The great mushroom hunt

Look what we found.

We began our search. The first mushroom of our hunt we found near the front steps of our home. A small Orange Birch Bolete, or what I’m pretty sure is one, had poked its cap through some dead leaves and grass beneath a large birch tree. Armed with some tin pie plates and a large stainless steel mixing bowl, we began to fan out for our mushroom hunt. It was exciting because all of the rain had created a good, mushy environment for a variety of mushrooms to flourish in our yard.

“Mom!!! I found one! I found one!” I heard Gabriella say, and Shane and I rushed to a small collection of mushrooms she found on the lawn. It was strange because I looked around and, suddenly, I saw mushrooms everywhere! It was like a switch had been flipped and all of us saw a huge array of mushroom types scattered across the yard and into the surrounding woods. We each went our own direction, getting closer looks and collecting one of each type we discovered. I had never seen so many different kinds of mushrooms in Alaska. There were small ones, big ones, orange ones, brown ones. Types that looked like wet, some looked like folded paper, while others were so tightly clustered they looked like taupe coins laid in an intricate pile. Shane found a giant mushroom that I would guess weighed about a pound and Gabriella found a puff ball haven that we all enjoyed smooshing.

When we were done collecting, we laid out our finds. Shane mostly played with the gigundo mushroom he found, but Gabriella and I began to sort them by color and type. Some had gills, some were spongey. Gabby peeled the stems off a few and said they reminded her of cooked chicken. Believe it or not, the stem’s structure WAS like roasted chicken! Shane thought some smelled funny and I was fascinated by the variety we’d found on our 30-minute hunt through the yard.

Although I have a book to identify the various mushrooms, I didn’t feel comfortable enough with my skills to actually cook any. Plus, we’d flip them over and there would be entire bug colonies hiding in the gills or scuttling across the pores of the spongey ones. It didn’t seem too appetizing.

“MMMOOOOMM, here.”

“MMMOOOOMM, here.”

Our mushroom hunt was a great way to spend a sunny evening after days and days of rain this summer and the kids thought it neat too! Mushrooms are SO cool!

Excited about the ‘shroom collection.

 

The incredible brain mushroom. I have never seen this before.

Gabriella sorting some of her finds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s that time of year

Peekaboo! Gabriella suggested this pose.

…you know the time when you switch into full-swing freak-out mode because Thanksgiving is already over and now you need to get your butt in gear for Christmas. Well, I’m faring pretty well, despite the fact that it’s that time.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was low-key – just our family – and we had a fairly manageable dinner. There was a 13-pound turkey that I was afraid didn’t thaw out well enough. Turns out it was just fine. There were mashed potatoes, a green bean casserole that Gabriella helped to make, stuffing that I forgot about, homemade cranberry sauce, a terrific salad with walnuts and bleu cheese, white wine, cheese cake, pumpkin pie and banana cream pie. After reading back through that list I can’t believe I said that was a “manageable” menu!!!

Anyway, I had been bragging for days about this bottle of Stag’s Leap Merlot that Adam and I had gotten as a treat for our Thanksgiving meal. It turns out, we were so full that we never got to it. Now, we’re going to relish it at some point during this long weekend. I still can’t wait!

A big “CHEESE!” from Shane!

Today is Black Friday. I didn’t get up early, I did all of my super shopping right on my butt in front of the computer. I got some amazing deals and even took photos of the kids and then used them in our family Christmas cards, which I ordered today. I feel like I’ve been very productive. Now, I just need to get dressed. It is after 6 p.m. after all.

 

Kids and cameras

Sweat and dirt on this girl’s face after soccer practice!

My phone is a crutch. Judge if you want, but I often rely on my phone to keep my kids entertained. I’ve downloaded a few apps for the kids to play with, but the thing they are most enthused about is the camera.

Yesterday, Gabriella took more than 80 photos in less than two minutes time. She’s a true shutterbug. Today, when I went back through to delete the masses of photos, I came across a few that had me laughing. I’m posting them here because, well, I think they’re funny. Enjoy! All photos by Gabriella, my four-year-old.

