Happy Thanksgiving

All summer the park at Twin Lakes, located off Egan Drive just a few miles from town, is filled with noisy little people and their watchful caretakers, sunbathers and lake swimmers, those with fishing poles and those with canoes.

It is a lovely, small, busy, urban park area that is widely used and widely appreciated by Juneauites.

This afternoon, on the way back from running work-related errands I stopped briefly at Twin Lakes.

The park is all but abandoned now, hibernating as the entire city is starting to do for the winter........

After the snow of yesterday and the light snow fall of this morning, by this afternoon the temperature had increased to 35 or 36 degrees, and the rain began to fall as forecasted.

By the time I pulled into Twin Lakes the sidewalks and parking lots and trails were rapidly melting and turning to slush.

I was only at the park for about 10 minutes but by the time I piled back into the car my feet, two pairs of socks and my shoes were all soaking wet.

I looked down at my wet feet, shook my head at the stupidity of not having worn a decent pair of waterproof boots when I left the house this morning, and headed back to wet feet work at the wet feet office.

It was what it was, and truthfully wet feet was a small price to pay for even a brief opportunity to be outside in the middle of a hectic non-stop continually on-the-run kinda day.........

Eventually I will stop here soon and find myself watching an impromptu hockey game.

Not for a while yet, but soon...........

And the ladder for the inevitable fall through the ice that will also come soon........

After work I parked the car in the driveway, walked down to the turnaround at the bottom of the hill close to home, looked doubtfully at the slush still on the road, crossed my fingers, hoped for the best and started the truck.

At first it did not want to go anywhere, still skidding because of the angle I had abandoned the truck at yesterday.

Eventually I found the right angle, dropped down a gear, and willed my truck up the hill, turned it around, and successfully pulled it into the driveway.

Good deal!

At least it is safe and back where it belongs............

A friend of mine died one year ago tomorrow.

He was quite old, had a lot of health issues, was very lonely and we more or less adopted each other during the last two years I was down in Tennessee.

He died at home and with his daughters who he was not very close to.

The year before he had spent Thanksgiving with me and LC.

I had thought about going to see him over the holiday weekend last year, but by that time he was bedridden and very ill and I talked myself into waiting until after Thanksgiving to visit him again.

And then he died.

And I was then, and still am now, sorry that I did not visit him that one last time.

I did not know at the time of course, that it would be one last time.

I guess you never know those things.

I guess you never know.........

Early tomorrow morning I will drop Jamie off at a very nice lady's house, and my dog will be well taken care of while I am gone.

The lady, who is my boss, joked with me that she is holding my dog hostage to make sure I come back to Juneau.

She also joked about putting pink bows and other girlie things on Jamie while I am away, and I good-naturedly warned her not to sissy-fy my dog..............

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE.