First Missive from the Road -- Five Pictures, Two Lessons, and a Soundtrack

Well, for heaven's sake! Here I am in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, Canada. Just yesterday morning, I left Anchorage after some tender, delightful visits with dear friends there. I drove away feeling so loved and held, and I still feel a sense of closeness, despite having driven almost 700 miles since yesterday morning.

This adventure I'm currently undergoing/creating/being created by is a visual fiesta and an endless series of lessons and prompts. I'll use the two as framework for my travelers' tales going forward.

Picture 1: Homer, my last full day there (Tuesday morning) -- one of the biggest snows of the year.

By the end of that day, Homer was shiny with wet pavements and blazing with sunshine.

By the end of the next day in Anchorage, I had six fewer boxes in my car, and a much clearer view out the back. 
Lesson 1: Don't be tyrannized by the status quo!
I get inertia around status quo. I'll undergo inconveniences or do without things I need because they're not easily in reach but require some uncovering. And that's even when I'm at home! So I was proud of myself when the friend I stayed over with Wednesday night encouraged me to take my time the next morning--I had the whole day in town, after all, but she urged me not to feel pressure to leave when she left for work--and I took her up on it. I pulled most everything out of the car and repacked without the "get out for an appointment" time pressure of the previous morning. I'd already shed four boxes--things I was giving away/letting go--and was able to eliminate two more just by consolidating.
Not only did that make me feel safer with the improved visibility; it also demonstrated to me that repacking really isn't hard. I'll probably do it many more times in the next couple weeks!

Picture 2: My car gets the duct tape job, just in time for leaving Alaska!

Oh, duct tape. It's the cliche go-to solution for anything and everything, and the badge of honor for many a piece of venerable but stalwart equipment nursed along by Alaskan folks. Part of the pride of my car when I got it a year ago was that it was in such good shape. It was a self-esteem boost! Preparing for this journey included several timely repairs to the car's machinery. but I hadn't realized the rubber flanges on the passenger doors had worked loose. Normally, I don't open them very often. At the moment, I'm opening all the doors several times a day.
This is a safety issue, too. If those worked loose enough to start that whistling noise I would go crazy! Thankfully, the Subaru folks in town helped me tuck it all back, but what was I thinking? I was going on the road without any duct tape in my on-board toolkit! And I didn't want the flanges to work loose again. So, bright-red cold-weather duct tape it is. I taped the flanges on my break yesterday.

 Picture 3: turning around from picture 2, this is what I could see:

The roads yesterday were better than I could have prayed for. As were the skies. Glorious. Almost no ice on the road; sunny skies. Alders and willows by the sides of the road sleekly red, ready for spring. There was good warning every time the pavement was gravelly, and those patches were few. I saw maybe four cars coming toward me between Glenallen and Tok; only one other in my direction.

The Snowshoe Motel in Tok was comfortable and simple. A blessing to be able to unfold and unwind in a quiet, private space with the sunset warming the bed.. I was supposed to write a blog yesterday, but I hadn't realized how tired I'd be.

Lesson 2: It may not be me. It got very cold in Tok last night. Good job I pulled all my food indoors, but ironically, I turned the fridge too low so my carrots and fennel froze anyway. My poor car, struggling to start up with all its fluids so cold--I ran it for a good twenty minutes before setting off. A couple other motel guests were starting out too. Cars warming up when the air is barely above zero Fahrenheit (and had been colder yet before dawn) make odd groans and whines, and odd smells too, sometimes. I brought an armful out to my car and picked up a nasty burnt-oil odor. I can worry about my car, not being a skilled mechanic, and I had some moments of misgiving. But then a voice said, "It's probably not even you"--a liberating lesson one can also learn from the tears that come from onions, or the anxiety contractable from someone else's nailbiting.

Picture 4: the moment I thought I was driving into a blizzard:

The first 30 miles or so south of the Canadian border were gnarly--basically unpaved. As elsewhere, though, whenever the road was going to be bad, there was a good heads-up. The stretches of bad road were another reinforcement about flexing from status quo. I would get so used to driving a certain comfortable speed, but all of my stubbornness couldn't counter the obvious fact that I needed to slow way down. I hit a frost heave too fast at one point and almost went airborne. When the skies went from blue to blizzard, I acknowledged it had always been a possibility. But I drove out of it just as quickly as in; it was the mountain's snow shadow. Gratitude...

