We dine at the hog shak; dog lunges at bike - I am off to Kaktovik

Atop the bluff overlooking the once fine meadow that, despite the developers promise that they would leave a nice lake behind, is now a barren gravel pit Margie and I spotted a new kiosk. The sign in front of it said, "The Hog Shak"

So we pulled up to find out what it was all about.

Turns out, it is a new eatery featuring hog products.

So we both ordered a hog sandwich and a bottle of water.

As we waited, I looked in my rearview mirror and saw these two passing by.

This is Eric, who founded the hog shop three days ago, and his mom, Margaret, who is giving her son a helping hand to crank up his new little business.

The hog sandwich was pretty good, too. I kind of wanted a hog burrito but Margaret was still making the tortilla dough.

After I return from Kaktovik, I intend to try a burrito.

Late Thursday night, as I was pedaling my bike home on a shorter-than-usual ride, this dog charged me. I could see that it was just a silly pup and it did not frighten me, but it did give me some interesting moments.

Joseph was out walking his dog. The pup went and gave them some interesting moments, too.

If all goes according to plan, by the time this posts, I will be in Kaktovik. Now - perhaps you see a picture at the top of this post that I took with my iPad inside the Era Aviation flight that just brought me to Fairbanks, enroute to Kaktovik. Using the Squarespace iPad ap, I just tried to add it to the bottom of this post, the rest of which I put together last night before I went to bed for three hours.

*After I added it, it simply disappeared from the working window of the Squarespace ap. I opened up Safari and saw that it had gone to the top, sideways. So I came back to the Squarespace ap window to see if I could fix the problem, but the photo still does not show here, at the top or the bottom.

Given the general troublesome nature of Squarespace, I am not really surprised.

*This is the image that was at the top, as described above. As that was how it happened and how I described it, I was just going to leave it that way, but it bother me too much to look at it. So, I just now happened upon an online computer here in Kaktovik on which I could work on this without using the Squarespace ap and so I moved the photo down to the bottom where I had tried to place it in the first place and rotated it.

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I walk to breakfast at Abby's and see bunny rabbits hopping

This is not part of my walk to breakfast. This from my bicycle ride last night as I was returning home, pedaling down the Seldon bike trail somewhere between 10:30 and 11:00 PM.

There was a little bit of magic going on in the sky.

This morning, I decided that I would take advantage of the fact that there is now a restaurant with a good breakfast in easy walking distance and so set out to walk to Abby's Home Cooking. It is a mile-and-a-half away and so I told Margie that if she decided she wanted to join me she could drive over in 15 to 20 minutes.

I had barely begun to walk, when I saw two bunny rabbits hopping through the grass. This is one of them. I have been seeing these bunny rabbits all over this end of the neighborhood ever since breakup. Two, sometimes three. Bunny rabbits being bunny rabbits, there might be more than that.

Given the number of loose dogs around here (two of which reside at this very house) I am kind of shocked that these bunny rabbits have made it this long.

I have asked a couple of neighbors whose lawns the bunny rabbits frequent if they are theirs, but none of them have had any idea where they come from.

Me, I've got an idea where they come from. It would be right in keeping with so much that has poured out from a certain place. But I do not know for certain. There could be other explanations, so I will keep my theory to myself, for now.

On the Seldon bike trail, I met Sugar - a good and friendly dog. She had been having digestive problems the past couple of days, but, as of this walk, everything seems to have come out okay and she is feeling better.

Here I am at Abby's. I hope one day to come in and see butts sitting on all these stools and all the tables full, except for one, where I will sit down, hopefully with Margie - Kalib and Jobe will be welcome, too, of course, and all other members of the family who might help us manage them. That's Jeremy she's talking to and he came in to order an egg sandwich. Jeremy works in the convenience store next door and did a lot to help Abby get started.

Today, Abby was working alone - cooking, waitressing, bussing - the whole works.

She received a couple of take-out orders while I was there, but I was the only sit down customer.

Here she is, having just served me my order. And I have to tell you - and I mean no offense to either of the family restaurants, Mat-Su Valley or Denali, or to IHOP, but this was simply the best eggs and potatoes breakfast that I have had anywhere in Wasilla - and I have never had better hashbrowns than what I was served today.

Monday's hashbrowns were good, but today's - oh, my goodness! She started out with a whole, uncut, Yukon Gold potato that she did not take a shredder to until after I ordered.

Boy, was it good! Margie never did show up. After I walked back home, showed her this picture and told her how good it was, she wished that she had come.

