just before rush hour this morning we had a freezing precipitation event in Anchorage. As you can imagine, it made a real mess of things and the morning commute was awful. Due to the timing of the freezing rain everyone was already on the road when it started to get super slick, and there were all sorts of accidents and people sliding every which way off the road. Thankfully, the Vibe navigated the one small hill we had to climb like a pro and I made it to and from work safely. The biggest challenge for me was chipping the ice off the windshield!

Why did we have freezing rain today? For the last week we have been trapped under a very persistent inversion. Inversions are where the air gets warmer the higher in altitude you go versus the normal colder. In this case the inversion was at the surface. In town daily highs have been in the upper teens, while people who live at higher elevation (like on the hillside) were experiencing balmy low 30s. Anyways, a moisture rich air mass moved over this part of the state and created perfect freezing precipitation conditions. Water droplets formed by falling through the warmer air aloft, but then became supercooled once passing through the cold air near the surface. They then froze on the cold surfaces at ground level forming sheets of ice. Here's a diagram I got from the National Weather Service page...

Anyway, in case you are interested this is a simplified explanation of how freezing rain is formed.

**Disclaimer** Just because I'm including weather descriptions and diagrams in my blog is not clearance for you to ask me what the weather will be like. Most likely I will still glare at you and direct you to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/.

musings after a rough weekend

2010-11-21T22:16:00.000-09:00

So there's no use in pretending this weekend went well, for it did not... and while I could list on this blog just some of the ways it went wrong, I won't... I've mentally circled that fence all day long. However, its time for bed and some iota of positive thinking has crept back in...

There were good some things that happened this weekend. It's easy to forget those when in the midst of a string of bad days. I had some time to bond and have real discussion with a good friend on Friday, Saturday morning I got to spend time with two girls who are like family to me at this outrageous aerobics competition at the gym on Ft Rich, today I had the opportunity to help somebody else out, I'm grateful for being able to take my doggy out for a run (he's grateful too) this afternoon, my house now smells like curry from dinner, I was able to make molasses muffins for work tomorrow...

Guess there wasn't much point to this posting, other than saying that maybe it's not always as dim as it seems... maybe closer inspection is what is needed to see the bits of sunshine that are out there too.

once again...

2010-11-19T17:39:00.000-09:00

Once again I must ask for your thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of another Airmen at Elmendorf AFB. Please remember Jeff Haney and his family, friends, squadron, and the people of Elmendorf AFB as we go go through yet another tragedy. Jeff Haney is the F22 pilot who died earlier this week while flying his F22. http://www.adn.com/2010/11/19/1563439/air-force-says-pilot-died-in-crash.html . 2010 has been a terrible year for the state of Alaska and Elmendorf AFB.

A visit with Nick

2010-11-12T19:29:00.001-09:00

About a month ago Nick and I had the chance to "go out" for lunch. My crew had to make a delivery of some goods to the location where Nick is at, and we had enough time on the ground to see each other for a little while. He showed me around the area, we had a meal at the chow hall, and I was able to give him his first tour inside a C17.

It was still miserably hot then, and between the dehydration of being at altitude for so long and the heat of walking around I was hurting. Luckily, Nick is very experienced now at dealing with the heat so he made sure we took a lot of water breaks on our walking around.

If all goes as scheduled he should be home in about two months. Of course, anyone who has been around us for any length of time knows how our plans typically go. However, as always, we hope for the best and keep about five other plans on the back burner.

Nick inside "my office"

Albert Loop

2010-11-11T18:44:00.001-09:00

Despite the positive attitude towards Alaska darkness and winter in the last post, this has been a rough week now that its dark at the end of the work day. Factor in the cold as well and I've been struggling with getting outside this week. Today Jackson convinced me that we needed to go for a walk. In dog language this involved being a general pest, flinging his body on the floor, and sighs... We went to the Eagle River Nature Center and took a walk along the Albert Loop trail. Snow shoes would have been useful for the first half mile, but after that the snow was compacted well enough for hiking boots.

Tearing up and down the trail-- he's so fast!

Nice sunset on the drive back home, around 4:30pm.

daylight savings time

2010-11-06T23:55:00.000-08:00

With the exception of staying in sync with the rest of the country, daylight savings time is a little silly in Alaska. Today the sun rose at 9:41 am and set at 5:44 pm. Tomorrow, the sun will rise at 8:44 am and will set at 4:41 pm. In less than a week sunrise will once again be after 9 am and the sunset will be before 4:30. Regardless, we will still wake up in the dark and drive home in the dark.

People from the outside always ask about how the dark affects us up here in Alaska. For me, once a good snow pack is on the ground I'm pretty content. The city light reflection off the snow keeps the night sky bright, especially when there is low cloud cover. Not much changes in my routine, perhaps I run more in the middle of the day or find some reason to be outside during the early afternoon to take advantage of the light. I may sleep a little more, and eat more warm foods (red lentil curry tonight...), but that's about it. It's also helpful to get involved in activities or hobbies to force yourself out of the house. The people who seem to suffer the most are the ones who work inside all day, then go home and sit on the couch all night. They never see the sun and they don't do much in the evenings because of the dark and cold. The tedium of each dark day starts to wear on them, and then they don't have any energy to do much at all until winter is over.

In addition to making an effort to get outside, Nick and I ended up buying a light box our second year up here. It's simply a box full of lightbulbs that you point at your face and indirectly look into. The light emitted is comparable to the color of light that would come from the sun. Did it work? I'm not entirely sure. The one we bought was neither very large or expensive, and since Nick is not a morning person anyhow it was hard to tell if it was effective or not.

Enjoy your extra hour of sleep tonight.

wolves

2010-11-05T22:42:00.000-08:00

Living in a city as metropolitan as Anchorage can lead to complacency when recreating in the nearby green spaces. Today was another warning about the dangers of taking Alaska for granted. My boss knows how much I run and so he made sure to relay to me the story of a runner he rescued the other night when he was driving on base. The runner and his dogs were being followed/chased by a pack of wolves! I would like to say this occurred in some random spot that I would never go, but this was in the vicinity of one of my favorite winter running routes.

This particular wolf pack has a history of behavior like this, and based on that I will be altering my routes for the next month or so to avoid this area. It's unfortunate, it's really nice back there.

snow has started to fall

2010-11-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

This week snow has finally begun falling around the Anchorage bowl. I was a little disappointed to not have snow on the ground by Halloween, but I suppose it made it a little easier on the trick- or-treaters to not be required to wear a costume, winter coat, and snow boots.

The Monday night/Tuesday morning snow was mostly melted by Tuesday afternoon, although I did find an area that was off the main roads to run Jackson on Tuesday. He was happy with the 1" that was left. It was dicey to get around on Wednesday because the melted snow from Tuesday had froze and left a lot of icy patches in the roads and sidewalks. Last night the next system began to move inland from the Prince William sound and was intense enough to push moisture over the mountains to the east and we received rain and snow again. Temperatures have been hovering just above freezing in town all day so while snow is falling from the sky, very little has stuck on the ground.

For Jackson that has meant another day trapped indoors. Although I don't mind the cold and wet, I do mind wiping out on an icy sidewalk or road. More snow is forecast for Saturday--hoping for enough to solidly cover the sidewalks and provide some traction for more winter running for Jackson and I.

give up the music

2010-11-01T22:35:00.001-08:00

sheet music that is...

While this probably does not apply to 99.5% of the readers I have left--sorry, had writer's block for the past month or so... I am too excited to not write about this.

Frustrated with my lack of progress in the old-time genre, where even lessons weren't helping, I got up the guts to go to a local jam session several months ago. My original plan was just to get a beer and listen... but then I called myself a chicken and decided to go all in and bring the fiddle. What a disaster... I didn't know any of the songs, couldn't figure them out, and after being put on the spot and asked to begin the one tune I did know from memory, I started on the wrong string-- mortifying!

That was my last attempt at a jam for over a month.... Lessons with my teacher weren't really working out either so I just worked the sheet music I had for the next month, a little depressed that it wasn't coming together.

A common theme on Fiddle websites like http://www.fiddlehangout.com/, at the time was from beginners like myself struggling to get "it". The primary recommendation was to go to jam sessions. Still stinging from the last attempt it took a several weeks and a few false starts before I went.

I still didn't know any songs, but the one I had misplayed the time before (which I got right the next time!). However, the other musician's were friendly and encouraging and I started to go every week when I was in town. Taking cues from somebody else there, I began to bring a recording device and taping the tunes. They then sat on the device for the next month probably...

Two weeks ago I put them on my computer, labeled them and began practicing them with the help of an amazing piece of software called "The Amazing Slow Downer" (well worth the money), http://www.ronimusic.com/. The Amazing Slow Downer lets you slow a tune down without significantly altering the pitch... its great for learning tunes by ear. It also allows you to break out chunks of the song for working out tricky sections and you can even modify the pitch of the song if you wish to play in a different key.

I now have 9 tunes that I will be able to confidently play this week... maybe not start, but definitely play along. Now, I'm not saying sheet music is worthless... I love being able to read music. I've been using it for most of my life for some instrument or another; however, there is a definite freedom to being able to sit and just play without looking at anything... without needing to look. In this case... the rhythm of old-time couldn't easily be portrayed by the dots (or if it was it looked crazy hard to understand) so therefore I was unable to get "it". There is still a lot more to learn and lot more progress to make... but grateful to be moving forward again.

Grandpa Z's fiddle restoration project

2010-10-06T00:52:00.000-08:00

Back in late May I was given a fiddle that belonged to Nick's grandfather. The fiddle had been last played by Grandpa Z when he was 9 years old and had been sitting around in closets, and basements, and who knows where else for the last 70+ years.

Ecstatic to be given such an old fiddle, I wanted to immediately begin playing it. However, years of abandonment had taken its toll and the fiddle was going to need some fairly significant restoration before it could be played again.

