Random thoughts

June, uh?

/ Melinda / Leave a comment

Variety of boat/ships

June is flying by… so very busy.  The hard work on the Documents committee finally finished. The contents of which will find its way into the hands of the leaseholders at the end of this month. A massive mailing (well over 10,000 pages copied) full of amendments, bylaws, standing rules, etc. all to be voted on in August.

When the dust was settling on that job, I managed to line up, schedule and set in place the Swing dance classes here at Evergreen Coho RV park in July.  Had a wonderful round of interest for this, so that will be a huge hit.  Then I learned a couple here in the park follow certain bands.  Thru them I am trying to get live music into the park.  Nothing like taking on a whole new subject matter. So am working thru those details, when I got a few more tips on other bands.  Trying to get a feel for who might still be in the very mobile clientele in this park before moving on for the winter, adds an element to the challenge. So am tentatively trying to get a band in here in August, maybe September, stop for the winter, then line up ones for next year.  Meeting some great musicians in the process.

In the meantime, I am finally getting the medical aspects started. An annual physical over due. So am getting all the humdrum boring stuff done, mammo, labs, physical, and even added getting a mole off my face removed. I am rather impressed how the VA handles things… while still in with the doc, things were being scheduled and I was being notified on when… shockingly fast. There are still some issues, not so surprising either, that the VA does and/or doesn’t do, that prompted me to make another appointment with a doctor outside the VA to do Preventive/Functional Medicine.  So all in all, it is a huge start in getting straighten away on the health. One needs to stay healthy when traveling full-time.

I have taken a few days, off and on, to hibernate. Hibernate right in my rig, making it look like I wasn’t home. Ah quiet for a bit. Think the cats were happy to see me too.  I still plan to head out of here for a few days, go get on the road, I miss that. Not yet sure where, but will be remote quiet spot…. somewhere. It soothes my soul just thinking about it.

Finally found my hiking boots, that I had bought up in Haines before I left. Hate when I lose things in my rig… Its one thing to lose a hair brush, but to lose a pair of hiking boots is just plain nuts. But am pretty good at it, that is in losing things. Laughing here.  I ordered something from Amazon… Adult Coloring Book… now if I can just find my color pencils….

So for my weaving friends… and more importantly John & Linda, who will receive the towels I’m making, it is slow, but is indeed being worked on now. I’m calling them my chili peppers towels. John & Linda picked the colors – what a challenge to pick the structure for them. They picked 6 colors, I should have insisted on 7 or 5 colors… odd numbers are so much better, but I don’t poop out on challenges… so it is a good brain tease to make this good.

Tonight is my last night of East Coast Swing classes. Its been a blast!!! Starting July 1st, I have an opportunity to take Salsa and Zydeco dance classes too.  Most likely will add them.  And as if I’m not busy enough… I am starting to workout in the gym with a trainer. This body needs some fine tuning. What better opportunity then now to work on it. So I’m going for it.

And lastly, I’ve stumbled upon a kindred spirit on multi-levels. We have had some long, long conversations. It is a simple delight to listen…to let intelligence flow where it may go and enjoy the ride.

Decisions to be had…

/ Melinda / 7 Comments
As my niece once said, “Let’s do it!”

Ok my dear friends who follow this blog… its down to two names:

Weaving’ and Leaving’  or Woven Trails

Which one?  When I mention the first choice, it always brings a chuckle out of people – heaven only knows what they actually think, but that is what they do.  Woven Trails is just an easy name.  Both are clear and open – I’m not stepping on any toes by using either name.

And my niece, who is now a grown woman, was instructing us on how to lead a parade in the photo above. She might shoot me for posting it, but it just seemed appropriate for this occasion.

So… you have until Monday night, basically cause I won’t have time to work on this until Tuesday, at the earliest.  You apparently want me to continue this blog… so help me decide the name, please.

