whirlwind tour of Alaska
Jan. 5th, 2010 01:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareina[edited because they asked for paragraph breaks; though I maintain that the first draft was more appropriate to show how it all felt]
The last couple of weeks have been a dizzying round of social engagements, leaving me with little time to get on line, and I’m ok with that. When last I’d checked in I’d stayed with a Stellerite and his family a couple of days, gone to visit cousins in Copper Center, and then spent Christmas with a cousin in Wasilla before being dropped off at the home of my SCA brother in Anchorage.
I enjoyed a mellow time that first full day back in Anchorage (Saturday), and took it easy baking bread, checking mail, visiting with my SCA family, and getting over the sniffles I’d picked up at Christmas. The next day (Sunday) I went to a party with friends, and enjoyed meeting new people and designing a bit of knot-work for a guy who wanted a tattoo of a Thor’s hammer with the god’s head on the pommel, and the beard branching out into knotwork on the business end of the hammer.
The next day (Monday) involved a dinner date at a restaurant with several friends, followed by an evening with another good friend from highschool and his wife (I knew her through the SCA before they met).
The following day (the 30th) I flew to Fairbanks, where the local SCA held a dance for me. Had a great time dancing with old friends and people I’d just met. Didn’t get to sleep that night till nearly 03:00 (I wasn’t sensible enough to make time for yoga before the dance, so did it afterwards).
Got up early the next morning (Thursday) and met a friend of mine from Highschool for breakfast, and had a great time discussing the difference between his last job (teaching Mathmatics and doing research at a small liberal arts uni in the lower ’48) and his current job (teaching Mathmatics and doing research at UAF).
Had just time after breakfast to look at mail (but not post anything) before some SCA friends called asking if I wanted to do lunch. After lunch met yet another friend for a cup of tea, and then enjoyed a few hours with my host before heading to a New Year’s Eve party, where I met a couple who will be moving to Sweden for a post-doc position soon. Looking forward to meeting up with them again at Drachenwald events.
I finally got to sleep about 03:00 that night (yoga was, once again, done after the festivities of the evening) and got up early enough on Friday to catch a morning flight back to Anchorage. I got back on time to help clean my brother’s house for the bardic the next night, and then bake rolls for the tapas party that night. Friday's party was fabulous—there are ever so many wonderful people in Oertha, and I got to see a fair few of them that night, and enjoyed conversations with all of them. Finally got to meet the fiancée of my “baby brother” (adopted as such in high school), and approve mightily of her influence on him.
The next morning (Saturday, the 2nd) I went to see Avatar with said baby brother and his lady. While the movie was lovely, I think I’d have enjoyed it (and other movies) more if it wasn’t necessary to endure a couple of hours of the bad guys stupid decisions before our heroes can overcome the obstacles and solve the problem.
I got home from the movie on time to bake a braided bread loaf and some cinnamon-apple-pistachio rolls for the bardic that night. By a delightful coincidence Tania also baked a braided bread loaf for the evening. Her loaf was made with thick ropes of dough, braided in a straight line, and brushed with egg before baking. Mine was braided from thin ropes of dough, coiled into a braided mat, and brushed with butter before, during, and after baking. Very different looks and textures, and both really, really yummy.
The bardic was lots of fun—many of the same folk as had attended the party the night before, and some who hadn’t. A reasonable amount of singing (though, as always, I’d have been happy with more), and plenty of laughter and good cheer.
The following morning (yesterday) I slept in (for the first time in ages), went for a walk, and then packed my bags before returning to the home I’d stayed at my first couple of days in town. The kids there wanted a re-match of Settlers of Catan, so we played that, but not as late into the evening as on my first stop at their house, since vacation is over and they had to go to school during the day.
Today (Monday) I actually managed to get some uni work done—nearly five hours! It was nice. Then we went for a walk, played more Catan, and made some rice-krispy/cornflake treats. On a lark I separated out a bit of the butter-marshmallow molten mix and combined it with some of my muesli instead of the packaged cereal, and, to no one’s surprise, liked it *much* better. After the kids went to bed I had a few hours to just sit and chat with their folks before coming to the airport, where they have free internet access, so I get to update this journal.
In a few short hours I’ll be back in Seattle, where I’ll be till Thursday morning, then I fly back to California, where I’ll attend 12th night before flying back to Milan the following Monday.