Both the soundpost and bridge were missing, and there were several large cracks in the top piece so I shipped the fiddle to Anchorage so my trusted luthier, Rick Ford, could take a look at it. We agreed on what repair work was to be accomplished and he set forth to remove the top.

The back piece

This is the top piece prior to repairs. Some cracks were only held with muslin strips of material, others were ignored, and the largest one down the middle was filled with red candle wax. My luthier was shocked, he and never seen anyone attempt a repair on wood with wax! Also, previous repair work had gouged and removed some of the original wood from the fiddle's body,

Cracks from the front

Top piece after properly being repaired

The cause of the majority of the top cracks was due to this crack in the block causing uneven pressures on the top piece. This block was replaced with a new one.

The work needing to be accomplished turned out to be a little more extensive than we had originally thought. On initial investigation we didn't realize how many internal cracks there were, and who would have anticipated all of that red wax that had to be removed and then the area of that crack re-varnished.

Fiddle on the wall post restoration

It will take several months of playing before we truly know what the fiddle will sound like. The wood hasn't had any musical vibrations though it for 70+ years and just had some massive reconstruction on its innards. Rick did a fantastic job though, I'm looking forward to playing this fiddle.

tiny islands in the Pacific

2010-08-30T21:50:00.000-08:00

The last few days were spent doing a tour of the tiny little islands in the Pacific. We went to Wake, Guam, and Hawaii before heading back to Alaska this morning. We were hired to bring some Hawaii National Guardsmen back to Hawaii after the completion of their training in Guam. It's a long haul from Alaska to Guam so we had to stop at Wake Island to get some gas. I was super excited about getting to go to Wake, very few people have the opportunity to go.

Wake is made up of three coral atolls, with a lagoon in the middle. It's located two thirds of the distance between Hawaii and Guam. The island was captured in December of 1941 by the Japanese and there are a lot of historical military artifacts still on the island today.

A bunker left over from WWII.

Although the runway is over 8000 feet, its on a very narrow strip of coral that doesn't leave much land on either side of the 150ft wide runway. Only about 75 people live on Wake, mostly military contractors. Typically, only military aircraft, some civilian cargo haulers, and emergency aircraft ever go to Wake.

The runway is located on the far side of this photo, it's just as narrow as it looks!

Nick

2010-08-22T19:24:00.000-08:00

Here's a copy of a great photo that Nick recently sent me. I believe this was taken upon his graduation from the program. He posted this on Facebook, but I know that not all of you are members and may not have seen it.

He's doing well, has enrolled in an online class for his Master's degree, and is staying very busy.

pictures from flying

2010-08-22T19:06:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday was such a great day for flying in Alaska that I thought I'd share some photos from a flight that went to King Salmon, Kenai, and back to Anchorage. These were all taken while I was not at the controls for anyone who is concerned.

This is Mount Redoubt Volcano, he was a newsmaker over the last year or so. Although it looked like steam was coming out of the top, I'm fairly certain it was just a little cloud. Made for some fun speculating though. Currently coded green by the AVO.

Mountains and glaciers

Cook Inlet with Mount Redoubt in the background.

King Salmon airport

Kenai airport

Our shadow

weekend in Seward, AK

2010-08-22T18:04:00.000-08:00

This week I got invited to go with my friend Katie and her family to Seward, AK for a weekend getaway to the Seward Military Resort/Campground. It was the 517AS camping trip as well so we got to spend some time outside of work with her squadron and the people that I occasionally fly with as well.

Seward is a small fishing town on the Kenai peninsula that is popular for both the great fishing and spectacular scenery. We ate at several good restaurants that were only a few miles away by bike and rode along a trail on the waters edge to see sea lions frolicking in the cold water of Resurrection Bay.

Katie and kids

We couldn't have asked for better weather, and once we parked the car Friday night we didn't have a use for it again until it was time to go home. Katie pulled the kids in a little trailer attached to her bike and Kelly and I rode the cruiser bikes that they brought.

Katie and Kelly and the kids

We stayed in a cabin/townhouse style building at the resort, but there were RV parking spots, tent spots, hotel rooms, and yurts available as well. Most of the other families were in RVs they either owned or rented and had claimed a small corner of the campground as the central meeting place for the firepit and a place for the kids to play (playground in ear/eye sight). It's a fantastic location and I would love to go back when Nick is back in Alaska or if we have visitors in town.

The rain returned this morning so we headed back home grateful for one more weekend of glorious weather and sad to notice that the trees are starting to turn yellow...

Prospect Heights trailhead

2010-08-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

It's raining again, but this morning the skies were clear and the air was warm... relatively of course, it was in the 60s. I know most of you are baking in the lower 48.

I went on an afternoon hike with Hilary and Paul this afternoon. Unfortunately, the clouds had moved back in by our start time; but the air was still warm and the ceilings were still above the mountains so we continued with our plans.

Today we went to the Prospect Heights Trailhead (part of the Hillside Trail system) to take the upper part of the Powerline Trail to the Middle Fork Loop trail and back. There were quite a few people up there, but it wasn't nearly as crowded and hectic as the Glen Alps Trailhead. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy climbing Flattop as much as the next person. However, a non-rainy weekend during tourist season makes me want to go find a less crazy place for a walk in the woods.

Before the hike I made a trip to REI to buy a doggy backpack for Jackson. I read in the "Best Hikes near Anchorage" guide by Falconguides that dog's "love to carry their own pack-it gives them a job to do" so after a little online research that seemed to verify this I skeptically went to REI to pick out a pack. There were several brands available, but I went with the house brand that had two pockets on each side of the harness. My plan was to have Jackson carry the pack empty, and if he wouldn't tolerate it I'd just bring it back.

The guide was right, Jackson seemed thrilled to be saddled up with something so I gave him his waterbowl and later a filled poop bag to carry. Next time, I'll load him up a little more. Perhaps he can carry the first aid kit and some snacks. It might seem silly to need your dog to carry things, but in Alaska there is so much equipment that should be carried whenever you venture outdoors... unless I'm going someplace really tame I carry a first aid kit, rain gear, extra layers, a small survival kit, a knife, a flashlight, water (enough for me and Jackson), snacks (for me and Jackson), GPS, camera, a collapsible water bowl,etc.

We didn't see any wildlife to speak of today, except for a Ptarmigan. Not that I was really hoping to see much, I'm not very excited about the prospect of crossing paths with a bear. However, we were talking the entire hike and the trail was busy so most of the critters were staying clear.

There were quite a few giant mushrooms along the side of the trail. They reminded me of something dumb Jackson did as a young dog.

When we first got Jackson and he was less than a year old he went up to one of these big mushrooms that was growing in our yard and took a huge chomp out of it before we could stop him. He was a sick boy for the rest of the afternoon and has never tried one again, I'm assuming they're poisonous... or at least not easy on the stomach.

The one pictured below grew so fast it split it's top.

Mostly cloudy and rain is the forecast for the rest of the week. Blah, but it's August. Climatologically it's suppose to rain a lot in August...at least the temps will be pleasant around 60.

when the sun comes out...

2010-08-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

Stop what you're doing, the sun is out! That's standard living in Anchorage during the month of August. With rain yesterday and the forecast of more rain tomorrow I dropped all plans for the evening to take advantage of the sun. A hike would have been nice, but the mountains were covered in clouds so instead I called my friend Hilary and we chose an evening walk along the Coastal Trail. We got a little carried away and our "walk" went almost 2.5 hours.

The bird in the above photo was diving for small fish in Westchester Lagoon. We found (to the bird's delight) that the fish could see our shadows and we could "herd" their schools around by moving our arms.

Jackson showing some love

Hilary and Paul goofing around when I was trying to take a photo

jump in with both feet

2010-08-04T23:47:00.000-08:00

Today was the memorial for Capt Jeff Hill that perished in the Sitka 43 crash.

Last night was the memorial for Maj Aaron Malone.

Monday was the memorial for the entire crew hosted by the Air Force.

Saturday and Sunday were the Elmendorf Airshow with a C17 set up as a memorial.

Friday was preparation for the Airshow, the memorials, and aiding the families.

Thursday was shock.

A week ago at 1814 was the disaster that will never be forgotten in the 249th and 517th Airlift Squadrons.

To say the least it has been a very emotionally draining week.

Two things that all four men aboard Sitka 43 shared in common was a passion for Alaska and a passion for life. They took advantage of what life had to offer and lived life hard right up to the end.

It's easy to forget that we have no control of when our own clock will stop. We must jump into life with both feet... do something adventurous everyday, something educational, something scary, something kind, something to better ourselves and those around us.

Sitka 43

2010-07-31T23:05:00.001-08:00

I expect that most of you are aware of the terrible accident that occurred last Wednesday at Elmendorf AFB. Four aircrew members from Sitka 43 were lost that night from both the 249 Airlift Squadron (Alaska Air National Guard) and the 517 Airlift Squadron (Active Duty Air Force).

For information about the Memorial ceremonies, bios of the Aircrew, how to donate to the families left behind, and information about the accident please go to the Alaska National Guard Facebook page.

Please keep the families and friends of these Aircrew in your thoughts and prayers.

a break in the clouds

2010-07-27T23:04:00.001-08:00

After a very rainy July, the sun peaked out this afternoon. With the forecast of more clouds and rain beginning again tomorrow, I called my friend Kelly to see if she was up for an evening hike climbing Mt Baldy in Eagle River, AK.

Temps were in the upper 50s and sunny when we began; however the clouds lingered over the top of Baldy so no good scenic views this time. I thought it might be crowded because of all the rainy weather we've had lately, but we didn't start until 8pm so there weren't too many others on the mountain.

Kelly mid way up the mountain -- the grass was so thick and lush from the rain

Jackson romping off-leash for a bit when no one else was around

Jackson and I at the top of Baldy, hazy because we were partly in the clouds at this point

Japan

2010-07-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

A scheduled 3 day trip to Japan and back became a 5 day trip when we suffered from some mechanical difficulties crossing the Pacific Ocean. We elected to divert to Yokota AB, Japan (outside of Tokyo) with the hopes that a larger base would be able to quickly fix our problem. Unfortunately, the required part was not in stock so we were stuck for a few days. Thankfully, the crew I was with was up to some adventure, so armed with a couple of maps we spent one afternoon/evening roaming the streets of Tokyo by train, bus, subway, taxi, and foot. We had a blast, and even the most skeptical of the group agreed they would enjoy going back again some day.

