Monday, July 26, 2010

Forth of July in Seldovia

This is the second time I’ve gotten to spend Fourth of July in Seldovia.  The first was 10 years ago when I came up with Jens’ family for his cousin’s wedding.  I immediately decided that it’s one of the best places in the country to celebrate Independence Day.

Seldovia is a tiny town.  The full-time population is about 200 people, though that grows in the summer.  Every year, they have a parade that the townspeople and children participate in.  There are costumes, “floats,” food, vendor booths, contests and wood carvings. 

I’m not sure what the group in the middle is supposed to be (the tubes they’re blowing in are hollow seaweed stalks often found on the beach), but the back three are three volcanoes in this area: Iliamna, Redoubt, and Spurr.

George Washington crossing the Delaware:

A tribute to the Harbor Master:

Kaelin’s favorite part was the candy.  Every group in the parade that passed her threw a wad of candy at her feet.  It was better than Halloween!

After the parade, we enjoyed a walk around the town.

I have an appreciation for the slightly irreverent, so I got a kick out of this:

We paused to admire the wood carvings:

And let the kids play around in the grass while we ate lunch (halibut spring rolls) on a park bench with a view of the harbor.

Then we headed over to “Old Seldovia,” where the main part of town was, prior to the Great Alaskan Earthquake that destroyed a lot of Alaska in 1964.  The town used to be built entirely on piers over the water, and was razed to the ground during the earthquake.  As a result, they decided to rebuild on the land, which is where the majority of town is now.  Old Seldovia is a very interesting mix of earthquake ruins and new construction, as they have rebuilt portions of it.

After our walk, we admired some more wood carvings, and then headed back down to the dock and across the bay to the cabin for some R&R.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Bummer

Koren woke up last night at 3:30am.  This is (unfortunately) not unusual, but it IS unusual for him to wake up crying, “Owie, Mama, owie!”

Amidst his tears, he explained that his “back. hurts.” and pointed to his lower back.  He was inconsolable for about half an hour, at which point he had cried himself into exhaustion and fell asleep again.

Then he woke up 2 hours later and it started all over again.  Another inconsolable crying jag about how much his back hurt, and nothing we did seemed to help at all.  He finally fell asleep in my arms out of pure exhaustion and slept until almost 8:00am.

This morning he is not himself.  He is very lethargic, sleepy, and hardly talking at all.  Anyone who has ever met him knows that this is highly abnormal.  He says his back is “good” now, and that he doesn’t have any owies anywhere.  He has a low-grade fever, but he’s acting like a child with a fever of 104°.

He’s passed out on my bed right now.  A very early nap that will hopefully do him some good.

We made a trip to the doctor this morning and came home with a plastic bag taped to his wee-wee.  That will be fun to remove.  But the alternative was a catheter.  The doctor wants a urine sample to rule out a UTI that may have spread to his kidneys, causing the back pain.  Beyond that, they took some blood (which was not pleasant) and want to x-ray his lower back.  He has been complaining off and on about back pain for several months, though it has never been this bad.  Usually I have him lie down on the couch for a minute and he’s back to his normal rambunctious self.

And finally, if they can’t figure out the cause, we’ll have to take him to Anchorage (4 hours away) to see a pediatrician, since there aren’t any in Homer.  We’re hoping it doesn’t come to that, but we may end up making a family trip to Anchorage - Jens may need surgery on his arm and I need to see a dermatologist about a spot on my arm that has me concerned.

Fun times at the Eckels hospital house!  Here’s hoping that Kaelin will remain her usual healthy self.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Seldovia: Clamming

After such a great time in Seldovia our first weekend, we decided to return the next weekend because the tides were going to be low enough to do some clamming.  The weather wasn’t quite as cooperative this time around, but did allow us to get some clamming done Saturday morning before it rained for the rest of the weekend.

We came away with a nice haul of clams and Kaelin got to play with all sorts of other little critters we dug up in the mud.

Then we came up with ways to entertain ourselves indoors for the next 24 hours in a 500 square foot cabin.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Seldovia: The Beginning

We took our first boat ride to Seldovia to visit Jens’ parents in their cabin on the water.  Koren was NOT. A. FAN. of the boat ride.  He spent the entire time with his eyes closed and his face buried in Jens’ neck.

Once we arrived, however, the kids were both thrilled to see their grandparents and to discover the new and exciting things to explore in Seldovia.

When we relocated to Homer, Alaska, we moved to one of the most remote places in the country.  Seldovia is even more remote.  The only way to get there is by boat or plane, and the whole city has a population of about 200 people.  When you’re in Seldovia, everything you do (or don’t do) is dependent upon the tide.  If you need to go to the store, but the tide is so low that your boat is high and dry on the beach… well, you’re out of luck.  But you might as well take the opportunity to go clamming while you’re waiting!

The kids think Seldovia is one of the best places on earth.  They might just be right.  I can’t think of a more perfect place for relaxing, exploring, playing, and observing wildlife… at least until the enormous mosquitoes come out and carry you away.  Fortunately, we haven’t seen many yet.

The kids waiting for Mako's Water Taxi to take us to Seldovia


Seldovia Harbor


Jim and Cyndy's cabin (at low tide)


Jim and Cyndy with their really lousy view of the mountains


View from the cabin


View from the cabin


Weird rock formation that the eagles like to sit on


Jim & Cyndy's cabin is the one in the middle.