With her eyes closed she could hear the glasses clinking, the sounds of friends laughing and dominoes being placed on the table. The sound of the acoustic guitar filling the small room. Everyone intimately seated next to one another. Wafts of soups and warm teas swirling in the air. If the people from the dictionary were ever looking for a definition of small town, they only needed to take a seat here in the cafe. A sense of familiarity painting the walls. Here alone in the sense of lacking true company she began to dance through the memories the past week had held....
Once upon a time in a land covered in snow, where trees bowed under the weight of their heavy white load, two little magical creatures came crawling out of their chariot. Cloaked in cloth from head to toe with only little eyes peeping out from their fur covered caps. The old magical witch carving footprints in the waist high snow. Behind her came the fairy princess and sea captain. Ducking under the entrance to their kingdom they scoured the land for their new home. Through icy forest and under buried cave they explored, finally making camp in an abandoned lodge.
It was here that news of a captured princess came by way of courier owl. The love struck prince has lost his betrothed to a hungry pack of wolves. The sounds of their cries coming closer and closer to the lodge door. With scurried feet they were setting off for far away kingdoms. Onto the boat they climbed with their captain at the helm. Through rocky waters they swayed until the great steel tower rose in the horizon. Down slippery green tunnels they slid as the wolves nipped at their heels. Magical potions cast to quell the sea of lava at their feet. The fairy princess spoke her magical language in her forest to call upon her friends in their time of need. On soft wing they flew until the evil lair was before them. Heavily guarded by bears and watched over by swooping bald eagle. The captain deftly led the way until the princess was safe in hand. It was back to the kingdom they traveled with no less amount of danger in their way. Once home safe, the prince reunited with his one true love they were rewarded with great sums of money. Money they spent buying the lodge to house weary travelers.....
It occurred to me the other day that I was living in Alaska...I know this sounds silly but it's true. It occurred to me while out on a snow shoe hike at the local refuge. Which I kept calling the preserve and blamed the slip up on back home speak still being stuck in my head.
D was able to "rescue" my snow-shoes from the house, (we were back staying at the friends while the re-model was wrapping up) so that I could go for a hike with B.
The weather has warmed up tremendously over the past few days. It's now a balmy 30 degrees and I couldn't be happier. It was perfect weather and the perfect day to get out and go on a hike. Plus it was super bowl Sunday so the place was nearly deserted.
The sun was nestled behind clouds and hanging low but still shinning in the most magnificent way. Words and pictures can do no justice to beauty of the hike. Every where you looked trees were covered in perfect piles of snow and when the crunch of our shoes quieted you could hear birds were humming.
B makes the perfect hiking partner. She takes breaks often, sits, takes pictures and makes for interesting conversation. We also plan out all of the trips we're hoping to take this summer. We swap stories from our nanny arsenal and tricks to make things a little easier.
We counted B tripping but not falling at least 8 times. I made a grand tumble and arse of myself by catching myself the wrong way. A slew of kid approved swear words came out of my mouth seemingly all at once. Thankfully B was in front of me and didn't notice the kerfluffle occuring.
On one of our breaks sitting and admiring the sun hanging over silhouetted trees we counted two bald eagles swooping over head.
We got to a cross roads and the decision to take a short loop versus the supposedly hilly route and neither of us knew what to do. Deciding we had nothing else to do and both feeling sound in mind and body the adventurous road was lain before us. Now, let me just tell you that the trail was marked with 3 steep hills. We kept waiting for them. Until we realized that we'd probably gone over at least 10 of them. Stinking liars. Towards mile 2.5 we both began to wonder if the trail was ever going to end. We peered around each curve hoping to see the parking lot or at least some sign indicating we weren't going in circles. I was never more grateful to see my car. By mile 3 my hip was aching like a geriatric in a nursing home and my sciatic nerve was on fire.
(We came back and did a shorter version out onto the lake the following week. Neither of us feeling like tackling the longer loop we had done the week before.)
B had mentioned going to a restaurant to watch the big game. I invited her over to watch at the friends house since it was probably the only time I was going to have a TV with cable. We wandered the grocery aisles, B buying the required junk food for such occasions and me sticking to my Cliff bar and Odwalla juice combo. Back at the house we laughed at the ridiculous commercials and watched the big game unfold. I usually have no idea what's going on and just pretend like I do. I usually pick a color jersey to follow or the underdog and root for them, never really caring what the outcome is.
Well it's been a tumultuous week. I've never packed, un-packed and re-packed so many times in my life. I'm plum sick of it. Needless to say we are finally back in our house and I'm pleased to say carpenter free! The couches were retrieved from the storage unit today, carpets laid down and cabinets re-arranged. It feels so nice to have some modicum of normalcy back again. I even cooked french toast this morning, whipped up chocolate pudding and have scores of recipes to go through.
On a funny note I came upstairs this morning to fix my breakfast...at I dunno 10:20ish this morning. My four year old came running at me and my 6 year old followed me around like some rock star. They were both concerned that I had left this morning to go do something without them. Their mom had to explain to them that I DO indeed have a life outside of them. :)
Well in just a few short days I will be "celebrating" being here for 100 days. Wow. Well I better rest to keep these juices flowing. Love and peace everyone.
(BTW-I took myself out to dinner tonight-that was the reference from above. As I walked out the door the owner came running out to wish me a good night. Talk about small town!)
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