Although we didn't find many people who spoke English, most of the signs were written in both Japanese characters and in our own alphabet so we could at least match up names to the maps and make a rough hack on the pronunciation.

The loadmaster, myself, and the other pilot on the train into Tokyo. It was about a 45 minute ride, and only took a couple of tries to get off at the right station. We tried to be quiet, but were still the loudest people in our train car.

My favorite thing to see were the "mini" vans. The driver saw me taking a photo of his DHL van and posed. I loved that there was a normal sized person walking buy to serve as a yardstick on how little this van really was. Adorable.

We took a bus to a large park where there were a lot of temples to look at. I would have liked more time to look around this area.

Tea cups as balconies!

We stumbled across this shopping district and quickly realized it was a major tourist draw. Suddenly we weren't the only foreigners walking around.
The shopping district led to this plaza full of temples.

A floor toilet! I've used them before in Thailand so it wasn't a foreign concept, just a surprise. In Tokyo we came across toilets that ranged from floor toilets to super technical electric everything toilets with call buttons for help. Luckily, public toilets were super easy to find throughout the city.

Tokyo at rush hour. We were at the top of a large observation deck at sunset. The smog was very thick though so we didn't have the view that we had hoped to see.

More of Tokyo...

We finished the night up at a Sushi go round. We sat at a table and the sushi came by on a conveyor belt. The plates were color coded by price and you grabbed what you wanted as it came by. When it was time to go they counted up your different colors and came up with the price. Two of the guys in our group weren't huge fish fans, but they gamely gave it a try with only one needing to get more food at a bagel shop at the end of the evening.

The whole crew at dinner .

Disneyland of Cow Country

2010-06-26T09:43:00.000-08:00

Last week when I was in Indiana my family and I went to the Disneyland of cow country... Fair Oaks Farms, http://www.fofarms.com/, just off of I-65, exit 220. Trust me, you can't miss it.

Fair Oaks goes out of their way to make the farm as family friendly as possible. In addition to the "Adventure Center" where smiling mechanical cows with lipstick compare their lifestyle to that of a trip to the spa, there is a cheese factory, gift shop, ice cream stand, deli featuring soups and sandwiches created with on-site made cheese, large play area for the kids, and a birthing barn.

Birthing barn? With 30,000 cows this place has about 70 calves born a day. At any one time during business hours two cows are displayed on a stage (behind a glass wall) giving birth. The little calves are adorable, but its best to ignore the reality that within a few hours they'll be separated from their mothers and given what looks like a large dog house as their new home until they're big enough to be shipped away to other states to graze. Once they're old enough to produce milk, then it's back to the farm (and a barn) for the rest of their lives. Well, the females anyway. They didn't discuss in much detail where the boys go...

Neither do they relish discussing what happens to these happy cows once their milking days are done. It runs sort of counter to their cow story to tell someone that they'll probably eat one of those cute calves when it's old and all dried up.

However, although they chose to ignore some of the more negative realities of the business I was surprised at how much they did show of the farm and what positive things they had going on. We took a 45 minute bus tour that drove around the farm, through the barns, and ended at the milking carousel. The farm doesn't use antibiotics so we were never allowed near a cow, always separated by glass or the bus, but we were still able to see up close what the daily life of a cow would be (while living at the dairy).

The farm was not smelly, they've got a system that collects the waste, turns it into fertilizer, and burns the methane gas as energy. In fact, the whole farm's electrical needs are powered by its own combustion of methane. The barns were muddy, but only due to the sprinkler system that was spraying mist on the cows to keep them cool. To minimize disease the cows are moved around a lot so they can have their barns cleaned several times a day. Don't assume all cows have this lifestyle, from what I've read dairy cows generally have cushier lifestyles than beef cows because they need to be able to live and be productive for so much longer.

The main building, the Adventure Center, had a lot of factoids about cows and milk production. It was a bit propagandaish at times with talking trees discussing how environmentally responsible the dairy was in addition to exhibits by Monsanto. However, there were plenty of educational things in it as well...And maybe this dairy has got a good system figured out that allows them to be so environmentally friendly. That's not to say they all are though.

If you're in northern Indiana I'd recommend checking this place out. I also recommend reading the "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. He doesn't focus on dairy farming, but on our agricultural system in general. I believe it's worth considering where our food comes from and the politics and money behind big agriculture.

weekend in Kentucky

2010-06-14T17:56:00.000-08:00

Jackson has been in Indiana with my parents for the past two weeks so I went north on Saturday to visit with family and retrieve Jackson. I spent Saturday night with my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Aline. We had a "country" style dinner, played some music, and went to look at guns at a local store. Sunday morning was spent at the family farm fishing, shooting, etc. We probably caught about 15 fish, although most were too small to bother with keeping. I had a whopper on the line for my last attempt, but he was so strong that he broke my line and got away.

Uncle Jeff

In the afternoon I continued north and saw my Grandma and Uncle John and family in Louisville. Had a nice visit with everyone, its been awhile since I've been able to stop in. The last time I was in Louisville was when I was flying the T-1s in pilot training and we were able to take a plane up there for lunch. After dinner I continued north to my parent's house. There were some nasty thunderstorms along the way, so I was very happy to be in and parked for the night.

Grandma sent me home with some of her fiddle music so I have A LOT of music now. My dad and I picked out a few songs to work on tonight after dinner tonight. I'm going to my parent's music jam on Friday so its good to have some time to practice playing with other musicians. When you play alone it can be easy to make up your own notes and rhythms. :)

Grandma and I

Biloxi

2010-06-10T19:07:00.000-08:00

Laura and James

Nick had another day off on Tuesday so we took the opportunity to drive down to Biloxi, MS to visit my cousin James and to hopefully see the beaches one last time before the oil hits. We were in luck on both counts. James only had to work through the lunch hour and the beaches so far remain clean of oil.

For Biloxi the biggest impact we saw on Tuesday (just talking to my cousin and casually walking around the shore...I'm sure there are plenty of other impacts we didn't see) was on the shrimp boats. The season opened last week and normally the boats would be far from land, just visible on the horizon. Now, they're forced to remain close to shore because much further out and they'll be in the fisheries closed by the oil spill.

Biloxi has come so far since the days after Katrina. The beaches are well cared for, homes are being rebuilt along Hwy 90, and tourism is returning. This place does not need another disaster, especially one that will be around for years to come.

a quick summer vacation

2010-06-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Nick found out that he would be allowed to take one week off between academics and flying due to some training delays. We headed north the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend once Nick completed some flying related business in Columbus, MS. He had never taken the FAA test for his instrument, multi-engine, and commercial ratings so we were lucky that a friend of mine who runs a flight school was able to allow Nick to squeeze in his testing with a UPT class that was getting ready to graduate in a few weeks.

The drive up was uneventful, and we enjoyed traveling on the Natchez Trace from Tupelo, MS to Nashville, TN http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm. The parkway is very relaxing, although it can be a little slow if you get stuck behind somebody. We saw many wild turkeys walking around on the side of the road. I wish I could have gotten a picture of one...

We got to Kokomo on Sunday afternoon and spent time with my parents until early Thursday. Jackson and my parent's 3 little dogs got along well, even though put together the little dogs still don't weigh as much as Jackie. We enjoyed taking the dogs for walks, getting grape sherbet at Cone Palace, going to the Grissom ARB museum, looking at a gristmill, going to Purdue and walking around the campus. Purdue has changed a lot in 7 years! Many new buildings, additions to buildings, old buildings gone... The rest of the time we just hung around the house and relaxed. It was Mississippi hot that week and I was catching the cold Nick had suffered from the week before.

When we left for Cincinnati my voice was mostly shot, summer colds aren't any fun. Thankfully, it doesn't appear that anyone caught it from me! Jackson stayed behind in Kokomo with my parents. It's hard to travel with a dog in the summertime, plus it was going to be challenging to board him when we went to visit Nick's grandparents in Marietta. We had a good time in Cincinnati, even made it to a Reds game with Nick's parents. We were fortunate to get great seats and the Reds blew the Astros out of the water that first night (luckily, we didn't see their performance a couple of days later!). It was my first non farm team pro game, a lot of fun, although Nick had to cheer for me.

On Saturday we drove east to Marietta, OH to visit with Nick's grandparents and other relatives. Nick's mom found a great B&B only a few minutes walk from his grandparent's house.

this is the turret room which Nick and I got to stay in the second night!

The house was well kept and decorated, plus the breakfast was amazing. So amazing that lunch wasn't required those days! This was our second B&B, and so far we've lucked out with very positive experiences

We were able to spend some time with all of Nick's grandparents during our time in Marietta. It will be awhile before Nick will get to travel back to that part of the country. Once again I wish I had taken more pictures to post. The rest of the time in Marietta we spent walking around the town, it's a very historic place dating back to the 1780s, or sitting out on rockers on the porch.

We stayed until Monday morning and then we had the 14 hour, 6 state drive to get back to Meridian. Obviously we made it safely. If you're reading this blog and we didn't get to see you on our visit we hope we'll catch you next time, and for those we did see thanks for the great time!

Stripey

2010-06-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

Nick and I had been staying in a nice hotel room at the Drury Inn in Meridian since the first of May, but despite the many amenities it was getting a little tiresome for two people and a large dog to stay in one smallish room, with no kitchen, and only a bed and an easy chair to sit in.

The other day Nick found an add for a furnished apartment on a lake that would allow us to stay on a week to week basis at the same rate we were paying for the hotel so we checked it out and decided to move in. The apartment itself is a little run down, but the couple who own it seem nice, and the place is built on a beautiful location.