I don't know what she ate. Oatmeal Squares, I would bet - from the box that Charlie gave us.

Abby's brother, Tim Mahoney, father of the Joe Mahoney who made the stools, came in and got his mug filled. If you missed the picture of Tim working in his field, click right here. 

As I was walking out the door, her son Justin came in with his beautiful girlfriend, Stephanie, and gave his mom a hug. I should have got a picture of Stephanie, too. I don't know why I didn't. I guess I'm still a little bit shy.

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I seek a July 4 photo of American freedom for a civilian mass audience of Greece: Part 1 of 4: Breakfast at Abby's

I had wanted us to be at Abby's Home Cooking right at 9:00, so that maybe we could be her very first customers. But, when you are a sleepy person on a Fouth of July morning and you and your wife have two little kids to get ready to take with you - well, it just takes longer to get ready than you think it will.

So it was closer to 10 when we pulled in.

As we got out of the car, Kalib suddenly said, "taste of home."

I don't know how he came up with such a thing, but he did.

On the third of July, my friend in Greece who I have met only in a burning place online made a comment wishing all his friends in the USA a happy Fourth. Civi is an amazing guy, full of goodwill to just about everybody, but life has been challenging for him in Greece lately - as it has for his entire nation.

So I told him that on this fourth of July, I would find a picture to take, just for him.

Maybe I would find it during breakfast at Abby's?

We had barely sat down when my nose caught an aroma wafting through the air... and it wasn't home cooking.

It was Jobe. Margie had changed his diaper just before we left the house, but he waited until we all sat at the table to drop the bomb... and it was a smeller!

That's not Pepsi Kalib is drinking for breakfast, by the way - it's apple juice.

We placed our orders - eggs, bacon and hashbrowns for me, biscuits and gravy for the Margie and scrambled eggs, apple juice and toast for the boys and then dashed back to the car and off to the house to pick up a diaper for Jobe.

For some reason, I had imagined us having a nice, peaceful, relaxed, breakfast, but it wasn't working out that way. Neither boy wanted to sit still - they just wanted to jump up, run around, roll around, crawl beneath things and cause chaos. 

One kid would take off, I would catch him, sit him back down and then the other one would go.

I had my hands more than full and could hardly touch my camera, but I squeaked this one off. 

Paulie Parkhurst, the sister of Abby, came to the rescue. She took both boys from me and led them to a place where a play area had been set up, just for people in our situation. Paulie was very good at this, and Kalib loved her immediately.

Outside the window, Abby gestured to what I believe was a friend or relative, coming to check out the new restaurant on opening day.

It seemed to me that it should have taken Margie maybe eight minutes to get to the house and come back with the diaper, but it felt much longer than that. MUCH longer. But maybe that's all it was - although I do not think so.

In time, she returned and we commenced to eat breakfast.

Margie took charge of feeding Kalib.

I took charge of feeding my little man, Jobe. Everything was now peaceful and calm - for about three minutes. Then those boys were rambunctious again.

When I eat breakfast out, I generally ask to have my toast served after I have finished everything else, so that I can slowly eat and savor it as I sip coffee.

When my toast arrived, Margie took the boys so they could walk towards home. "You can enjoy your toast in peace," she said.

I hated to see them go, but, indeed, I did savor and enjoy my toast in peace.

And I got a little bit of a chance to visit Paulie, Abby and Abby's husband Andy Hammond. The morning of July 4 might seem an odd time to open an out-of-the way restaurant, but they had their reasons.

Abby and Andy first met in Canada, 20 years ago on the Fourth of July.

They got married in Dawson City, Canada, where the Mahoney's have a ranch, one year later - on July 4. At the wedding, they served a pig and a bear leg and then danced on a platform that Andy and Abby had made.

Since that time, the Fourth has been a doubly special day to them, a day of taking on and trying new things.

Hence, they opened their restaurant on the Fourth of July.

"We had a wild time," Paulie remembers.

Given the fact that there was a parade going on in town, and people were out camping and fishing, shooting off crackers and rockets and doing Fourth of July things, there weren't many customers on opening morning.

In fact, most of the time we were there it was just us - which, given the circumstances we faced with our energetic and rambunctious grandsons, that was probably for the best.

But, here is what I have to say - although I did not really get to savor it, the food was good. This is a real, genuine mom-and-pop and brothers and sisters and children and friends of children operation.

