Charged by a Moose, Shipping Charges and Others

Close to a month ago, I decided that it was time to get a dehydrator. That very day, a refund check arrived in the mail that would cover the cost and I took it as a sign. Ever since then, I've been stoked and excited at the idea of having a dehydrator, looking forward to all the things that I would make with it. I anticipated having it shortly after we returned from our trip.

I wanted to make crackers for Phil, which he loves so much. I wanted to make all kinds of granolas and camping foods for the summer. I wanted to make my carrot bars but unbaked. I wanted to try to make nettle chips (not kettle chips, not kale chips)--we have nettles here now, and I'm loving the heck outta them!

 I've made my first batches of nettle pesto--nettle/cilantro, and nettle/parsley/basil.

 Yummy, and takes just a minute to make.

Thank you so much for the suggestions about my breakfast smoothie: I'm working on something much simpler right now.

 Nettles, a piece of baked yam, some cooled herbal tea--that's it! This time, I felt sick too--but I think I od'd on the nettles (didn't even know it was possible): it was a whole blenderful of raw nettles... So, still a work in progress.

Back to the dehydrator: that digression was realistic--it takes me a long time to make purchases like these, to do all the research and figure out the best fit for what I need. I made a purchase yesterday, but it turns out that I'm going to have to wait another month to have the machine. It was going to cost $50 to ship it up here, but shipping was free to the lower 48. So, I've had it shipped to Phil's mom in Oregon, since we're going back there for a wedding next month. I have some sadness, having allowed myself to get so excited and anticipatory, but I recognize that it's just a delayed gratification, and $50 for just three extra weeks of use was something that even my intense hankering couldn't justify. I've waited this long, after all...

I went with a 5 tray 2000-series Excalibur. Given finances and space available, it seemed like the best option and I got a good deal on eBay. Now I'll just have to anticipate a little longer. One of the disadvantages of living in Alaska is that a lot of commodities are not available in the stores here but are also harder to ship up here from online stores. There are whole classes of things that Amazon won't even ship here. Many other companies offer free shipping to the 48 but charge an arm and a leg for shipping up here. I try to pay attention to the accompanying advantages: that we're not in the midst of commercialdom, are in some pretty unspoiled country. And sometimes, I wish I could have my dehydrator and use it too.

Speaking of high charges, we got charged by a moose when we went hiking a few days ago! There were four of us, heading down the Diamond Creek trail toward the ocean. It was raining gently and the willows, all furry buds and dancing wands, were undulating in the drizzle. I noticed a moose running down the path away from us and called out to point it out to everyone. A moment later, it turned around and ran at us. We slowly moseyed off of the track, which winds down the bluff with cut sides, and stood against the uphill side. The moose's hackles were up and its raw, musky smell overpowered the balm of gilead wafting from the budding cottonwoods. It stopped about 20 feet away from us, then hesitated, legs splayed, then charged toward us again, much closer, and sheered off at the last minute to plunge down the almost sheer cliff. I had to go look over the edge and ensure that it hadn't plummeted down: for the size of these animals, their sure-footedness is phenomenal.

The encounter was over so swiftly but we could smell the moose's odor for many feet down the trail, and see the coarse bristles that it was shedding.

I didn't feel scared, although I was very much aware that the moose was afraid, and was far bigger than any of us. Intense, though.

We hiked several miles up the beach with our friends. They had their backpacks and were going to camp on the beach. Our one friend's pack was quite impressive to me:

He confessed that he'd packed 'the kitchen sink!'

I love the beach north of Homer: it's accessible and yet truly remote and wild: we often see seals, otters and all kinds of birds, as well as coyote tracks and other sign. The bluff is also constantly dynamic: I particularly love this rock at the toe of the bluff that looks like a turtle head--it does, doesn't it?

We left our friends out there when they found their camping spot and hiked back, racing the tide. It seems like when we go on long beach hikes, we often end up having to go much faster on the return leg to beat the tide, where I'd prefer to go slower on the way back.

That said, I'm continuing to be amazed and gratified at my continually increasing exercise tolerance and even enjoyment! I've actually taken on a training program for myself, as well as some dietary tweaking, that I'll talk about soon. Charged up!

Do you take time over online purchases or make impulse buys? (Usually, as I said, I take ages, but very occasionally, something is so compelling that I buy it more rapidly.)
Would you be alarmed by a close encounter with a moose?