We've been told the fishing is good, but we'll have to find some poles before we can try it. Nick and I walked around part of the lake tonight and found some great places for Jackson to play.

The owners also built this fishing pier with seats and a BBQ, we may have to host a cookout before we leave.

Finally, for good or for bad we've met this little cat. We've named her Stripey, and we're guessing she's about a year old based on her size and behavior. We don't think she's a stray because her fur is sleek and she appears well fed, but she must be an outdoor cat because she's always hanging out on the back deck. She's very friendly so we started petting her and giving her attention and now she follows us everywhere. We feel bad because we can't let her in, and we aren't entirely sure that she isn't some abandoned stray. I hope to find out who owns her soon so I can play with her without feeling like we're neglecting her when we go inside.

Dunn's Falls

2010-06-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

It's become a personal goal to experience as much of Mississippi as we possibly can while we're here. While Nick's away in class or flying I scour the internet for anything of interest in the local area and then when he gets home he's been good humored enough to go with me to find it. In most cases the web paints a much rosier picture of what there is to see and do than what we've found, but its been fun to go out and explore.

In this adventure we found an old gristmill at Dunn's Falls. The park was significantly smaller than we expected and we were disappointed to learn the mill was not the original, but had been moved there in 1987 from a location in Georgia. At least it was old, originall built in 1857.

Also, it was neat that there wasn't much that off limits, so we crawled all over the place... well, where the bugs and vegetation let us.

Magnolia

2010-05-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

Last July I drove out of Mississippi believing that I would never return to the Magnolia state for anything ever again. Hah! I'm back and this time located in Meridian while Nick has some training to get accomplished. Due to some unseasonable weather it's been hotter and swampier than it should be this time of the year, but we've been able to stay fairly well entertained so far. It helps that there is a wonderful city park just a few minutes down the road from where we're staying.

Bonita Lakes has running, biking, hiking, and horse trails in addition to picnic tables, a boat ramp, fishing, pavilions, and playgrounds. Local law enforcement regularly drives through and I've observed the "men in orange suits" routinely going around and keeping it tidy. We've been to the park at all times between dawn and dusk and someone is always getting exercise in. The park is so close to town and has so many trails through it that people from all walks of life and fitness levels can find something that works for them. Jackson enjoys his time at the park for there are lots of people, dogs, and ducks for him to look at.

I wish people who are responsible for spending money could come down to places like Bonita Lake and see that if they were willing to commit more resources to parks (ones designed to encourage exercise) that their residents would be healthier and more productive.

Normally, we don't need long sleeves and jeans here, but a wonderful cold front came through this weekend! It has been replaced since then with VERY warm temps... :(

Meridian's downtown is still a little more raggety than they'd probably prefer. It's slowly being renovated, but the economy faltering has not helped. I was hoping for more cafes and little shops, but didn't see as many open as I hoped. We have several more weeks here so I'm going to try to get out and see as much of Meridian and the surrounding area as possible.

spring

2010-04-22T00:11:00.000-08:00

Spring is arriving in Anchorage (albeit very slowly). One of the trees outside my window has teeny tiny little buds forming. The snow is mostly gone, only where it was piled deep does it remain. We're up to almost 15 and a half hours of daylight a day and temps have touched the 50 degree mark at least once or twice this past week. The persistent cloudiness has been a bit oppressive, so I'm grateful to have a job that takes me above the clouds a few times a week. (Or Hawaii...like Monday and Tuesday.)

Quick Curried Shrimp

2010-03-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite aspects of living so close to downtown is the access to walking trails, parks, restaurants, and great local groceries. I was more than pleased to go into New Sagaya's city market this evening and find all of the spices that had been alluding me at the big chain grocery stores. This week should be a great for cooking!

A recipe that turned out delicious tonight (and did not involve any hard to find spices) was Quick Curried Shrimp from the New Sagaya website, http://www.newsagaya.com/custom.aspx?id=3

Very easy and very flavorful!

QUICK CURRIED SHRIMP

Servings: 4

Cooking Time: 14 minutes

Seafood Alternatives: cubes of catfish, halibut, swordfish

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
½ cup minced onion
2 tsp. curry powder
1 Tbsp. flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 ½ lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 Tbsp. minced parsley or cilantro
Salt and Pepper
¼ cup toasted coconut (optional)

Heat oil in a medium skillet, add onion and sauté until beginning to soften, 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle curry powder and flour over and cook, stirring, until onions are evely coated and curry powder is quite fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Slowly add chicken stock stirring, bring to a boil, then add shrimp. Simmer curry until shrimp are pink and gently curled, 4-5 minutes. Stir in parsley with salt and pepper to taste. Serve shrimp curry over rice and sprinkle toasted coconut over, if you like.

confession time...

2010-03-20T17:53:00.000-08:00

So I have to confess that my Lenten plan did not go so well. In fact, it only lasted about two weeks before I found myself glued to the computer every spare moment once again. I felt a little bad, but had not given too much thought about it until this afternoon when I asked a friend how he was doing with what he had given up for Lent. Still sticking to it (pizza) even while playing single parent ops this week. The family still got their pizza, but he did not partake.

Luckily, the great thing about Christianity is that we're allowed to repent and try again. So here goes Lent sacrifice take two.

Lent

2010-02-18T22:41:00.000-09:00

I don't always give something up for Lent, but this year after wasting several hours on the internet on Fat Tuesday I came across an article mentioning how British church leaders were advocating a "Carbon Fast" intending for people to give up their televisions, ipods, cellphones, etc for Lent... Being both firmly rooted in the era of technology and geographically separated from just about everybody I declined to go to that extreme; however, I am minimizing my use of e-mail and the internet for this Lent season. Time for recreational e-mail will be limited to checking once an evening and internet browsing will be limited to once a day and on searches only in support of activities I do offline. I'm also allowing myself to check Facebook once every few evenings and post to this blog.

Perhaps this doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice to some, but for me its going to be tough. I've gotten quite accustomed to checking my e-mail while stuck in a line or looking at Facebook as part of the morning routine. Having a smartphone makes the internet so accessible that its too easy to let it eventually take over all the bits of free time in the day. Having a laptop makes browsing on the couch or in bed before going to sleep an additional time drain. Not only does it all equal to a giant time suck but it requires a lot of resource use to fuel these devices, to power those searches.

From the Telegraph.... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7245308/Church-leaders-call-for-technology-fast.html ....The Rt Rev John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford, England, "Lent is a period when we should look at how we live our lives," he said. "Giving up chocolate is a symbol of that but giving up technology is a more serious way of looking at the issues that face us as a global community..."

Anyway, its just an idea and something to think about it if you find yourself always online.

crossfit

2010-02-10T23:04:00.000-09:00

Today I was introduced to a new workout program called Crossfit, and I think I may be broken for the next few days. Usually muscle aches come the day after... not hours after. Even my toes are tired... Hopefully I will still be able to walk up stairs tomorrow morning. I'm flying tomorrow night and there are stairs between my bedroom and the office all over the place to climb, including up to the cockpit.

When a person is out of shape its tough to get motivated to work out. It's easy to come up with a million excuses of why that day's workout should be skipped. I'm lucky right now to be living with a friend who is a tremendous athlete and to have a wall full of Facebook friends who are constantly posting about their fitness achievements to keep me from pushing fitness too far back on my "to do" list. Because I can completely sympathize, especially with the former athletes, that it's a struggle to get back to the high fitness levels that once seemed so natural and easy to maintain.

For anyone who is struggling right now (like me) I'd suggest finding a workout buddy or joining a class or group. The accountability factor might be what pushes you (me) over the hump. Crossfit was tough, but I did it with a group so it was more fun. The other people were distractions from the pain and we can lament about our broken muscles afterward together.

Happy training!

5 years later

2010-02-06T21:31:00.001-09:00

Lots of flying this week, the highlight was a trip to drop some cargo off in Shemya, AK. Shemya is one of the last islands in the Aleutian chain and I've been wanting to go there since I learned of its existence 5 years ago. The weather is notoriously terrible due to its position between the Bering Sea and the Pacific ocean. This was the case on the day we arrived as well.

Sea ice.... at times we could see open ocean. I kept looking for the 'Time Bandit' or any of the other crab boats featured in the 'Deadliest Catch' when there were holes in the clouds but no such luck.

Now this is wild, untamed terrain...

great weekend

2010-01-31T18:44:00.000-09:00

What a great weekend... the live (free!) music at the Anchorage Folk Festival, the silent Charlie Chapman film accompanied by the Anchorage Symphony, a fiddle lesson, dinner at Cafe Amsterdam and Orso, shopping at the thrift and consignment shops in town, and a walk in the woods at the Eagle River Nature Center. Perhaps a little more sleep would have been nice, but I'll save that for a bad weather day.

Road Trip of a Lifetime

2010-01-29T09:31:00.001-09:00

Last month I was fortunate to go on yet another "Road Trip of a Lifetime" from Wichita Falls, TX to Anchorage, AK. It was the perfect way to end the last year and a half.

Continental Divide on Interstate 20, NM

A foggy morning in the central valley, CA

Third time crossing the San Fran bridge and finally some sun!

A picture into the sun

I drove Hwy 1 from San Fransisco north through Central Oregon and had perfect weather the entire time. Would love to come back and vacation along this coast, beautiful!

A lighthouse in northern CA

Personally, I would have been happier if these guys would have been fenced in a field or something. The road was hazardous enough without the cows.

One of the countless switchbacks

It was dark and misty, but look how tiny my car is compared to this giant Redwood in the Redwood national Forest!! Wish I had more time to spend here, very peaceful.

Elk outside the Redwood National Forest.

Lighthouse in southern OR with a real Fresnel lens!

Nick joined me in Seattle to take the ferry up to Haines, AK. This is the gangway that we drove up to park our car inside the boat.

We elected to get a cabin.

Not much room, Nick is standing between the bed and the sink.

The Solarium... Nick and I hung up here the afternoon we had a lot of sun. We met a guy who slept up here the entire trip. Maybe in the summer, but awfully chilly at night, even with the overhead heaters.

