Kalib makes a toast, leaving me no choice but to cheat a little bit; a brown dog named Blue goes into the post office; Pineapple Express causes the weather to turn miserably warm

Thanks to this guy and what he is about to do, I now have to cheat a little bit. Until I get on top of things (and I am not even close), I pledged to limit my posts to two photos a day - one of Kalib and another from out and about. So when I took this picture of Kalib, I figured that I had my one of him and that would do it.

But then he wanted to make toasts all around - "to the best damned grandparents in the world," he toasted. Oh, those weren't his exact words, most of which are not spoken in adult English, but that was what he meant. The best damned grandma agreed, and so joined in the toast.

So, you see, I felt it necessary to break my pledge, and post three images. I could have posted ten, easy enough, but I only posted three.

The occasion, by the way, was the opening of the new "Alaska Bagel." The three of us were very curious to try it out. Margie ordered a wrap, I ordered a bagel sandwich, we both ordered a cup of chicken gumbo soup, I ordered a root beer and, as you can see, these two ordered glasses of water. Margie and I shared with Kalib.

The soup was excellent. The sandwich was okay - the fresh bagel was excellent as was the mustard, mayo, tomatoes, onions, avacado, etc, but there was only one, very thin, slice of ham on my sandwich.

I could hardly taste the ham!

And the bill came to over $26, which is just too much to spend for a simple lunch with only one thin slice of ham, no matter how good the bagel is.  So I won't be going there as often as I would have hoped.

Jacob and Lavina stopped on their way to work and bought breakfast there. Both reported breakfast to be delicious. So maybe I will give that a try, too, before I give up.

I had to go to the post office and stand in a long line. This guy stood in front of me with his back toward me, so I really didn't notice that there was anything special about him - until he reached the point where he was next in line and turned towards the counters.

Suddenly, I saw that there was something very special about him, poking its head out through his unzipped jacket.

I was only able to do a short interview, maybe five seconds - just long enough to discover that the dog's name is Blue. As there is no blue to be seen in the dog, this raised some obvious questions, but before I could ask any of them, a postal worker looked at the man and the dog, motioned with his hand and said, "come forward please."

That was that.

Maybe one day I will see them again.

As long as I am cheating, I might as well cheat a little more and put in two pictures from out and about. Right now, we are having the second most miserable type of weather that we get around here in the winter time. A Pineapple Express low pressure system has moved up the Pacific from Hawaii and vicinity and brought warm temperatures and strong winds.

It is awful. The temperature is 38 degrees above zero and snow is melting. I hate it.

The only winter weather that we get that is worse is when the Pineapple Express is even stronger, warmer and wetter, when the temperature rises into the 40's and rain pours from the sky.

We live on the edge of one of the great climatic battle zones of this world - the masses of super-deep, cold air that move our way from the north and west, and the warm air flows that slip up from the Pacific.

When the cold wins out, life is good. When the warm wins, it is miserable.

And, as I have noted before, this is an El Niño winter. In El Niño winters, the Pineapple Express wins the battle all too often.

In these warming times (Alaska's average wintertime temperatures are over six degrees warmer than they were just 30 years ago) the misery is only exacerbated.

Okay. Tomorrow, I try to go back to my two image scheme.

Correction: Yesterday, I confused Diane Benson's halibut with another one and erroneously stated that it was over 300 pounds. It was actually about 120 - but that's still pretty big.

Dinner with Diane just before PBS broadcast of For the Rights of All; Lullaby and Goodnight to Kalib; help Ann Strongheart help fight hunger

Last July, while fishing out of Homer with her Iraq war veteran and Wounded Warrior Olympic athlete son, Latseen, and grandson, Gage, Diane Benson caught a 300 pound-plus halibut. After giving us a chance to let the turkey settle down in our systems, Diane invited Margie and I over to eat part of that halibut with her and Tony Vita. Tony has been there for her and Latseen through the bitter, yet triumphant, journey through pain, recovery and politics that they have been on since Latseen lost his legs to a roadside bomb.

As to the halibut... ohhhh... it was delicious! Deep-fried and dipped in Diane's homemade tartar sauce, which just may be the best tartar sauce that I have ever tasted. We also had dried fish dipped in houligan oil, dried seawood, boiled potates and carrots, plus a mix of raw vegetables.

Afterwards, we spent a great deal of time talking about books and the writing of books and about the classes Diane has been teaching at the University of Alaska, Anchorage - in particular the class focusing on the fact that Native women face the highest incidence of rape and sexual abuse of any group in the nation and of ways to defend against it, both at an individual and societal level.

Tonight at 8:00 PM, KAKM public television will broadcast For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska, the documentary filmed by Jeff Silverman in which Diane reprises her role as Alaska Native civil rights heroine Elizabeth Peratrovich that she originally created for her one-woman play, When My Spirit Raised it's Hands.

Those living in other parts of the US can check their local PBS stations to find out when the documentary will be playing in your town.

I saw it at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention. It is the most powerful work of its kind that I have yet to see. I would recommend it to all.

Scooter, the character in Diane's arms, was in rough shape when she rescued him a few months back, but now he is doing good.

Last night, I stepped into Jacob, Lavina and Kalib's temporary bedroom to give my little grandson a hug goodnight.

As he moved slowly towards sleep, the tune of Lullaby and Goodnight, played on a harp and woodwind recorder, softly played from the CD player.

It took me back to when I was about his age, in a darkened room lit by a dim light with my own late mother, as she held me and sang that same song to me. My memories of the time are dim, but of that moment strong in the sense of feeling safe, warm, and loved.

And then I remembered when Margie and I first brought Jacob home from the hospital. Mom came to the house, she took him in his arms and began to sing that same song.

I could not keep the tears out of my eyes - then or last night.

I say temporary bedroom because, yesterday, Jacob and Lavina closed on their new house in Anchorage. Very soon they will move into it.

What will Margie, Uncle Caleb and I do then?

Speaking of Native issues, the Southwest Alaska village of Nunam Iqua and other villages are facing tough times this winter, due to shortages of food and fuel. I had hoped that Ann Strongheart, who is coordinating efforts to bring aid to the village, would come to Anchorage between now and Christmas so that I might photograph and interview her, but she does not expect to come.

Anyone wishing to help can find out how to do so on her website, Anonymous Bloggers.