Frederick got the boot from his mom a few weeks ago in our yard, and we still see him every few days.  I’m not sure if he’s sentimental or if the food is just good here.  I hope he keeps coming around (at a safe distance, of course) because I look forward to seeing him grow his rack.

Jens’ grandfather, presumably in one of his rare displays of humor, had built a 2-seater outhouse.  Just in case you wanted company.

In hindsight, I thought, I probably should have made some more noise on my way to the outhouse, just in case an unsuspecting bear was wandering around.  Instead, I had made a beeline toward the only threat on my mind, determined to spend as little time on this unpleasant task as possible.

The seat on the right had a detached cover that might require extra maneuvering.  Extra maneuvering meant touching it longer than absolutely necessary.  I chose the seat to the left.  I lifted the cover and peered inside.

I always peer inside.  I don’t know why.  It’s a terrible idea.  Perhaps I’m just checking to be sure there aren’t any dead bodies floating on the surface (thanks, Bones).

Instead, I’m always greeting with the same unsettling sight: a juicy pit full of human excrement.

In Texas, they’re called “latrines.”  A more gentile word, but once you lift the lid you’re still greeted by a steaming pile of poo floating in fly-infested piss.

I was first introduced to the latrine as a Girl Scout.  In addition to hawking as many boxes of overpriced cookies as we could, we were periodically forced to attend these Girl Scout Camps for several days at a time – periods of my life of which I have no fond memories. 

I’m pretty sure Girl Scouts defines “camp” in roughly the same way that Hitler did.  It was more or less a torture facility for the socially awkward.

The retreats, as they were sometimes termed, were supposed to be educational.  We made crafts and played games that we could have done just as easily at home.  We were forced to spend days and nights with people we didn’t like and got in trouble for fighting.  We hardly slept for being overrun by spiders and ambushed by mosquitoes.  The bathing facilities were questionable if they existed at all.  We got to go horseback riding in the freezing rain, then had to wear our soaking wet clothing on the several-hour drive home. 

And we got to use latrines.  Then we got to clean them.

I always peered inside.  I don’t know why.  After baking for months in the hot Texas heat, the stench was enough to suffocate you, so you had to get in and out in the amount of time you could hold your breath.  Harder to do when you were tasked with sanitizing the facility.  Try as I might, I wasn’t able to get out of latrine duty EVERY time.

And God forbid you had to pee in the middle of the night.  Everything comes out at night.  As you forged your way through the brush with a flashlight, you could feel the spider webs cling to your legs and arms. You prayed their occupants were not currently crawling up your neck to seek revenge.  Your inadequate flashlight could not illuminate enough of the latrine’s interior to show you the things flying around inside, and you prayed that it was just moths that kept running into your head.  As you rushed back to the camp cabin, you tried to take stock of how many mosquitoes were still attached to your body, and laid in bed awake for hours fighting the sensation that you were being bitten by invisible insects.

I finished my business in the outhouse as quickly as possible and marched back to the Seldovia cabin to vigorously wash my hands. 

And to tell Kaelin that she was never joining the Girl Scouts.

The crowds came in, the shops opened up, and healthy, green plants sprang up absolutely everywhere.  The woods around our house are thick and green, the grass is vibrant, and the ferns have sprouted at least a foot in a matter of days.

Amazing transformation.

The last week – despite the forecasts – has been sunny and hovering around 65°.  Today was the first overcast day all week and the blue sky started poking through late this afternoon.  The forecast continues to predict rain every day for the foreseeable future.  We’ll see how that goes.

Jens was sick last week.  He had some sort of nasty flu-like virus that took him down pretty hard for about 3 days.  He even called in sick to work, which he very rarely does.

Then he was nice enough to give it to me.  I’ve been slacking on my Vitamin D doses and now I’m paying for it.

All things considered, it actually wasn’t too bad as illnesses go.  As a SAHM, I don’t get “sick days,” so it was fortunate that I was not up to par on a weekend/holiday because that meant there were other people around to care for the kids. Now I just have these annoying cold-like symptoms – itchy eyes, runny/stuffy nose.  Blah.  I can’t remember the last time I had a cold.  It must have been before Koren was born.

I think I’ll make a point never to get another one. 

My head tickles and I can’t stop sneezing.

