Train trip to Seward -- September 28, 2009

Although I am sort of hibernating at home, and not writing much that is interesting for you these days, I did upload an album of photos from the train ride from Anchorage to Seward and back. The fall colors are lovely here now, and it's a nice trip. There was even a couple on the train who had flown up from Tucson, Arizona, especially for this journey. The special railroad trip last weekend was called the "Blues Train" and included a band playing in the last car's bar. Unfortunately it was so crowded there that only a few people could even get in. I guess it's just as well that I'm an old fogie and not interested in steady drinking, but it seems they could have put the music on the speaker system somehow.

My friend Lucy traveled with me, and we stayed overnight in Seward and came back the next day. It is amusing that I drove almost three hours to get to the train, and we had a nearly five hour train ride, then returned, eight hours of travel each way -- when I could drive from my house to Seward in an hour and a half! But it was fun and I took a lot of pictures.

They are online here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristinalaska/TrainToSeward#

Thanks to everyone who has written or called, it means so much!

By the way, that white stuff on the mountains is what always appears this time of year. We call it Termination Dust because it means the End of Summer! But the picture before the last one is an ancient river of ice... this one is Spencer Glacier.

Tonight, I present Romania, after the moose -- September 15, 2009

I finally narrowed down thousands of photos to just over 100 to show tonight, trying to condense my years in Romania to give a short presentation. Just looking through them reminds me of so many good times, and I realize how much I want to share these memories with others. What an incredible experience I have had!

As I'm working, my dog starts growling so I look up and see moose in my yard. My friend Gloria says she wants to see moose, so here they are. The babies are adorable when they are little, but grown moose are just not that cute. After taking some pictures, I let Cheyenne out to run after them, but Momma wasn't having any of her scare tactics. She ignored the dog for a while, but finally chased her back into the woods and Cheyenne came high-tailing it home as fast as she could. Probably she figured out that they can kick pretty hard! And perhaps it hadn't really sunk in that a grown moose is ten times bigger than she is! With all the bears around my neighborhood, Momma Moose deserves a lot of credit for keeping both these twins alive! Bears think they are yummy!

As you can see, they didn't leave and this last picture was taken from my desk after I went back to work.

It's so lovely here, why would I want to leave?? -- September 6, 2009

I've been silent for a while, because I just don't know what to say or how to say it. When I left for the Peace Corps, I expected to have an epiphany upon my return, about how I would finally decide to sell my house, move to the lower 48 and live in a very small but paid-for home where the climate is warmer and winters are shorter. I would travel more and spend lots of time with my children and grandkids, make new friends and begin an entirely new chapter. I'm amazed to say that instead I have unpacked the boxes that my son Peter kept hauling into the house, snuggled into my comfortable and beautiful nest, and thoroughly enjoyed the spectacular summer weather we have had. I learned to love my home again and appreciate all the wonderful things I have much more than when I left. I have finally gotten over the powerful urge to give away everything that I own, and the guilt that came over me for having so much. It is not the sort of epiphany that I expected and I've had a hard time coming to terms with it. I feel bad that I don't even want to go out camping or boating, I already have all the things that people run into the woods from their city homes to find. I live in the woods, next to a lake, surrounded by wildlife, but with all the comforts of home! I even have fires outside at night, or inside if the weather isn't perfect, can roast marshmallows if I get the urge.

So, in terms of writing fascinating intercultural travel stories, I've become a flop, and it doesn't seem like I have interesting things to say. If you're reading this, I guess you're still in touch and we are somehow connecting, so I'll share a tiny bit of my life with you. Of course I'll be traveling again soon, my wanderlust is just simmering on a back burner for a while. I will be in Oregon and the West Coast for the month of December, hope to get my daughter Dara and son Grey and their families together before Christmas so I will share pictures from that trip. I think I'll be going to Montreal for the Rotary convention in May, so might finally see New England then. I want to get a camper van again, so I can drive around the USA sometimes and see parts of the country that I already love or haven't visited yet. My friends in Romania have asked to see my country through my eyes, so I'll try to keep taking pictures. But for now I'll just stay home and accept the fact that I love it here!

I still have a lot of things to get done before winter comes, but I have stopped fussing and worrying about it, and feeling all inadequate because I'm not as efficient and energetic as I used to be. I prefer to move more slowly and enjoy the moment more thoroughly. The doctor gave me new medicine that seems to help the ailments I brought home with me from Romania, so hopefully some of that old vitality will return, but I don't mind living slower and like to think I have a couple more decades to putter along.

So, here are a couple of photos of my lovely nest. I do have a nice guest room and bath for you, if you want to come to visit me! The first is the view from my bedroom, early this morning, and then the view from my desk as I sit writing this today. Next is the living room from above outside my bedroom, the sewing room, and the view from my reading chair. Cheyenne is waiting up there, to see if I'm going to come back upstairs.