lilginks

Break up is occurring here at break-neck speed. It snowed all day Saturday; over in Anchorage, they were to get 5-11 inches, quite a range. Yet on the whole, it is quite slushy here, muddy in places. It was recommended that I walk the 2.5 miles I typically bike in order to meet my ride to work. I guess that is an option, no snow shoes required. I sit here drinking from a coffee mug that says "you're only young once--but you can be immature forever" promising no?

This month, I am working in a greenhouse for some local farmers. This job requires me to know that a bacoba looks different than a lobellia (pre flowers they look alike from afar). And that Canary Bird Vine, that is not Sweat Pea, although I do believe they both climb. I was told by my boss that "everyone knows what a Sweat Pea look like;" whoops. I love plants, green things are good for the lungs...take that in any way you want; point is, I love trying to identify all the Alaskan plants during the summer, but greenhouse plants are foreign to me; it's like being inside a spaceship. "We'll be using insecticide soon; please be aware earthlings." "Gently, move the soil to place the roots inside, they do not like to push their roots through packed soil." I learn a little bit each day.

More interesting really, is how I get to work. You already know that I bike from where I live to the main road, the Talkeetna Spur Road. My boss told me that one of my co-workers was going to need to pass by my road, so I could get a ride with him. I will call him Torrence. He was called by all Talkeetna people who know him, Jim, however he asked me to call him by his real first name. No problem. I told my boss that I really appreciated her "getting me hooked up with a ride with Torrance, Yo!" She looked at me cock-chined. "Who is that?" For a moment I wondered if I was being abducted, after all it did feel like an alien spacecraft I entered every morning...the so called Greenhouse, yeah "Oh, well, he asked me to call him Torrence, not Jim." She looked at me, suddenly fear striking her dirt covered features. "Yikes, maybe he wants everyone to call him Torrence." Turns out, he does.

I made some assumptions before I met him. One, that he would have a truck in which I could throw my bike in the bed. (Poor Grammer, I apologize.) It turned out true. Secondly, I thought he would be a man who lived in a kind of isolated way. This was also true. In a year, he has come into Talkeetna town once. I like him, he puts up with me in the morning and after work when he drops me off for my uphills climb home. In the scheme of things, my abductions go well.

If you just so happened to have clicked on my location from a few weeks ago; Sheep Creek Lodge, you will notice that it is slightly north and east of Yellowstone National Park. That is not where I am however, the computer decided that it would put me there; I was googled into a place before I had any say in it. Amazing really.

Updates: I am just going to journal today, no trying to be clever or witty, I will save that for my pen and paper. Happy Easter first off. Chris doesn't do Easter, so I should just keep all the chocolate eggs away from him. I won't though; chocolate should be shared. I have done a little Greenhouse gardening for some Talkeetnans who sell plants to big places in Anchorage, thus we get the soil ready  now and transfer seedlings by the first week of April. I am in need (I hate to say it but it would help me out here) of a car. This would help. For my summer job Woo Hoo, I will be working with the Alaska Soil and Water Conservation as an assistant trail leader for the Youth Conservation Corps that does trail work for the summer. Quite cool.

Hope to get to the east coast in the fall; I have not spent a summer there since 2003 and I was in and out often at that time after college graduation: Chicago, LA, New Orleans, Grayton Beach, etc...ah memories.

Looking forward to summer here. Spring comes in early May and lasts 10 days. It is definitely warmer: 40, snow melting a bit; good crust skiing I am learning. Radio show still going. Got to play some of my friend Jane Lee's son's music. He plays the Blues. I will be better on details later. Battling "spring" cold so I am signing off to go take some IB prof for my headache.
Ciao.

Ah, it is a beautiful day. Typically the days are beautiful. It is figuring out what one is doing each day that can be a bit ugly. I applied for a job that begins in the spring with the ranger station and found out today that a friend is applying for the same job. Oye! Small towns are so wacky. Let's see, thus far, back in Sunshine, I have skied, done one radio show, finished knitting a scarf, helped stack fire wood, and enjoyed lots of new snow. I just overheard the librarian say they have a computer specifically for job searches. Go figure, probably because there are so many of us doing that here in town.I am babysitting and house-sitting next week, at least I can rely on high school experience, eh? I am lacking in funny stories. Don't you worry, I will come through.