I have Adobe CS3, a software suite that includes Photoshop and allows me to edit my photos.  Photoshop by itself runs about $700.  Photoshop by default can’t open Nikon NEF (Raw) files so I have a plugin that allows me to use Photoshop to edit my pictures – because a) I like the RAW controls PS offers, and b) I need Photoshop to do the batch processing that allows me to put the images on this website and have them look right.

So today I inserted my memory card and SURPRISE!  My plugin doesn’t work for my new camera.

And the updated version of the plugin that DOES work for my new camera doesn’t work on my version of Photoshop.

So I can’t open and edit my pictures.  Which means it might be a while before you get to see any of them.

Here is today’s forecast.  Yesterday’s was the same. 

Both days have been unbelievably gorgeous.  Sunny, mid-50’s.  Mild breeze.  Recently they have started amending the current hour’s weather conditions, but still predict rain and showers for the next hour.  How they think it will be raining at 6pm when there’s not a cloud in the sky at 5pm is a puzzle to me.

The forecast is the same for the next 10 days.  I’m hoping they’re equally off-base about the whole week, but the locals have assured me that the weather will be terrible for the weekend.  Apparently it always rains on Memorial Day weekend.  It’s tradition.

So what did I end up doing with my time yesterday?  It was a gorgeous day outside so I went down to the spit and spent several hours walking around and introducing myself to some of the local businesses.  I passed out my cards, trying to drum up some clients, and enjoyed the opportunity to meet some of the locals.  I even met the lady who used to have my phone number. 

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while to see what kind of shops and eateries are located on the spit.  Most of the shops don’t open until this weekend, but the charters and restaurants were all open.  I offered to build a website for free in exchange for a bear-viewing tour.  I really want to go on one of those but they’re super expensive.

In other super-exciting news (for me) I have new camera equipment!!!  A store in Anchorage was running a combo special on the exact camera and lens I had been wishing for, so with a little help from some very generous donors (thanks Mom & Dad!) I was able to get both.  I have been dying to try out my new telephoto lens on some wildlife, but sightings have been scarce in the last few days.  I think they’re conspiring against me.  They seem to come out for everyone else – everyone who does NOT have a new camera and awesome telephoto lens to use.  I find it immensely frustrating.

I went fishing with Jens a couple days ago.  We drove an hour to where the larger king salmon are supposed to be and had zero luck.  Jens fished for a solid hour and then caught a rock which kept his lure, so he came home with less than he started out with.  I came home with a single picture of a bird, and a lot of pictures of Jens’ back.

I shot some eagles flying over my head (with the camera, not a gun) earlier today, but I need some more practice with the focus settings on my new camera, as the pictures came out pretty blurry.

Today has been a nice surprise, weather-wise.  We’re finding the weather forecasts to be oddly unreliable around here, and today that turned out to be a good thing.  It has been so sunny and pleasant here today, when it was supposed to rain and continue raining through the next 10+ days.  I hope the forecast is equally wrong about that, because we’re going to Seldovia for Memorial Day weekend and really want it to be nice outside.  I will have my new photography gear in hand and had better get to use it.

I took a water taxi over to Jakolof Bay (near Seldovia) to collect the kids from their Ana and Papa.  Sounds like they had a ball over there, as always.  It was a nice break for us as well because even though we didn’t get the car fixed, we did get some work done around the house and enjoyed the downtime.  And I got several uninterrupted nights of sleep in a row, which is hard to come by these days. 

Some day, my son will start sleeping through the night again.  Some day.

Unfortunately, the car service is not going to happen because of another thing we’ve discovered about Alaska.  Car service up here is like seeing a doctor in Dallas.  Unless it’s an emergency, you have to call way ahead of time and make an appointment because they’re too booked to see you that day.  We drove all the way to Anchorage (4 hours each way) this weekend to get the car cleaned and detailed (well, that wasn’t the only reason we went to Anchorage, but it was high on the priority list).  In Dallas, you can drop your car off for a complete interior and exterior wash and pick it up 2 hours later. 

When we arrived at the detail place in Anchorage we were told that the earliest they could fit us in was the following Wednesday!  For a car wash! 

Same thing when we tried to get the 30K service today – the earliest they can see us is Saturday.

So it seems that I have an entire day at my disposal with no kids.  What should I do?

That doesn’t stop her from practicing her casting on the beach though.  She picked up the push-release-cast flow very quickly and can now fish with the best of them, minus the actual bate.

She even gives Koren an occasional lesson on how to fish, though mostly he’s content with throwing rocks in the water.  And throwing rocks in the water.  And did I mention that he likes to throw rocks in the water?