 

 

 

 

Don’t know.

Another selfie.

Hey, Shane! Say, “Cheeeeesseee!”

Shane wants the camera from his sister.

Yes, all of these photos were taken in the back seat of my vehicle on our drive home.

 

Because a picture is worth a thousand words

This poor ol’ blog has been neglected for several months. I don’t have the time to go back and explain all of the highs and lows from the last few months, so I’m just going to post some photos. That should suffice. Right?!

I love these shoes. I wanted Adam to buy them when we were shopping in Anchorage in early May. When I showed him, he just looked at me and said, “Nah” and shook his head.

On our family trip south, we explored the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on Turnagain Arm. That’s where I snapped this photo.

We spotted mountain goats while driving along the Seward Highway. The mountain goat is the tiny white speck above Adam’s head. Hey, cool sun roof.

Fairbanks is a small town, so if you’re related to this person, I’m sorry. BUT look at the horrible hair! The two-tone ‘do is NOT becoming. Yes, I was on a shopping trip for diapers, cat litter, milk and other items that prove I’m firmly planted in Momville.

Shane’s train! My little boy was so excited to see a real-life train zip by us on the Seward Highway. The people inside were probably very entertained by our waving and picture-taking.

All I wanted for Mother’s Day was some good perfume. I got some time to myself in Nordstrom and selected my own gift. I went in for the new Kate Spade scent but was up-saled and walked out with this glorious fragrance. It’s my new fav.

The fam went to the Noel Wien Library Foundation book sale. There, the kids picked out books. Gabriella chose this one. The title is quite catchy! 🙂

That’s a brown bear in the water (behind this electric fence). The bear was at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. When I was taking pictures of the bear I was listening to a tourist talk to the on-site biologist. She wondered if they just dropped cows or moose into the pen for the bear to attack and eat. I’m happy to report the AWCC does not do this. The biologist said the bear has been there since it was a cub. It doesn’t know how to hunt.

Wood bison. “Prior to their disappearance, bison were an important source of food for the Gwich’in on the Yukon Flats.” I find this very interesting.

My cat, Nike! He’s a shape-shifting warlock cat. He rules the upstairs of our house.

Brother doves. Photo by Gabriella.

The kids swinging (with Adam) on our first trip to Pioneer Park this season.

Self-portrait by Shane. My kids get ahold of my phone and take tons of photos. Then I have to go back and delete them all. The last time I went through the deleting process, I got rid of 186 pictures of our TV where Dora in Fairytale Land was playing.

Kyan River Cheap was born! My best friend Jasmine had this cutie on May 21. He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

Gabriella’s first soccer game of the summer took place during a monsoon. That’s her with a towel on her head! She don’t care!

 

Me and the kids at Pioneer Park. BTW, Adam can’t take straight pictures and it drives me nuts.

Shane “The Hair” Gibler at Pioneer Park.

Past, present, future spread of a recent tarot reading.

Random self-portrait at work.

The playlist created for Patrick’s birthday in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” I want to burn a CD with these songs on it. Don’t pay attention to my horrible nail polish (Jeez!). A favorite quote from the book: “So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.” Go read it.

Me at the mic in the KUAC studio. I’m now a volunteer DJ. I’ve got a jazz show. How cool is that?

 

“Filet mignon, please!”

Yep, that’s filet mignon in a Hello Kitty kid’s plate.

Growing up, I was lucky. My parents always included me in their dinners at fancy restaurants and, well, I got accustomed to it. When the server would ask my parents what I wanted, I would pipe up in my little voice and say, “Prime rib, please.” I wasn’t game for kids’ menu fare, I liked pricey steaks and virgin drinks. I had an upscale palate and would order up a meal equal in price to the high-end entrees of the adults at my table. My parents bring this up from time to time and chalk it up to me being a little high-maintenance. Well, now I have my own high-maintenance little boobers and I’m getting a kick out of their preferences. Sort of.

