April Updates

There hasn't been a whole lot to update lately, but here are some April hi-lights...

- Last weekend we were finally able to start seeing some of the front lawn and in the past week, quite a bit of the snow has melted...there is still a LOT left in places, but each day brings more and more greenery (well brown for the moment...but hopefully it will be changing soon)

none of this lawn was visible before last weekend...

- I think I've picked up more dog poop in the last couple of weeks than I ever have before in my life...as the snow melts, the amount of bathroom breaks the dogs made over the winter has become evident...I 'invested' in one of those pooper scooper gadgets and it was well worth it!

- We've had quite a few sunny days, and I even decided to 'lay out' on the deck one afternoon - I rolled up my jeans, took off my jacket and soaked up the sun AND the 'warm' 50 degree temperatures we had that day...and then I laughed thinking if I was in Colorado, I would not be 'laying out' when it was that 'cold'...it's all relative I guess :)

- Duncan & Dave both finally got haircuts thanks to "Mel's Grooming Salon"...I didn't get a 'before' picture of Dave, but here's a before & after of Duncan, and an after of Dave...I think they both lost a couple of pounds just by getting those cuts...

 Dave

It's now staying light past 10:00pm - this is the dogs looking out the window last night around 9:00pm...still very light out...

We had 4 or 5 strong 'hurricane' wind storms over the fall / winter...as a result, there are many broken, damaged trees throughout the neighborhood...and there are even some that were completely uprooted as you can see below...

a lot of now 'horizontal' or leaning trees everywhere...

this is the snow behind the house...Duncan found a way back there on the other side of the house and then realized he was stuck

I took a painting class a few weeks ago...this is what the teacher's painting looked like...

and this is what mine turned out looking like...I think my lilies look like retarded star fish

it was fun to try, but definitely not one of my natural talents...what did impress me was that we only used four colors for everything...red, yellow, blue & white all mixed in a variety of ways to come up with these colors.

Our final group of students finished up last week, so the part-time school job I have been doing is now finished until the fall.  One of the things I've heard quite a bit about from them over the past few months was their participation in "NYO"...which stands for Native Youth Olympics.

The NYO includes 10 events based on games past generations of Alaska Native people played. They are events that allowed them to test their hunting and survival skills, increase strength and maintain endurance, agility and the balance of mind and body.  Students from 7th to 12th grade participate in the various events.

The pictures below are students practicing the one foot and two foot high kick.  They must jump in the air and touch the ball that is hanging from the pole with one or two feet and then land back ON their foot/feet.  The ball gets raised higher and higher until there is one person left.

Students also practice balancing on one hand and kicking up to touch the ball

This event is the 'one hand reach' - students must balance their entire body weight on one hand, reach up and touch the ball hanging from the pole with their other hand, without letting any other part of their body (elbows, knees, feet etc...) touch the ground...pretty impressive...

This video is not from today but it is an example of one of the other events that takes place...

it's called the "Seal Hop"...

it makes my knuckles hurt just watching it...

I've really enjoyed working with the students this past year and look forward to continuing with them next fall.

Weekly Specials: Lilies & Rugers

What kind of guns does YOUR local grocery store have on sale this week?

 Nothing says "Happy Easter" like a fresh bouquet of flowers and a new rifle...

Outdoor Fun: Whittier, Outdoor Movies & Snowshoeing

A few days after visiting Girdwood, I was invited to drive down to Whittier to check out the reports of even MORE snow than Anchorage or Girdwood - and we were NOT disappointed...

 This is the school in Whittier

 This is the entrance to the school...thankfully there is also an underground tunnel that leads from the residence building to the school so the students do not have to go outside...

 Go Eagles!

 Some of the students who come to Anchorage for the Voyage to Excellence program I am working with attend school here.

 the flagpole

 see the wall of snow behind the stop sign?  It's HUGE

 the snow covers up most of the windows

 This is Carol, one of my bosses...again, see the wall of snow behind her?

 This is Tony, one of my co-workers, climbing up the 'mountain' of snow behind the school

 he made it to the top...

 and continued to walk on top of the snow - he was walking on top of trees

 one of my other co-workers, Jenna, climbing to the summit

 backside of the school

 and trying to come back down, without rolling down the pile of snow

 here comes Tony

 unique way of coming down...

As soon as we stepped out of the car and began walking through the lot, I slipped and fell on the ice...falling seems to be a natural extension of trying to walk for me....so I did NOT try to climb up any snow walls. :)

 Here guys were clearing snow off the roof of a building

 and again, this is the building where the majority of the 182 residents of Whittier live - the school is located behind this building

 I don't think this van is going anywhere for awhile...

 neither is the truck...yes, that is a truck buried next to it

 docked boats

 another buried vehicle

This was quite a different view of Whittier from my summer visit!

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Celebrating birthdays are always fun ~ especially when they are for other people!  This was my contribution to the birthday boy...

thanks to one of my Pinterest idea boards

How does one celebrate a 40th birthday in Anchorage on a Friday evening in March?  By watching an old black and white film...outside...on the side of the house...a nice arrangement of patio seating or snow benches were provided...

It was a 1922 documentary, called "Nanook of the North", projected from old film reels (you know the kind you had in junior high and high school science classes - the ones that make the click, click, click sound as they rotate around the projector)?

Nanook's family coming out of a kayak...he had a wife, a child, an infant, and a puppy all stored in that thing...it looked like a small clown car at the circus...as they all crawled out from the front of the kayak
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And finally, in honor of St. Patty's Day (not really), I went snowshoeing for the first time...

 looking north towards Anchorage - Mt. McKinley in the background - it was a PERFECT day - except for the part where we immediately starting snowshoeing up a VERY vertical trail...

Kicked. My. Butt!

 Tailgate party afterward in honor of St. Patty's day

 portable kitchen, portable speakers with Irish tunes, and Irish beer

 it was fun snowshoeing...

 but the tailgating was even MORE fun...