"Indeed ,the beauty of nature is often the wisest balm for it gently relieves and releases the caved mind.Calmness flows in to wash away anxiety and worry" The Invisible Embrace of Beauty John O'Donohue
Dear Jan ,Stan and Mary ,
This week I am resorting to other forms of communication as I have closed my Facebook page -hence the Letter to America /1.
England is experiencing a Spring heat wave this weekend with temperatures in the 20 degree plus region and nature is responding in its turn . I just hope the honeysuckle drifting over the pagoda in our garden will wait until your arrival and welcome you with its wonderful scent.Keith has cut the grass twice this spring !As you can see the outdoor furniture has been unwrapped and the red umbrella is poised ready to protect us from the sun if we choose to sit outside. Because they are blue and tan Border Teriers Tilly and Finan cannot take too much heat and move between the garden and the shady cool of the lounge. A bright blue sky accompanies an easy all around warmth today; all is still and gentle.We watched the Masters at Augusta last night and felt quite at home with the images of your Georgia spring .
I must say I miss both your facebook pages there is an immediacy about them that breaks down distances when I log in most days .I most enjoy the web links and reading the American newspaper articles that you share. Can't wait for Anglo- American hugs to be exchanged .
Finan and Tilly have had their annual check ups and as a result Fin is to have a tooth extracted on Friday at the vets. The litter of 10 labradoodles that we visit are really growing .We saw them today and they really have established canine body language . All are up on all fours strutting around confidently licking ears ,barking , establishing dominance and playing happily .This gives Coco their poodle Mom time to leave the nest and rejoin the pack of 6 other dogs where she is leader. She even had a rest in the sun outside the grooming parlour.The pups have teeth now and so are gradually being introduced to solid food .
I have forwarded your invitation to Nick and Sherrie and the family to join you on the Cotswold way for a day and I expect they will be in touch.
So can I expect a letter from America perhaps not in Alistair Cooke style but more the friendly interest and banter that I have come to expect from your side of the pond ?
Love
The Silver Hoody and Keffie
PS .John O'Donohue's book "The Invisible Embrace of Beauty " matches the atmosphere of these early Spring Days .p47 "For Aquinas understands that each thing is alive and on a journey to become fully itself "
I have none of the full spring beauty you are enjoying to impart here from Alaska. Alas, we are still in winter's grip and very lazily awakening to spring. Good news though, with daily temps up to 50F the snow is melting quickly. I can at last see the earth in my side garden again. Everything is very wet, but it is amazing how quickly water is blotted up by the thirsty Alaskan soil. The buds on the trees are beginning to swell, which sends me out to cut a few chokecherry branches to warm with hopes they will blossom inside. A friend and our dogs took a walk along the river this afternoon. It has opened of ice and great chunks fall off into the rushing water with a thunder like a calving iceberg. We saw a few gulls collecting and on a drive through the river flats this morning saw many ducks--the first of the migrators returning to nest and fatten in the Kenai marshlands. Mid-April means a flurry of activity around the house--getting our camper, zodiak and kayak out and ready, bikes tuned and greased, snow tires off the cars, rakes at the ready, windows that badly need washing! Talk around the dinner table yesterday included predictions of when the morels would be appearing--hopefully when Gilly & Keith are here! Also re-checking plans for the Cotswold Way and the beginning of long, fast conditioning walks---which shoes to wear. Packing light will be easy this time with temps in the UK already getting very warm...by the early June it may be scorching--at least to two lily white Alaskans. Waiting for the return of the song birds to awake to. Hours of daylight are being stretched toward their solstice limits--first light at 5:30am and darkness now at 9pm. Much to get ready, but long days to meet deadlines. We were graced with a joyful sighting this weekend. A walk Saturday on a windless and sunny beach. A stop for tea on a driftwood tree trunk gazing out toward the Redoubt volcano, a stirring in the water 2-3 feet from us, an arch of gray-white surfacing, then another and another. Three beluga whales gracefully traveling just a few feet from shore scanning the shallow waters for the first run of holligans. Silent except for a "shush" of exhale and then down again to resurface leaving us in awe as the continue their hunt.
ReplyDeleteYikes love it on here .This was a great breakfast read
ReplyDeleteWhen do we expect another delivery?Nick is unfortunately mountain biking in Wales the weekend you suggested for the Cotswold way ! love
SH
Here's an overview of what we have planned for our friends Gilly and Keith: When G/K get here May 19th, we will have one down day to rest (don't want them to get too comfortable!) , and then take off with our little camper north to Denali. A stop before Denali at Byers Lake (one of our favorite Alaskan places) with, hopefully, a preview sighting of Denali mountain itself will be taken. This is a good place to stretch legs for a hike around the lake with the doggies. Yes, we will be taking the doggies on this part of the adventure, so they will have a little fun with the Beardmores too. I have never been to Denali in the spring, so am anxious to catch a glimpse of the wonders of the "new" season in that magnificent place. Especially anxious to see the birch forests afire with the bright green of early leafing. We have booked the 8 hour nature bus ride inside the park to Toklat, which is always fun. I am not sure if any of the tourist shops and activities will be open around the park that early in May, but if not, that will be just fine. A visit to Denali without the crowd of summer is always the best. On the trip home, plans are to drive a few miles on the Denali Highway (my heaven!) for some wild runs with the dogs. Then stops at the Alaskan Native Museum and the shops in downtown Anchorage and then a Girdwood/Alyeska visit on the way home.
ReplyDeleteA few more days at home before Stan and I leave on the 28th. We will take some doggie walks with Amanda, Ellen, Carolyn and Sole and maybe Linda Faro too. Gilly also wants to walk with them when Stan and I are gone. We will visit the coffee shops and restaurants around town and an orientation tour of Soldotna and Kenai checking out the sights of spring which should be in full bloom by then. I hope to include sightings of newborn moose in the neighborhood and the return of the migrating birds on the flats and beaches including my favorite sandhill cranes. G/K should will then be able to dig in and explore the area more deeply by themselves. If time and temperatures permit, we will take them for a zodiak ride on Skilak Lake to see the REAL Caribou Island. And we may be graced with some evening morel hunts.
G/K have an overnight reservation at the cabin on Kelly Lake. This refuge facility was just built by the park service last summer. Ellen Sheehan will help them pack for the overnighter and help set them up. Ellen is such a gem :) Should I tell G/K about the Kelly Lake Sasquach (also know as WILD WILLIE) infrequently seen, but often heard howling in the woods around the cabin? What if they are unlucky enough to meet up with this wild creature if they have to venture out of the cabin in the middle of the night to use the "facilities?" No, I think I will let them find out for themselves!
I will leave them with ideas and directions for day and overnight trips in and around the area. I've told Catherine at Birch Tree Gallery that Gilly might stop in and join the Wednesday evening knitting circle. Stan has asked a coworker to take the Beardmores to Sunday services at the Russian Orthodox church in Kenai. I will leave directions too for visits to Homer, Seward, and Cooper Landing highlights. Maybe a trip to Halibut Cove, Kenai Fjords, Kenai River float. It will be up to Gilly and Keith to fill their days by following their hearts. It will be fun learning about their adventures and what they discover for themselves. All this happening soon!
Take me with you, Gilly :-)
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