August In Anchorage
The drive to and from Anchorage with Dennis was nice. I wish I had brought my camera--the day was so clear and the beauty of late summer is lying on the alpine tundra through Turnagain Pass.
The city of Anchorage itself was a hell-hole, pavements baking under the relentless sun and thongs of people milling aimlessly about. Doesn't anyone in that town have to work? At least an annual taste of Anchorage serves to reinforce my devotion to my rural lifestyle. Happiness is Anchorage in the rearview mirror.
I wore the lilac tank top with the lilac-print-on-black blouse that I bought last year for my New York trip. It seemed pricy at the time, especially for someone whose life is usually so rustic, but I have gotten a lot of mileage out of the set.
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Cissy is looking better today, after one day on prednisone. It is a relief to see her responding but I will feel even better if she doesn't relapse when we wean her off the drug. The swelling and redness have lessened on her face and ears and the puffiness around her eyes has disappeared. She must feel so much better too, despite being temporarily confined to the big cage downstairs.
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Today started out clear and sunny but over the last several hours smoke has encircled us and now the sun is an orange ball in the west and the visibility has dropped to five or six miles. The mountains across the bay--in sharp relief not too long ago--are now shrouded shadows. There is a strong smell of wildfire smoke in the air.
Of course, this is nothing compared to what Fairbanks and the other towns in the Interior have endured this summer. Over five million acres have burned in what is now the worst fire season on record. Over a hundred fires are still burning statewide--one of the major ones just thirty miles north of us on Tustumena Lake.
And the five million acres that has burnt put a lot of smoke into the air.
The city of Anchorage itself was a hell-hole, pavements baking under the relentless sun and thongs of people milling aimlessly about. Doesn't anyone in that town have to work? At least an annual taste of Anchorage serves to reinforce my devotion to my rural lifestyle. Happiness is Anchorage in the rearview mirror.
I wore the lilac tank top with the lilac-print-on-black blouse that I bought last year for my New York trip. It seemed pricy at the time, especially for someone whose life is usually so rustic, but I have gotten a lot of mileage out of the set.
****
Cissy is looking better today, after one day on prednisone. It is a relief to see her responding but I will feel even better if she doesn't relapse when we wean her off the drug. The swelling and redness have lessened on her face and ears and the puffiness around her eyes has disappeared. She must feel so much better too, despite being temporarily confined to the big cage downstairs.
***
Today started out clear and sunny but over the last several hours smoke has encircled us and now the sun is an orange ball in the west and the visibility has dropped to five or six miles. The mountains across the bay--in sharp relief not too long ago--are now shrouded shadows. There is a strong smell of wildfire smoke in the air.
Of course, this is nothing compared to what Fairbanks and the other towns in the Interior have endured this summer. Over five million acres have burned in what is now the worst fire season on record. Over a hundred fires are still burning statewide--one of the major ones just thirty miles north of us on Tustumena Lake.
And the five million acres that has burnt put a lot of smoke into the air.
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