I know - down on the Parks Highways where everyday cars pass by by the thousands - this time of year, tens of thousands, I suspect - there are many good restaurants to stop and eat at - everything from sushi superb to some very excellent Mexican cuisine.

And for breakfast, there is IHOP, Mat-Su Valley Family Restaurant and Denali Family Restaurant and maybe somewhere else too and you can get very good, satisfying and filling breakfasts at all these places and they are right on the highway, which is not Main Street but is Wasilla's main drag, and is a very busy place.

But, I urge you, if you are in this area and you are hungry, turn off the Highway at Church Road, drive about 2.5 miles down until you reach the corner of Church and Seldon.

There you will find Abby's Home Cooking.

Give it a try.

Margie and I will be back... I think without the boys next time, unless Jacob and Lavina are here with us.

When I stepped out the door and got into the car to leave, I discovered that Margie and the boys had not gotten far.

So, I stopped and picked them up.

"Want to go see if the parade is still going?" I asked.

I'm pretty sure Civi will enjoy these breakfast pictures - yet I did not yet feel that I had gotten my special picture just for him.

I wanted that picture to speak of America and the idea of freedom, which at times we speak always of how free we are enjoy more than we do at other times. Indeed, I would say that in starting out this little venture, Abby and Andy are acting in the best spirit of the freedom we Americans seek and boast of

Even so, and although I am pretty certain Civi will be impressed by this family and what they have, I still felt that the the special American Fourth of July freedom picture that I wanted to take just for him had not yet appeared before my camera. Maybe I would take it at the parade.

I will post something from the parade within the next hour or so and you can see if I succeeded.

And don't anyone worry - Metro Cafe will always be the coffee shop where I go every afternoon when I am in Wasilla and sometimes mornings too.

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We will begin our Fourth by being among the first to eat breakfast at the brand new rerstaurant, Abby's Home Cooking

The other night, I pedaled my bike eight miles down from my house to pass by the Mahoney Ranch. "Hey Bill!" Mahoney horse Stoney shouted at me as I passed by, "what do you plan to do for breakfast on the morning of July 4?"

"Hadn't really thought about it," I shouted back. "I'll probably just cook some oatmeal, with berries and walnuts. Why? What does a horse care about what I do for breakfast July 4?"

"Bill!" Stoney  the horse shouted back. "Oats are for horses! Leave the damned oats alone! On the morning of the Fourth, you must do breakfast at Abby's Home Cooking! Corner of Church and Seldon - right where Fat Boys Fattery used to be. Abby's opens at 9:00 AM, July 4, for the first time, and I want you to be there. Take your family and order breakfast. I am not asking. I am ordering. You be there. You will be glad I demanded this of you."

"Abby's?" I said.

"Yes, Abby's!" the Mahoney horse answered.

"Okay." I said.

"Okay then," the horse neighed with approval as Mahoney horse Jake stepped into the picture. Stoney then turned his attention to the succulent grass of the Mahoney Ranch and with just one swish of his tail killed 52 mosquitoes.

This is the Abby that the horse referred to and that's her new restaurant behind her. Her name is Abby Hammond now, and she is opening the restaurant with her husband Andy, but she grew up as Abby Mahoney and that is why the horse so concerned itself about where, as soon as I post this, I will take Margie, Kalib and Jobe and eat breakfast today. 

The Mahoney horses look out for their people.

This is Abby and Jeremy. The stool was made from local, wildfire-killed spruce by Abby's nephew, Joe Mahoney. 

This wood used to be the siding of a barn into which horses could take shelter from the wind.

This is Abby's son, Justin, who made the tables for the restaurant.

This is Justin with his friends Andrew O'Brien and J.D McCullum, making a toast for success with tea, coffee and an empty flower vase.

I could write much more, but I see it is 9:00 AM right now. I am hungry. I must post this blog and get over there.

But first, late last night, thinking about Abby and her little venture, I again pedaled my bike down to the Mahoney Ranch and paid a short visit to Grotto Iona, built as a place of prayer by Paul George Mahoney, the patriarch of the Mahoney Clan, in honor and memory of his wife, Iona.

I felt quiet and peaceful there, as it always has whenever I have stopped by.

As I pedaled home from the Mahoney Ranch, I saw this guy, riding his horse down a trail upon which I used to often ski. I would just take off from my back porch and go, but now there are subdivisions in the way and I have not skied since I lost my shoulder and got a new one.

This coming winter, I must remedy that.

Now, I will exercise the freedom that we celebrate this day and will take Margie, Kalib and Jobe to breakfast at Abby's Cafe.

