2009 in review - March: Kalib's first steps; ashed by Redoubt; Benson's final bow as Elizabeth Peratrovich; Iditarod dogs; cast off, brace on; little people at Gar and Emily's wedding
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 at 8:49PM ;)
Kalib was the big star of the March blog - a role that he stepped into easily. In fact, it was in March that he took his very first steps and I was fortunate enough to be right in the room when it happened. This is the moment - Kalib walking for the first time. You can see how pleased he is, how thrilled his mom is.
And, as has been his way whenever Kalib has been in this house, Royce, the old man orange cat, was watching over every step.
;)
Slowly and wobbly, Kalib walked to the other side of the room and his mom followed, taking her own pictures, weeping with each step, each snap.
Now, Kalib - I write directly to you, not for now, but for years from now; decades perhaps.
I hope that you will see these pictures then and that you will look closely at them.
See how your Mom loves you?
She is so devoted to you. She is there for you in every endeavor, backing you up and cheering you on.
So, when you inevitably feel some youthful rebellion, resentment, anger, or whatever towards her, just look at these pictures and let them remind you of what you know deep in your heart and soul.
You have been blessed with a most good and wonderful mom. Cherish her always, be kind, and treat her with love and respect. She deserves nothing less.
You have a devoted dad as well, as you can see in other pictures - and loving and guiding aunts and uncles.
Oh, and your grandma....
...grandmas, for there are two of them and they both love you. Your grandmas live for you - and they would die for you.
I will not discuss your grandpa except to note that, all his horrendous failings notwithstanding, he also loves you beyond measure.
;)
Kalib soon lost his balance and took a fall. Despite his tears, no one was that concerned. We knew he would get back up and walk again.
Babies are good at that.
;)
March was the month that Mount Redboubt volcano blew and cast its ash upon us. Here is Melanie, wearing an ash mask in the ashy air. Volcanic ash is a horrible thing to have to breath - fine, like powdered sugar, but each tiny kernel a miniscule, multi-bladed airborne razor made of glass, looking for a way to get into your sinus passages and to shred them and your lungs.
Volcani ash is awful stuff to breathe.
;)
This is ash, in Anchorage. Redoubt calmed down after that, but now it rumbles again.
;)
March was also the month that Diane Benson gave her final performance as Alaska civil rights heroine Elizabeth Peratrovich, a role that she reprised in the documentary, For the Rights of All - Ending Jim Crow in Alaska.
Just this month, Diane announced her candidacy to run for the Alaska Lieutenant Governor's seat.
As the mother of wounded warrior, Latseen Benson, and a person who has experienced the worst and best that life has to offer, she also has an important book to write.
;)
In March, as they always do, the dogs took off to Nome in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. These ones pull the Chugiak musher, Jim Lanier.
Hey! If someone will buy me a small airplane on skis, I will follow the whole race this year - focus on Mike Williams Jr, whose father I followed in 2000, when my airplane was still unbroken.
You supply the airplane, I'll buy the gas. But it has to be a small plane - a Citabria, Supercub...
Even if you were to supply a Cessna 185 or such, I don't know how I could buy the gas.
;)
March was the month Margie got the cast off her right wrist. She still had a long time to go on crutches.
;)
March was also the month that I got a new brace for my wrist. After I took my fall the previous June and got my shoulder replaced, my entire arm had been immobilized in a special sling. The damage to my shoulder had been so bad that nobody paid much attention to my wrist, although it hurt like hell.
After the sling came off, the pain didn't go away, but only got worse. So they did a cat scan and found out that my tendons were all messed up. Hence the brace. I would have to wear it through July.
I think two things finally got me out of it - a brief workover by Native healer Dorcas Rock in Point Hope, who spent a couple of minutes prodding it with her fingers and then gave me the very same diagnosis as the multi-thousand dollar cat scan revealed to the doctors. She followed this with one, very quick session of massage therapy. That helped a great deal, as did all the bicycle riding that I did in late summer and early fall.
