As I photograph a Super Cub, the wind rips my hat off my head and keeps on blowing; Royce update
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 4:00AM ;)
I got a bit curious today to see what kind of airplane is parked on Anderson Lake in the spot where I used to keep my, poor, crashed, broken, airplane, the Running Dog, tied down in winter.
I found this Super Cub, with another Cub behind it and a Maule behind that.
If I am ever to do this blog right, the way I envision it, I need another airplane. And its a crazy thing - if you were to look closely at my little business right now, you would see that a big struggle to merely survive looms right in front of me - and yet, I have this unshakeable, optimistic feeling in me that, this year, I am going to rise out of it all, make this blog into what I see it becoming, and once again fly about Alaska in my own, little, airplane.
Maybe it is a foolish, silly, absurd little feeling, based on fantasy, not reality, certainly not practicality, but a new friend of mine in India, Thruptha, who you can find in my 2009 May review, put this message on her Orkut page:
"The most successful people on the planet have failed more than ordinary ones."
So, you see, I, who have failed and failed and failed and failed and may well be about to do so again, am surely on the right track.
One more thing: I dream about airplanes frequently - just about every night. So my need to get another is more than just a utilitarian thing - my soul needs an airplane. I am not whole without one.
I am like a cowboy with no horse, a dog musher with no dogs.
;)
As I photographed the Super Cub, my hat left my head and took off across the ice. It traveled so fast I did not think that I could catch it, but I went running after it.
It kept getting further ahead of me, but then it stalled for several seconds and I snatched it from the wind.
;)
The wind has been howling, like 40, newspaper report said gusting over 55, I heard 80 on the radio. The temperature has finally cooled down a bit, too - not frigid, but cooler than it was and if you were standing in an 80 mph gust you would think it was cold. On my coffee break, depending on where I was, the temperatures ranged from 7 to 13 degrees.
I have not read the forecast, but it feels like we are headed towards cold temperatures again. To the north of here, in the Interior, several places are into the -50's, so I think that air might slip down onto us.
I could be wrong. Another Pineapple Express from Hawaii could be charging up the Pacific, right now, headed straight at us.
It is an El Niño year, after all, and these things are supposed to be more frequent during such years.
;)
That's the box that in which the newspaperman deposits our copy of The Anchorage Daily News every morning. You can see the morning paper itself sitting a littler further back in the snowmachine track. If you look real close at the upper right-hand corner of the photo, just above the entrance to our driveway, you can see the post on which the newspaper box once sat.
It could have been worse - it could have been our roof, or a tree might have dropped on the house or car, or maybe upon my head.
;)
This is actually the first picture that I took today. Yes, I went to Family Restaurant again. I wasn't going to. I was going to cook oatmeal, but I changed my mind.
I think I will fall back to oatmeal for the rest of the week, but you never know.
;)
Just as Melanie advised, I have been feeding multiple small servings of soft food to Royce. I am happy to say that he has not yet thrown up today and the end of the day draws nigh.
Reader Comments (11)
As a former owner of an Aeronca 7AC and Cessna Skyhawk I know the heartache of not flying. In my case it was pure economics, and the crushing regulations that made flying in south Florida not fun any more. Your dreams are not unique. Mine lasted for a very long time. I wish you every success in your aspirations.
Quite apart from that, it is past time for a review of your Canon S90! How does it compare to the G10 (9) for your purposes? I am still undecided......
My ex-MotherInLaw took me up once in her Cessna many yrs ago. (AppleValley,Ca) And as she flew, she loudly recited the poem High Flight with an enthusiasum I had never heard in her before.
I haven't revisited that memory in years, until this morning. Thank you Bill, for bringing the memory back for a bit. Love it...
"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth -
Put out my hand and touched the Face of God."
Cute picture of Royce, Bill.. And we miss Kalib.. :( How is the cutie?
Love your posts and pictures Bill, I am getting addicted! You really should consider taking Royce to the vet - weight loss, loss of appetite, vomiting can be signs of kidney problems. He is really a beautiy! Orange cats are special
Maybe Royce is depressed because Kalib left? A few months ago Little Guy started vomiting more and thinned way down also. We switched him to soft food too. November we moved into a house w/a backyard. Now that he goes out to eat grass, he hasn't been vomiting. I even bought him a couple Chia Cat Grass growers. It's so funny, even though he and Royce are different colors, I can see a family resemblence.
I am very glad to hear that Royce is doing better on his smaller portions. I think I'd probably do better on smaller portions as well. Although it has nothing to do with throwing up...
Of course Royce misses Kalib! Cats hate change. I hope he continues to improve.
I was wondering too if Royce was having some kitty depression over Kalib.. I've heard that being the case.
-40 in Fairbanks today.
It's a cold bugger here. :) I'm FREEZING!
So glad to read Royce is keeping his food down. I had the same problem after first feeding my Panther (who is Slim Jim right down to the red collar) canned food until I finally got smart and started giving him one teaspoon at a time. No relapses unless I suffer a senior moment and give him too much.
If Royce indeed is suffering from separation anxiety he is dealing with a double whammy...missing both Kalib & Muzzy. The photo in the August 2009 review is one of my favorites.....it shows the three musketeers...one for all and all for one.
Will Royce be farmed out to the Anchorage Hess home while you are visiting the lower 48??
Always love being surprised by your aviation shots. Planes energize me....bring me joy. Luckily I see them daily (one of the prerequisites to moving to Texas).
Sure hope you will fly your own plane again. Regardless, never ever give up HOPE.....
dudley docker - That's one thing about Alaska - it is still a fun place to fly. You get close to Anchorage and in some military areas, then you've got to tow the line and do what you're told to do - but mostly, you can just cut loose and do what you want. And my Citabria was pretty economical to fly, as airplanes go.
aview - I don't why she became your ex, but I kind of like your ex-mother-in-law.
Ash - I haven't seen him since Margie left. But I am going to give him one of my fish tanks and his very favorite fish and so he will come out with his parents to pick it up this weekend, I think. I will see him then.
Mocha - Thank you and Royce has an appointment in the morning.
Angel - Maybe its genetic. I will see if I can get a chia. As you know, he can't get to grass now. I'm so disappointed - I won't be coming to Arizona now. It would be fun to see Little Guy.
Debby - just keep baking those cinnamon rolls. Hey! It looks like I will be on the East Coast in March! Nantucket, to make a slide show and speech in connection with a photo exhibit of mine that will be going up. I never go to the East Coast without going to New York. PA is not much further... can't say for sure... but for a cinnamon roll...
Manx - He has to miss him, all right. And Jacob and Lavina and Margie... human-wise, all he's got daily is me, now.
Rocksee - Sounds like Fairbanks, all right. It would be fun to go there now - except I don't like to breathe the ice fog.
Funny Face - Now I am not going. He would have stayed here, though, and Caleb would have been responsible for his care, as well as for the other three cats and all my fish. I need to feed those fish right now.
I will include more planes in the future.
My son lives right outside New York City, in Fleetwood PA. Get yourself to NYC, and we'll arrange transportation here. After we tank you up with cinnamon rolls, we'll send you off to where you need to be next. If you'd like to do a slide show and give a talk here, I can look into it, and put you in contact with someone who can set it up in our historical theater here in town. I really think that you could make money taking your show on the road.