There's No (re)Doubt Now...

Once again, Alaska's Mt. Redoubt belched up her requisite ash deposit after Anchorage flights resumed and life started to get back to "normal". Ha.

After a sunny, albeit snowy (yes, snow/sun at the same time is not uncommon in the springtime)day, I left a meeting at church around 5:30 p.m. wondering why the formerly sunny afternoon had turned so gray so quickly. Someone said "That's ash!" as I walked the 20 yds to my car.

By the time I had made the 7-mile journey home, my car was covered and my shoes had telltale signs of the powdery stuff on their dark tops.

We celebrated the evening at some friends' house, making pizza and watching the cloud move closer and closer to our neighborhood. Why not?

It is a bit disconcerting to feel the grittiness in our mouths and smell the sulfuric stench from something a 100 miles away. There is truly no experience like knowing there is not a blessed thing we can do to mitigate our circumstances.

We are truly at the mercy of Mother Nature.

I hope we haven't pissed her off.

Update From the Wolf Den: Serving My Sons

As we step gingerly through the pathways of Wolf's past and present, Yukon and I are becoming increasingly aware of the future.

As my friend Dorothy is finding out, when children with Asperger Syndrome become older, things that used to be considered part of the "nuisance" category reach the status of "safety and health". Behaviors that were disruptive in elementary school become more pronounced, more difficult to predict, and end up causing the utmost in stress for families, teachers, and friends.

We are grappling with a number of issues, all of them related to Wolf, his diagnoses and their relation to his progress nearly one year into treatment. What is a realistic expectation for discharge? What supports will be necessary, now, then, and forever?

Perhaps the most agonizing question is one that has been pushed up and back in my mind so often it could be its own road: Should we? Can we?

There is another child to consider, one who since his brother's absence has blossomed into his own person, missing Wolf to be sure, but also devoid of the conflict that tore at his parents' hearts. Yukon and I are realistic enough to know that just because a child is discharged from treatment, no "magic" cure for the inherent disability will suddenly impart itself upon a family. Our family, two boys and two parents who somehow must find yet another "new normal" during a time that feels anything but. Even this far out.

What Do You Do With a Runner When She Can't Be a Runner, Anymore?

This is my view today. Just me, Blue Ice, and the laptop trying one last desperate attempt at making things all better fast.

The combination of skiing and running in the hills of Anchorage, coupled with 30+ years of doing high-impact sports have apparently taken their toll upon my body and are beginning to wreak havoc.

I was told in my 20's that my knees had issues, that "someday" I would end up sore and broken. But who listens to doctors when they are looking at life from the top of a chairlift at Whistler, or training for a triathlon, or hiking miles into the backcountry of Washington carrying a chainsaw?

After a test run Monday night during which I lasted all of ten minutes pain-free, I finally went to the doctor who stared at my x-rays in deep contemplation, glasses pushed up on top of his head so he could see better. "Hmmmm, a skier, huh? I think you'd better call it good for this year." He went on mumbling to himself, or me, but I was already trying to figure out how to get around this, concocting all sorts of plans, when I heard the word "arthritis". WHAT?

Women, he explained, especially athletes, often get arthritis in knees due to the way we walk.It's those hips, he said, that are wider (thanks for the update) and thus make our stride, etc. a bit more stressful on the patella. Poop.

In my case, years of running and jumping and schussing have left my knees vulnerable, and since the patella isn't aligned properly (is this genetic? I'll blame my parents), my knees are showing signs of the degenerative condition that cripples many former football players and other has-been athletes.

The gist of the whole conversation was to refer me to an Orthopedic surgeon who might be able to fix things, or maybe not, depending on exactly the problem. An MRI is almost certainly forthcoming.

While I am certainly glad I have two legs with which to stand walk upon, I am a bit grumpy today. Those of you who know me well will recall my hesitation to stop doing anything active. I broke my ankle once and had the doctor make the cast such that I could still ride my horse. I don't like doing nothing.

Yukon is, of course, all a'twitter that he can now justify my joining him at his lap swim sessions at Alaska Pacific University. Blech.

Anchorage, Anchorage, This Is It!

I think we lacked the drama of Mt. St. Helens...

Mt. Redoubt erupted for the fifth time a few hours ago, spanning an overnight rumble of blow after blow of steam and ash hitting the 60,000 foot level of our lovely atmosphere.

For those concerned about the welfare of the Kirkland family, worry not. The ash at this time is high and North of us, heading to the Mat-Su Valley and the home of Sarah Palin, who might take it as a sign from God that she better accept that Stimulus Package, after all.

Visit the Anchorage Daily News for some photos of the mountain and ever-changing updates.

Life goes on, slightly interrupted.

Perhaps We Were a Bit Premature

I told Yukon not to haul out the canoe from behind the clubhouse. It's like washing the car on a sunny day; the next is guaranteed to be rainy.

We were greeted this morning by 5 inches of new snow that grew progressively heavier in texture as the day went on. Now at 6 p.m. it is a sloppy mess.

Alaskans know better, and we know we should know better, but darn it, things were looking so darned spring-y outside we just couldn't help but get a little bit anticipatory. Not that the lakes will thaw before the end of April, but it was kind of nice to gaze upon it from the kitchen window and dream of summertime...

Springing Forward

It's finally Spring, by the calendar anyway, and after what felt like an extra-long winter, we'll take whatever we can get.

The sun isn't even up at 7:30 in the morning, but I can already see that it is going to be another gorgeous day. While nighttime temperatures have hovered near zero, the thermometer climbs up to around 32 during the day, and, coupled with bright sunshine, it feels quite tropical.

I went running yesterday evening up the Glen Alps trailhead, south and east of us; high enough to get a view of Anchorage, Cook Inlet, and surrounding mountain ranges. Going for a jaunt on the trails is going to get a little trickier in the next few weeks as moose prepare to give birth to the 2009 crop of calves, and bears begin to crawl out of dens. Of course yesterday I gave this no thought at all, but our Wildlife Biologist friend stopped by after dinner and commented that it was good there were a "few of us" running, citing the above reasons. Oh. It's easy to forget in the delight of running through a beautiful forest on a beautiful day.

Today will be a quiet one despite my desire to spend the day outdoors. Poor Bear has been sick, and the picture above shows just how out-of-sorts he is. There is usually no sleeping during the day in this house, much less in the middle of the living room with the sun beating on his face. Maybe I will get some work done...

I Wish I Was In Homer

Sounds like a country song...

Read this week's post on AKontheGO and see why we love eclectic, cosmic Homer, Alaska.

For my cousin in Fairbanks; the Bed and Breakfast Network really is the way to go for accommodations of the cabin type.