Gross!

When I first started this blog I kept telling myself I had to post an entry about the disgusting black slugs that infest Cordova. I think it's finally time!

These slimy things are everywhere around the yard and in town on a wet day. This morning I opened a book Darius checked out from the library, and on the inside flap there was a brochure put together by the Cordova Junior High's Community Problem Solving Team about the slugs.

Here are some of the goodies I picked out of the brochure about the uber-disgusting Black European Slug: They can eat 30-40 times their own weight and their diet includes vegetation, poop and other dead slugs. They have more than 27,000 teeth on their tongues, their blood is green, and they leave a nasty trail of slime behind them. Their mucous on their bodies is said to be "highly distasteful" to other animals, so their predators are few.

The main topic of the brochure was to inform the community of proper collection and disposal methods. Since these slugs are hermaphrodites, any slug can fertilize eggs, even those of dead slugs. Killing a slug and leaving it will only attract other slugs who will breed and then feast on their dead buddies. Taking that into consideration, it doesn't do any good to just kill them. You actually have to collect them and then burn them. Lovely!

A couple of weeks ago Zach picked one up and gave it a good squeeze. Not a good idea. The slime it left on his hands was like some sort of industrial strength rubber cement. I was literally scrubbing at his hands with soap, water, and a washcloth and the goo would not come off. I'm not a very squeamish individual, but I was thoroughly disgusted!

Hey, there's got to be a few drawbacks to living in a beautiful place, eh?

Halfway

For the past 6 months I've been slightly neurotic. How my family puts up with me is beyond my comprehension. I'm quite certain I have some kind of crazy I'm-about-to-blow-my-lid look on my face most days which scares everyone off. The good news is that I'm halfway through my neurotic stage, or at least I'm hoping so anyway. I've just finished my 8th session out of 16 in my MT program. It feels good to get this far in the program, especially since I'm on target to finish on time.

I'm so grateful to my parents for giving me the opportunity to enroll in this program. Their investment is a huge motivating factor for me to finish and do well. Since my mom has retired, she has graciously offered to help me out with the boys for a few hours each day, so that I can get more study time in. She may not think she's helping all that much, but she really is!

Darius unfortunately takes the brunt of my moodiness, and yet he's so good about encouraging me. He thanks me for what I'm doing and tells me that he's proud of me. I love him for that.

I thank you, family, for putting up with me! I absolutely could not have come this far without all of your help. Hang in there with me a little longer, and I'll try better to keep Mrs. Hyde in check.

Wildflowers

Dad picked up a load of sand and gravel early this morning and unloaded it onto a tarp in the back of the house. Ben and Zach had fun playing in their makeshift sandbox while I kicked back and soaked up some warm evening sunshine.

This time of the year is great for wildflowers. There are so many that just sprout up everywhere. As I was relaxing I felt the need to get the camera and take a few snapshots of them. I sometimes take for granted what a beautiful place I live in, but a gorgeous day helps to remind me.

Alaska's state flower - Forget-me-not

Columbines

Buttercups

These tiny Lily of the Valley flowers smell SO good!

Oh Baby

While Joy was working at the Powder House restaurant she met a super awesome woman, Syringa, who she became friends with. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to become a close friend, but even so, she's the type of person you can't help but love. She is someone you want to be around. She has a super nice hubby, and a super awesome dog. I was so excited for them when I found out from Joy she was expecting and disappointed to hear they were moving to Anchorage. When we found out she wasn't having a baby shower we volunteered to throw her a little shower/send off party this weekend.

I remember how nice it was when my friend Patti in Florida volunteered to throw a shower for me. Being so far away from family and not having a lot of friends made it all the more sweet. I guess her awesome gesture gave me the desire to pay the kindness forward to Syringa...and it gave me an excuse to make a cool cake!

Maybe her pregnancy state enhances it a bit, but Syringa definitely exudes this great positive energy. It's contagious and I can't help but feel excited for her. I have a good feeling she will be an awesome Mom.