What am I up to… besides the mundane chores such a laundry…  I had mentioned I had volunteered here in Evergreen Coho SKP. Originally it was going to be on Lot Management, but as of Wednesday, I am part of the Documents committee, an ad hoc group.  Fascinating job.  They are presently working on proofreading bylaws, policies and procedures, then cross checking between all of these, clarifying. What an education! And surprisingly, I am immensely enjoying the task!  I’m still doing Laundry monies, and I took on the mundane chore of stuffing welcome packets for the front office.  I find the stuffing job a time to zone out. I put on some quality music in the background and I completely zone out. Only problem, it doesn’t last long. But its a nice break from the “busy”.

Tonight… I’ve been invited to go to the Big Band concert in Port Townsend. First live music event I’ve been to since the 70’s.  It will be interesting, but I relate Big Band music to my parents era, not something I would normally listen to. But a did a wee bit of search and found this is a big event with musicians from around the world that clammer to play at this gig.  So will report back on this.

Then Saturday, I’m heading back into Port Townsend for the gallery walk. An event that happens once a month. Again, a wee bit of research, and have learned this is a very popular place to experience the art and culture of the area. Bring it on!!!

And Sunday… will be working on my loom.

And Monday, I’m driving Ed & Jolene via ferry to La Conner, so they can pickup up their boat, which they will sail back to Port Hadlock (which is close to here). Will get to experience La Conner, which is a real artsy place from my understanding.

And that is a nutshell version.

Random thoughts

/ Melinda / 6 Comments
Victorian home in Port Gamble

The saga of renaming the blog continues, I have listed some viable names below.  So once again, I am asking for your feedback. Please.

a) Weft and Shuttle
b) Woven Trails of the Traveler
c) Traveling Thrums
d) RV Weaving Yet!
e) Weaving’ and Leaving’
d) Woven and Rovin’   (Roving Weaver is already used)

Have received some great names from several. The Australians and New Zealand folks have already used the majority of the great ideas for names. Laughing here. Not surprised.  Woven Journey Too won’t be used, too close to the origins.  Several of the titles given – are already taken.  The above titles are not used elsewhere.

I have been so very busy here.. in Chimacum.  Some potential exciting news is unfolding as I speak. The American Legion wants to take on my case to pursue 100% disability for me with the VA. This came about when I had expressed frustration that I couldn’t be seen at Bremerton Naval Hospital. A lame excuse that I don’t live within 40 miles of the said hospital – same region, but not close enough. And besides, they ship out Retirees to civilian land for medical. Except Tricare won’t pay for it most of the time – its a costly adventure for my pocketbook. For the last 3 years, I have learned that veterans can’t be seen outside of their region (not even for an emergency) at any military hospital. I couldn’t even get lab work done. Had to do lab work elsewhere and Tricare would not cover the expense – hence it was out of my own pocket. I have always used military hospitals – until the war that is, that care petered out rapidly.  I had chosen military over VA originally.  So… I learned today, that I still have access to the VA. Wow!  I now have the proper document to move this along.  And am now tied to this area until the case goes before the VA for compensation.  But now I know I can get medical care via the VA. This is huge deal for me.

I repeat, I won’t be going to Nova Scotia like I had wanted to this year. I will be able to do short trips, but no lengthy trips out on the road until this gets settled. At least initially. Once I get thru all the medical evaluations I will or should be more free to travel. Time will tell. But I am just blown away by all that I have learned. They initially thought I was a candidate to receive both VA & Military compensation – but I am once again a unique case, in fact only the 2nd case this American Legion has ever dealt with. This presents unique twists that just floor me to the possibilities, such as I may get back pay to 1979.  So yes, this is important enough to keep me off the road for the moment.

So I’ve volunteered within Evergreen Coho SKP park, not that I don’t have enough to keep me busy, but because one should volunteer, so I am.  Many wanted me to be secretary for the Lot Management group, but I’m no secretary – never have been and don’t want to learn. So I’m part of two – Laundry and Documents groups. The Laundry is to collect monies from washers and dryers, count, wrap and document.  The Documents group, I will learn more today, in fact in less than 30 minutes. But from my understanding, its the group that evaluates each and every document that passes thru the committees within this park. Will learn more soon.  That is the last of my volunteering now.

Hansen E-Spinner factory

And with great excitement… visited Hansen E-Spinner factory, got my E-spinner fine tuned and was thrilled to learn about this amazing company. To see guts of this places, all the tools designed by them and see it in action was simply jaw dropping technology.  This is 2nd favorite tool I carry (my loom is my favorite).  And they are real close to me here in Chimacum.

And my first project in a long time, is now going onto my loom.  Yes!

Quiet but not idle

/ Melinda / 4 Comments

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted to my blog.  It has not been an idle time, in fact wish I could find a boring day… is there such a thing?   As it is… life evolves, changes, grows and continues on.

What have I been doing?  Lots of daily activities too mundane to mention, but in the midst of living, I took on a challenge to me. Photography.  Not of my surroundings or of places I have been, but of me. Yes that is what I said, pictures of me.  My long time friends will laugh, as I’m the biggest hide-behind-someone or hide-behind-a-tree or just not show up for photo shoots.  I hate my picture being taken.  OK, I said it out loud, I HATE my picture being taken. And well… let’s do something about this fear of the camera. So… a little bit of digging on internet… and I found Deja Webster Photography – don’t you just love the name Deja!  Smiling here.  If you want to see some of the photos she has posted for me, send me an email, as you need a password to access them.

Deja was a hoot to work with and I thank her for taking on the challenge of me and making it all worthwhile.  I got real good at bending at the belly button, straightening the back, lifting the chin, lowing a shoulder, turning just right, catching the sun’s highlights, to stop flat out giggling – as it made me close my eyes too much… on and on and on.  The first shoot, was such an eye opener to me. Clothes, ere colors, I thought I would look good in, washed me out to nonexistence.

So before the next shoot, I had homework to do. Was to hit the thrift stores in search of better colors. Not knowing where any of these places were, I grabbed one of my Escapees friends here at Evergreen to go shopping with me. It turns out Sheri, ran the fashion show here at Evergreen last year. She has an eye for details that was fun just to watch her in action. And with me being the end result – what a learning experience.

So back to the 2nd shoot. Wow what a difference and what a delight to discover what are my colors. I had no idea. For a gal that left home at 18, went into a nursing uniform, then a military uniform into formals and cocktail dresses to comfy casual clothes… never once do I recall knowing I looked better in a different set of colors (other then blue jeans).  We are our own worst critic, you know.   I wish I had done this professional photo shoot years ago.  Thank you Deja!!!
While doing all this running around doing photo shoots, thrift store buying, etc. I had rented a car. Egads! That rental was costly.  I need a car. I’ve never bought a used car before, but if I decide to tow, I don’t need a new car behind my rig.  Have been doing so much research on and off line, quizzing people, dealers, etc. Driving all kinds of crap… to the point, that I decided I don’t want used, I want new. Then I realized its another element that needs adjusting in my mind.  So… as I have learned to do, is sit back and re-analysis.   Will I tow?  I have not needed a tow in my 3 years full timing. I do fine without. Oh sure, I have missed out on some things, and it is a hassle getting into pharmacies parking lots (now I order and get via mail) and I hate asking for a ride from my fellow RVers – altho they have been awesome taking me places. The challenges of getting the proper tow package, the ins and outs of all that – do I even want to go there?  I don’t think so.  So do I need a car?  Yes and no.  I need a car for here in Washington. The RV can not go to many of the coastal towns, its not cheap on the ferry, etc. It really does not benefit the RV to do short trips. Its made for long trips.  So changing my focus once again, then doing more in depth research, I’m settling on a used car, am picking it up Tuesday in Portland, of all places… I am so jazzed. 
And with all this research… I burned thru my 30 GB of data for the month in short order and was shut down, as I refused to pay $15 per GB to get it back up and running.  A new month started yesterday. Yippee!!!  Got to say, it was awesome getting a break from computer, etc.  I should do this more often… as my creative juices are now pumped up.  My next project is going on the loom.  I just need to pick which path best shows off chili peppers colors!  Yarn is present, parts are acquired, yarn wrap done… so do I do gradation of colors across the warp or play with 2 block pattern or both? Check back later… oh so much fun…

Brief chat!

