OKAY, OKAY MONICA!! I AM BACK TO WRITING MYSELF!
First off, before I even start writing anything....I want to make it VERY clear that I am in NO WAY lazy like my dearest friend described me! PLEASE read between the lines.....and as you can see Monica is quite the writer!! You can see how I obviously would be EXHAUSTED since she talks like she writes...on and on and on!!! I am laughing so hard right now as I type this. Thank you Monica....for writing your "version" or accounts rather of your week......you are TOTALLY scaring Dixie off from coming back this summer!
What a week we had....so much fun!! I miss Monica so much!! We ran 90 to nothing the entire week but that is nothing new. Ever since we moved here it has been an entirely new way of life, that is for sure. IT IS ALWAYS SOMETHING!!!!! ONLY a mere day after Monica left, Iran fell through a frozen creek (I guess it was not so frozen!) when it was -20 degrees.....both his NON water proof boots he had on that day were filled with water....he had to tromp around with soaking wet boots for TWO hrs in -20 degrees and to top it all off......his soaking wet gloves were frozen solid to his hands...he could not even pry his gloves off. By Gods amazing mercy he did not permanently damage his skin with frost bite. His buddies were up till the middle of the night before work trying to pull him out. You know it is funny....I don't know how on earth this creek was not frozen solid....there are many HOT springs around here and that is the only thing I can think of is why it was not frozen solid a few feet deep. It is just things like that...that seem to happen on a daily basis. OH and a couple of days later the furnace broke....it is already freezing cold in this house at times....and to have the furnace break......well.....just one more thing to add to the list....did I mention the DAY before Monica's arrival the pipes were frozen solid again---toilet water filling the whole bath tub! Ohhhhhhhhhhh NEVER EVER AS LONG AS YOU LIVE ASK FOR PATIENTS!!!! YOU GET WHAT YOU PRAY FOR!
Dear, sweet Lisa...it's PATIENCE!!! You already have plenty of patients!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I will forever serve as your witness...life is Alaska is NEVER dull and it NEVER slows down and it certainly is NOT for the FAINT OF HEART!!! But, it DOES get into your blood and gets a grip on your heart in spite of all the disasters and frustrations that pile up every single day. As I have been sorting through my pictures, more than once, I have found myself feeling wistful and oddly sad that I'm no longer there in that enchanted land. Good thing my kids and husband are so deeply rooted in the town we live in now, or I would be lobbying for us pack up and head for Nome...like you pointed out, they always need more teachers and a nurse can get a job anywhere she lands...
Of course, the fact that my dearest friends live there is part of what leaves my heart so vulnerable to the stark beauty of Alaska. If you guys weren't there, my heart would not long in quite the same way!
We did have a blast! And such memories! And such fodder for weaving stories!!!
I'm glad Iran didn't wind up losing any digits...it is a wonder he wasn't badly frostbitten. He's one tough character! I know when I was there, I was amazed at how he just kept going and going and going...riding that snow machine all over the place in the FREEZING cold all day long doing all the running around we needed him to do for us, coming in with ICE caked INSIDE the mask he wore over his face...working late into the night to tow the disabled car out of the snow and then bouncing out of bed early the next morning to work not one, but TWO jobs and coming back home that evening ready to run around with us until late in the night, knowing he would have to show up for work again the next day, too.
Actually, you BOTH are pretty darn tough! You've turned into a real pioneer woman, yourself, Lisa! I totally could NOT keep up with the two of you! My dog and I wound up feeling pretty old, feeble, and lame just trying to keep up with you Susunagas!
PS (I'm so glad you are back to posting on your blog!!! I've missed reading your stories and seeing your pictures!!!! And, I'm glad to see your finicky computer is letting you load photos once more!!!)
ReplyDeleteUmmmm...one last thought...maybeeee, the reason Noy laughs whenever you say her name, might possibly be because it sounds DIFFERENTLY falling from your lips...like "Iran" sounds differently when you say it than when he says it??? Just a thought!
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe just ONE MORE final thought!...you might mention that it was the SNOW MACHINE Iran and his buddies spent hours trying to pull out of the creek...otherwise, someone reading the account might think Iran's buddies spent hours trying to pull HIM out of the creek!!! (Talk about ME tweaking the facts for maximum impact!!!)
ReplyDeleteYou left out the best line...when his friends finally stepped away from the frozen creek, looked over at Iran, shook their heads and dejectedly admitted, "Buddy, I think you're just gonna have to leave that snow machine there until after the Spring break-up." That line has run through my head so many times since you first repeated it to me! It has become sort of a mantra waiting for when things are the bleakest...Buddy, you're just gonna have to leave it there until the Spring break-up...
(Lisa, how could you EVER say I talk a lot???)
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