Fondness

One of the neatest experiences in my life was being lucky enough to have one of my best friends tattoo me in honor of one of my favorite people. When I lived in my BattleWagon, I got a tattoo of a rose and fudge stripe cookies. My friend Monkey designed and tattooed it himself. Rose was my grandmother's name, and she always had fudge stripe cookies at her house.

The other day, I was in the store, and I saw a pack of the cookies. I snagged a quick picture and thought of all the good times. We're lucky to have the people we do in our lives. It's good to see that sometimes.

Alaskan Summer Evenings

After a beautiful, sunny day, I came home to a sleeping toddler. I'm still recovering from a cold, and the wind and clouds picked up, so I got comfy with the tyke and popped in The Empire Strikes Back, and enjoyed a quiet evening. I still have this view out the window, so it's not a loss by any means...

A Slice of Heaven in the Morning

This is the way to start a morning in Alaska... or anywhere else, I suppose.

A Random Update

Alaska has been good to us so far, even though I haven't had the means with which to explore as often as I would like. I understand those things are in my future, and like anyone else, I'm patiently waiting and working hard to get those means. It looks like September will bring a road trip through five states and international waters. I'm excited for stops in Moab, Utah and pretty much every hole in the wall done we see on the way.

It's been cool here. Rainy, foggy, amazing. I hear horror stories of friends in Colorado just melting in the 100° heat. I'm happy here.

Looking for a New Direction

You're probably thinking it's about time I admitted it to myself, but I feel like it's time to move in another direction with another blog. I loved this one, and then I lost my name, moved into a real place, and the cause somehow became foreign to me. Granted, I did wind up in Alaska, and I have had a great many experiences with the BattleWagons along the way that were life changers, but now my change of life will have to be a little bit deeper.

What have I learned? I always thought it was about exploring the human condition and pushing the envelope, but it turned out it was more about pushing my own boundaries. I met other people who lived my life style, or who lived more impoverished than I, voluntarily or not.

I also learned that I miss the adventure of not knowing where I was going to sleep that night, or if I was going to be harassed.

If I could do it again, I would, and I still may. I don't think this mission of mine ever ends, nor should it.

Maybe next time, it'll be on a boat.

Fog near Goonies Cove

The cove where Lyss and I have wound up is called Ward Cove. Because of the direlect boats and the remnants of the old pulp mill, it has that feel of the movie Goonies. She has said so much, so now it's Goonies Cove. On the inland side of it, where Ward Creek comes out of the island and meets the ocean, there are relatively high mountains that surround it.  On this foggy, rainy day, the tops of these mountains are covered by clouds. It's pretty spectacular.

Here Comes The Rain Again

You know you're an NPR junkie when you listen to Will Shortz's puzzle and the guest that calls and has to play is blowing it, and you're frustrated! WTF?

Yesterday, we volunteered at KRBD, the local public radio station. I'm hoping to spend enough time there that I get a show at some point. I'm hoping the same for Lyss. It would be good for us.

Today, we were thinking of hiking near "Wolverine Lake" or more correctly called Cornell Lake, a reservoir a few miles from town up Ward Creek. I call it Wolverine Lake because the dam and the area look like the secret area where Logan a.k.a. Wolverine got the atimantium grafted onto his bones in the X-Men comics. It's really pretty, but I think about it in this cool, carnal, manly. I really want to go there and howl like I have claws coming from the back of my hands.

But... it's raining. We'll see if it clears up. If not, only 5 more episodes of Space: Above and Beyond...