We celebrate my birthday in Anchorage to the taste of Arctic char from Kaktovik

On the evening of my birthday, I drove into Anchorage where most of the rest of my family already was. Margie had been staying with Jacob and Lavina since the day that I left for Kaktovik, as Jobe had been a little under the weather and she needed to take care of him while Lavina worked.

Soon after I arrived, Lavina threw a few of the Arctic char that I had brought back from Kaktovik onto the grill.

These particular char were given to me by Marie Rexford. Elizabeth Rexford also gave me a generous number from the cache of she and husband Fenton.

Oh, boy, was it tasty! Char is one of my favorite fish - right up there with salmon, halibut and trout.

Thank you, Marie, Fenton and Elizabeth - your generosity made my birthday extra special.

I will still try to work a few char fishing pictures in here, maybe tomorrow, maybe Sunday, maybe Monday.

I am told that Kalib still wields the spatula - usually on a weekend morning when he is cooking eggs, but I have not personally seen him carry the spatula for awhile.

It had been rainy and cool when I drove out of Wasilla, but when I got out of the car at Jacob and Lavina's house, the sun shone brightly upon me and I was surprised by how hot it felt - just like I remember from the southern Arizona desert.

Well, maybe not quite that hot.

We ate on the table that graces the back deck of Jacob and Lavina's house. When I sit here, I am always amazed at the typical American suburban environs my son and daughter-in-law have planted themselves in and how comfortable they seem within.

After dinner, a few of us sat in the living room and talked while others readied something out in the kitchen that I was not supposed to see just yet.

It was Lisa whose stories dominated the conversation, and they were mostly about the dogs that she had been caring for while their owners were away. One day, she came to the house to find that one of the dogs had pooped on important tax papers. She had to save those papers, and the process involved rubber gloves and drying and sterilizing things and it was not pleasant.

Charlie said the dog had only done what everybody wants to do.

After she told the story, Jacob came out with Jobe. Jobe tackled Jacob.

Look up there, on the wall. It's Jobe's Apache cradleboard, the one made especially for him by one of the most skilled cradleboard makers on the White Mountain Apache Reservation - his Aunt LeeAnn.

Jobe will never sleep in it again.

That makes me kind of sad, yet I so greatly enjoy watching him grow, learn and experience.

Margie came out, pulled the curtains and turned out the lights. Then Melanie entered from the kitchen, followed by Kalib, Margie and Lavina. She carried the object that I had not been allowed to see until now. It was a flaming cake that she had made, just for me.

Count the number of candles and you will see that on my birthday, I turned younger than I had been for five decades.

The little ones watched intently as grandma inhaled a deep breath. Could he do it? Not quite!

So Kalib, the expert candle blower-outer, finished the job.

Once again, I drove home by myself. Jobe was doing quite a bit better, but Lavina's good friend, Sandy, has hit her due date and could go into labor at any minute. She wants Lavina with her when she delivers and Lavina has promised that she will be. 

Jacob had to leave for Kipnuk early in the morning, so Margie stayed to be on hand to care for the little ones should another little one choose the next day to be born.

This is what I saw as I neared Wasilla, just a few minutes before midnight.

Midnight won't look like this for much longer.

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Four pose for couple's fifth anniversary; spatula in the snow; tissues on the floor; Jobe stands

It is well past midnight and I must get up very early in the morning and I tend not to sleep all that well, anyway and worse yet when I have to get up earlier than normal, so I am going to hustle along, so that I can least spend a little more time lying in bed, tossing and turning.

Jacob and Lavina brought Kalib out this evening so that he could join Jobe and overnight with us. This, because it was their fifth wedding anniversary and they wanted to celebrate alone.

Before Jacob and Lavina left, I thought it would be nice to do a fifth anniverary family portrait.

When it came time to pose, Kalib ran off with his spatula.

Jacob had to chase him down and carry him protesting back.

Jobe observed all the commotion peacefully as he cooperated fully.

Jacob and Lavina Hess on their fifth anniversary, with the two little ones their union has produced. I think this picture captures each of them rather nicely.

Kalib dropped his spatula.

Kalib retrieved its spatula and used it to turn snow.

Kalib set out to sweep the snow away from the wreckage of the Running Dog. Oh, the good times that plane and I used to have! It will never fly again, unless by rare chance I score a best seller, get rich and can afford to spend three times as much to put it back together as it would cost me to get another.

I am about to try to get another, but all I can spend is $50.

I will explain in subsequent post.

Some of you Alaskans will have already figured it out.

But please don't tell.

Lavina kissed both of her babies goodbye, in turn.

Although their personalities are very different, in some ways, Jobe is following in his big brother's footsteps.

