July 4, part 4: iPhoning it at the cookout

My hiking shoes are pretty good, but they seemed to have gotten a little bigger than the last time I wore them and my feet slipped around inside quite a bit. This had been particularly bad coming down and so my feet were sore when we got to Lavina and Jacob's.

I took off my boots and went inside. Next time, I will try to wear two pair of socks with them, the inside one being thin, flexible, skin-tight and a moisture wicker. Then I think my feet might not get so sore. I felt as though I never wanted to put those shoes on again.

There was no one in Jake and Lavina's house when Melanie and I unlocked the door and stepped inside. So we went to the back deck and this what we saw before us.

The battery in my camera had completely died, by the way, and so had my iPhone. I did not have my iPad with me, so I had to borrow Margie's iPhone to take these pictures.

Good thing, because her iPhone is still pretty new and the lens is not nearly so smudged up as mine.

"No, Daddy! No Daddy! My turn, Daddy!" Kalib screamed as he ran to use grandpa as a shield. 

Jobe got into the pool. It had been a warm day.

Now it was turning cool. Jobe's mother called him inside so she could dry him off and put dry clothes on him. Or maybe gramma did that. I'm not sure.

There's my bare feet amidst his tiny footprints.

Lavina, barbecuing.

Jobe, eating his barbecued corn. We all ate and it was all scrumptious - as is all food that Jacob and Lavina prepare.

Lisa and Bryce came, too. Lisa had wanted to go on the hike, but wound up babysitting some dogs for ten days - including the entire weekend of the Fourth - and so had to miss it.

And that's it, folks. I've been dabbling at this blog on and off all day long. I just want to get on my bike and not write another word or place another picture.

If you go to the slideshow view and just see little squares with the words, "Thumbnail Processing" inside, go ahead and click through anyway. The slideshow images will still show. Squarespace is forever misfiring and malfunctioning, causing me headaches and wasting my time in 1000 different ways and this is how it is doing it tonight.

I have been working this in both Safari and Firefox to try and get this solved, but it just won't solve. Although, in time, it probably will. Maybe by tomorrow. So, if you go to the slideshow and see genuine thumbnails with images, just ignore this rant. 

Squarespace does that to me. It is the most exasperating program I have ever used.

Anyway, I have now displayed my Fourth of July, in four parts.

View images as slides

I seek a July 4 photo of American freedom for a civilian-mass audience* of Greece: Part 2 of 4: The Wasilla parade

Note: Sometimes strange and unintended things happen when publishing online. I posted this about three hours ago and from my data I know it had some visits. Then, without me ever unposting it, it came unposted. So now I repost it. (5:17 PM, July 5, 2011)

As it happened, I think I took my favorite parade picture after the parade - when I was in Melanie's and she was driving us toward the Chugach, where we would take a hike up the Twin Peak's Trail. As we passed through the main part of Wasilla, these kids came rolling by, going in the opposite direction.

I had not seen them in the parade, as we left early. I needed to meet Melanie and one poor grandmother was exhausted from trying to keep two rambunctious little boys safe and secure while her husband chased marchers and floats around.

Although you see only one picture here, this is a 23 picture post. It's just that I do not have time to include the other 22 here, especially considering that I still have two Fourth of July posts to go.

So, to see the other 22, you must go to the slide show. There you will find many flags, a couple of cute kids and dogs, soldiers decked out in combat gear, boy scouts, various politicians in search of votes, pretty girls dancing and cartwheeling in the street, people on motorcycles and horse, children waving at a hearse and things of that nature.

Among the politicians will be one dressed in red, one hand held up in waving gesture, a Vietnam veteran hat on his head. This is Verne Rupright, Wasilla's current mayor now campaigning for reelection. I post neither for or against him, but as a couple of his political competitors are identified by signs carried in their parade entourages, I figured it only fair to point out that this is the man they seek to beat.

*My friend, a civilian-mass audience has let me know via a comment that he does not want me to find a photo just for him, but to just go about things as normal, giving him no special consideration and he will keep coming back.

One must respect such a request, yet I cannot change the fact that as I shot yesterday's take, I kept wondering when a particular photo might appear. It did appear and when I get to it, I will let you know but I will not say it is just for Civi, but rather is for everybody and I just happened to be thinking of a civilian-mass audience when I shot it.

I did not take that shot at the parade, although I did take a number of decent Wasilla Fourth of July photos.

23 image slide show of Wasilla's July 4 parade

Rebecca Brower - winner of Barrow's baby contest!

Here she is - the winner, Rebecca Brower. Beautiful, beautiful, gorgeous baby! Magnificent parka!

Ladies and gentlemen: Rebecca Brower!

But she hasn't won yet. She is waiting her turn to go before the crowd.

And here she is, Rebecca Brower, in the arms of her Aaka, Rebecca Brower, showing her stuff.

As pageant winners so often do, Rebecca cries with joy upon learning that she has won.

Her first place award is handed to her. She reaches for it.

And she has it - First place winner of Barrow's baby contest.

The eight babies who won but who did not take first

This is a fact: if you are going to have a contest for which there is only one first prize, but nine babies enter, then eight of those babies are not going to take first. But look at this baby: she is Christetata Brower and she is a winner - absolutely! She is nothing less than a winner!

And what a beautiful parka she wears!

So this post is dedicated to the eight winner babies who did not take fist.

Shortly after I put it up, I will make a separate post for the First Place winner baby.

Let me say right now that I am proud to have met all these babies. Very proud. One could hardly have a greater honor in this life then to meet such babies.

Elijah Kagak.

Herman Solomon, Jr.

Kyle Nelson - already facing the paparazzi (that would not include me - I am not a paparazzi - I am a very serious photographer. But obviously, this other person is a paparazzi, one who usually shoots celebrities like Britney Spears, Mojo Harris and Weaver MacDonald).

Mildred Spear.

Wayne Toovak.

Jeremiah Benson.

Pearl Faith Gordon.

I know. There is more information that you would like to know, like who sewed each parka, and who is the mother and father of each baby?

In some cases, I know the answers to these questions and in others I don't and it is nearing midnight and I am afraid to go knocking on people's doors seeking answers.

So I give the full credit to the babies.

I am way behind and falling farther, but here, standing in the wind, is Miss Teen Top of The World and the two talented beauties who competed with her

These are the three who competed for this year's Miss Teen Top OF The World title: Rochelle Oyagak, Selma Khan and Freida Nageak. As you can see, they had to stand against a strong wind.

Selma Kahn was the winner and is the new Miss Teen Top of the World. I did not get a chance to interview her, but I can tell you that she did sew her own parka. And she did an excellent job. This is not my judgement alone, but that of the Elder women judges who have been skin-sewing all their lives and know quality when they see it.

Congratulations, Selma.

Me, I would not ever want to be a judge. No, I just couldn't do it. I thought all three were wonderful and that includes you, Frieda Nageak.

And you too, Rochelle Oyagak.

The three do a pageant walk.

And don't worry, mothers of the babies. I will still put all the little darlings in this blog. All nine of them, not a single one of whom I could have awarded anything less than first prize to.

That is why people who organize such events would always judge me incompetent to be a judge.

I must note that I am doing a very poor job of keeping up with myself on this blog. I have so much that I have so far photographed on this trip from a successful ugruk (bearded seal) hunt to flying around in airplanes to Eskimo dancing to local basketball players preparing to go to a tournament in Hawaii - and other things, too.

Maybe I will yet post some of this material. Maybe not.

I am pretty busy and the project that I am working on is time consuming and does not leave much time for me to fool around with this blog.