The pointy mountain

Nick and I on the back of the top deck.

Canadian lighthouse

Cafeteria. The food was good, but expensive. We tried to only eat dinner there. The rest of the time we just ate food that we brought onboard with us.

The Alaska Marine Hwy passage

Sunrise outside of Ketchikan, AK

Inside the car deck before we got off the boat at Haines, AK.

Close up of Bald Eagle outside of Haines, AK. We stopped counting them after 50. They congregate here in the winter because the water isn't frozen and they can still find fish.

An example of what ALL of the trees looked like.

The road to Anchorage. I wasn't able to take that many pictures because the sun didn't get up until after 10am and then it set a little after 3pm. The rest of the time there were just too many shadows for good pictures.

All in all the drive was about 12.5 days long. The days through TX, NM, and S CA were long so I could maximize my time on the coast. Traveling in the off season meant staying at interesting hotels near the water at cheap rates. It was a gamble on the quality of the rooms, but with the exception of one night in southern OR I did really well.

Nick and I enjoyed traveling on the ferry as a new experience. We've both done the drive to Alaska and the ferry was a little more convenient for this time of year. Especially since my little car didn't have its snow tires on yet!

Nick left for Georgia a few days after the first of the year. We're currently working on plans to meet up in Seattle in February.

the past month

2009-12-21T20:51:00.000-09:00

This has been a terrible past month and I'm so thankful that it will never be repeated again. I have been on both ends of the country to complete the Air Force SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training. For the first 3 weeks I was in Spokane, WA for the land portion. I can't get into the details of our training but keep in mind that it was December and we were in the mountains of eastern Washington. Following that I flew to Pensacola, FL to take part in a 3 day water survival class. In July that class would have been a blast. In December.... miserable.

However, that month is gone and now I'm in the midst of returning to Alaska. Hooray! I'm currently on an almost two week road trip from Pensacola, FL to Anchorage, AK. I departed by air on Friday from Pensacola and flew to Wichita Falls, TX to pick up my car. For only $3 I could leave my car for over a month in their parking lot. What a great deal! Plus, a Wichita Falls music store agreed to keep both my fiddle and mandolin safe at their store while my fully loaded car was at the airport. (Another great thing about getting my car, I'm no longer living out of just a suitcase.)

After leaving Wichita Falls mid afternoon on Friday I drove west to Amarillo, TX for the night. I was a little disappointed with myself for not going to Amarillo when I was at Altus, the town seemed to have a lot of positive things going on and it would have been a good place to spend a little time. Saturday I made it to Flagstaff, AZ (over 7000 feet in elevation) and I spent last night in Bakersfield, CA. I've had a lot of luck finding good restaurants and cheap (but nice) places to stay. Websites like www.tripadvisor.com make sorting through all of the hotels easier (although tonight's location was not listed on their website, and I don't entirely remember how I found the site that led me to coming here). I drove hard the first few days and now that I'm in coastal CA I plan on meandering my way north. I have until late afternoon on the 24th to meet Nick in Seattle so the next few days will be time to explore this part of the country.

As a reward to myself for completing UPT, C17 school, and SERE I recently went out and purchased a GPS device, the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSX. It has been an amazing assistant for this solo road and has spared me from having to pull over with the Atlas on many occasions in just the past few days. The 60CSX is a handheld device instead of a strictly car device so I can use it for hiking and geocaching too. With a car mount it's very easy to see while driving.

It's been cloudy so I haven't taken a lot of pictures. Tomorrow is supposed to be better so maybe I'll have some good shots up in the next few days.

C17 complete

2009-11-10T11:01:00.000-09:00

Yesterday I finally finished the flying portion of pilot training. It's been 18 months since I left Alaska to start this journey and the time has both crawled and flown by.

I should have been done last Tuesday, but I caught a 24 hour bug the night before my first flight and got delayed for a week while waiting for another opening in the schedule. We had to complete two flights and a checkride to graduate. In each flight we practiced landing in different configurations, ground operations (driving around backwards and making star turns -- star turns are like 3 point turns in the car, but generally require more than 3 turns), a low level (if weather and birds allow flown 300 feet above the ground), and tactical practice. The second ride was flown at night using night vision goggles.

The weather was in my favor this week, light winds and generally fair skies. On the day of the checkride we were delayed a bit for fog, but thankfully it cleared up shortly after our takeoff time.

It was just a little sad to leave. The friends I hung out with in Oklahoma were in my UPT class so we've spent a lot of time together over the last year and a half. However, I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again out traveling the world in our C17s.

Next on the agenda is SERE, (Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape) and water survival training. However, before I have to go to those I'm taking a week and some change to visit with Nick. It'll be nice to get home for a little bit.

October sun

2009-10-23T22:21:00.000-08:00

On Thursday my C-17 sim partner and I finished our very last simulator ride before we move on to the real jet next week. Exciting! It's been a busy week. On Monday and Tuesday we learned how to fly using night vision goggles and then on Wednesday and Thursday we practiced setting up and flying the type of profile we are going to do for our checkride in the aircraft.

Conveniently all of my friends either had nothing scheduled today or only had morning activities. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and the fact that we may only have another week and a half together before we split to all four corners of the country to go exploring in the local area.

My friends... Lea, Aimee, Derek, Stan, and Mike.

Lea, Derek, and Stan were all in my UPT class. Aimee is married to Derek and was a big part of our UPT class family. They're moving to New Jersey soon. Mike is my sim partner as well as a good friend of Stan's. He graduated from Columbus about a month earlier than the rest of us and will be working with Stan in Charleston.

First was a late lunch at Meers, http://www.meersstore.com/ a local restaurant just outside of the Wichita Mountain Wildlife refuge. Run down and beat up looking on the outside, amazing food on the inside. Their speciality, 97% lean Texas Longhorn beef burgers. Delicious.... Lea and I have similar tastes in food and so we sometimes share a main course so we can get appetizers or more sides. Today, it worked out perfect as the main sandwich was a 16oz burger. Even at 1pm the line was almost out the door and the meal took about an hour and a half to get seated, ordered, and eaten. In 2007 the place was a Food Network Bon Apetit top 3 pick for hamburgers and has won other awards and recommendations as well, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/354686/world_famous_meers_burger_of_oklahoma.html. If you go bring cash since they don't take cards and maybe a calculator if you're with a large crowd, as they won't split checks.

After lunch we headed towards the Holy City, a small cloister of structures within the Wichita Falls Wildlife Refuge. Built around 1933/34 they host an annual Easter passion play. From the Meers website, "...this 66-acre area looks much like Israel during Biblical times, and is the site of the nation's longest running Easter passion play, "The Prince of Peace." Attendance reached an all-time high in 1939 when 225,000 visitors jammed Audience Hill for the sunrise performance..." According to the curator at the gift shop the average attendance is now around 5,000 per performance.

Some of the buildings at the Holy City

The chapel at the Holy City

Me in a surprisingly comfortable stone chair.

Lea and I at the Holy City.

I'm happy that she'll only be a short flight away in Seattle after all of our training is finished.

Derek and Aimee

View from the top of Mt Scott

search and rescue mission

2009-10-16T22:28:00.000-08:00

Nick made it home safely tonight after flying search and rescue all day for the lost F-16 pilot from Shaw AFB. Unfortunately they were unable to find the pilot in the ocean during his crew duty day, but the search will continue overnight with other aircraft and ships. Based on the media reports there are quite a few agencies assisting with the search so hopefully they can rescue the pilot tonight and bring him to safety as soon as possible. If need be, Nick and his crew will be going back up tomorrow to relieve the night crew and continue with the search.

Nick has quite a bit of experience in this line of work, more so than most of the guys he works with in Georgia due to his first assignment with the Alaska Air National Guard. In Alaska the severe weather, the sheer vastness of the land, and rough terrain creates an atmosphere where people can find themselves in a position of distress very quickly. Without the AKANG crews of the HC-130s and HH-60s, plus the PJs many more people would be lost in the Alaska wilderness.

Good luck to the searchers tonight off the South Carolina coast.

corn maze

2009-10-13T14:33:00.000-08:00

Got back late last night from a weekend in Georgia with Nick. Sorry, no pictures again... but it was hot and muggy so we didn't spend a lot of time outside during the day. We did go to a corn maze on Saturday night. It wasn't a haunted corn maze, but it was still dark and twisty. A haunted corn maze would have been more fun, but whatever.... we made do with what was available. Word of advice, don't wear flip flops to a corn maze. That should be obvious, but both Nick and I let that one slip by. We had hoped to go on a hay ride and shoot the corn cannon afterward, but we got so lost in the maze that the place was closing by the time we got out. Oops. I may be venturing into another corn maze with my flying friends this weekend and this place advertises a corn cannon too so maybe I'll still get to fire off some corn across a field.

riding the wave

2009-10-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

I took my new Mizuno Wave Riders for a spin today, first time I've felt up to getting out and running for a week. No stuffiness, just a little bit of congestion left. It became quickly apparent that I should have gotten new shoes about a 3 months ago. Hello happy feet! My only complaint about these new shoes was the color choice. Really, seafoam green or hot pink? You might as well ask if I want shoes to match office decor or be Barbie runner.... I went with Barbie runner, because at least they were a little more splashy. Sigh, but why can't they give them tougher, faster looking trim?

the marathon

2009-10-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

Coffee is ready for a push of the button, bag organized, uniform set up...I'd put my Eggos in the toaster but that would be gross. I don't enjoy waking before 5, I don't enjoy having to use my brain before 6, although I don't mind being done with my day by 10.

If there is anything that I can compare the last 17 months to it would be running a marathon. Not a Rock-and Roll marathon, not the Boston, not Chicago; but a relatively small one.... one ran on bike trails through the forest. A cold, dark, misty forest where the course doubles back on itself on more than one occasion and the people in the back see how far behind they are from the people in the front. There are fans of course, but they're far apart....it's hard to get close to this course, limited access. Despite the preparation it's not smooth sailing....there are injuries and gastric distress along the way. The aid stations are cheerful, they push the runners onward, but eventually they fade away too as progress to the end is made. The last few miles are near now, but it won't be easy. There is still a hill to climb and all the fans have left the course to wait at the finish line. Only a few miles left but so ready to be done...

