Yesterday was Shareen's birthday, so her brother-in-law, Alan Snow, served up a dinner of both chicken and steak fajitas. When the time came, many gathered around the table in Savik's house. Sharene's son, little Alan, named after his late father, sat on her lap and offered the blessing.
It was a good, sincere, short blessing, as little Alan knows how to get right down to the point - to thank the Lord for the food, ask his blessings on it, say "amen" and then get right down to eating.
Those familiar with Savik's table as it has appeared here before will undoubtedly have noticed that one face normally present there was missing. That would be the kindly face of Myrna, Savik's wife. Shortly before I arrived, she was admitted to the hospital here in Barrow and then a few days ago was medivacced to Anchorage.
Myrna and Savik's daughter, Ginger, took this excellent picture of her parents just over one month ago on Savik's birthday. This copy hangs on Roy's wall, right next door, where I am staying.
Those who know Myrna know that she has long been a church-going woman of faith and prayer. Now, I am certain, many pray for her.
Thankfully, she has improved significantly and might return home tomorrow.
I am not certain what birthday this was for Sharene, although I have known her for many more years than two, but two was the symbolic number of candles placed on her cake.
After the candles were blown out, little Alan became fascinated with the design on the side of the cake. His fascination proved catching.
In the evening, I took a walk along the seashore. The ice ivu piled up on the beach glowed in the light from Barrow.
After I departed the seashore and stepped back onto the road, a snowmachine pulled up alongside me and stopped. It was Jimmy, and he wanted to know if I needed a ride and where I was going. I told him I was just walking, going no place in particular except eventually back to Roy's, which was in the opposite direction.
He said he was going no place in particular, but was just riding around.
So I jumped on the back of the snowmachine and went no place in particular with him.
It felt good and it made me want to have a snowmachine, right here in Barrow, and to be able to climb on anytime and just go where I want to go.
A lot of people have snowmachines in Wasilla and snowmachine about Wasilla.
It isn't the same, my friends - it just isn't the same.
I slept in wonderfully late this morning, Sunday - for the second day in a row. I did not get up until after 10:00 AM. I tried to check my email via Sharene's wireless on my iPhone, but for some reason the iPhone had purged itself of the password and I could not log on.
I could have logged on with this laptop, but it has been giving me so much trouble that I did not want to fool with it. So I set out on foot to Pepe's for breakfast, reasoning that I could wait that long to check my email.
After my Saturday sleep in I had also gone to Pepe's for a late breakfast and I had greatly enjoyed it. Everything tasted so delicious, from the ham and eggs-over-easy, hash browns , the wheat toast with raspberry jam and, of course, the coffee, which I savored in slow sips.
Joe the Water Man was there to wait on me and to say witty things. Fran heard my voice from the other side of the partition and called out to say "hi."
So I wanted a complete repeat of all that pleasant wonderfulness today.
I sat down, pulled out my iPhone, logged on and about a dozen emails poured into my phone. One caught my eye before any of the others. It was from my friend Kavitha in India, a cousin to Soundarya, and was titled, "a very sad news." I suddenly got a feeling like someone had kicked me hard in the gut.
I opened it up and read. Then Joe came by to take my order, but I could not make the words. I could do little but stammer. Anil, Soundarya's husband, had been killed in a car crash early in the morning. Then I found another email from my nephew, Vijay, informing me of the same thing.
Eventually, I did place my order, but I have little recollection of eating it, or of how it tasted.
I stayed in Pepe's until after noon. Then Vivek called me from Minnesota and we talked for awhile. This was one time that he felt bad to be in the US rather than India. He and Soundarya were born five days apart and are as close as cousins get.
I left and began to walk back toward Roy's house.
As I walked, I looked at these wires - one small part of the link that binds everyone in today's world together. This car came by.
I felt helpless, unable to do anything. Given my present circumstance - no visa, little money - India might as well be on Jupiter. I cannot get there. I cannot lend comfort. I can do nothing to help out.
Still, I hope that Soundarya and all of her family - which is also an extension of my family - knows.
She knows. They know.
I still wish I could be there.
I needed more time to walk and think, so I headed toward the ocean. I walked down a street which I thought to be empty of traffic. The weather was extremely warm for this time of year, but it was a bit windy, so I had pulled the hood of my parka over my hat.
My parka hood muffled the noise enough to cause me to not hear a pickup approaching from behind until it was very nearly upon me. I stepped to my left, turning to look as I did, and saw that I was stepping right into the path of the truck.
It was okay, though, because the driver had spotted me and was approaching cautiously.
It was Roy Nageak. He told me that he was going to try drive out to Point Barrow to check out the ice conditions there and wandered if I wanted to come along? I did. I hopped in and off we went.
The snow was drifting, though, and we had to stop well short of the Point. We did make it past NARL, however.
Roy also gave me some interesting and good news, which I plan to make a report on later.
Remembering:
Anil on his wedding day.
Soundarya, on her wedding day.
Anil and Soundarya, at the threshold.
Folks - you know how us humans tend to get all wrapped up in us vs them? In our differences of religion, race, ethnicity, country of birth? These things need not separate us. We can love right through these differences.
Forgive me if I do not post tomorrow - Monday. I am almost a day behind schedule, anyway. I am tired of wrestling with this malfunctioning computer. I need to think. And I need to find a way to contact someone.
I plan to post Tuesday - hopefully with a summation of the Elders Youth conference.