On Sunday, Adam presented the fam. with some bacon-wrapped filets for dinner. He was all proud and stuff because he had purchased the meat from a Montana farm where the cattle are grass-fed and hormone free, creating some wonderfully succulent meat. Well, our daughter ate an entire filet and most of both of ours’. She asked what it was called. When we told her “filet mignon,” she had to practice the words a bit, but she got it. Now, the words just roll off her tongue like they were always meant to. Now I’m left wondering how we will ever manage to fund a household where the toddlers prefer a dainty filet over a corn dog.

 

How do I survive the cold?

Gabriella comes out of the bear den replica. She was proud to report there was actually no bear inside. Hooray!

Did you know that a bear can breathe only once every 45 seconds? A ground squirrel can drop its body temperature below freezing. A chickadee eats 60 percent of its body weight each day and small wood frogs freeze solid! That’s how these animals survive the cold. The University of Alaska Museum of the North held a Family Day to showcase its new exhibit, “Hibernation and the Science of Cold” on March 9. It was informative and fun! The kids found interesting things behind low doors, learned about the subnivean world and I was awed by the curled up ground squirrel hibernating in a special chamber for all to see.

The exhibit spotlights Institute of Arctic Biology research, but it had a profound affect on me. It made me question, how do I survive the long cold spells in the far north? Well, here’s what I came up with: Coffee — lots of it, an extension cord for my vehicle to fire up its oil pan heater, books, a wood stove, appreciation for the surrounding landscape, good friends and family.There’s more, of course, but these seem to be the main things that get me by. I’m not all that different from a vole scurrying beneath the snow in an endless maze of chambers. I just push on, try to stay warm, stay safe and find good grub. There’s a poem in this realization. I just need some time to tease it out. Stay tuned…

I love this word. Oddly, it’s not in the dictionary on my computer.

Shane thought he was gonna get Grandma on the phone. Instead he was listening to a scientist talk about research on hibernating bears.

 

I accidentally took a photo of myself. My phone’s camera is still broken and I was using Adam’s mammoth device.

Look at this little guy! He’s tiny — we’re talking like two inches in length. A perfect owl appetizer.

 

Snippets from the holiday travel log

Gabriella and Chena in Chugiak, AK.

Wednesday, Independence Day:
Happy Birthday America! I celebrated by casually preparing my family for a road trip to Anchorage. We were on the Parks Highway at about 9 p.m. Our Dodge Ram pulled a 20-foot trailer loaded with three dogs, 6 puppies, two lawn mowers, one weed whacker and other miscellaneous supplies. Inside, the truck was stuffed with our family and two friends — Phillip and Jason. Despite the fact that we drove through nearly 360 miles of Alaska wilderness, the highlight of the drive was when Jason freaked out because he discovered his bagel dog was moldy. The discovery came after he took a bite. Bummer.

Thursday, July 5:
Arrived in Anchorage super early in the a.m. after dropping off the dogs, the gear and the guys in Chugiak. I was totally jet-lagged, which was odd since I was never in a plane nor did I take flight. However, the kids were all keyed up and didn’t sleep until about 8 a.m. Sleepless kids = sleepless, pissy momma.

Devil’s Club had taken over!

For the remainder of the day I just lazed around my friends’ house, watched Sprout and made some lofty plans. Basically, I was conscious enough to watch my children and then when Adam arrived, I slept until midnight, jacking up all of the awesome plans I had arranged. From midnight to 5 a.m. I watched a series of programs on hauntings. I had weird dreams when I finally dozed off again.

Friday, July 6:
I felt relatively normal when I woke up . I was thankful for Mathew (who was also staying at my friend’s empty home). Mathew’s a good conversationalist or is at least polite enough to engage me and be cool with my kids’ endless feedback loop of food, squealing, clean-up, fun, food, squealing and on and on and on! He played computer games and helped me keep an eye on the kids. Plus, he endured another 18 hours of Sprout. Whatta guy! I ran to the store for supplies. It takes a lot when our clan of four’s on the go — diapers, kid-friendly snacks, juice — you get the idea.

