There were a couple of years that were marred by illness, injury and divorce.
They were tough years and I was a bit of a train wreck by the end of it.
The boys had both moved out of the house at that point and were busy living and building their own lives.
My oldest son Sean was still in school finishing off his graduate degree, and had been married for maybe a year and a half.
For Christmas that year I gave Sean and his wife some typical Christmas gifts, but I also gave them some gifts that were not so typical.
One of them was a couple of large and wonderful sock puppets that I had picked up at separate yard sales, and that had sat on the back of a rocking chair in the bedroom for a few years.
They were so ugly they were cute, and I gave them to Sean and his wife.
Sean hasn't read my blog for a few weeks, and I thought that I had told him during phone calls but either I did not or he did not pick up on it, but regardless he did not know that LC was back with me in Alaska.
He sent a box of Christmas presents to me that arrived only yesterday, rushing to get them up here because he thought that I would be spending Christmas alone.
One of the gifts were the slippers in the picture above.
When I opened the package and saw the so-ugly-they're-cute slippers, I knew that he had been thinking about the sock puppets I gave him when he bought them.
The slippers made me smile, made me think about how much I love this man-child, and touched my heart......
I called Chris in New Brunswick, and he was in the middle of a Foosball game in the snow.
Doing well, is registered to start school in just a few weeks and still has not received any money to pay for either living expenses, books or tuition.
He applied for the GI Bill before he got out of the Air Force but has not heard anything from the government since he filed the application.
I did not realize that this was an issue, and I don't know anything about the process but will go to a VA office here in Juneau early this coming week to see what I can find out...........
Christmas presents included base layers, slippers, scarves, digital cameras, crock pots (from me to LC), pooled financial resources to buy an M1 Gurand and putting a down payment on a 1903 Springfield with original something-or-other.
LC used to own an M1 Gurand way back in another life.
Until he was injured on the job as a law enforcement officer.
Until he got stuck with medical bills that neither health insurance nor workers comp would pay for.
Until he had to sell almost every firearm he owned to pay for his own care...........
We put it on lay-away on Thursday night, counted money when we got home, and then went back to the gun store and picked it up on Friday morning.
He's ecstatic.
I'm ecstatic for him.
Regaining something he lost after all these years - something that he should never have lost in the first place.
Mostly Christmas today meant that LC and I woke up together, spent the day together, and will spend the day together tomorrow and then tomorrow and then tomorrow.
We went Out the Road on a mild and grey Christmas day, driving on snowy and extremely quiet roads..........
Our side road just a few hundred yards from Glacier Highway.
Winter wonderland does not even begin describe what this place now looks like.........
Heading Out the Road we stopped for a few minutes at the overlook close to the Shrine of St Therese.
The weather was much milder than it has been in weeks and while taking pictures I realized that I did not need to wear the gloves I had brought with me...........
There was fresh snow both on the highway and in the trees.
No ploughing and no gravelling on this Christmas day, but LC's truck made it through all of it without incident.
We are taking a look at an older 4x4 truck for me tomorrow morning.
We have debated for the past couple of days on truck vs SUV, and new vs older vehicles.
The bottom line is that spending money on a newer vehicle and a nice vehicle is wasted on Alaska.
We live on country roads. The vehicle will be rarely if ever get washed. They "sand" the road with gravel, and therefore cracked windshields and body dents are a common occurrence.
And most importantly I am determined that we need a boat.
More vehicle will mean less boat and that will just not work.
My goal is to find a mechanically sound, decent looking 4x4 vehicle that I will not cry over if it gets beat up by this place and this environment.............
All the rock faces Out the Road are now covered with snow and icicles............
We did not have any hard and fast destination in mind when we piled into the truck.
On the spur of the moment we turned off the highway and drove down to Amalga Harbor.
LC stopped multiple times so I could jump out of the vehicle to take pictures along the side of the road, as we headed for the harbor.
Pictures of the frozen and snow covered lake behind the harbor, with the Chilkats visible in the background...........
Chris caught a large (and tasty) salmon in the small channel between the pine trees this past summer.
This place looks like a whole new world, looks so different than it did only four months ago...........
Me and Jamie at Amalga Harbor.
I did not notice it until I saw this picture, but my fur ball was either doing a three-legged balancing act or else had one leg caught up in her leash.
My dog is a sweetheart.
Spoiled. But a sweetheart............
And back to being my four-legged fur ball by this picture.........
When LC was in Minnesota to visit his brother on the way back to Juneau, he found this camper top for $85.
He had been looking for one for a while when he was up here, and on the way across country had all of his gear covered with ropes and tarps.
He was pleased to find one for such a good price, and it made life easier in terms of both accessing and securing everything in the back.........
This cabin is on the same road as Amalga Harbor, and I absolutely love it.
A beautiful cabin-in-the-woods and a sweet little bridge spanning a small creek.
The property extends all the way to the road we were on in one direction and all the way to Glacier Highway in another direction.
And interestingly, the home's front entrance and both balconies face the woods, rather than either road.
Not typical, but somehow it makes a lot of sense.
A really lovely place............
Back on Glacier Highway and still heading further Out the Road........
We pulled off the highway again when we reached this trail shelter.
The trail head is about 1 mile off to the right, and the drive parallels the mostly-frozen Herbert River.
The road had not been ploughed at all today, but we took our time, enjoying the snow covered........everything.
Lots of snow on the road, on the trees, in the mountains, on the river.
Not a sole around, and no birds or wind or planes.
Not a sole around and not a noise to be heard............
We spent a good while at the turn-around at the end of the road, taking pictures and looking at the mountains.
The world was silent.
And calm.
And peaceful.
And even though I missed both of my boys I was sharing this day with a person I cared about and a furry-family member that I cared about, and life was quietly, wonderfully, and peacefully..........good.............
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