Life here in Sitka…

A view from the top of Castle Hill this morning.

Luna and I are out on a walk. Just stopped in to the Backdoor Cafe for a cup of Raven’s Brew and a snack. Beautiful out this morning though the weather is supposed to pick up with winds howling in at over 60 knots later this afternoon. Snow and rain though out the day.

The following is from my first week here in town. We all headed out for a little hike up Beaver Lake Trail. Being out in the old growth green of Sitka has been great for my soul. I can feel life creeping back in and the touch of my roots through the ground. Getting out there with the boys is fun!

3/3/03 …

Seven years ago yesterday. I was never very good with dates, and in the last year actually knowing what day it is can be a stretch for me. I woke up this morning thinking that it was 3/3/10 so I guess I am actually a day late on remembering the significance of yesterdays anniversary.
It was seven years ago as I mentioned before that Beth was wheeled out of her first surgery, tumor free. That successful first surgery brought us 5 plus years of tumor free living. It wasn’t easy times, and for the first several we lived in fear of hearing the dreaded words of her cancer’s return. But we lived a lot in those years following. I think that is part of the reason why I don’t feel sad thinking about this being seven years after that time, yet she isn’t with me any more. I remember a lot of trials, but I also remember hikes, kayak trips, travels to South America, birthdays, road trips, family gatherings, nephews and nieces being born. Life went on and we lived it. Life for me now goes on and I am trying my best to live it.
It’s turning out to be a beautiful day here in Sitka. It snowed this morning and now the sun is out and the air is crisp. I am going back outside…

words from a friend’s blog

http://www.blizzardd.blogspot.com/

“BREATHE DEEP OF THAT YET SWEET AND LUCID AIR, SIT QUIETLY FOR A WHILE AND CONTEMPLATE THE PRECIOUS STILLNESS, THAT LOVELY, MYSTERIOUS, AND AWESOME SPACE.”

The above blog is by a woman who Erika and I met in Austin at last year’s Ride of the Roses. Liz is battling lung cancer and has inspired me with her words and musings. She is really strong and is battling really hard right now. Her foe has been tough but I think she has been just a little tougher in her fight. I am thinking of you Liz and sending you all the healing energy that I can from the ‘Last Frontier’! Be well

the slag has been burned

Just finished up burning up my seven foot tall slag pile. Most of it was brush and branches from the lot clearing that the previous owner had started on. When I first got to town three weeks ago I decided to pile it all up and burn it up rather than having to pay for a dump load of greens. The first several weeks of being in town it has been far too dry to safely burn that big of a pile so I decided to wait for a few days of rain. Turned out to be a good call as this pile would have been a pretty big fire had it not been nice and wet!
I was going to take a few pictures of it while it was burning in the beginning but it turned out that tending it was all I could do. Garden hose in hand I kept the pile from fully errupting and tended a very hot spot to pull everything else over to. About four hours later I was left with what you see here… though by the time I had it down to this level I had already had a visit from the fire department! whoops, should have warned them I guess. They didn’t come rushing over and didn’t actually seem all that concerned when they arrived as they chatted with my neighbor for 10 minutes before they came over to talk with me. The conversation was cordual and ended with a friendly suggestion that next time I might come down and get a burn permit from them. Who knew! Well, not the 10 or so people that I talked to about doing the burn over the past couple of weeks. I guess talking with the local authorities might be a wise idea rather than asking random friends!

It really helps having that pile out of the way as I am beginning to be able to see better what I might like to do with the various designs have developed over the past six months. I will be sitting down with a number of my favorites to see if additional ideas come into view. My hope is to have at least a good enough idea of a general foot print for the house so that I can scratch out a building pad and more of a driveway later this month. Then once I have the plans okayed by the city building planners, I should be able to go forward with the foundation! I can almost picture the framing going up now! Yeah!