Day 4, July 2nd, Living in Girdwood, AK

Walking Tess in the Morning (otherwise known as Operation Drop It Like It’s Hot): In an attempt to get Tess to fall into the same schedule that I am now on, I have started walking her down to the end of the street in the morning before I start working. We do this in Boulder in the morning and she generally poops within 50 feet of our house. Unfortunately she hasn’t fallen into that same routine here. I think it probably has something to do with the constant sunlight and new surroundings. Yesterday morning our little pre-work jaunt resulted in a positive outcome, so this morning I figured that we would have a similar experience. Sadly, that was not the case. No, instead of dropping it like it was hot, Tess got about 20 yards from our house and started growling, whining, and glancing over her shoulder at a bunch of bushes that we had just passed. Now, with a skittish dog, this is fairly disconcerting. On one hand, she could be afraid of a piece of trash she saw stuck in the bushes. On the other hand, she could be afraid of a bear or moose that she saw and I didn’t. You can never tell. Of course at 5am, it is entirely possible that it is a moose so I did the only thing that I could think of. I kept walking and started making noise. After about five minutes Tess stopped glancing over her shoulder like the crazy dog that she is and I gave up on my attempt to get her to poop. We returned home defeated and about two minutes later, we saw a very friendly dog emerge from the mysterious bushes. Yup. That’s my dog. Incredibly sound and sight sensitive but totally unable to discern what is actually a threat. In some ways, this may be a LONG summer.

Random Events in the Day:
Before I left on this trip a couple of people asked me if I was going to get a webcam so that I could keep in touch. I generally avoided answering the question because the answer would have been a very blunt “that is highly unlikely.” The truth of the matter is I already feel WAY more connected than I did the last time that I was up here without a cell phone in 2004. Between IM, Facebook, email, almost constant cell phone reception, and this blog I feel very in touch with my friends in the lower 48. In addition, my family is the kind of family where we may go about two weeks without checking in over the phone, or when my parents go abroad, it is perfectly normal to not hear from them for a month. Don’t get me wrong, of course I still miss the regular physical interactions with my friends and family, but a webcam isn’t a substitute for that anyway. On top of all of that, the visual stimulation of the webcam is a little overwhelming to me for some reason. Of course, I love hearing from people, but I have a hard time processing all the images and sounds coming out of a webcam. I prefer to chat over the phone, in my camo shorts with crazy spikey dykey hair, while the person on the other end of the phone pictures me in a cute t-shirt, nicely showered, and looking adorable. So, as I said, I assumed that I would not be communicating with anyone via webcam while I was here. Well despite that fact, it seems that someone out there wants me to have one. Lo and behold, when I logged onto email this morning I discovered that I had won a free webcam via a contest at work. Now, I still have to get a PO Box in order to receive it, but I may have to rethink my approach to webcams after all. Who knows? Soon, you may be able to see me in my camo shorts on a webcam near you!

I discovered a patch of chives growing by my front steps. I know they are chives because I used to feast on them when I was a kid. I would play down in the garden all afternoon and eat chives like they were candy. At the end of the day I would give my mom a hug and she would say, “Have you been eating chives again?” I thought she was a frickin genius. I mean how could she tell I had been eating chives?! It was only later on that I realized that I reeked of chives for the majority of the summers between 5th and 7th grade.

Operation Fitness for Fear: Due to the fact that I only had to work a half day today, I was also going to be a slacker on the workout front and skip out on Operation FFF. However, since Operation Drop It Like It’s Hot failed this morning, Operation FFF has taken on a secondary purpose. That’s right. It was 2pm and Tess still hadn’t pooped. Damn dog. She was going to make me run it out of her. Of course, the run ended up being lovely so I am amending my prior nickname for Tess from Damn Dog to Delightful Dog. Within five minutes Tess had dropped off her needless baggage and we were on our way for a picturesque run. Tess had her normal swim in the fountain at the halfway point and then she ambitiously opted for a little cross-training (tug of war) after that. All in all, the run was a great event, aside from the momentary fear Tess experienced when a para-glider came down in the field next to us. I keep telling Tess that she doesn’t need to worry about things falling from the sky (birds, suspension bridges, noises from the upstairs neighbor all scare her). But, things like para-gliders don’t help my case people!

Spending a Little Time in Anchorage: Despite the fact that I had the afternoon off today, I still had to go into Anchorage so that I could get the electric bill changed into my name. On the way in to town I saw a guy with a drum set, just playing next to the highway. Quirky. But Cute. Once I was in Anchorage I went immediately to the Chugach Electric Association and stood in line waiting for a customer service rep to set me up with an account. While I was in line, I believe that I had my first encounter with a guy trying to hit on me (in a long time). I was flattered, but I am also very aware that Alaskan men outnumber Alaskan women by a fair amount, so I didn’t feel like I was anything uber special. He made that abundantly clear when I heard him talking to a female customer service rep approximately five minutes later . . . and he was using the exact same lines! The last thing that I did while I was in Anchorage was check out the Sportsman’s Warehouse. Wow. That place is huge. AND it had more Carharts in it than I have ever seen. It looks like I’ve found the perfect place for a fall shopping spree before I head back south in a couple of months.

Night Time: I got some very disturbing news about a friend today and it finally hit me in the evening. When I got home, I cracked open a cider (purchased in Anchorage during the day), and sat down and wallowed in it. The lesson to be learned from the news I heard today is that you have to live each day to the fullest because you never know which day will be your last. I feel like I am trying to do that with this trip. But, I’m not going to lie. Tonight I just felt incredibly sad for my friend.