Fire & Water
Another hot day. We turned on the air conditioning at work about 9 am just to keep it bearable. When we walked out of the building at 1:30 p.m., it was actually warmer outside than in--very much a novelty. It felt as if we had skipped directly from winter to summer.
As I backed out of my parking space, I caught sight of three yellow-shirted fire fighters walking from the ARFF station toward the Dept. of Forestry ramp. The fire season is starting so it's official--spring is here. For the past few years, the Dept. of Forestry has stationed a fire crew and aircraft at the Homer airport for quick response to wildfires. Later in the season they will follow the fire danger further north--up into the Interior--after things green up around here. In urban America this past year, citizens learned to appreciate the heroism of firefighters in a whole new light. In Alaska and far-flung spaces elsewhere in the West, smoke-jumpers and hot shots have always been our heroes.
I stopped by The Wagon Wheel on my way home to pick up some catnip seeds. I ended up buying several packets of wildflower seeds, poppies and cornflowers to scatter around the yard. Spring fever.
At the Post Office, I was surprised to have a package slip in the box--from Malaysia. Malaysia? Who do I know in Malaysia? Most likely, it was the VCD of "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" that I had ordered a few weeks back. Even though I have no way of playing it. Another acquisition for my Vincent D'Onofrio Collection. I *do* have it bad.
And such it was. For now, I have to content myself with having it. Actually seeing the film will have to come later.
I went jogging when I got home. Nothing too ambitious--just around the block to our other piece of property and back. I dug out one of our old jogging tapes from Nome--a Dire Straits mix that had propelled us when we used to run down from FAA Housing to the dump and back up along the runway. That brought back memories.
I walked almost as much as I ran, but I worked up a sweat and got my heart pumping--that was the main idea.
While I was in the shop feeding the cats, I heard on the radio that the Sterling Highway was closed at Mile 161 due to flooding. We live off Mile 167. As warm as it has been for the past two days, I wasn't surprised. They said the Anchor River was over the road at Black Water Bend and traffic was being routed via the North Fork Road between Homer and Anchor Point. I guess it was good that the flooding happened at a location that had alternate routing.
Ah, springtime in Alaska ...
As I backed out of my parking space, I caught sight of three yellow-shirted fire fighters walking from the ARFF station toward the Dept. of Forestry ramp. The fire season is starting so it's official--spring is here. For the past few years, the Dept. of Forestry has stationed a fire crew and aircraft at the Homer airport for quick response to wildfires. Later in the season they will follow the fire danger further north--up into the Interior--after things green up around here. In urban America this past year, citizens learned to appreciate the heroism of firefighters in a whole new light. In Alaska and far-flung spaces elsewhere in the West, smoke-jumpers and hot shots have always been our heroes.
I stopped by The Wagon Wheel on my way home to pick up some catnip seeds. I ended up buying several packets of wildflower seeds, poppies and cornflowers to scatter around the yard. Spring fever.
At the Post Office, I was surprised to have a package slip in the box--from Malaysia. Malaysia? Who do I know in Malaysia? Most likely, it was the VCD of "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" that I had ordered a few weeks back. Even though I have no way of playing it. Another acquisition for my Vincent D'Onofrio Collection. I *do* have it bad.
And such it was. For now, I have to content myself with having it. Actually seeing the film will have to come later.
I went jogging when I got home. Nothing too ambitious--just around the block to our other piece of property and back. I dug out one of our old jogging tapes from Nome--a Dire Straits mix that had propelled us when we used to run down from FAA Housing to the dump and back up along the runway. That brought back memories.
I walked almost as much as I ran, but I worked up a sweat and got my heart pumping--that was the main idea.
While I was in the shop feeding the cats, I heard on the radio that the Sterling Highway was closed at Mile 161 due to flooding. We live off Mile 167. As warm as it has been for the past two days, I wasn't surprised. They said the Anchor River was over the road at Black Water Bend and traffic was being routed via the North Fork Road between Homer and Anchor Point. I guess it was good that the flooding happened at a location that had alternate routing.
Ah, springtime in Alaska ...
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