This is Shane before he fell into a metal chair and busted his eye! 😦

That night I made teriyaki pork ribs and chops, jasmine rice and an Asian salad. I packed it all up for a late-night picnic and joined the guys for dinner by the fire in the backwoods of north Birchwood in Chugiak. Good times! Especially because I ended the night with a super-late visit to my good ol’ friend, Val’s home. She lives in Anchorage. Val is cool. Even though I arrived when she and her three kids were already in PJs, we had a visit at 11 p.m. Of course this was excellent with our kids — 5 total — as trampolines, toys, crackers and Capri Suns are all so much better when it’s late! Don’t know what time it was when we all crawled into bed.

Saturday, July 7:
Woke up around 11 a.m. Did a shit ton of laundry. With a pre-schooler and a toddler, we go through the clothes FAST. Then I cleaned up around my friend’s house to show my appreciation and got everyone ready for another visit at Ms. Val’s. Once we arrived, Journey, Jordan and Sarah entertained my kids, shared their toys and snacks and Val and I caught up. We came up with a rough plan for a memorial we’re going to create for her son, Josh. We had coffee and rose hip tea. I got so jacked that cleaned Val’s kitchen and living area. Seriously, I broke out her broom and got sweaty. I don’t know, I was just compelled to clean. Oddly, this never happens when I’m at home. Maybe I need my own stash of rose hip tea.

After Val went through all of the trouble to prepare a meal for my family, this is what Gabriella put on her plate.

Later, we were back on the road. It was about 10 p.m. I craved Arby’s as there isn’t one in Fairbanks. We hit the Arby’s in Wasilla for my traditional recessional of an outta-town Beef & Cheddar. This time, Jason’s sandwich wasn’t moldy. I stayed awake for the whole drive back to the Interior and became addicted to a game on my husband’s phone called “Collapse.” It was quiet. The kids slept, Phillip and Jason were mellow, Adam and I talked until we rolled into the drive at 6 a.m.

Sunday, July 8:
A lazy day in the sunshine. It was nice to see the sun again in Fairbanks. We loaded up the kids in a jogger stroller and strolled on down to a local park. I walked the track with Shane and then pushed him in a swing for nearly half an hour — the boy loves it! When we came back home, Gabriella and I made an art extravaganza out of our driveway. Then I proceeded to make an impromptu fish-fry with macaroni and beer. Yeah! I then ended my last night of vay-cay watching “Steel Magnolias,” which got my emotions going as it is a classic to all women who share some relation to the South.

Art in our driveway!

So, this was my Independence Day holiday. Certainly not CRAZY, but good, mellow and fun. I truly relaxed. What more could I ask for, really? It was great.

 

A lesson from Mary Oliver

Shane, diverting the path on a recent stroll through Creamer’s Field in Fairbanks.

One of the first poets that ever hooked me was Mary Oliver. Her 1983 collection, Dream Work, was assigned for reading in my very first creative writing class. I was an undergrad., a total novice at poetry and actually turned a poem in about my cat that had the line, “Wow, what a meow.” I thought I was pretty crafty. Now, I cringe when I think about some of the drivel I turned out back in the day. But, I was learning. I was young and it’s hard to find your voice when you haven’t read a bunch of different types of poetry. Without that baseline you don’t know who to emulate, who’s techniques to turn inside out or even where to go for inspiration. Nonetheless, it was “Dreams” in that collection that really blew me away. Still, it’s a poem I can go back to time and again and get excited about it. I urge you to read it.

Mary Oliver is a prolific writer — she’s written more than 20 books — and is a commercially successful poet. How cool is that? So, not only do I admire her writing abilities, her tenacity to write and write and write, but also her power to resonate with the broader public. I recently checked out her 2009 book, Evidence.

Gabriella likes to lead the way.

In it, she seems the wise old sage dispensing advice inspired by the small, yet miraculous happenings of nature — a swan gliding across the water, a hummingbird, a cloud, violets. It’s awesome and I wanted to share a particularly moving passage to me. It’s below.

