Catching up with more missed photos, part 3*: The great Black Cat Football fake

I had no idea why Margie was holding a pan with a football in it on her lap. "Are we going to have boiled football for dinner tonight?" I asked.

It turns out, she didn't know why she had it there, either.

Somehow, I think this guy was behind it. Kalib comes to get the football.

It would appear that Melanie is simply giving Jim a few pets, but all those intimately familiar with the game of American football will recognize this as the famous "Black Cat Fake."

The "Black Cat Fake" worked! Melanie snags the football!

What a catch! She proves herself to be the greatest receiver in the world.

What a pass! She proves herself to be the greatest quarterback in the world.

Whoa! What an interception! She proves herself to be the greatest defensive back in the world! This is my daughter and I am damn proud of her - even when there is no football involved.

The football is put away. Charlie and Royce chill. Charlie knows about cats. Cats know about Charlie.

*Although I have scheduled this to appear Tuesday, November 10, I actually made this post on Thursday, November 5. There are two reasons for this: 1: whatever bug it is that has got me down has left me unable to concentrate to the degree that I must to do my work. 2: The project that I have been working on is very nearly done, but I have never brought such a project to a close without going full-bore, night and day, on it at the end, distracted by no other tasks, including this blog.

So, before I go to bed, I am going to put up several days worth of posts from photos that I have recently taken but have not used. Then, for the next several days, I will not blog, I will stay away from the internet as much as possible and just bear down on getting this job done - but my posts will keep coming.

I think Kalib with get three of those posts, two at the very least.

First snow forces me to take a break from the break that I took so that I could do nothing but work

It came very late this fall - which seems to me to have been the warmest fall that I ever remember here - but finally, Sunday night, it snowed. It's true that last Thursday, I put blog entries together all the way through this coming Friday so that until that time, I would not be disturbed by this blog but could just concentrate fully on my work.

But how can I ignore the first snow, especially when it comes so late?

Here is a kid, getting off of a school bus on Ward's. As you can see, somebody did a bit of fish-tailing.

And here is an AWAC, flying through the clear sky the snow left behind.

I hope the driver of this vehicle guided it safely to its destination. 

He biked with a heavy load. This was about noon, when the temperature was 17 degrees. We have yet to experience our first cold snap. Perhaps he is glad that it is late.

More jets in the clear sky.

And here is the decoy frozen into the surface of Little Lake.

Tilted stop sign, with Pioneer Peak in the background.

Crossing the bridge over the Little Su.

Somebody is behind me. I hope it's peaceful person. I don't want any trouble.

I still have my respiratory infection, by the way, but it is not as bad as it was.

Catching up with Kalib,* Part 2: He teases his grandma - who will eat the chocolate chip?

During the time of her convalescence, this end of the couch is reserved for Margie, whenever she wants to sit down. There are some good reasons for this, but I will not take the time to explain. Kalib has figured this out, and so has come to see this end of the couch as the most special seat in the house. He also recognizes the fact that all present see him as the most special person in the house - a viewpoint with which he tends to agree.

So, he sometimes seems to think, the most special person in the house should be able to claim the most special seat in the house at will. Therefore, when he sees his grandma moving slowly toward this most special seat, he will often dash ahead of her, jump into his grandma's spot and claim it for himself. 

"Can Grandma sit there, please?" Margie asks in her most pleasant voice. "Grandma needs to sit there. Will you let me sit there?"

Kalib vacates the seat. Grandma makes herself as comfy as she can. Soon, Kalib shows up with a few chocolate chips in a cup. He offers one to his grandma. "A chocolate chip for Grandma? Oh, thank you!" Margie says, as she reaches out for it.

But swift as an eagle snatching a salmon, Kalib withdraws the offer and plops the chocolate chip into his own mouth.

At another moment on a different day, as Grandma changes his diaper, Kalib suddenly dives off the couch.

*Although I have scheduled this to appear Monday, November 9, I actually made this post on Thursday, November 5. There are two reasons for this: 1: whatever bug it is that has got me down has left me unable to concentrate to the degree that I must to do my work. 2: The project that I have been working on is very nearly done, but I have never brought such a project to a close without going full-bore, night and day, on it at the end, distracted by no other tasks, including this blog.

So, before I go to bed, I am going to put up several days worth of posts from photos that I have recently taken but have not used. Then, for the next several days, I will not blog, I will stay away from the internet as much as possible and just bear down on getting this job done - but my posts will keep coming.

I think Kalib with get three of those posts, two at the very least.

Catching up with Kalib,* Part 1: He opens the door for his grandma

On Lavina's birthday, Margie and I agreed to pick Kalib up from his daycare in Anchorage and bring him home. This would allow Jacob and Lavina to go out and celebrate, all night long. 