Facebook Frenzy

2009-09-30T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I have decided to stop sending my blog to Facebook, so if you've been reading my notes there you'll have to come to this site instead. Sorry for the inconvenience.

~Laura

sick-o

2009-09-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

Ugh, I feel wretched...

Sometime over the last few days I fell victim to the bug that had been nipping at my immune system the past few weeks. Maybe it was exposure to germs from the commercial airline flight, the relief at completing the checkride, the lack of sleep last week in preparation (or nerves), my crappy diet from eating out of a microwave for the last few months.... all of it probably contributed to my immune system taking a vacation. It makes me crabby.

On a positive note Nick and I had a pleasant, but short visit. The heat and humidity made us lethargic so we mainly stayed indoors and read, slept, and played with the animals. I did get my new running shoes so that was a plus (although I haven't felt like using them yet). I'll be going back for the Columbus Day weekend so maybe we'll get outside more than.

Finally finished the almost like crack Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. It was good, made time "fly" on the plane to and from Georgia even when crammed in a middle row seat way in the back. Most of the people I've talked to enjoyed it as well. Since Nick and I both liked the books we decided to rent the first movie of the series. Hmmm.... well..... maybe now that the books are such a hit they will have spent a little more time and money on production (and perhaps acting lessons?). We shall hope anyhow. I want to like the movie too.

C-17 sim check

2009-09-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

What a week, what a week.... Today I had my first C-17 simulator checkride and passed, yea!! Our simulator instructor did a great job preparing us, and while the jitters were a distraction, both my partner and I managed to pull it off. Whew...

In a little over a month we will have our final checkride here at Altus, and that will be in the plane (only our second time flying it ever I might add)! Kind of scary, but a lot more practice in the simulator between now and then will get us ready.

Tomorrow, I leave the southern plains for a trip east to visit Nick. Just a short visit, but we're looking forward to it.

light reading

2009-09-20T10:09:00.000-08:00

After a cloudy and sometimes drizzly week in Altus I needed a break from my little room so I went east to Oklahoma City to attend a bluegrass jam session on Friday night. It was interesting, probably 30+ players of varying degrees of ability. There were lots of guitars, a dobro or two , several banjos, upright basses, a mandolin, and a couple of fiddles. I had brought my fiddle, but wished that I'd brought the mandolin instead. I could pick out the key notes in the chords, but didn't know the melodies so I ended up just quietly plucking along on my fiddle strings. I got teased a little bit for that (for plucking and not bowing), but no one was a jerk about it. Fiddles are loud, it would have been a jerk move on my part to be making a bunch of racket back there. OKC appears to have a lot of music opportunities. It would be nice to be a little closer. The 2 1/2 hour drive with tolls makes it hard to justify going more than a couple times a month.

I spent the night in base lodging at Tinker AFB so I could get up the next morning to get some running shoes before heading back to Altus. What a disaster.... my room in lodging had paper thin walls and between my neighbor's television and the barking dogs next to lodging I slept maybe 4 hours. My experience at the running store was even worse. The Runner OKC, is the only running store listed online in OKC and the B- team must have been working on Saturday morning or I don't see how they could stay in business. They were terrible, the two dudes working were watching football previews on the store TV and debated and discussed football the ENTIRE 10 minutes I stayed in the store. When the shoes I tried on did not fit right, they suggested I buy them anyways and then went back to their conversation so I decided just to leave. They seemed relieved when their only customer walked out. Oh, well.... this will be one local store that I won't be able to support.

To be completely honest though the biggest reason I slept so little this weekend was a frantic addiction to finishing the first two books in the Twilight Series. The books are like like sugar.... easy going down and highly addictive. They are not heavy reading whatsoever, but the perfect book to read when you just want something enjoyable. I WILL NOT be starting the 3rd book in the series until AFTER my checkride or I won't get anything done this week.

I've started buying books online and downloading them to my iPhone through the Stanza application. It's very convenient to have a book in my pocket whenever I'm stuck somewhere waiting in line. For the paper book enthusiasts I will agree that there is something nice about reading from a physical book, but the digital book isn't too bad. My program even allows me to "dog ear" pages if I want and it never loses my place! Ha!

rainy day musings

2009-09-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks my biggest gripe about Altus (aside from dealing with AT&T) has been the incessant heat and sunshine. That came to a quick end yesterday afternoon when an upper level low moved over Texas and began dropping significant rain across the southern plains . We've received about 4+" so far, and more is forecast for the overnight and into tomorrow. While I hope the flooding can be minimized for the local farmers; it's great to have the cloud cover, the cooler temps, and an opportunity to flush the dust and pollen from the atmosphere.

With the exception of a rainy run around lunchtime and going to Roma's (local Italian eatery) for dinner I've managed to have a peaceful and relaxing day in my room watching movies, reading, and playing my fiddle and mandolin off and on throughout the afternoon. Poor neighbors, at least the mandolin is quiet and I used a rubber mute on my fiddle...still I'm curious if they can hear me. Luckily, no one has banged the wall or asked me to pipe down.

One thing that I've noticed amongst my pilot training friends/classmates is the sheer number of them with a musical background. A noticeable majority played in the high school band, several of us continued playing in college, and several play today or have plans to start playing again once we're finished with our training.

I would recommend to anyone who reads this blog to consider dusting off your old instrument or learning how to play a new one. Many communities have groups, bands, jam sessions that are friendly to both the beginner and those who just have some rust to knock off. Churches like having musicians play for special music or in the church band. It's also a great way to meet new people from all sorts of professions and backgrounds that you might not ever interact with otherwise.

A private teacher can certainly make the learning process less painful and there are some out there that will be flexible with their adult students by offering group lessons, weekend lessons, or bi-monthly instead of the traditional week to week.

labor day weekend adventures

2009-09-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

Nick arrived to Oklahoma City on Friday morning and we immediately began a fun-packed weekend of exploring southwest Oklahoma. The adventure started earlier than planned when we detoured through the small community of Medicine Park in pursuit of looking at a dam I had seen from the road. Much to our surprise we discovered Oklahoma's first planned resort area (1908), http://www.medicinepark.com. The town was small and rustic, but you could imagine what it must have been in its heyday.

Medicine Creek that goes through Medicine Park

We found this carved log just off the walking path along the creek. We think they threw it here because they messed up cutting the mouth.

Our next stop was the Wichita Mountain Wildlife refuge. We hit up the nature center, looked for buffalo and cattle, visited the prairie dog farm, saw some wild turkeys and raccoons in addition to the bovine types and drove to the top of Mt Scott. As you can tell by my hair it was a little breezy!

Later that afternoon we drove to Altus, got dinner at a local steakhouse, and then went to Quartz mountain to look at deer and the sunset before heading back for the night.

On Saturday we went back to Oklahoma City to hang out for the rest of the holiday weekend. The downtown Courtyard by Marriott has a great military rate so we were able to stay within walking distance of all the downtown activities.

View from our room of Bricktown, the social/tourism hub of OKC.

Some bronze statues we found commemorating the early days of Oklahoma

Tapwerks, http://www.tapwerks.com/, over 200 taps and 100 different bottle choices from across the world. We hung out there for awhile on Saturday night and tried three different samplers...a Stout tray, a Hefeweizen tray, and a German tray.

Myriad Botanical Garden Crystal Bridge, a large tunnel full of exotic plants.

Nick in a pirate ship inside the Crystal Bridge

A funky statue we found downtown, "the curious organism" was it's title.

Sunday afternoon we walked around the downtown, explored the Myriad Botanical Gardens, visited the Oklahoma City bombing memorial and museum. The museum was very well put together and I would recommend visiting both if you're in the area. I wanted to go to the Banjo Museum, but it hasn't opened yet. Bummer, but I don't think Nick was too sad about that one!

Nick left this morning for Georgia and made it back home safely. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next trip!

Altus, OK

2009-09-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

For the past 33 days I have been living in a new part of the country....southwest Oklahoma. Altus AFB is the home of the C-17 and KC-135 schoolhouse and I'll be here for the next several months learning to fly the massive and awesome C-17. I'm here with several of my friends from Columbus, MS and we've been able to find lots of new and interesting things to do on the weekends. Some of the best include going to the local rodeo, watching a demolition derby style race night at the local track, a night sampling beer from around the world in Oklahoma City, hiking at nearby Quartz Mountain, trying new restaurants, and finding the perfect pair of cowboy boots.

The country is pancake flat, like the middle of Indiana, with cotton and grass in the fields instead of corn and beans. The trees are bigger than the scrubs of west Texas, but are still moderate in size. However, unlike Indiana there are outrageous little mountains of rock that randomly dot the landscape. One of the closest, Quartz Mountain, has a nice lake and trails for rock climbing. Another, about an hour away contains the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge which is the home for longhorn cattle, buffalo, prairie dogs, coyotes, and other prairie wildlife. I haven't experienced that many cool thunderstorms yet, but am hoping this fall will bring a little more excitement (without too much destruction of course).

I live on the base in a room that is very reminiscent to my old room at Keesler, but without the gross shared kitchen. Sort of a one room does it all kind of place, but I have a good view and my neighbors aren't crazy. We all work odd hours so most people are good about respecting the noise level. I love the base, its small but has almost everything I would want. There are places to eat that prepare decent tasting food, a solid gym, I've found lots of good places to run, the commissary and BX have a good selection for a base this small, and I rarely have to drive. A lot of small wildlife provide entertainment on this base....squirrels that lounge in the weirdest spots, bats that hang outside of the walkway to my room, stinky skunks, anxiety prone jackrabbits, the Mississippi Kite (who's breeding season I thankfully missed) and a whole array of beetles and other insects.