As you can see, he is not completely over his eye infection. He has a few cold symptoms as well.

That didn't stop him from standing up, all on his own. He stood there for about 30 seconds, fell on his butt, got up, stood again, fell again, stood again...

I kind of was hoping he would take his first step and start walking, so that I could photograph it, but then I did not want his parents to miss that moment.

Maybe he will walk tomorrow. Unfortunately, if he does, I will be in Anchorage. I will then just have to photograph him walking later - but there is nothing like those first steps.

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Master chef boy Kalib shows up carrying his spatula, then whips up some chocolate chip cookies; his little brother falls asleep

Late yesterday morning, master chef boy Kalib showed up carrying his spatula. He was ready to cook.

Soon, he was mixing dough to bake chocolate chip cookies. 

He spread flour across the counter top, and then discovered that if he whipped it off the counter and into the air, the flour spray would glow in the sunbeam that shone through the window.

He had already put in the white sugar - now it was time for the brown.

He did some of the steps out of order, and did not follow the recipe closely, but that is the kind of thing that master chef boys do.

His grandma poured vanilla extract into a measuring spoon.

Kalib had to be certain that this task was done right, so master chef boy took the measuring spoon from his grandma and applied the vanilla to the pre-dough concoction himself. 

He used a potato masher to mix everything together.

Then his mom showed up with an electric mixer as little brother Jobe drifted past the picture of little brother Jobe than hangs on the refrigerator door.

Before I continue - I must emphasize that Jobe also did something pretty darn spectacular during this visit, but I can only stuff so much into one post and so I am saving Jobe's accomplishment for another day.

Kalib stood ready with his mixing fork, just in case his mother did not do such a good job with the electric mixer.

Kalib added more flower and such to the mix.

Kalib checked to be certain that there are no frogs in the mix. A frog would spoil the cookies.

Then it was time to add the chocolate chips. So Kalib added one.

Then he ate a chocolate chip.

Next, he ate another chocolate chip.

To make it easer for him to dump all the chocolate chips at once, his dad put the chips in a bowl. Kalib extracted one and ate it.

Then he extracted another and put it into the mix. At his rate - three chips, one at a time, into Kalib for every chip, one at a time, into the mix, it was going to take a long time and these cookies were going to be sparse on chocolate chips.

The process of applying the chips was taking so long that Jobe grew tired and weary. He began to yawn. His mother tied him into his cradle board, where he promptly fell asleep.

Somehow, a number of chips sufficient to make cookies made it into the batter. Kalib assigned the menial task of placing the dough onto the cookie sheets and into the oven to his father.

When the cookies were done, Kalib ate them himself. Every last one. He teased his dad with this one, pretending that he was going to let him take a bite, but devoured it before Dad could.

Maybe I exaggerate a little bit.

Maybe Kalib shared the cookies with the rest of us.

Maybe we enjoyed them, because it is fact that they were damn good.

Maybe I ate more than I should have.

Maybe I still feel the excess chocolate chip cookies weighing down my tummy.

Probably not, but maybe.

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When no other spatula will do - another spatula will just have to do; two women on opposite sides of the road

As Kalib and Jobe have had but a small presence in this blog as of late, I back up now to Saturday night, when I went to their house to pick up Margie after the Fur Face beard contest. As I walked up the stairs, I saw a little face peeking over the safety gate at me.

Who the hell was it?

Why, it was Jobe!

And he was damn glad to see his grandpa.

Actually, I back up even a little further now - to just before I went to the beard contest, when I dropped Margie off. When we arrived, Jobe was napping and Kalib and his dad were out walking and playing in the nearby frozen and snowy park.

They soon arrived home and Kalib was carrying golf balls. Apparently, there had been some kind of golf tournament out in that park, probably associated with Anchorage Fur Rendezvous.

Some of the golfers had lost their balls.

Kalib had found them.

Margie helped Kalib out of his coat and then I left to find Charlie and his beard.

Now, back to late at night - to just before I took Margie to the car and drove her home. Kalib's spatula appeared, looking just like it always had. As regular readers know, for Kalib the Spatula Kid there was one spatula and one spatula only.

No other spatula would do.

But this was a different spatula.

His parents found it on ebay and it was identical to the spatula that got lost, an event that caused Kalib to pick up and glom onto a pair of tongs. They snatched it right up.

You will note that even though Kalib now has his same/different spatula back, he still carries his tongs.

Kalib is becoming quite expert at manipulating those tongs.

Self-portait: me, Kalib and Jacob.

As for the Iditarod Restart - I just had too much to do and could not take the time to go. I felt bad about it, but there were all kinds cameras there, operated by amateur and pro alike. There will be no shortage of images.