Picture 5: Kluane Lake. Just up the road from where I'm spending the night.

Soundtrack: I had a fantasy of driving away from Homer to the Monteverdi Vespers, whose opening gives me chills and tears every time I hear it, as do many other passages.

The opening is a solo baritone--"Deus, in adiutorium meum intende" (God, make haste to help me)--like a laser pointer of focus, one voice of all the hundreds in the several choirs and instrumental sections of the score, and at the end of his "intende" the full chorus, strings, organ, leaping trumpets break out with their first "Gloria!" 
Oh, and what an auspicious beginning to my journey: as I pulled away from the house, this prayer for God's help, and then the massed-voice "Gloria" broke out just as I rounded a bend in the road to find myself looking straight into brilliant sunrise.

Mostly Pictures of Snowforms and Moose

In my last post, I promised more photos when I got home. And here they are! A lot of photos in one post.
This is one of the snow-submerged benches--we're walking along at the level of the seat, and you can see it's been alluring for a few dogs too!

See the cute little snowman on the garbage can? And I think the posterboard looks like a moose from the side!

Phil got in close and made the snowman look huge!

The lake we were hiking around is just beginning to thaw in places--a beautiful time.

 

The moose from the top down and the beavers from the bottom up have been hard on the trees--lots had fallen down!  Terry is an incredible photographer, and she's working on taking one great shot each time rather than shooting a dozen and hoping for a good one.
It's a treat to watch her at work, finding the right angle, light, composition.

The artist at work in the beautiful birch wood... 

And of course a scenic shot... 

Here's a couple more pics of those downtown moose from the last post-- 

A big cow and her calf, both of them looking much healthier than some moose we've seen around.

 Another moose crossing the road--I just caught her in this picture, do you see?

The snow berms on the sides of the road are just beautiful. The snow is dirty and grayed from the road spray, but it has all kinds of amazing reliefs carved into it, like wind-chiseled sandstone. 

There was some fresh snow that whitened everything up--gives some idea of how darn much snow there is, too! 

One more. If we weren't on the open road, it might feel like being in a mysterious cave! I kept wanting to stop and just stare at those carved formations on the vertical snow. 

This picture is taken from our friend Joe's front room. See how the snow is almost up to the bird feeder?

And looking past the bird feeder--that's some deep snow! 

We knew we should have driven the truck to town! Phil scored at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Turned our "warthog" into a snail!  

 We had a beautiful drive home...

And although the car seemed about to break down at one point, we got home in time for a very delightful St Patrick's Day party, in honor of which I even had time to make a raw vegan Irish Cream mousse with irish moss!

One more--these icicles outside our cabin, bent into all kinds of interesting shapes--I could look at them for minutes on end.

 Happy end of weekend to you!

ABCD Moon Medallions and Anchorage Snow

Happy Friday, everyone! We've been in Anchorage since Wednesday, so I'm a little out of the loop. Had a couple serious appointments--some intense processing to do as a result. But I've been enjoying the face of Anchorage at this stage of the winter (yes, it is still winter, bright sun this afternoon notwithstanding). This moose cow and calf pair were right downtown, enjoying a tree that wouldn't normally be their first choice...

 And here's our friend Lynn's deck--the table and chairs have been the site of many a gorgeous late summer dinner, and now they are a little snow-toadstool! We hiked on trails where the level of snow was as high as the benches, which you could see buried every here and there along the way. I'll post some more pics when I get home.

For now, though, a new recipe that seemed too good not to share. With all the complex breakfasts I've been posting lately, low on calories and long on mineral-rich fillers, I wondered how to make a similar breakfast on the road as we are. The answer has been to eat a granny smith apple and one of these "ABCD Moon Medallions," which are about 35 calories apiece. Holds me all the way to lunchtime!