My work schedule varies based on when I'm scheduled for time in the simulator, but its a lot better than what we had in pilot training. I have a partner that I fly all my sims with and the rest of the training is based off CBTs, computer based training. That can be a little dull, but my partner and I have an assigned instructor to go to for questions. The best part is that they only have to be completed on their due date which leaves us flexibility to work ahead or on hours that our brains function best.

Once I'm finished here the adventure continues with land and water survival and the trip back to Alaska. Nick and I are working the schedules to maximize our time together, and we're looking forward to his trip here this weekend!

how time flies

2009-07-25T18:01:00.001-08:00

So what has happened in the past month... Well, I graduated from pilot training on July 2. That was a big accomplishment, and I should have posted something on blogspot regarding it but got lazy and just posted on Facebook instead. After graduation, with the help of Nick and my parents I moved to Valdosta, GA with the animals. My parents hung around for a few days before heading back north and I've spent the rest of the time recuperating from UPT. The dark bags that had taken residence under my eyes are mostly gone and I've started working out on a more regular basis. I'm slow and out of shape, but hopefully making some progress to being an athlete again.

Most of my days the last few weeks have been spent in utter laziness. I usually woke up around 8am, watched music videos on MTV and ate breakfast (ridiculous I know...they are terrible, but hey, I'm on vacation right now). Then, I'd go run and curse myself for getting up after the heat and humidity had already begun to set in for the day. If, it got too hot I'd torture myself with Nick's P90X program...yikes, but it is an effective program. Then, I'd clean and sort, run errands, shop, nap, and watch mindless afternoon TV until Nick came home for dinner.

However, summer vacation fun is over.... tomorrow we're loading up the car so I can depart Monday morning for Altus, Oklahoma. C-17 school begins Wednesday. I'm not entirely sure what to expect, other than the days will be hot and dusty.

Nick's new job

2009-06-13T13:03:00.000-08:00

Nick got a new job the other day, one with considerably more responsibility. He was recently selected to be one of the wing commander's executive officers (there are two at Moody). He will still get to fly, but instead of working out of his flying squadron he'll be working out of the wing commander's office assisting with paperwork and whatever else the wing commander wants him to do. (for the non military types, a wing commander is the head cheese on the base....) It will be a lot of work though, and probably long hours almost every day. However, it's a good deal to be selected, and will look great on a resume. The job lasts for about a year so not many people get an opportunity to do it.

He's excited though, it should be a challenging job but he'll get to see and learn a lot about how things work in the Air Force. Plus, he'll be a paperwork king when its all said and done!

the end of May

2009-05-29T20:44:00.000-08:00

So last weekend Nick and I met up in Gulf Shores, AL (just south of Mobile) and stayed in a great condo on the beach with Nick's parents. It was a good break from pilot training, although one can never really get away from this place. On Saturday I couldn't stop thinking about when I'd study on Sunday, and on Sunday I couldn't stop worrying about the lack of studying I was accomplishing, and on Monday I was stressing out about how I didn't have much time to study before having to fly and take a test on Tuesday. So glad there's only just a little over a month left... However, around all that worrying we had a nice time walking on the beach, going out to eat, celebrating the birthday's of Nick's mom and dad, and touring old Fort Morgan and an Estuarium.

Here are some pics (the same as my facebook page in case you've already seen them there).

It was windy, my hair is not normally that buoyant!

Historic Fort Morgan

Nick and Cindy

Nick drinking one of his favorite beers

This weekend won't be nearly as relaxing as last. I need to get to sleep SOON, because in a few hours I have to wake up again for "Career Day". They've brought in some aircraft and aircrew from around the Air Force to talk to the UPT students about the different missions that are available for student's after pilot training. Career Day is a good idea. It allows the UPT student to see different Air Force aircraft up close and talk to the people who fly those planes so the student can make an informed decision when they fill out their "dream sheets" for assignment night. Dream sheets are what the students use to rack and stack their preference of aircraft and location. Then depending on what is available at the time, and how well the student did compared to their peers, the student gets an assignment based on what they put on that sheet. It's very competitive and stress inducing for those involved.

However, since I'm in the AK Air National Guard and know what my assignment will be, Career Day will be more of an exercise of staying awake. I'm sure it will be interesting, but we just had one 6 months ago and not much has changed in the inventory since then.

One more month... and as one instructor I like reminded me a few days ago, "shut up and color, you're almost done"

My class patch...

One Year

2009-05-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

I have been in Mississippi for just over one year now. What a long/short crazy year it's been.

I in-processed the day or two before Memorial Day weekend and we started T-6 academics about 10 days later. The class met for the first time sometime during that week. Being the most senior I was put in charge of 24 2LTs, but given no real authority. You can imagine how that went over... We had a few growing pains as we got to know each other. However, I'm thankful to say that by the time we got to the T-6 flightline we were starting to work as a team...and now, I don't think I could ask for a better class. Great teamwork, great attitudes. Not saying things are always perfect, there's 17 of us in the T-1 track for goodness sake, but we're more like a family now.

T-6 Academics lasted a little over a month, everyone told us to enjoy our time, that things would get unbelievably busy later on. I thought things were already busy in academics, but oh was I wrong. We hit the flightline in July. Everyday we trucked out to the airplanes in our flightsuit, G-suit, gloves, helmets in hand, in the ridiculous Mississippi summer heat. Our instructors yelled at us for being slow to get engines started (no AC until canopy was closed and engine running) and by the time we got going we were absolutley soaked in sweat. I struggled in T-6s....first there was the airsickness, then the problems with landing, but I made it through and took the plane out solo not once, but 4 times. We also made it through acrobatics, formation, and instrument flying.

Track select was in December and our class got paired down into a T-1, T-38, T-44, and UH-1 track. Now there were only 17 of us left. T-1 academics took place throughout most of January and were a breeze, for awhile we were competing to see who could get the most 100s on their tests in a row. Everyone was eating well, sleeping well, and getting their exercise. Good things never last though and we hit the flightline at the end of the month.... That was brutal, so much to learn and memorize. I slept maybe 4-5 hours a night for the first month on the flightline. No one slept well, very few people made it to the gym, we started eating junk again. However, like before we adjusted, got used to the schedule. I won't say the days ever got shorter, but the fire hose of knowledge got a little more manageable. We've all completed our second checkride (which I kicked ass on!) and are only a little over a month from graduation. The ride is not over yet though, the next section of training is on formation and airdrop/air refueling so there's a lot of new material to learn as well as old material to review. But there might be a gleam of light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks for all your support!

Jackson's got it good

2009-05-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

Jackson has no idea how good he's got it! Rather than put him in a kennel for two weeks while Nick is at his class in Oklahoma, Nick and I met in Mobile this afternoon at the USS Alabama to do the doggy exchange. It was a long drive, but my friend Lea came with me and we studied for at least 6 of the 8 hours we were in the car today. Whew! My brain was busted after that. It was good to see Nick, even if it was just for lunch. We grabbed some lunch at Zaxby's and took it to a park to eat by the water. We'll see each other again soon. We're going back to the gulf to spend Memorial Day weekend with Nick's parents at a condo on the water. Yea, should be fun!

pics from my cross-country

2009-04-05T16:05:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went cross-country to Charleston, SC. On Saturday we took a day trip to Richmond, VA and ate dinner downtown with our instructor's parents at a great seafood restaurant. We had just enough time to walk around a bit before I flew the night leg back to Charleston. We had a great time and learned a lot, here are some cool pics.

The crew I flew with for the weekend

The Charleston bridge.

My shadow

Flying at dusk (I'm on the left)

Sunset

T-Storms

My flight partner and I doing a preflight check

search and rescue

2009-03-02T16:35:00.001-09:00

Nick was the aircraft commander today for one of the C-130s participating in the search and rescue for those football players in the gulf. They flew for 7 hours, but his aircraft didn't spot anything. However, his efforts did contribute to narrowing the search area. Good job Nick!

art class

2009-03-01T16:14:00.000-09:00

I signed up for a painting class on Saturday, it was being offered at the local community arts center. Should be a nice break from UPT, its only 1.5 hours on Saturday mornings. This weekend we worked with colored pencils so we could practice shading, but I think she's bringing paint next weekend. Originally I wanted to take a soap making class, also offered on Saturday mornings, but there wasn't enough demand so they canceled the class.

The class I really wanted to take was a fiddle class with Jim Brock, a well known local fiddler http://www.alamhof.org/jimbrock.html and member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame; but right now I don't have the time required to practice. Maybe towards the end of this program I can try to get a few lessons in.

We got snow last night, about 3 inches probably. The grass was all covered when I woke up this morning. It melted by lunchtime, but it was still a nasty day for Mississippi. 30 mph winds all afternoon and sub freezing windchills. I know, not anything compared to what most of the country has dealt with this winter. However, the trees are flowering right now so it should not be this cold.

build an arc

2009-02-27T21:10:00.000-09:00

It has been raining more or less non-stop for well over the past 16 hours...crazy rain at times. Downpours of an intensity that I've rarely seen in other places I've lived. Aside from a tornado watch, we're also under a flood warning. I believe it...my backyard is a lake, and when we drove through town earlier tonight all the culverts were almost filled to the brim with water.

No flying for anyone today. Since we're still on Formal Release we spent the day going over emergency procedures, general knowledge, studying in the flight room, working on paperwork, and cleaning for some visitors that will be coming through next week. Blah...the more senior classes got to go home early, lucky them. However, if all goes well that should be us in the next few weeks too.

There was an Assignment night tonight. Assignment nights occur at about the one year point of training for a class. It's a really big deal because this is when all the Active Duty types find out what airplane they're going to fly initially (and maybe even permanently) for their career. Tonight's class didn't appear to have the greatest drop, but in reality it was pretty standard for what we've been seeing for the last few Assignment nights. 3 UAVs (one to Creech and two to Cannon) and 3 FAIPs (first assignment instructor pilot's....meaning they're staying in Columbus for 4 more years). In addition (for the active duty folk) there was 1 F-15C, 1 B-1, 1 MC-12, 3 C-17s, 1 or 2 KC-10s, and the rest were KC-135s.

