June 11th - Wildflowers and Wildfires, with Truck Woes Tossed into the Mix

On Sunday, the day after our long road trip, both Rachael and I decided to do absolutely nothing. We didn't even do our daily 6-mile walk with the pups. A drive like that can really wear a person out.

On Monday, I went out into the garage to roll my trash bin out to the curb and noticed a puddle near the rear driver's side tire. I thought it was rain that had made its way under the garage door during the night. When I brought my trash can in later that afternoon, the puddle was still there. I looked under the truck, trying to see if there was something visibly leaking. I didn't see anything.

When the same puddle was a little bigger on Tuesday, I knew something was wrong. I decided to back my truck out of the garage so I could get a better look under it. When I started it up, I got an alarm message (and lots of loud dings and bells) telling me to service my brake system immediately. It was definitely an unexpected and scary surprise.

Thinking back, I remembered an episode on the Denali Highway, when a huge rock had bounced up off the road and slammed into the bottom of the truck. That was the only time that I had concerns about getting a flat, or breaking down, or damaging the truck. It's apparent my fears were well-founded. Obviously the rock had done something to cause a brake fluid leak. The question that immediately popped into my head was, "How did we get home an additional 150-200 miles with leaking brake fluid?"

On Wednesday, I called the auto skills center here on Fort Wainwright. (They are closed on Monday and Tuesday) After explaining the situation to the mechanic he advised me to have the car towed to the garage, rather than try to drive it using the parking brake. The garage is only about 3 miles away, and I wouldn't have driven more than 10mph, but I was still nervous about driving using only the parking brake. So I asked for the tow truck to come out and get it.

Here it is Sunday and the truck won't be ready to pick up until tomorrow at the earliest. The rock I hit broke a bolt off and smashed the washer. Wouldn't you know that the bolt can't be found anywhere in Fairbanks? So now I wait for the necessary part. I'll be so happy to get my truck back.

My postman has been delivering lots of goodness to my house this past week. I ordered a lot of enlargements of my photographs for display in my home. (Many 16x20 and 20x30) I wanted to check out an online photo printing company and I am very happy with the results. Now I'm in the process of replacing most of the artwork in my house with my own work.

But the photographs aren't the real treasure that has arrived by mail. The real treasure is five Turkish hand-knotted wool rugs that Steve picked up in Iraq and shipped home to me. They are all the same color scheme (maroons/cream/touches of gold) with similar patterns. Our new collection of gorgeous rugs consists of a 9x12, an 8x10, a 3x12 runner, and two 3x6 rugs. The photo at left is of one of the 3x6 rugs. I took a close up shot of the binding, so that you can see the way it's hand wrapped, as well as the 'imperfection' in the pattern lines - which is quite normal in hand-knotted rugs. The other close up shows the colors and denseness of the pile. These rugs are so thick, you feel like you're stepping up onto them. They will look amazing on hardwood floors (which we plan to have in the house we buy).

Speaking of buying a house... There's a very good chance that we'll be looking to buy a house within the next 8 months or so. We'll know more when Steve gets home from Iraq and finds out more about the job situation here on Wainwright for a government worker and not a soldier. His retirement date is in April '07, and we'll need to buy before he retires if we want the purchase to go more smoothly. We have gone back and forth about whether or not we want to stay in the Fairbanks area or relocate to the Mat-Su Valley/Anchorage area. There are positives for either choice, but the other day Steve told me he thinks he wants to stay here in Fairbanks. I have come to love Fairbanks. After ten months apart, the only thing that really matters to me is being with my husband and living our life together.

On Wednesday, a man dumped embers from a burn barrel into the woods south of Nenana. The embers ignited grass or brush, and strong wind pushed flames into wooded areas and toward Nenana. As of today, the fire has grown to nearly 20,000 acres.

Nenana is about 60 miles southwest of Fairbanks. When the wind blows in this direction, a blanket of smoke settles over Fairbanks. This summer smoke/fire problem isn't anything new. Every summer there are wildfires burning out of control throughout the state. And every summer, Fairbanks suffers from periods of hazy, smoky, and acrid air. Last year, and the year before, there was ash falling from the sky in addition to the thick smoke. We had to close our windows tight to keep the dangerous particles out of our homes, and those of us with asthma suffered greatly. We all kept our fingers crossed that this year, that the fire season would hold off. It didn't work. Due to the stupidity of one person, someone has already lost their home, thousands of tourists (and residents) have been stranded or delayed at various points between Fairbanks and Anchorage, and beautiful woodland has been lost.

More and more wildflowers have started blooming. One in particular - the Prickly Rose - lines the dirt path behind my house. Every day there are more and more blooms open. The dainty flowers come in various shades of pink and purple and are a welcome sight on my morning walk with Sedona.

The other day, I took my camera with me as I walked through the wooded area near my house. I snapped a few photos of the flowers I came upon.

Prickly Rose

Blue Bells

Prickly Rose Bud

Cloudberry

Rachael and I have been very good about staying on top of our daily 6-mile walk with the pups. Now that the weather is so warm, we have found that walking early (around 10am) or late (6pm) is best to avoid the hottest part of the day. I'm sure the pups appreciate it too.

Today, I took some video of Sedona and Stryker (Rachael's labrador) splashing in the river. It's hosted on YouTube, so CLICK HERE if you want to see it. If you're on dial up, it may take awhile to load completely.

I am looking forward to my sister-in-law, Diane's visit in a few weeks. She's arriving very late on the 29th. We're going to spend the 30th being lazy so she can get over her jet lag. We have reservations in Seward the evening of the 2nd and the 3rd. I'm running into a problem securing lodging in Anchorage on the 1st and the 4th. If I can't get us a place to stay, we have several other options: we can try to get a hotel room in Wasilla or Denali, we can camp, or we can drive straight through to Seward. While the last option means a very long drive, at least the scenery is awesome and the sun shines for 24 hours. I'm sure we'll figure something out.

Also... I have very good news that I can't share right now. It's not a sure thing yet, so I don't want to jinx anything. And that's all I can say about that.

Until next time...