Back home again

We were in Alaska last week, visiting my sister Alyx and her husband Virgil in Kenai, and spending time also with my cousin Georgia and her husband Alan. It was our third trip in the last year. Two of them were in the summer, when the days are ridiculously long (sunrise before 6 a.m. and sunset around 11 p.m.), and one was in the winter when the days were distressingly short (sunrise at about 9:30 a.m., sunset at about 4:00 p.m.). Alaska is a pretty place, but I'm glad I live way south of there.

In Kenai, we stay in a motorhome in the driveway of my sister's house. My husband Art is allergic to cats, and Alyx and Virgil have four. Art can stay in the house for as long as he can tolerate it and then he retreats to the RV to read. He does a lot of reading in Alaska.

This time we had a couple of hiccups. Last fall Virgil got busy with work and didn't get a chance to winterize the motorhome. Last week, when we moved in, we found at least two leaks - the kind that get bathroom flooring and bedroom carpeting wet. So Art and Virgil fixed the leaks. They required turning off the hot water heater and the cold water pump. We relied on bottled water to brush our teeth and the house shower to clean up.

This spring Virgil got busy with work and didn't get a chance to get the motorhome leveled. Turns out the hydraulic system needs to be repaired. So we had a tipsy week out in the driveway. Sometimes life just gets in the way of taking care of everything in a house and driveway. We'll see whether the leveling happens before we make a decision on another trip up for Thanksgiving!

The silver salmon are running in the Kenai River. On Friday, Art and Virgil left the house at about 6 a.m. and stood on the riverbank until 2:30 p.m. Art caught one salmon right at the end. Then, on Sunday, Art and Virgil left the house at 3:30 a.m. for a river fishing trip on a boat with a guide. They arrived home at about 2:00 p.m. with two salmon each (the limit). It had rained all morning and Art didn't have rubber boots or a heavy jacket, so he was very, very cold when they got back. The men worked to fillet the fish and froze them overnight. Art went through airport security with a suitcase full of frozen salmon.

Back at home, the peas are done and the green beans are ripening up already. The blueberries should be ripe later this week. The squash is flowering and I see several small squashes hiding in there.

In the mail I got notification that I passed the final exam for the mediation training class I took in June. I have an interview this Friday to see if I'll be allowed to continue with the 100-hour practicum on the way to becoming a certified mediator.

In my online bank account I got my first Social Security check! Just like that, $652, a gift from the government. I'll only collect it until I'm 65 and apply for my state pension. I never paid into Social Security during the 20 years I worked for the state, so my Social Security will be adjusted down about 50 percent. Still, that gift will go into our travel account so we can go to Hawaii in December (timeshare), Sedona in January (timeshare), Ecuador in February (home exchange), and Cancun in July (daughter's wedding) without me feeling like a bag lady.

We've had sunny weather for the last two weeks in Seattle. It seems like it's been forever. I can hardly remember the weeks when everyone else in the country was broiling and we were chilly and damp. I have a short memory, fortunately.

And life is good.