I can only hope that tomorrow - being that it's the 1st of May - will somehow bring a miraculous change in the season. I'd like to finally move from winter to spring. I've had enough.

Today, I woke to nearly blizzard conditions and an accumulation of approximately 4 inches of snow. Thank goodness it stopped as the day passed, but the bare spots I had in my yard yesterday are covered again. (Uh-oh... it's snowing again as I type this)

Last Thursday, Steve and I took advantage of the melting snow and clear skies and drove down to Chena Lakes to take Sedona for a short hike on the x-country ski trail. It was so nice to get out walking in the fresh air. The river still has a lot of ice in it, but there is a lot of visible water too.

Some portions of the trail still had snow on them, but other parts were bare - although a bit mushy. We kept our eyes open for moose or wolves. You just never know. All the wolves that were in the news months ago, haven't been spotted lately, but that doesn't mean they're not still around.

	“What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt - it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else.” ~ Hal Boyle ~

Our new furniture arrived on Friday. Our old furniture was picked up by a friend 30 minutes after the new stuff came. It was a perfect swap - in with the new, out with the old! I'm glad it found a new home, rather than ending up at the dump. The joy of having new furniture delivered was tempered by the appearance of sleet and snow.

I'm in the process of swapping out photos in the living room. I'm taking down the bear photos (not all of them) and putting up some spring and summer landscapes. We're also planning to paint an accent wall in the living room, so we've got paint swatch strips hanging up all over as we decide on a color. You can see one tucked up behind my bear print in the photo at left.

On Saturday, we had a BBQ and invited our friend Randy over. His wife Celeste was out of town, and we thought he'd enjoy a nice meal and some company. Steve baked some salmon in the oven, and made his delicious burgers for the grill. Steve mixes the ground beef with all sorts of sauces (BBQ, soy, catsup, Heinz 57) and spices, and his burgers are the best I've ever had. In fact, when my friend Donna came to visit last summer, Steve gave her the recipe and even she couldn't get the mixture just right. She emailed me with an SOS when her attempt at home didn't turn out quite as tasty!

In addition to the burgers and salmon, we had grilled asparagus, corn on the cob, macaroni and potato salads, and veggies and dip. Everything was delicious. Randy arrived bearing flowers, which was a very sweet surprise. Their color and fragrance were welcome on such a chilly and overcast day.

My friend Michele and her daughter Maddie are coming to Alaska for a visit this June. I'm very excited! I haven't seen Michele in more than a decade - maybe even two decades? I've never had the pleasure to meet her daughter, who is a beautiful young woman of 14. Michele also has an adorable 2 year old named Josie, but Josie will be vacationing at home with her daddy and grandparents while we grown ups take in the sights of Alaska.

Side one

Side two

You may recall that I enjoy creating travel brochures for my guests to Alaska. Once all the reservations are made, it's nice to put all the information together in presentation form and mail it off. I spent a few hours working on Michele and Maddie's brochure and mailed it out a few days ago. They should find it in their mailbox soon. (If you're reading this Michele, and want to be surprised, don't click on the enlargements!) I hope they get to you soon.

Michele and I have known each other for more than 40 years. We grew up together on Tomlinson Rd. in Philadelphia. I've written about Michele in this journal in the past. She has sent Steve and I the White House Christmas Ornament every year for the last 10 or so years. There's something really special about a friend that you've known since childhood. While we don't know the ins and outs of each other's daily life - besides what we read in each other's blogs - we have so many memories of life in a much simpler time. A time when the summer months found us outside more than in, riding our bikes, building forts, playing tag, hiking the railroad tracks, dancing to 45rpm records spinning on a portable turntable in the driveway, and sharing our first kisses with the neighborhood boys.

I think of Michele anytime I see the movie "Stand By Me", based on the book by Stephen King. (I bet you didn't know this, did you Mich?) At the very end of the movie, Richard Dreyfus (the writer) types "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" There's so much truth to that statement. While I've had - and still have - several very good friends, and quite a few great friends, and have had the privilege to meet many wonderful people in my life, the friends I grew up with, will always be special. Friendship was so intense then. I loved my friends. "I love you like my sister", we'd say - and mean it. "I'd do anything for you", we'd say - and we would. "If anyone hurts you, I'll beat them up!", we'd promise - and find ourselves wrestling in the grass, defending each other's honor.

And what adventures we had! We were tomboys and played football and baseball with the boys. We climbed trees. We built tree-forts. We caught frogs and tadpoles. And fireflies and caterpillars. But we also had Barbies, and played hopscotch, jumped rope and played school - when the boys weren't out to play with. The boys were always more fun than the 'girlie' stuff. The last time Michele and I spent any length of time together, we spent hours remembering our childhood. It's very bittersweet. Time passes much too quickly.

Well, I did it. I bought a new camera! I finally upgraded my 20D to a 40D. I've had my 20D for three years now, so I was due for a new camera. I've taken more than 60,000 frames with my 20D and that's getting near the high end of the life expectancy before the camera has to go in for servicing. I didn't want to risk having my camera malfunction while I'm traveling this summer, so I had no choice but to buy a new one. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it) It was shipped yesterday and should arrive tomorrow or Friday. I'm quite excited and can't wait to play. Of course, it would be nice if the snow would stop, so I could photograph some pretty green stuff or wildflowers.

Yesterday, we had a lovely day. Everything was nicely melting, the sun was shining, and it even warmed up into the 40s. I had lunch with a couple of friends and then went to Creamers Field to take some photos of the geese and swans. I didn't see any swans. They probably took off when the snow flurries came back late last week, not that I blame them.

I am so ready for May!