Kalib golfs, vacuums, gets under the weather, goes to the doctor, reunites with Royce; Various and insundry Wasilla scenes

Ever since Kalib moved out, the house had been a quiet and empty place. After he returned, he resumed his golf game. This made life in the house much better.

And then he vacuumed the floor. It really needed it and we were grateful.

Kalib and his vacuum cleaner.

It was a foggy day. I took only a very short walk - not because of the fog, but because I left at 11:45 AM and I had a phone interview scheduled at noon.

I hated to take such a short walk. I guess I should have left earlier.

After I hung up the phone, I wanted out. Caleb was awake to watch Kalib, so I took Margie to lunch. Along the way, we passed by this guy walking the shore of Wasilla Lake.

Regularly readers will instantly recognize this as the intersection that provides an excellent view of Pioneer Peak above the maddening traffic of Wasilla's main thoroughfare. But you couldn't see the mountains today.

We ate our lunch in the car, as these ravens flirted with each other nearby.

As we ate, this was the view through the windshield. The tower rises out of the Wasilla Police Station. I was a little worried that someone might come running out of there, think we were someone else and try to arrest us, but no one did. 

The radio was on and a restaurant reviewer was talking from Cleveland. He had moved there from the East Coast, where he said he had been a food snob and had not expected to find any good food in the Midwest.

Boy, was he wrong, he said. The dining in Cleveland was the height of gourmet sophistication. Not even New York City could beat it.

I thought maybe I should start doing reviews on all the sophisticated, gourmet, dining to be had right here in Wasilla, Alaska. I could start here, in the parking lot alongside Taco Bell.

So... Taco Bell has a new item on the meno called a cheese roll, or something like that. It is a flour tortilla rolled around a glob of melted cheese. I bought one, tore it in half, gave half to Margie and ate the other myself.

"What do you think?" I asked Margie.

"It's okay," she said.

"I find it quite excellent myself," I told her. "Nice, sophisticated, piquant, gourmet taste."

She said nothing more at all.

I also had two original crunchy tacos. Indeed, they crunched very well and, after I squeezed a packet of mild and another of hot sauce into each one, had just the right touch of spice to add a decent kick to the meal.

I also had a bean burrito with green sauce.

These are superb when done right, but this one was too damn salty.

The Pepsi was just right - not too sweet but pleasantly carbonated, so that I could be assured of a little burp later, the flavor of which would remind me just how excellent the meal was - except for the bean burrito, which could have been better.

Back at the house, Margie sits with Kalib, who was once again feeling under the weather. While we had been out, Caleb had observed something that frightened him terribly, as Kalib seemed to be disoriented and frightened. Kalib had reached for Caleb where Caleb wasn't even standing. Margie called Lavina at work in Anchorage and she made a doctor appointment for Kalib here in Wasilla at 4:30, but we were advised to bring him in a bit early.

We left the house at 4:00, but stopped to go through the drive-through at Metro Cafe to get Americanos. No, I don't buy Latte's and Mochas everyday.

We continued on toward the doctor's office. As you can see, Pioneer Peak was now visible in the twilight sky.

Lavina had driven up from Anchorage and was already there to meet us.

The rest went inside, but, as I had much to do, I headed back here to my office, slightly worried but pretty confident that Kalib was okay. Lavina would bring them all home.

This is what the Talkeetna Mountains looked like as I drove home.

I passed by a fence decorated with large, candy canes wrapped in green and red lights.

Kalib was fine - but better to be safe. Here he is, reunited with his buddy, Royce.

Comments

[WhiteStone]

Glad to get to that last line..."Kalib was fine". Don't the little ones worry us so!"

Love the photo at the intersection with the yellow truck and the yellow bus. And the stop sign on the side of the yellow bus. Yep. Good idea to stop if you are at an intersection with a yellow truck and a yellow bus traveling in directions perpendicular to your own.

[debby]

Glad that your little guy is fine. I hope that this means that he is well enough to feed your fish...if any survived his absence.

Okay. Now the food critic thing, that was funny stuff. (Amazing how chipper you get after a stint as gabba). I think that you should do a weekly food report from Wasilla. And here's the best part! Once you become a food critic, people give you free food and trip over themselves to make your dining experience perfect. Take Taco Bell, frinstance. Had they known that you were sitting in the parking lot eating your lunch with Margie AND critiquing the meal, they'd have right out to the car making sure that you had enough napkins and sauces, etc. 'Do you need a straw, sir?' and someone would have unwrapped one with a flourish. There would have been so much activity in the parking lot that the police would have come out to see what was going on.

Really.

[Grandma Nancy]

Looking forward to more of your food critic episodes! You gave me a much needed giggle today. Glad that Kalib is recuperating. Nice that he is with you..... He's such a little sweetheart. My 10 year old granddaughter looks forward to seeing Kalib pictures every day.

[Wasilla, Alaska, by 300]

I fear I have been very bad lately when it comes to keeping up with comments. Come the end of the day, I am just too exhausted to deal with them and, come morning, too damn groggy.

Well, I will try to somewhat catch up.

Whitestone: Yes, it is and its always good idea to stop for the red light, too.

Debby: he fed the fish last night. I think the police would probably have taken my burrito and would have eaten it themselves.

Grandma Nancy: Your ten-year old granddaughter has been the source of much discussion around here, lately. We are wondering about her. We are glad she likes Kalib.