Happy Fourth of July, America!

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Standoff with skinny moose; buried truck, the train rumbles past Subway, etc. and so forth

I photographed this truck in early May in Point Hope. I include it in today's post just to assure interested readers that, although the rest of today's post will be devoted to Wasilla, I am continuing on with my series from my recent Arctic travels.

I spent two weeks on that trip and by the time I put yesterday's post up, I had made my way through just a little bit more than a day-and-half of that two weeks. I have been moving very slowly on that edit, because I have a different project that I must have proof ready by June 15, so I would do a little bit of editing on the Arctic trip, then put it aside and get back to work on my project.

But I want to get this blog series done, so I decided that today, Saturday, I will put my project aside and see if I can make my way through the entire take, then hopefully do a bit better job planning for the remainder of the Arctic Spring 2011 posts and get them ready so that they can appear through next week while I do nothing but concentrate on my project - and maybe drop in a picture or two from Wasilla here now and then, just to make it clear where I really am.

Despite appearances, it does not really snow that much in Arctic Alaska, where annual precipitation is about the same as Phoenix, Arizona. But once the snow falls, it does not melt for a long time and the wind blows it all about, so, whenever it finds anything to drift up and pile against, or even bury, it does.

And so it buried this truck. Looks like someone decided it was time to start digging it out.

Now, here I am, solidly back in Wasilla, driving home the long way after stopping at Metro Cafe. I see a kid on a bike out the window, so I quickly lift the camera and take a blind snap to my side through the dirty glass as I look straight ahead at the road. A moose could walk onto the road.

Yesterday morning, Margie and I decided to have breakfast at Subway, where it is pretty cheap but still good. As we were eating, I was thrilled to hear the whistle and rumble of the train, coming down the tracks. So I got my camera ready and.... sure enough, the train rolled into view! And, employing all my skill, talent, and experience as a hard working photojournalist, I caught the exact moment that the train rolled into view.

The exact moment! People will now marvel at this photo from now until the end of the world. Hmmm... according to some, folks won't get to marvel all that long, so look at it now and enjoy it while you can.

I love the train and yet, you know what? I have never ridden on the Alaska Railroad - not one time. I have never even been on a passenger car or in an engine, either. Nor has Margie.

Someday, this must change.

As it turned out, the Alaska Railroad engine was towing passenger cars, operated by Princess Tours. I could only wonder what these people were talking and thinking about as they rolled through my now famous/infamous home town.

I suspect some were basking in perceived glory and glowing in adoration. Others were probably discussing US history, Paul Revere in particular, and wondering if our schools could really be that bad.

They're not. It's an individual thing.

On my walk, I came upon this adolescent moose. As I approached, I was searching for its mom. One never wants to step between a mom moose and her calf. I saw no mom. Maybe the adolescent had been turned out on its own.

Maybe the mom had died.

Who knows?

Then the moose came walking toward me, looking at me. I looked at its bristles and they were up, but not dramatically so. I was not quite sure what to think. My first thought was that maybe somebody had fed this calf and now it was hungry and coming to me in the hope that I might give it an apple or something.

Or maybe it saw me as threat and was warning me to back away or it would stomp on me. Or maybe it was saying I am one mean moose and I am coming to get you and I will jump on you and there is not a damn thing you can do about it.

It can be very hard to know with a moose.

And, despite all our bear stories, in Alaska, moose afflict more damage upon human flesh than do bears.

"It is okay, moose," I calmly told it. "I mean you no harm. You have nothing to fear from me." I started to walk slowly to the side. I did not back up or retreat in the opposite direction, because I did not want it to think that I was afraid of it, either. I just moved away to the side.

Finally, the moose turned away. See how skinny it is? I felt badly for it. I did not feel optimistic for its future. I doubt that it will make it to hunting season, but I could be wrong. Maybe it will eat, thrive, and grow strong.

In the afternoon, Margie drove to town and brought Jobe and Kalib home with her. Once again, they are spending the weekend with us in order to allow their parents to work on their house.

Jobe wants to be friends with Jim.

Jim is still trying to decide if this is a good idea.

And for all my readers who have become fond of Charlie - who has not been in this blog since before I went traveling - his family dog, Rowdy, who was a genuine smiler, died this past week.

Condolences, Charlie, Jim and Cyndy.

Kalib bounced on the bed.

That plastic is up to give better insulation against the cold of winter.

I suppose we could take it down now.

Margie did open it up at the bottom, to let fresh air in.

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