/ Melinda / 1 Comment
Tim’s sunflower

Ok, the picture above is of Tim’s sunflower, made from combine equip, rebar and other miscellaneous farm equipment. I’ve carried this in my rig for the last 1 1/2 years, it now adorns this little patch of dirt outside my shed. Since this picture, I have pulled the weeds, changed out the mat, finished organizing my shed.   Might plant some tulips and daffodils here. 

Not good!

Guess what I found? This picture is of my cover for my passenger side rear tires. Its not cracked all the way thru the vertical, but its a long crack nonetheless, dead center of the cover. Hmmm…

A bit of surprising news. My surge protector is now reading 122 at my new lot. Whereas at my old lot, the low was 127 (with high at 132).  Am I thinking correctly, that the old lot might have an issue vs my surge protector being the issue? I will ask Progressive tomorrow this very question.
Folks are heading north, due to it being too hot down south. A lot of folks came in this weekend, all glad to be back to cooler climes.
I got 3 days left on my rental car. I’m going exploring once again. Will try to take some photos.

Spring Cleaning of sorts

/ Melinda / 2 Comments
What are they?

The saga on the hard wired surge protector continues. I talked with Progressive Industries EMS and did all the steps & tests leading up to… needing to take the entire control panel down, including the breakers, etc. That brought us to a halt.  The guy that was helping me is not a bonafide electrician and did not want to tackle that task, as the surge protector is smack dab behind it under my kitchen cabinet. Tight fit, etc.  But from all that was determined was most likely a resistor died and the motherboard needed to be replaced, which would have to bring down the control panel then. So I just got the motherboard in the mail today. Funny thing… I have had zero high voltage readings since then. Coincidence?  I don’t know, but I had non-stop problems for 8 days and then it stops being an issue since we did these tests?  So may be returning the motherboard, as my readings are well back into the normal range. But will talk to Progressive before I do. So the saga continues.

In the meantime, the water filter housing came in and it is now working like a charm. No more water issues. Yippee!!!  Gosh, its been busy around here.  I have ventured over to my storage unit to find my shelving I kept. Brought them over, organized my shed, took a car load of stuff out of my shed and took back to storage unit, as the shed is not insulated. Which prompted me to re-think the lot I am in. Since my arrival here, I walk daily, sometimes I walk 2-3 times around this place. Even with the rental car I have, I prefer to walk. So I am getting a good feel for this place. 
My typical self when I don’t know something is to boldly ask. I’m not afraid of asking stupid questions. My curiosity gets the best of me at times, so in walking the park all these days, I started noticing different features of the structures. Then noticed different features between lots. Then noticed… and trust me, once I start, the questions just start flowing. It just fascinates me to no end on this kind of stuff.  This park had a big change over last summer – so what am I seeing that’s from the old management and what is of the new? It is interesting to say the least. Glad I bought into this place last year. So all this education, I decided to switch lots. For $5, one can switch lots. Now one must pay the difference between improvements and no improvements, and if an even trade, its just $5.00. Can’t complain there. I mainly wanted to switch directions on how my rig is parked in relation to sun, winds, etc. But I also paid attention to sheds. As I would like to eventually, have a double shed (200 sq ft total space) to make my weaving studio. This is for down the road, but knowing the cost to build – do I take an existing double shed or get a single and build to my specs later. I took the latter choice. The new lot is an insulated shed with built in shelves – quite workable for years to come even if I don’t enlarge it. It won. So spent the day moving… again. Laughing here.
Ok, I’m done moving. Next thing on the agenda. Dancing. Met a professional dancer, a ballroom dancer no less, whose ex wife owns a dancing studio in Port Angeles. She is considering coming to Evergreen to not only give classes, but to provide regular dances.  She is a delight and we are working out the details as we speak, it may not happen while I’m here, but its a start.  And also learned we have quite a few musicians here within the park. So am gathering that info and we might get some live music going here as well.