Two weeks was so not enough to see everyone I wanted to see, but I had much fun with those I did see, and I will just have to come back again for another visit one of these days...
The last couple of weeks have been a dizzying round of social engagements, leaving me with little time to get on line, and I’m ok with that. When last I’d checked in I’d stayed with a Stellerite and his family a couple of days, gone to visit cousins in Copper Center, and then spent Christmas with a cousin in Wasilla before being dropped off at the home of my SCA brother in Anchorage.
I enjoyed a mellow time that first full day back in Anchorage (Saturday), and took it easy baking bread, checking mail, visiting with my SCA family, and getting over the sniffles I’d picked up at Christmas. The next day (Sunday) I went to a party with friends, and enjoyed meeting new people and designing a bit of knot-work for a guy who wanted a tattoo of a Thor’s hammer with the god’s head on the pommel, and the beard branching out into knotwork on the business end of the hammer.
The next day (Monday) involved a dinner date at a restaurant with several friends, followed by an evening with another good friend from highschool and his wife (I knew her through the SCA before they met).
The following day (the 30th) I flew to Fairbanks, where the local SCA held a dance for me. Had a great time dancing with old friends and people I’d just met. Didn’t get to sleep that night till nearly 03:00 (I wasn’t sensible enough to make time for yoga before the dance, so did it afterwards).
Got up early the next morning (Thursday) and met a friend of mine from Highschool for breakfast, and had a great time discussing the difference between his last job (teaching Mathmatics and doing research at a small liberal arts uni in the lower ’48) and his current job (teaching Mathmatics and doing research at UAF).
Had just time after breakfast to look at mail (but not post anything) before some SCA friends called asking if I wanted to do lunch. After lunch met yet another friend for a cup of tea, and then enjoyed a few hours with my host before heading to a New Year’s Eve party, where I met a couple who will be moving to Sweden for a post-doc position soon. Looking forward to meeting up with them again at Drachenwald events.
I finally got to sleep about 03:00 that night (yoga was, once again, done after the festivities of the evening) and got up early enough on Friday to catch a morning flight back to Anchorage. I got back on time to help clean my brother’s house for the bardic the next night, and then bake rolls for the tapas party that night. Friday's party was fabulous—there are ever so many wonderful people in Oertha, and I got to see a fair few of them that night, and enjoyed conversations with all of them. Finally got to meet the fiancée of my “baby brother” (adopted as such in high school), and approve mightily of her influence on him.
The next morning (Saturday, the 2nd) I went to see Avatar with said baby brother and his lady. While the movie was lovely, I think I’d have enjoyed it (and other movies) more if it wasn’t necessary to endure a couple of hours of the bad guys stupid decisions before our heroes can overcome the obstacles and solve the problem.
I got home from the movie on time to bake a braided bread loaf and some cinnamon-apple-pistachio rolls for the bardic that night. By a delightful coincidence Tania also baked a braided bread loaf for the evening. Her loaf was made with thick ropes of dough, braided in a straight line, and brushed with egg before baking. Mine was braided from thin ropes of dough, coiled into a braided mat, and brushed with butter before, during, and after baking. Very different looks and textures, and both really, really yummy.
The bardic was lots of fun—many of the same folk as had attended the party the night before, and some who hadn’t. A reasonable amount of singing (though, as always, I’d have been happy with more), and plenty of laughter and good cheer.
The following morning (yesterday) I slept in (for the first time in ages), went for a walk, and then packed my bags before returning to the home I’d stayed at my first couple of days in town. The kids there wanted a re-match of Settlers of Catan, so we played that, but not as late into the evening as on my first stop at their house, since vacation is over and they had to go to school during the day.
Today (Monday) I actually managed to get some uni work done—nearly five hours! It was nice. Then we went for a walk, played more Catan, and made some rice-krispy/cornflake treats. On a lark I separated out a bit of the butter-marshmallow molten mix and combined it with some of my muesli instead of the packaged cereal, and, to no one’s surprise, liked it *much* better. After the kids went to bed I had a few hours to just sit and chat with their folks before coming to the airport, where they have free internet access, so I get to update this journal.
In a few short hours I’ll be back in Seattle, where I’ll be till Thursday morning, then I fly back to California, where I’ll attend 12th night before flying back to Milan the following Monday.
Two weeks was so not enough to see everyone I wanted to see, but I had much fun with those I did see, and I will just have to come back again for another visit one of these days...