It seems like the weather is always bad here when there is a track select or assignment night. People have their family in town and they can't even really give them a proper tour because the flightline is closed and its too wet to spend a lot of time outside. At least my Assignment night and Graduation will be in the middle of summer so the odds of better weather will be on my side. Hope so anyhow, since our track select was a rainy mess back in December.

The week was alright I guess. I only got to fly once because of bad weather. However, I had two simulator flights that went decent and I passed both my EPQ and a 4 page fill in the blank no-notice test the first time around so that made me pretty happy. It's a relief to have the no-notice test done. I'd been prepping for it the last two weeks and it was a real drain on my time and sleep budget. Maybe this week I can actually get a little more sleep in.

Nick and Jackson are going back to Georgia

2009-02-22T05:55:00.000-09:00

It's very quiet here without the dog. Nick flew in yesterday afternoon to pick up his truck and the dog. He left them both here last week when he went to Seattle for the C-130 simulator. We went to dinner and watched movies last night, but couldn't stay up too late because I have to study all day today and he has an eight hour drive to complete. Jackson was very happy to see him come back. I played with him and took him running when I could, but there just isn't that much time here for a dog. It was sad to see him go, but he'll be happier with Nick.

Nick may have more trips coming up this spring so I'll get him back later, perhaps I'll have more time then.

Today I'm making a pot roast while I study. It's my turn to make a Sunday night dinner for a few of my friends. It's become a new tradition that hopefully sticks. There are about three or four of us that participate, each making a home cooked meal about once a month and getting to eat a home cooked meal the rest of the time. It's nice for those who don't have a family or don't have their family with them.

Facebook

2009-02-19T14:40:00.000-09:00

So a few months ago I broke down and got a Facebook account. Everyone in my UPT class had one, and after months of hearing about inappropriate photos and hilarious commentary, but not having a clue of what was going on I decided to join the fray. Within days I was reconnecting with old friends long left behind, found half my family on facebook, and got the answers to a bunch of "where are they now" type questions.

My biggest concern with Facebook is of course privacy issues. If you've requested me to be one of your girls, add me to your social calendar, add me as a relative, like me cuz I'm cool, want my birthday, etc, etc I'm not just ignoring your request without reason. However, every time I click on that request link Facebook throws up some crazy language about how I'm giving it permission to dig through my computer, so until I find out what that means I'm just going to be staying away from that.

I don't really feel very comfortable with Facebook in regards to the Newsfeed either. I'm not entirely sure what causes news updates/messages/pictures/ etc to post on everyone else's Newsfeed, but I guarantee that some of you don't know either. I've read some pretty funny things recently....one individual mocking someone else "behind their back" in response to one of those silly surveys going around, except now all 150 of their friends just saw them say it. Seeing someone post a questionable photo with questionable commentary and all 600 of their friends got to see it too. Heck, I've got this blog linked to my Facebook account. Whatever I write should appear as a note on my profile and maybe even show as a NewsFeed item too.

Anyways, aside from the negativity there are plenty of positives to Facebook. I like seeing what's going on in the lives of my friends and friends that time separated. It's a great way to stay in touch with a lot of people you wouldn't normally stay in contact with. I study with it open so I can chat with my classmates. Frequently I have questions that I can send out and get quick, instantaneous responses without disturbing them too much from their studies either.

Just don't post with blinders on....I can see what you're writing.

bad day

2009-02-17T13:30:00.000-09:00

Lively laura is not feeling so lively. This place is beating me down. I believe the laws of UPT dictate that while you can have multiple bad days in a row, you will never have more than one good day without cycling back to a bad day. Maybe it's just me, but for example...Friday was a good day. I took a test and did well, had a flight and performed well enough to get out of that block of training, had fun with friends, and got to go home after only 9 hours. Also, the sun was shining and it was pleasant outside. Today...failed a test, did poorly in my sim, have a headache, ripped a giant hole in my cornea with the end of cell phone cord (don't ask), and it is cloudy, cold, and rainy. Also, I am now DNIF (not allowed to fly) until Friday because of the giant hole in my cornea, provided that it heals ok. Sigh...

The weekend was nicer though...although having to study kept me from having too much fun. Nick came to visit. He showed up early Saturday morning and we had a nice time hanging out with Jackson, taking care of some errands, watching movies, and eating nachos for our Valentine Day dinner. We tried to go out for dinner, but restaurant #1 was a disaster and we left an hour and half after being seated and still not having food. Restaurant #2 still had an hour wait at 8:30pm so then we hit up Super Wal-mart and just headed home. Sunday we assembled a dog pen for Jackson and then I had to study the rest of the day. Then, Monday (President's day) Nick headed to Seattle to fly in the C-130 sim and I got back in the books.

Nick putting together Jackson's pen.

a google search

2009-01-12T15:31:00.000-09:00

This is a link to an article about the carbon footprint a "google search" creates. Regardless of your opinion on the matter, its an interesting topic to think about and something I hadn't considered much before. You could probably argue until your blue in the face both sides of the matter...and if you "google search" the topic you will see where people have already been at it since the article was released...

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5489134.ece

Tupelo

2009-01-10T17:54:00.000-09:00

I went to Tupelo tonight on the spur of the moment. Tupelo is about an hour north of Columbus on Hwy 45 and has almost 10,000 more people (Tupelo ~34,000 and Columbus ~25,000). I was just trying to do some basic shopping around Columbus and having no luck whatsoever. Columbus is a weird town for shopping. There are quite a few little boutiques in the downtown area and along Hwy 45, but they mostly specialize in "gift giving" type items like expensive accessories, gourmet foods, nice clothing, or artsy stuff. I'm not sure how they stay in business. While I try to shop local when I can, there are very limited times when I need to buy those kinds of things. For basic everyday needs we have a Wal-Mart and a K-Mart. I'm not sure how it is in other parts of the country, but here they sell basically the same thing...just one has more inventory and is more crowded. While, rows of strip malls are unpleasant to look at I wouldn't mind too much if Columbus had just three more (or just different) big box stores. They would be a Target, a Best Buy, and a Barnes and Noble...

Anyhow, the ride up and back to Tupelo was uneventful and I accomplished most of my shopping needs. A cold front came through on the drive up and the 75 degree weather I had when I left Columbus was gone to 45F by the time I got to Tupelo. I would say "bbrrrr...." but I realize that most of you would be thrilled with 40F and some of you would be grateful for 10F. Mississippi has thinned my blood and it will be a rough month or so when we finally get back to Anchorage.

rain....again

2009-01-05T17:20:00.000-09:00

This Mississippi winter reminds me of an Anchorage summer (well, minus the occasional severe thunderstorms). Once again temps are in the low 50s, the skies are overcast with clouds around 500 feet or so, and its pouring rain. I mean, pouring rain. The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is 100% Heavy Rain with 100% showers for tomorrow night. I guess the only other difference is everything here is brown and dead while in Anchorage during the summer it would be the most amazing green everywhere. Who knew they got so much rain in the south?

A day at the beach...

2009-01-01T15:08:00.000-09:00

Nick and I celebrated the first day of the new year by taking Jackson to the beach. It took some research to find a public one that would allow dogs, but we found one in Florida about 2 1/2 hours away. It was a little cool and windy so we had to bundle up, but Jackson had a blast racing around in the sand and skirting near the edge of the waves.

View from the picnic shelters...

Nick and Jackson walking in the sand...

Me and Jackson at the other end of the beach....
He's beat now, curled up on the couch sound asleep. Hopefully the fishy smell wears off soon or he'll be getting a bath tomorrow!

Vacation is over after tonight. Although I'm not leaving until Sunday Nick has to go to work tomorrow and I have to start studying for Monday. :( I'm not ready to go back, UPT isn't much fun.

Home sweet home

2008-12-28T18:26:00.000-09:00

After 5 days and about 1600 miles Nick and I are back in Valdosta, GA. On our journey we traveled to Marietta, OH then Berea, KY, and back to Georgia. The weather was surprisingly nice and we encountered no significant snow, rain, freezing rain, etc. We were pretty happy considering all of the bad weather that was occurring this side of the Misssippi over the last few days.

When we were in Marietta we visited with many of Nick's relatives including Nick's parents, grandfather, brother and sister-in law, and his Aunt Jennifer on his Mom's side and Nick's grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on his Dad's side. We also took a tour of the city seeing where Nick's parents grew up and a lot of the historic buildings of this old Northwest territory first capitol.

Here is Nick and his dad by a "Lewis and Clark" sign by the Ohio River.

The Ohio River and the riverboat Becky Thatcher.

On Saturday Nick and I traveled to Berea to visit my grandma, parents and a bunch of relatives. There was no room inside for us to sleep so we camped out in the truck bed. It went ok, although when the cold front passed through around 3am we got a little chilly. More work for the future on how to comfortably camp out in the truck bed. Yesterday was also our 5 year anniversary! Hooray!!

Later that night we had a big pasta dinner...delicious. My Uncle Jeff drove over from Somerset and we had a rendition of the family band...my dad on dulcimer, mom on autoharp, uncle on guitar, me on the fiddle, Grandma on the piano, and Charley (my brother's dog) on the floor.

We left today mid-morning and got in about 10 hours later. Once again good weather, but I-75 south of Atlanta was terrible...I mean TERRIBLE! Construction everywhere, be prepared if you're heading to this part of the country anytime soon. It's good to be home though, Kitty and Marzipan were quite excited and Jackson comes back from the vet tomorrow, yea!!

Christmas Break

2008-12-22T14:21:00.000-09:00

Yeah! Christmas break starts after work is finished tomorrow. It's a perfect time to have a break, just finished one airframe at UPT and am in academics for the next. Although I'll still have to do some studying, it'll be nice to hang out with Nick and go on our big road trip adventure to see everyone in the family.