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.

View images as slide show

As I work to finish up my Greenland posts, Lavina, Kalib and Jobe invite us to Jalepeno's; Kalib walks past the wreckage of my past life; Margie and Jobe on the couch

Yesterday, I stated that I was about to buckle down and finally finish up my Greenland posts. I had, in fact, set out to do this very thing when Lavina called Margie and asked for us to meet her, Kalib and Jobe at Jalepeno's, where she would buy us lunch.

Lavina had come out to the valley to teach a class on diabetes, which is why Margie had not already gone into Anchorage to begin her week-long babysitting shift. On this day, she would babysit at the house.

We did join the three at Jalepeno's.

The waitress found herself helplessly charmed by Jobe.

Lavina fed Kalib and Jobe scrutinized the world outside the window.

Lavina kissed Jobe. 

Astute observers will note a bad flare in the mid to left portion of this and the above frames. I am afraid that the lens to my pocket camera has been afflicted with a permanent mar that no amount of cleaning can remove. This happened in New York City in April, but in the time since has only gotten worse. Now, this happens whenever I shoot against the main light source, sometimes manifesting itself like this, sometimes as two rainbow-colored streaks coming down the frame; sometimes both flaws appear in the same frame.

I don't like it, but my first objective in taking a photograph is to capture some kind of feeling and if I succeed, then I don't get that uptight about the technical flaws.

I still notice them, though.

I have thought about sending the camera back to Canon for repair, but I will probably just hang on to it until the next generation of the s90 comes out, or something just as tiny but better, and then purchase that.

The ability to carry a camera around in my pocket has simply spoiled me; caused me to learn to hate my big, bread and butter cameras.

I can't stand to carry them anymore.

All of a sudden, Jobe started to scream and cry, terrified.

He looked at his grandpa and calmed down.

When we arrived at the house, Kalib did not go in but set out to the backyard. I cut through the house so that I could get there ahead of him. I caught him in this photo, walking past the wreckage of my destroyed airplane, the Running Dog - walking past the wreckage of the dream that I once strived so hard to live.

Whatever anyone thinks of my lifestyle and how I get around and what I do, it just has not been at all the same since I crashed this plane. I lost something precious that day, September 22, 2001. I always thought that I would get it back. I still think so, but am beginning to doubt.

My entire identity and concept of who and what I am has been hit hard, damaged severely. Life does not feel the same to me as it did before, when The Running Dog was airworthy and I would sit in the cockpit, my right hand upon the stick, Alaska beneath my wings.

Kalib, who does not yet know that his grandpa used to fly this airplane all about Alaska. I wish that I could have strapped him into the back seat and have taken him for a ride on this very day.

Margie and Jobe, in the house. I think she had just changed his diaper. I had just come in from my office, where I had been going through my Greenland pictures.

Margie and Jobe, again.

I can't get enough of these two, together. And now both are gone from me for awhile, as Lavina took them and Kalib back to Anchorage with her this morning.

It's possible that I will not spend another night with Margie this trip home. Saturday morning, I leave for Fort Yukon, for the Gwich'in Gathering. Maybe someone will bring Margie home Friday night so that she can get up in the morning and go back to town with me Saturday when I catch my plane.

I don't know yet.

Late last night, I did finally complete my first pass giving at least a glance to every photo that I took in Greenland.

It had been my intent to do nothing but blog Greenland today, to put up two, three, four or however many posts necessary to bring this project to some kind of conclusion before I go to bed tonight.

But now that I have put this post up, I think that I had better leave it at the top for 24 hours, because Kalib and Jobe have many friends and relatives out there who come to this blog only to see them. Some of my readers don't care about anything else that I post here - they only want to see Kalib and Jobe. Some of them might miss this post if I put something else on top of it. 

So the Greenland conclusion will just have to wait for one more day.

I hope I get it done before I leave for Fort Yukon.

I have many other things to do between now and then as well - a couple of which must be done today. I need to be three people, each one of whom is me.

Four, maybe.

View images as slide show