From Section 3 of “To Begin With, the Sweet Grass”:

“The witchery of living,
is my whole conversation
with you, my darlings.
All I can tell you is what I know.

Look, and look again.
This world is not just a little thrill for the eyes.

It’s more than bones.
It’s more than the delicate wrist with its personal pulse.
It’s more than the beating of the single heart.
It’s praising.
It’s giving until the giving feels like receiving.
You have a life — just imagine that!
You have this day, and maybe another, and maybe still another.”

 

Musk ox and Venus

Gabriella’s scanning the action at the Large Animal Research Station, while Adam keeps Shane in check.

There may be nothing in common between the two, but our family had the cool opportunity to gawk at some twin musk ox babies and view Venus as it made its transit across the sun. Our family is making a dogged effort to take in some unique and (especially) free events together and we’re on a pretty good run!

Last weekend we visited the Large Animal Research Station, just north of the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. LARS was offering an open house where the public could view the recent babies, both musk ox and caribou, with face-painting and loot to boot. Gabriella had a blast! She made friends running up and down the backside of the earthen amphitheater and posed for pictures near the musk ox pens and was relatively easy to deal with. Shane, on the other hand, was a hot mess! The boy is entering a defiant stage and likes to do the exact opposite of what Adam and I would like him to do. We go forward, he goes backward. We ask for quiet, he screams. We’d like him to walk, he wants to plop down in the middle of the path. It’s often a tug-o-war. Eventually, poor Shane had to sit out the rest of the LARS visit in the truck with his dad, while Gabriella got her face painted and played with friends. Poor Shane. 😦

Shane wasn’t too happy at this point, it didn’t matter if the musk ox twins were just right on the other side of the fence.

When Adam and the kids picked me up from work on June 5, none of us were really up for a family outing. I was pooped from work, Gabs wanted to go to the park, Shane was crying and Adam was grappling with a headache. We had planned to go to a public viewing event of the transit of Venus at our local library, but almost talked ourselves out of it. We begrudgingly weaved through town, parked in the crowded parking lot and followed the masses of people to the lawn at the back of the Noel Wien Library. Thank goodness we went! As soon as we stepped onto the grass our moods improved. Gabriella fell in love with the grass and was wowed by the kids launching rockets. Shane and his dad hung out and watched autonomous robots wheel about, I saw friends from work and spotted the transit through a Sunspotter. It was great! We tootled around for a bit, let Shane run aimlessly through the

A musk ox and Gabriella (sporting her brother’s puppy hat).

park, while Gabriella did log rolls across the grass and just relished this cool experience of seeing something that will not likely happen again in any of our lifetimes.

BTW: If you Google “Venus and musk ox,” the top pick of more than 700,000 results is the famed Chauvet Cave in France. Although the Venus in this context is a womanly figure drawn in charcoal, both Venus and a musk ox are located in the same chamber. I guess I was wrong. There is a connection after all!

Enjoy the photos…

Getting her face painted was THE highlight of the LARS visit. Gabriella opted for a butterfly in Nanook colors — blue body and yellow wings!

Sunspotters are cool! Do you see Venus in the projection? It’s the tiny black speck.

I was happy there was good weather and that I could proudly say, “I saw Venus!”

Gabriella told me, “Mom, this grass is SO soft and tickley.”

Adam, Shane and the robots at the transit of Venus event.

My two favorite little people!

People waiting in line to view Venus through one of the telescopes at the public viewing event at the Noel Wien Library.

After nine tries, I finally got a shot where all three were smiling!

 

Painting with Gabriella

Get started by setting up your painting station. I have to have paper, paints, my paintbrush, Q-tips, water and a paper towel handy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom says “be creative,” so I draw whatever I want — weird smiley faces, flowers, letters and squigglies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like to make paintings for people I know. This one’s for Grandma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I paint, I need to let everything dry. I like to look at the painting while it’s drying, so I ask Mom for tape to hang the picture on the refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I REALLY like tape, so I make sure to put a bunch around the edges of the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taaahh-daahhh! Art by me!