You all know that I love the pocket camera - because I can carry it in my pocket and it is just flat-out fun to use. But every now and then, I am overwhelmed by its limitations - and this is one such case.

When we stepped into Kalib's classroom, we discovered that it was nap-time. Every child in the room was fast asleep, including Kalib - and, boy, did he look precious! I had to photograph the moment, but, by the time I could get the pocket camera turned on and ready to shoot, he had discovered we were there. It was amazing to see how quickly he transformed from being fast asleep to standing on his feet.

He stepped briefly into his mother's arms, to get a quick hug.

Then, again, too fast for me to catch with the pocket camera, he dashed out into the hall and raced to the door, making certain that he reached it before his grandma did.

He wanted to open the doors for her, that's why. 

On the way to the car, he stopped to pick up a rock. Lavina said he does this every day that she picks him up. It is like a ritual.

The small keeper.

We buckled him in, then headed for home. Soon, he was again fast asleep.

*Although I have scheduled this to appear Sunday, November 8, I actually made this post on Thursday, November 5. There are two reasons for this: 1: whatever bug it is that has got me down has left me unable to concentrate to the degree that I must to do my work. 2: The project that I have been working on is very nearly done, but I have never brought such a project to a close without going full-bore at it, night and day, at the end, distracted by no other tasks, including this blog.

So, before I go to bed, I am going to put up several days worth of posts from photos that I have recently taken but have not used. Then, for the next several days, I will not blog, I will stay away from the internet as much as possible and just bear down on getting this job done - but my posts will keep coming.

I think Kalib with get at least three of those posts, two at the very least.

Melanie's recipe for pumpkin chili

In the week following the Halloween chili feed, I have received 6,795,351.82 angry emails and twice that many phone calls from irate readers, all demanding to know why I had not posted Melanie's pumpkin chili recipe. At first, it was just an annoyance, but lately these missives have begun to get threatening. Readers say if I don't post the recipe right away, they will abandon this blog and return no more.

It's not fair to me, because I am horribly sick and am coughing like crazy, wondering if I will die before the night ends, but if I lost that many readers, I would only have three left. I need to keep at least four readers, just to sustain my will to keep on blogging. So, as difficult as this is for me, I now post Melanie's pumpkin chili recipe:

1 Sugar pumpkin, about 2 lbs.

1 T. vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped

2 T. chili powder

1 T. curry powder

2 t. cumin

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

6 plum tomatoes, chopped

2 1/2 cooked bulgar

1 can kidney or pinto beans (drained and rinsed)

1/2 c. toasted (green) pumpkin seeds

1/2 c. chopped cilantro leaves and stems

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375. Cut the pumpkin in half with a large cleaver, ulu, or pocket knife, depending on what is convenient.

Scoop out the seeds, remove the stringy innards and feed them to the dog (I am not certain how Melanie accomplished this step, since she has two cats and no dog). Rinse the seeds in a colander to remove fleshy bits. Lay the seeds out on a paper towel to dry. Place the pumpkin open side down and bake until the flesh is soft, about 50 minutes to one hour. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and put it aside to cool. Sprinkle rinsed and dried pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet, sprinkle with some salt, and toast in the oven until they are nicely browned and crisp, about ten minutes. Set seeds aside.

In a large saucepan or stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, as well as the spices. Stir often for about five minutes, or until the onions turn soft. Add the tomatoes and bulgar (just what is bulgar, anyway? I meant to ask, but Melanie's out doing some work in Dillingham and can't be bothered with such questions) and about 2 cups of water. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, spoon the flesh from the pumpkin and add it to the simmering chili along with the beans. Cook the the chili for about 20 minutes, adding more water if necessary to attain desired chili consistency. Right before serving, add the toasted pumpkin seeds and the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve hot.

Melanie forgot to include this part, so I now take it upon myself to do so. Although this is a vegetarian dish, one that my Hindu relatives in India could eat with clear conscience, if you would like to add a special Alaskan touch to it, one that your visitors from the Far North will greatly appreciate, then serve it with a side of seal oil, to be applied at the discretion of your guests. 

Corn bread is also recommended. You can dip this in the seal oil, too.

As should be obvious to everyone, the picture is of Melanie and Charlie, who took my picture as I took theirs'. This kind of thing seems to happen all the time, anymore. In this case, it all happened before I got sick, before Melanie went to Dillingham.

As I am posting this two days ahead of its actual scheduled appearance on the net, maybe Melanie will be back by the time you read this. Maybe I will be feeling better. Maybe we will all be eating pumpkin chili.