I made a big mistake - I promised to bring this blog off hiatus on September 15, today, which is exactly what I am doing. But I should have set the date for September 20. That would have been much better for me.
But I didn't.
I set it for September 15, it is September 15, so here I am, early yesterday morning, where the lone waitress working at Denali Family Restaurant was pouring me a cup of coffee.
She did not want me to show her face, only her hand.
"I never like to have my face in a photograph," she explained.
I don't know why. She had a pretty face. She also knows how to sling two coffee pots at once.
Pretty impressive!
I would have gone to Abby's Home Cooking, which has become my favorite breakfast restaurant, but Abby's does not open until 8:00 AM and I was hungry and did not want to wait that long.
I asked for this table, just so I could sit there and look out at these mountains and watch this guy get out of his truck.
I saw myself, in shadow, sitting with an alien from another galaxy. So I shot a picture of the two of us. That alien really likes ketchup. He drank the whole bottle and then asked for more.
When I got home, I found Margie, Jobe and Kalib watching Chuggington Choo Choo. They had all been asleep when I left.
I had a huge amount of work ahead of me, but I couldn't bear to get into it without taking a walk. As I walked up Wards, a garbage truck passed me and then made a left turn.
I wondered if I would ever see that garbage truck again.
Next, a couple of young men appeared at the top of the hill, their feet on their skateboards, their skateboards on the road. It looked like they were going to roll, but then they picked up their skateboards and just stood there, looking down at me. They appeared not to know what to do next.
"Are you guys going to skate down the hill?" I shouted up to them.
"Yes," one of them shouted back.
"Good!" I shouted back. "That will make a good picture."
So they put their boards back down on the road and their feet back on the skateboards. Down they came.
And off into the distance they went.
When I reached the top of the hill, this gentleman came walking along, just as I did see the garbage truck again. It was Tony, Lola and Wolf. I can't remember which dog was Lola and which was Wolf.
Neither one of them looked a wolf to me.
They were good dogs, though, and I was proud to make their acquaintance.
When I got back to the house, I found Jobe and Kalib in the back yard, being boys.
Their new sibling could arrive any day now. The official due date is October 6, but that baby has already gotten into position, head down, ready to plunge into the world.
And the poor mother has strep throat.
That is why the boys are with us.
Kalib, the eldest of three.
A few hours later, I took my afternoon coffee break. I discovered that the dog, Booger, had been lost. Booger is the close friend of Lisa Kelly, the Ice Road Trucker. Her husband brought the poster.
I hope Booger is found.
The Ice Road Trucker needs her friend.
I then took a short drive to sip and enjoy my coffee. I drove past the Wasilla skateboard park just as a kid went almost horizontal on the ramp.
I was trying to write what will be the final story in what might be my final Uiñiq magazine, but I could not come up with the words to open it. So I took another short walk, saw this bunny rabbit, and pretty soon the lead came to me.
After I got the lead, I came upon these three in the marsh that has dried out and become a meadow. It was Summer and her buddies, Sampson and Anonymous Dog. Summer has another name that she uses for Anonymous Dog, but I don't know what it is.
I then went into my house, wrote the lead and got to work on the story.
That final story would be very short, but it was taking me a long time to write it. At one point, I realized that I would never finish it if I did not eat a chocolate covered ice cream cone. So I climbed into the car and drove off to get one, but I got to day dreaming and passed right by Dairy Queen. I turned around by Wasilla Lake and noticed the moon. I stopped and took this picture.
Then I saw this duck swim into a moon beam.
"Hey Bill!" the duck quacked. "Is that you?"
"Yes, Fernanda," I quacked back. "It is me! It's been a long time!"
"It has... 1021 years."
It was true. Fernanda and I had not seen each other for over 1000 years.
"How's your report coming?" she asked.
I knew it. She had been sent to check up on me.
"I'm struggling with it," I answered. "But don't worry. You can tell the other ducks that I'll get it done."
I will, too, but in the meantime, I have a Uiñiq magazine to finish.
That final story is now written, but there is still a significant amount of work that must be completed before I go to press Monday.