And I found a local gym that does Zumba… this presents a problem, as I do not have a car. Do I want a car? To tow? Or not to tow…? Gosh, I don’t know.  Not going to deal with that yet. So no Zumba either.

But the car I rented – I have finally gotten a chance to go get lost. Its the best way for me to learn a new area – something I won’t do with my RV. There are some towns around here that a RV could not park, turn around or go down their streets. So a car is a must. Quaint little coastal towns! Love it. Lots of things to see and do… meeting some great people too.

Jumbled education

/ Melinda / 2 Comments
Spring is here!

Whew! I am so thankful this week is almost done.

The water issues, a seemingly ongoing project, is better understood. Most of this week, I have had water, a dribble, but water coming out of my faucets. That’s a huge improvement. One of the discoveries learned, I needed to replace all faucets in my rig. Once we got the water system primed, air removed extra, checked the water heater, etc… discovered gushing water out of the base of the faucets, but not out of the faucets – hence, I had to get new faucets. All kinds of screens, cartridges, hoses, etc were checked for clogs.  It was a mess.  I’m really hoping the replacement of the faucets will do the trick, but must wait and see. They are being replaced as I write this post.  Lots of swearing around the itty bitty bathroom faucet too. Smiling here.

In the midst of all this, I started having brown outs.  Just me, no one else. Freaky stuff, as my hardwired surge protector was telling me I had high readings of 132, then at one time had a scary low of 108. I don’t do electrical. I call for help. Twice on one morning, my surge protector cut the power off and the latter one on that day, just shut me down entirely. Woke me right up at 0436.  That day, asked to see if others had any problems. They came and checked the voltage for me on the pedestal – it read 123 whereas my surge protector was reading 130 then.  They scraped clean one of my prongs on my electrical cord that had some discoloration. The next morning I had another brown out. So called these guys back. These guys are part of the Lot Management here within the Escapees park. All volunteers. This time, they took the socket out of the pedestal and found one of the points corroded. They replaced that, checked all the wiring around it, replaced one wire that looked ok to me, but they felt it safer to replace it. Later that day, one of them came back with a couple of meters to ‘evaluate my surge protector’. They believe I have an overly sensitive protector and thought they could just adjust it. Well, that’s not going to happen, as there is nothing on the gauge to adjust.  I need to make a conference call to Progressive to see what should be done, if anything. Now trying to coordinate that is problematic this week.  But no more brown outs. Next week will tackle that call.

And in the midst of all this… my scheduled shipment from Alaska arrived in Seattle. A friend, Rob, rented a Budget truck, pallet lifter and went and picked up the shipment for me and brought it to my storage unit. I am so very thankful I had him helping me. Also, I was very impressed with what he managed to overcome in getting the pallets off the truck into the storage unit. So grateful, for his kind and generous help in doing this. Thank you again Rob, it is greatly appreciated.

And as I round out this week. The faucets have all been replaced – I got WATER FLOW! And no leaks!!! How exciting. Amazing what gets me excited these days.

And with me being giddy with joy, have found a sponsor in area so I can join the Elks Club – finally! Been trying to do this for the last 2 years. I had so hoped to have joined in Haines, but they had closed down two months before I got there. This here, will happen in April. Yeah!  The Elks club here has another feature that excites me. They do dance classes – all kinds of dances. Bring it on.  As for dancing, there is a couple here in Evergreen that does line dancing and the two step every week. Real avid dancers. There’s apparently another that does ballroom dancing. Have not met him or her yet. So finishing up all this responsible stuff, I want to go play. And play I will.