And this one from India:

Two ladies walking on opposite sides of the road at dusk.

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Jobe's parents come to get him; Kalib loses his spatula - what could take its place? Two beggar boys and a puppy; tomorrow, I return to Kivgiq

In the morning, Jobe's parents called to tell us they were about to leave Anchorage to drive to Wasilla. They suggested that we meet them at IHOP, where they would buy us breakfast.

So, about 45 minutes later, I bundled Jobe up and packed him into his car seat.

Then we were all together in IHOP and it was busy there - as it always is on a Sunday morning.

Jobe was happy to see his parents, alright, but the moment after he exchanged his greetings with them, he wanted to come back to his grandpa.

That's just how it is with Jobe and me.

Kalib, however, was most content to settle down in the loving arms of his mom.

Except that he also wanted to spend time with his dad. 

Jobe did find himself the recipient of some special Mom love, but even then his mind was on grandpa.

We returned home and in a bit Jobe's Uncle Rex showed up. Jobe was glad to see him, but still his thoughts were on grandpa.

Then Dad decided to read a book to Jobe. For a moment, Jobe was interested.

Then he decided he would rather be held by his grandpa than to hear how the story came out. So he pushed away from his dad...

...and came to me, so that I could hold him, which I did. Afterward, I decided that I had better go into my office, so that Jobe could visit other people. Plus, I had to put up yesterday's blog post.

Perhaps one day, Jobe will rebel, as young people do, and grow tired of his old grandpa. Perhaps Jobe will avoid me then, strive not to be seen by his peers with me.

Perhaps not. Perhaps he will be one of those young people who hangs tight with grandpa, no matter what.

He will always know his grandpa loves him. And, whether his rebellion draws him away from me for a time or not, I will know that he loves me, too.

He has already made it manifest. Such love does not just go away, but survives through youthful rebellion.

Plus, maybe before he hits that rebellion we will catch some fish together and cook them over hot coals and then eat them and then, even when he is rebelling, he will sometimes remember such moments fondly.

Jobe - my canoe has been dormant since I shattered my shoulder, but it will soon be time to activate it again.

Maybe Kalib, The Spatula Kid, can cook those fish for us. But it was kind of sad - Kalib came to the house with no spatula. His spatula is lost. No one can find it. His parents tried to give him another, but he would not accept it. It was THAT spatula or no spatula.

So he found a pair of tongs and has been packing those around instead. I understand that he has used them to turn hot dogs over, or maybe it was hamburgers.

He finds the tongs to be good for grabbing many things.

Still, I hope the spatula is soon found.

If it is, will he still want it?

Or will he only want the tongs, now?

Now that he has learned that he can grab things with them.

Just be careful what you grab, Kalib - especially when it comes to human and cat body parts.

When it came time to go, Kalib headed to the car with his parents. Jobe did, too. 

This is the last day of the three day weekend and I have actually managed to rest up a bit. Tomorrow, I will return to my Kivgiq photos.

And this from India: Two beggar boys and a puppy

At one stop, I came upon these boys and this puppy. They were beggar boys, hoping to get a few coins from anyone who would give them. I believe that I have mentioned this before, but I was counseled by a number of sources not to give money to the beggars. I was told that what I could not see on the streets was the Fagan-like scroundrels operating unseen in the background - unscrupulous, cruel individuals who would send young children, mothers, and old people out onto the streets to beg and who would then collect the bulk of their earnings and keep them for themselves.

As to adult beggars who might not be tied into such rings, I was told that most of them were people who could work but who had chosen not to, but to beg instead and I should not encourage them. There are temples all about India where food is gathered in generous quantities and served to the poor, that none are turned away, that those who truly need it can find sustenance at these temples and that those who truly want to help donate to the temples - not the beggars themselves.

Still, it was very hard for me and I did pass on a number coins in India. Even if it should be true that a Fagan-like character was going going to take most of the money I gave to a child or mother of the street, that child or mother's survival is still tied to whether or not he or she is going to bring back enough revenue to stave off the wrath of Fagan.

The fact is, though, that so many people are out begging that one with limited resources himself can only give out so many coins and then he must stop or he will have no more coins for himself.

I have found this to be true in many American cities as well.

The bigger boy wanted me to photograph him with the puppy, but he did not want the little boy to be in the picture.

The little boy was determined to be in the picture.

I believe that I have also noted that in the short time that we were blessed to spend with Soundarya and Anil, who truly did not have that much themselves and would struggle with financial matters up until their deaths, on a number of times I saw one, the other, or both of them step quietly aside to give a coin to a beggar.

That's how my Sandy was - and her husband, too.

Generous people, both.

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