 

A-is for apricots--AND Amazing Grass
B-is for brazil nuts
C-is for chia AND carrot pulp
D-is for dates AND delicious

And what about the Moon? Well, the reason I included brazil nuts in these medallions is that they're so incredibly high in selenium, and with my thyroid condition especially, it's a good idea to get plenty of selenium in. Oh, and "selene" is the moon. You know I'm terrified of omega-6, and brazil nuts have lots of those, so they're balanced out by ground chia seeds, which have more omega 3 than omega 6. I'm more comfortable eating one of these medallions than eating a straight brazil nut. I dehydrated the rest of my carrot pulp so that it could feature in these "instant" recipes and cut the denseness of nuts/seeds and dried fruit.

Like my fig bars, these also feature dried nettles for extra mineral richness, and in addition these have some chocolate Amazing Grass powder for the same, and for a subtle chocolate flavor.

ABCD Moon Medallions (raw, vegan, soy/gluten/dairy free) (Makes 20 medallions)
1/3 cup apricots, chopped
1/3 cup dates, chopped
1/4 cup brazil nuts
1/4 cup ground chia seeds
3/4 cup dehydrated carrot pulp
2 tablespoons powdered dried nettles
2 tablespoons Amazing Grass chocolate flavored green powder

Whiz the brazil nuts alone in a food processor until chopped. Add the nettles, then the dried fruit, and gradually add the ground chia, carrot pulp, nettles, and Amazing Grass. Process until everything comes together into a ball.

Roll the "dough" into two thin logs and refrigerate for an hour or two.

Slice them into medallions--I got 20 out of this recipe.
That little sweet, nutty, mineral rich boost combines perfectly with the juicy apple for a lasting breakfast.
They're a little lighter than the typical lara bar, with the addition of the greens and the pulp. Also, because they use chia seeds and pulp in greater proportion than smooth, creamy nuts, and because of the nettles, they have a slightly grittier texture--but in a good way! It's kind of an earthy, good for you but delicious kind of taste, and they're more satisfying for less calories.

Sound good to you?

Since I seem to be transgressing my chocolate interdict at the moment anyway, I might as well confess to another treat I've enjoyed in the past week--chocolate coconut water, who knew?

There's real cocoa and coconut cream in there with the coconut water, as well as some cane sugar and ??natural flavors (a bit of a red flag). I enjoyed this over two days--smooth and yummy. I was surprised by it--all the coconut waters flooding the market at the moment tend to run to mango or pineapple flavors if they're not plain. I wasn't sure it would be good, and was pleasantly surprised.

I'm going to sign off so I can get back to preparing my classes for next week and also maybe do some of the processing I need to do. I hope you enjoy the medallions--and have a great weekend!

Trip to Town/Vertical Hike, Blueberries and Invasive Species

I hope everyone's having a great weekend! The last weekend of August, rainy and overcast - the mini heat-wave that so many places seem to have caught is gone from here.

Fortunately the rain held off, mostly, for our overnight camp on Thursday night - here's a very familiar picture for me: Phil's receding form on the way to our nightly shakedown!

We got home late last evening from an overnight trip to Anchorage for appointments, errands and - we hoped - some blueberry harvesting! Phil's favorite place to harvest blueberries is over a mountain pass a little way north of Anchorage.  It is a very strenuous hike - extremely steep up and down, and I was apprehensive of the prospect of hiking up fast starting at 8pm, harvesting blueberries until dark, falling down exhausted (having set up camp!) and then being ready for my 10am appointment on Friday. I also had memories of being stiff and sore for days after the hike in previous years - it's the descent that kills you! And this year is no different in that regard, although really anxiety was unnecessary. Here's the view from half-way up.

It's a mile up to the pass and maybe 1,000ft of elevation gain! So, Phil and I went at our own speeds, Phil carrying the tent, sleeping bags and almost everything and going very fast, dumping the camping gear in a camp spot and on through the pass. I was surprised that I made it to the top in about 38 minutes! It was an intense 38 minutes of hyperventilating and staving off cramps, but it felt pretty good. Imagine how fast Phil went... And going back down, he ended up carrying my pack to - my legs were jelly.