Life

/ Melinda / 3 Comments
Life

I unwrapped this framed poster today…  It speaks volumes on my life these days. I purchased it online a few years back when I was in the deep throes of major changes in my life.  I loved it then, but am living it now.  So thought to share it.

As I continue to wade thru the boxes… I’m shocked to see how I was packed out, to what they packed and wonder how nothing has been broken, crushed or destroyed.  Today, I reached the top most box… it was super heavy. I struggled to get it down to a workable height. The sides caved in, the corner was smashed and the box was labeled “hall closet”.  What hall closet?  We did not have a hall… so opened it up. It was 3 empty boxes for Longaberger collectible baskets, but no baskets, and a Bose woofer (this was so heavy) and a dozen rolls of bathroom tissue. Say what? And the box was not full… Many boxes have not been full and lots of odd shaped boxes, as if they got boxes from the grocery store vs from the moving company. Weird stuff.  One of the worst packing jobs I’ve ever seen and trust me folks, I’ve moved alot over the years.  
But all in all… I’m moving right along with this process.  Am in the process of moving the boxes into a more orderly arrangement, so I can set up a table to start selling things in earnest vs piece-by-piece.
Still tentatively thinking I can be out of here in January, time will tell on that.

No phone saga

/ Melinda / Leave a comment
Morning sunshine

Since the dawn of cell phones, I have had one number, and it floated between various cell companies over the years, until we built off the grid and then the only company that reached us was AT&T.  This being Alaska, we were quite restricted on options. Everything has this number and it would be a nightmare changing it (far worse than changing addresses), so my intent was to keep it. Ok.  So I hit the road in my RV in the lower 48 and I had no service – no cell or internet. AT&T Alaskan version of a phone does not come close to the phones offered in the lower 48.  Back in 2012, I had lawyers harping at me that I had to make myself available to a phone.  I have a phone, but it doesn’t work in the lower 48. In fact, it got to the point, it did not work when I was back in AK. SLOW was its problem. Brought back horrid memories of the old modem days…

So as any wise full-timer will tell you, one needs connectivity when out on the road. Verizon has far better coverage in the areas in which I like to park, so I spent the money to get a Verizon phone.  The monopoly of these phone companies not allowing any service to be utilized on any given phone sucks… but it is what it is.  So I finally have a solid connect and its a simple joy.  And since that time, I added other components to have even better connectivity out on the road.  I had no complaints… but I was still carrying the AT&T phone.

Paying $95 + on a phone that doesn’t work in the lower 48 was troubling.  I can’t tell you how many times I thought of dropping it completely.  Talking with AT&T was not a fun deal. Frustrated with this phone since being back in AK for a few months – it was so dang S-L-O-W I could scream.   Before I made the call… I tried one more time to reach out to Verizon.

You see… Verizon has always worked well in Alaska, but Alaskans could not get Verizon… until… Verizon opened in Alaska last year with data, but no cell service.  I have been waiting months for them to get the cell started.  You see, the CCC would NOT allow me to transfer my Alaskan phone number to Verizon or any other company.  I so wanted to rid myself of AT&T I could just drool over something better. Anything.

Last Friday, November 7th, I called Verizon.  I had to call to straighten out an end-of-the-month quirk in my transfer of Millenicom data to my Mifi and as I finished that aspect,  I asked – “Can I transfer my 907 number to my Verizon phone yet?”  Finally… yes.

The transfer was done while I was talking to them on the phone. The instructions were darn simple. Do a hard turn off of the AT&T for 24 hours. And when I got off the phone with Verizon to do a hard turn off of my Verizon phone and turn if back on after a few seconds.  OK.  Yippee, I was so excited!!! And nothing, no service, nothing.  I could neither text or call anyone, nor could I receive.