Dads

We had a quiet Father's Day this year. Darius had to go back to work after his 3 days off with Jimy, so we only had a little bit of time with him in the morning before he took off. The rest of us were all kind of tired after a busy weekend, so it was kind of a lazy day. Dad and Mom went to church and gave talks. After they got home Ben, Zach, and Dad took naps and Joy, Jimy, and I took a drive out the road to Child's Glacier. The drive out there was beautiful and we lucked up a got to watch a big chunk of the glacier break off.

Later after we got back from the Glacier, Mom had a great dinner made for everyone. With full bellies the laziness continued throughout the rest of the evening.

It's a big responsibility to be a father, and even more so to be a good one. Kudos to the great fathers in this world that set good examples for their children and others. Our world needs more of them! I'm fortunate that my dad is one of those good ones...great ones. I'm also very fortunate that Darius had strong women who raised him to be a good man and father. My hat goes off to single mothers who have both roles to play.

As I was adding pictures of my Dad to this post, Zach pointed at them excitedly and shouted "Grandpa!" Ben and Zach have had a great opportunity these past couple of years to get to know their grandma and grandpa. Although they're early memories, I hope they're ones they will hold onto as they get older.

A whole lot of Halibut!

Our friend Jimy has been here visiting us since last week. He loves to fish and was hoping to take a cooler full of halibut home with him. Darius took him out fishing for 3 straight days around the Strawberry Channel and they got into some serious halibut. They caught a total of 18 halibut and ended up with several hundred pounds of meat. I think it was a pretty successful trip for Jimy, but I think he's happy to be heading home today. There's a lot of work involved with cleaning, cutting, and prepping the fish to freeze. I was exhausted just watching them work! It's a good thing he was able to take fish home with him, and good that my mom and Joy are taking some with them to Utah today too. Otherwise, I don't think there would be enough room in the freezers for all of it...and that's saying a lot! We have 2 large freezers and still had to take a bunch of fish to store in the freezer of our apartment.

It's always great when we have visitors that stay and have a great experience like Jimy did. You never know what the fishing conditions will be like, and all you can do is hope for the best! So far he's had 2 great trips here with plenty of fish to take home. We're hoping he has another successful trip in August when he comes back to fish for Silvers.

Taste of Home

I have always considered "home" to be the house in Spring City where I grew up. If I close my eyes and concentrate I can still remember what the rooms in our house looked like, where the furniture was, the sound of the back screen door slamming shut, the creaks in the floors. I can remember all the smells...the grass after it was cut, the hay in the barn, "Sanpete Turkey" on the grill over the fire pit out back, the smell of the trampoline when we slept on it in our sleeping bags, the garden veggies in the summer, the apple orchard in the fall, and the delicious aromas of my mom's cooking. It's a shame that I couldn't better appreciate those things when I was young. There are moments when I wish I could go back for just a day and soak everything in.

Mom gave me a little taste of home today that I haven't had in a long time. She baked homemade bread, fry bread, and rhubarb pie. I felt like a kid again eating my fry bread hot off the iron skillet, smothered with strawberry jam.

I could remember exactly what it was like when my mom used to make it in our old house. That's the best thing about Moms, they will forever hold that link back to your childhood, and can take you home with a few simple ingredients mixed together with a little bit of love.

Delta Picnic

Sunday afternoon my parents, Ben, Zach, Joy and I enjoyed a little "beach" picnic out the road a little way, amongst some great big piles of sand, along the Copper River Delta.

The boys had fun playing in the sand, and Zach enjoyed some of the shallow pools of water nearby. The weather was beautiful with just enough of a breeze to keep the bugs away...with the exception of the dragonfly that Zach captured and tried to eat.

We've been enjoying some absolutely gorgeous weather lately, and we're happy to have our very long days of sunlight back. Darius and I took a drive last night and it still wasn't dark yet at 11:00. The winter here is tough, but the summer months sure do make up for it!