Mushing photos

I figured since the Alaska Star editor failed to print some of the cooler photos from my dog mushing excursion (see my blog entry below)... I'd publish them here in this blog! It was a great day and a super fun experience!

Dog mushing story

Aside from the fact that the editor botched my second paragraph with her "corrections", chose the most boring photo out of the five I sent her, couldn't come up with even a decent headline...Oh and spelled my name incorrectly...Grrr... I thought this article turned out pretty well...

http://www.alaskastar.com/stories/032708/new_20080327004.shtml

Rock Climbing in March... in Alaska!

We parked the car along Turnagain Arm and headed a short ways up the hillside on the opposite side of the road...

Me leading a 5.8... solid!

Ben peeking out from the top of the face

Our sheep friend... he hung out the whole time we climbed

Ben

Cool view from the climb!

Showing off my rack

"But the greatest of these is charity"

Tonight I read this article in the New York Times...

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-China-Tibet.html

and saw this photo (warning: graphic)...

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/03/27/nytfrontpage/20080327POD_4.html

and I found myself nearly in tears...

When I finished work at 10:30 p.m., I drove to Fred Meyer to pick up hand warmers for climbing tomorrow.

As I was leaving the store a teenage daughter and dad approached me and asked if I know my way around Anchorage...

Speaking over each other in rushed, fragmented language they explained they were stranded... drove into Anchorage from Wasilla and forgot the wallet with all the cash, ID, etc. at home.

While I didn't feel confident enough in their story to give them dollar bills, I felt confident enough in them as people to give them a ride to the the place where they supposedly left their car... a nearby hospital.

I also offered them the left overs from the dinner I packed for work... a cliff bar and granola bar, which they devoured in record time.

In the car they told me a little bit about their life... raising dogs outside Wasilla... a homestead on a mountain... the daughter from Kotzebue is home schooled (in so many words her dad explained this meant she simply doesn't go to school)... her name is Laura...

The story wasn't all consistent and when we arrived at the hospital... rather than go to their van... they had me drop them off at the emergency room entrance... they said they needed go inside and make a few calls (even though they had a cell phone and I offered for them to use mine).

Nonetheless, I found the two dollars I always keep buried in my purse... handed it to them... and wished them a good evening. They walked into the emergency room arm in arm.

It seems to me the only way to face these seemingly huge crises in our world is to start with acts of charity... which in its truest sense is love made tangible.

Backyard sunbather

Just now... I was making breakfast... a bagel with cream cheese and a smoothie... and I looked out the window and saw that I had a visitor... sunbathing in my backyard!

A few more trip photos..

Joanna and Peter

Joanna, Peter and I all went to summer camp together... and had enough memories and long-lost inside jokes to keep us laughing all afternoon. Very cool and a bit crazy how our paths converged several years later for an afternoon in Connecticut.
Me being silly... I mean normal since I'm always silly
I snapped the photo just as the Seagull flew past = )

Good friends

There's nothing greater or better than good friends... except maybe getting to visit one! I just got back from a fabulous trip to NYC and Connecticut to visit my friend Joanna... the same chica that came to visit me in July at the end of my travels in Argentina and who I met at summer camp in 7th grade... some people really do just stick in your life... and for good reasons!

Joanna and I spent several days gallivanting around the big apple.... following the path of my great grandmother through Ellis Island, starring face to face with Monet masterpieces, eating exquisite Ethiopian, Indian and Asian Fusion cuisine, dancing to live music until early morning, attending an off-Broadway play, running in Central Park, orienting ourselves to the city from the top of the Empire State Building, loosing ourselves in the subway system, visiting with friends and being fully immersed in people who hail from all cultures and walks of life... oh how excited I was to order fresh squeezed orange juice off the street in Spanish!!!!

We then drove to Middletown, CT where Joanna lives. Exhausted from all our gallivanting, we settled into a relaxed pace. We spent a sunny afternoon walking/ running along the shore and we passed hours in a coffee shop listening to music. I found the New England architecture endlessly charming and very much enjoyed running and driving through nearby neighborhoods. Also, Joanna's friends are wonderful and I loved getting to know them.

All in all... not a shabby vacation!!!!

The Big Apple... a photo essay