Now mind you… I’m in Alaska small town, no phone, my friends are all out of town at the moment, no pay phones.  I set out walking mid-morning. Stores haven’t opened yet. Went to the library, they had a public phone – but it was being used by several families talking to loved ones overseas.  Am told the Visitor center has a public phone, they are not open yet so went looking for any familiar face that might let me use their phone. No such luck. Back to visitor center. Finally can call Verizon.  They tell me I need to take it to a Verizon store to get it activated. Guess what, that’s in Anchorage. A good day and a half drive from me, if I had a car, which I don’t.  Call Verizon again,  “well can you send it to some friend or family to have them activate it?”.  I am not comfortable with this concept. So call them again.  Went thru the saga of possibly using Wifi to activate and that’s a no go, as there are no Verizon towers near me only AT&T towers. What to do….?

Do you realize how spoiled we are with cell phones?  Its weirdly uncomfortable to be without a phone. I had no idea.

I have since learned, via Verizon, that Juneau is fully covered with Verizon service.  All I need to do is get within range of a Verizon tower (in Juneau) and I can activate my phone.  Its a 4 hour trip one way to Juneau via ferry.  But how can I get to the ferry terminal?  No shuttle, taxi and no friends home to take me. Dang.  I can’t call other mobile numbers or long distant numbers from the visitor center (thinking I could find out when my friends get home).  So like everything else I’ve learned these last couple of years… let it go, don’t worry about it.  Went home and continued working on my boxes.

My curious friends who wondered why I hadn’t answered there calls… came over late last night – they are home! Yippee! We set about figuring out the ferry schedule – as its hard in the winter, so few ferries run.  So Monday night, 11:45p I will set sail to Juneau and will arrive at 3:45am, hang in terminal and turn around and come back to Haines on the 7 am ferry.  Thanks ferry folks for helping me figure that out – other wise I would have had to wait two days to get back.

And life goes on…

Around town

/ Melinda / Leave a comment

Yesterday, made a major dent in my boxes, emptied several and moved more off the stacks down to a workable level for the next day I tackle this.  Crazy how they packed me out and so far nothing is broken.  But gads my muscles are screaming today… so no work today.

Santa mountain behind Health clinic

Had an appointment with my accountant today due to IRS mailing that scared the sh_t out of me….. so it got me out of the apartment. Good thing, it was gorgeous outside!!! 41ºF felt like 50’s with all that sunshine. Or am I just re-acclimated? A bit of both, I think. I only had a sweatshirt, jeans, Muck boots, and a raincoat on.  Being carless has many attributes that I’m growing fond of.  In my younger adult life, I was an avid hiker, backpacker, rock climber… lots was side-lined with surgeries, travel, and life in general but the simple truth – I got away from it.

Today brought it back full circle for me.  As sore as I was from yesterday’s unpacking, the trek up and down hills here in Haines was refreshing, delightful and most definitely energizing.  I don’t tolerate heat / humidity anymore, but this kind of weather was perfect to be out and about on foot.  Where I’m located, I am within walking distance of everything – to the harbor, post office, downtown, grocery stores, etc.  So walking is what I’ve been doing, mostly in the rain, but today was an exception I enjoyed. Think I will make this a habit… once again.

Looking down alley way to harbor
Looking west toward town, incoming storm

I was talking with friends up in my old neck of the woods – up in Matanuska Valley, near Palmer, Alaska. They have had very little snow, altho it has gotten cold for them. My friend Connie said it was down to 18º when I had called. Interesting enough, or at least to me anyway, Haines has not had a hard freeze yet. Oh its gotten down into the low 30’s a few times and the present daytime temps aren’t changing much. Where’s winter? 

And with the change of the daylight savings… our evenings viewing the aurora is improving greatly – that is when its not raining. Patience Melinda… all in due time.