Day 11, July 9th, Living in Girdwood, AK

Operation Fitness for Fear: We had another great run today. I am really beginning to enjoy Operation FFF. I will admit I don’t always like the idea of it as I am getting dressed for the run, but once I push through that initial lazy feeling, the run consistently ends up being quite nice. And of course, Tess always loves a chance to get outside. Today on the run we saw a couple of wild purple irises. They were small, but very beautiful and delicate.

We also managed to avoid any dogs on our run. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs, but Tess is pretty unpredictable around dogs. With some dogs she will cower and be submissive. With other dogs she will bark and snap at them, as if she is warning them to stay away. I am sure this is due mostly to her timid nature. On one hand she wants some other dog to take the lead; on the other hand sometimes she’s so freaked out by her surroundings that she just wants the other dogs to leave her alone. I am sure there is more that I can do to help her on this front, but like all things with Tess, it is a work in progress. In the interim, I do my best to keep an eye out for dogs that we might encounter, so that I can make sure that I have control over Tess. That way, she doesn’t feel like she has to speak (IE bark) for the two of us. Keeping an eye out for dogs in Girdwood is a full time job since a lot of people just let their dogs roam the streets. Luckily, all the dogs that we have encountered so far have been very chill. My guess is that if you are a dog and you spend the majority of your life living in Girdwood, you learn how to recognize the people who want to pet you and the people who want you to leave them alone. Sometimes I feel a little bad for them when it’s raining out or when I think about bears, but for the most part, they seem incredibly happy to be able to just wander around and set their own daily agenda. They can sniff wherever they want. They can hang out wherever they want (One dog just sits outside the mercantile door. Another dog sits in the middle of the road until his owner comes back from work). And inevitably, they can poop wherever they want. Apparently, my front yard is quite popular with the local dogs when it comes to this particular activity. Tess is not amused.

Operation Trying Not to be a Complete Hermit: I have continued my attempts to interact with people a little more. Admittedly, today was a fairly passive attempt, but it bears noting that during Operation FFF, I made eye contact with a few people and they all said “Hi” to me. One of the hellos was from a local. Two hellos were from tourists. And one hello was from a guy who was clearly just focusing on my chest. I can’t say that I blame him. I mean let’s face it; I have quite a large rack. And, despite a couple of sports bras, going on a run with those suckers is going to make an impression on anyone who’s watching.

Observations and Notes from my Work Day in Anchorage:
There are some forest fires burning throughout the state, which is fairly common in Alaska. It’s also to be expected because this is one of the driest summers that they have had in years. The fires do interesting things to the sky. They make everything look a little hazy. They also make the air smell like campfires. I love a nice campfire, so it doesn’t really bother me. As a matter of fact, I enjoy the smell. I just hope the actual fires stay away from the bachelor pad.

I had a conference call with one of my clients today. Unlike the rest of the loudmouths in the public library, I didn’t want to make a lot of noise or take my call in the library, so I took it in my truck. Now, because this is my most problematic customer, I put on my lucky headband while I was talking to them. My headband says “IT’S GOING TO BE FINE” on it. I also tend to pull on my hair when I am talking to this customer, which means my hair is standing straight up while I wear the headband. Yeah. Initially I forgot that I still had it on when I started heading back inside. I’m glad that I caught myself before I actually sat back down in the library. Otherwise, some smart ass (other than me) probably would have blogged about the weirdo they saw in the public library today.

A cute little kid came up to me in the library and held an entire conversation with me while I was trying to work. Sadly, I have no idea what he was saying to me, but it was still adorable. And really, it all helps when it comes to Operation Trying Not to Be a Complete Hermit.

I saw a ton of people with dyed hair in the mall today. I’m not talking about blondes and brunettes. I’m talking about greens and reds and purples and bright blues. I must have missed the memo about this being “dye your hair like a slurpee” day.

I picked up my fishing license today. Wahoo! I don’t know exactly when I will go fishing yet, as we are currently between runs of red salmon, but it’s nice to know that now I can pull my fly rod out anytime I spy a stream that I want to fish on. While I was at the sporting good store getting my fishing license I saw a dip net for sale. Alaskan residents are allowed to use dips nets to catch salmon at certain times during the year. I can’t do this because you have to live here for 12 months first, but seeing that huge net made me a little jealous. It was about five feet in diameter. You essentially walk out into the river while the salmon are running upstream, stick your huge net in the water and pull out a fish. Talk about having an advantage over the salmon (and the fishermen using poles)!

Wildlife/Unique to Alaska Sightings:
Float Plane: 1
Bald Eagles: 3
People with Unnatural Primary Color Hair: 11

Our Adventure for the Day: Today Tess and I took another walk along the Bird to Gird bike path. It was a repeat walk, but I can’t help doing it again since I like it so much. It is full of such great views and it is a nice walk to take if you aren’t feeling overly ambitious. When we got to the start of the walk, which is at the train station, I saw a couple of kids (probably 5-8 years old) sipping soda pop and walking along the railroad tracks. It looked like an old time print ad for Coca-Cola.

I have been trying to notice more birds on these walks. The marshes are full of all kinds of small birds popping in and out as they feed on bugs. There’s also an occasional bald eagle or hawk or sea gull that flies over the tall grass and marshy water scanning for an easy meal. It seems like the bigger birds float and glide while the smaller birds dart around at a much quicker pace. Unfortunately I don’t know any of the names for the smaller birds, but they are fun to watch nevertheless. They are like little dancers, flitting and whisking about, looking so sleek and graceful, all the while, arduously working to find their next meal.

We keep passing these purple thistles. I want the thistles to be some sort of exotic fruit. I don’t know why. It just seems like something that pretty and yet uninviting should be edible.

We passed a lot of bogs, and we managed to avoid going for a swim in any of them. This disappointed Tess a bit, but I was very pleased since it gave us some more opportunities to practice our “Oh crap! !!@#$% stay out of the bog” trick. Lest you start to think that I don’t let Tess have any fun, I did let her take a swim in a creek along the path. Of course, as soon as she jumped into the water, she woke the beasts. And by beasts, I mean the mosquitoes. Luckily, they were slow. I only suffered two bites with the Shoo tags as my only protection.

About five minutes in to the walk, Tess and I spied some wild strawberries by the side of the road. I made a mental note to try a couple on our way out. However, on our return trip I we found that the patch was being picked by the kids with the soda pop and their mom. I didn’t want to crowd them so we just headed home, but you can guess what I’ll be doing tomorrow.

After Our Walk: Tess and I came home to find that the DSL was installed a day early. YEAH! Way to go ACS Alaska! Faster internet has come to the 70’s bachelor pad. We celebrated by watching a couple of episodes of the Tudors on Netflix. Life is good!