The view from the top -

- and turning around, through the pass -

We slept pretty well in the deep silence of the mountains,

and there was a patch of wild valerian just above our camp spot!

Unfortunately, blueberry picking was pretty much a 'bust.' Between both of us, this is all we gathered - and the black, shiny ones are 'crowberries,' another low-bush berry that is god but much less tasty. 

Usually, we'd expect to get several gallons. We pick with these 'harvesting combs,' which strip the berries off the stems, and you can then knock them down into the holding area.

Why is this? There is a new invasive species of caterpillar, that has been proliferating and systematically defoliating low bushes and trees in that whole area! The many white moths fluttering around in the twilight bore witness to this. Back on the 'invasive species' issue that was such a constant topic back in Hawaii. 'Invasive' introduced species are a problem when they do so very well in their new environment and have no natural predators to keep their population in check. Aside from humans gathering the blueberries, many varieties of bird depend on them in the Fall, and they are an important food source for the bears before hibernation also. Birds preparing for migration especially target berries.

If these moths lay tons of eggs and if the eggs survive the winter, and if the caterpillars eat all the leaves again next year, within a year or two, the blueberry bushes will die and those animal populations will be severely impacted. Meanwhile, the moths can just catch a wind current and fly off to decimate some other area. Sounds kind of like humans, doesn't it?

I was very glad of all those goodies I made the other day, to sustain me with all that hiking. It was good to feel self-sufficient with food in the big town, without needing to compromise on what works for me. 

But we're flapping our ears for some alternative blueberry-picking spots and on the long 'to-do' list we put together, now that we're done with guests, a trip across the bay to harvest currants is also featured!

After all my chia-based recipes lately, it's cool serendipity to see that Averie is giving away 2lbs of chia seeds on her blog - check out and enter here!

Have a great weekend and please stay tuned for some product reviews!

Hanging out in Anchorage, Side Street Espresso, Workshop Aftermaths

A happy Wednesday! Our last day spending time with David and Heather et al until we don't know when - pouring rain here, a change of pace for Phil and me both, hanging out in the city, going to coffee shops, etc.

But it's so good to see Phil again!

Monday night we camped out, not too far from the road, in the brush - a compromise between Phil and me for sure - he'd have gladly gone for miles, I was so exhausted I could barely make it the few hundred yards we went. At least it was dry that night - and there were some amazing fungi, their fruiting bodies further harbingers of fall, on our route - check out this amanita!

Beautiful but deadly.

Last night we stayed with a friend. It is so good to catch up with people, but I'm finding it's way harder to keep on top of myself, blood sugar, etc, when we're in this hanging-loose kind of mode, than it was at the writing workshop, with a schedule and with the imperative to be on form to absorb everything. There's the cumulative effect from tiredness from that too, I guess, and it's interesting to note that when I'm not doing significant amounts of creative writing in a day, my energy seems lower. (Kind of like how Phil feels out of sorts if he doesn't get a ton of exercise in of a day. Right now, he's donned raingear and his new running shoes, and has gone off on a hike/jog to pick up some huge pieces of discarded iron he noticed somewhere and bring them back to the truck!)

My experience this second round of chelating is that it makes me feel pretty crappy, especially by the third or fourth day. Cranky, skin crawling, guts unhappy, achey (muscles and bones), blood sugar even more delicate. Hopefully those are all symptoms of mercury etc exiting my body, and hopefully things will feel much better when this is over!

We've spent the last three mornings at Side Street Espresso - our friends' favorite coffee shop in downtown Anchorage. The owners are super friendly and know everyone by name. And they have bengal spice tea, my favorite! There's lots of really interesting artwork all over the walls, and apparently the display changes every month. And every single day there's a special coffee drink, named for a real or fictional personality, who is represented in a cartoon drawn by George (one of the owners) himself!

Here's a slightly goofy shot of David and Heather, showing some of the decor too.

Back by the bathroom is a little gallery of several previous cartoons. 

Once a year, the artwork of the month in there is entirely composed of these cartoons, and people have the opportunity to buy them. Today, when we went in, the gentleman pictured in the cartoon du jour was sitting right there in the cafe!