Gripping the handles and pedaling hard seemed to pull my tendons back into place.
;)
In March, I, who am most definitely NOT a wedding photographer, photographed the wedding of Emily Frantz of Barrow to Edgar Caldwell of Barrow. The wedding took place in Anchorage, where the couple now lives. I had time to include only one photo, and so I chose one of Emily in this same setting, but it was better than this one. It is a full body shot that fully shows not only the beauty of the bride but of her parka, which she sewed herself, from the skins of white rabbits and red foxes.
As that photo is already in this blog, I decided to run this one, which comes in a little closer for you to better appreciate her beautiful smile and eyes.
;)
I had, in fact, decided to include a full pictorial summary of the wedding in this review post. But... there is one thing about this blog format that bothers me greatly, something that I intend to correct in the near future with a redesign.
Given the medium, I am basically satisfied with the size vertical photographs appear here, but the horizontal ones frustrate me. The horizontal ones are just too small - especially wide horizontals, containing multiple elements.
I have been exploring other photographic sites and it is clear to me that the horizontals do not have to be this small. Most of the photos from the wedding are horizontals - many of them wide ones, with multiple elements - like bride and groom, father, mother, preacher, bride's maids, bubbles floating about...
I tried placing a few here and they just got lost at this small size.
Since it is already late, I decided that I would wait until sometime after the redesign. Then I will find an excuse to run a full summary of the wedding.
Anyway, this little fellow, whose name I do not know, was in attendance. He slept in warmth.
;)
And this little beauty is Mea Luna Caldwell, niece of the groom.
;)
Mea Luna Caldwell and her teddy tiger.
;)
It would not be right to altogether leave the groom out a second time. He is a good fellow, someone I am glad to know. So here he is, dancing with his bride as his stepson, Norman Cole Lowery, observes. The other couple dancing are the parents of the bride, Daniel and Ellen Frantz.
Reader Comments (9)
I loved the picture of the beautiful bride in her hand-sewn parka.. Brides belonging to my caste in India also have to make a part of their wedding costume themselves.. And I loved that cute, little angel playing with her tiger cub too :)
Oh, My! All of that in one mnnth! We forget how much living happens in a few days time.
The ash photos made me crringe.
And I do so admire the bride's parka. I sew and I recognize the skill she must possess in order to make such a beautiful garment. It's a fine photo of a lovely bride.
Kalib looks so young! lol
Beautiful pictures. I love how they capture a moment in life. Your message to Kalb made me weep a bit , remembering my own Boy's when they where small .I wish you and your beautiful Family a wonderful New Year and that the next year will bring just good things!!
Oh I love the photos of little Mea. She looks like the most graceful ballerina. I would have those blown up huge and on my wall!
What a rich post, it's hard to know where to even begin to comment. That may be the most beautiful bridal photo I have ever seen. The girl and her tiger are breathtaking graceful. But the one that brought tears to my eyes was the very first one.
I have been enjoying your Alaska blog immensely, speaking as one who would rather cut his own arm off with a pocket knife rather than actually live there and who is chlid free despite the strongest societal oppobrium. It is so hard to find people who can describe their daily lives in a way that brings a place to life, and yours is one such. Wasilla sounds ghastly to one who abhors temperatures below 70degrees (21C) yet the daily life reported renders it approachable and understandable. Jim Crow in Alaska was new to me (why, educators, why?). Thank you.
I shouldn't be crying at work, but your kind words brought me to tears. I'm sure Kalib will spend hours viewing the blog when he gets older. Thanks Dad.
i am crying at work too and i am not even related! what a beautiful post about kalib.
All of your photos are wonderful, Bill, but the bridal photo is just so... real. Authentic. Beautiful. And descriptive of the whole family and its values. *Snif*! And lucky lucky Kalib and Mea for having folks who love them so much. The gorgeous pictures are frosting on the cake...