Day 17, July 15th, Living in Girdwood, AK

Operation Fitness for Fear: Today we extended our run to 41 minutes. It was misty out, so that made for a very cool and shady run. It was perfect weather for pushing it a little further than normal. As a result of the extra minutes tagged onto our normal route we were finally able to find the Winner Creek Trail (the trail we failed to find on our July 6th hike). It was a very exciting discovery for us, but I am beginning to think that Tess and I might be pretty easy to impress/please.

We also saw a bear on our run. That’s right, after over two weeks of running this route and anxiously scanning for bear, we finally saw one. It was on the second floor of the house at the top of the hill. It gave me quite a start for a second, and then I realized that it was actually stuffed and just on display. Clearly I haven’t been looking as closely for bear as I thought!

On the return leg of our trip, Tess found a stick that she wanted to carry for a while. Of course, Tess rarely picks out a travel size stick. She usually opts for the biggest stick she can find. You know the kind that is twice as long as she is, with about five knife-like branches sticking out of it that will surely impale her in the belly if she drops it accidentally. And of course she always decides to carry it by one end, instead of in the middle where it would balance perfectly. That way if the opposite end hits the ground at just the right angle she’s sure to either choke herself or give herself a lip/nose piercing. What can I say? She’s obviously not as safety-oriented as her mom. Regardless, Tess was happy as a clam dragging along this weapon for about 50 yards or so, and then she grew tired of it and decided to drop it. Unfortunately, she dropped it right on to the leash, and it got tangled immediately. So, naturally, Tess freaked out a bit and accelerated so that she could get away from it. But, of course, the leash, and therefore the stick, was still tangled, and “chasing” her. This led her to freak out some more and run even faster. All the while I was just getting pulled along for the ride while the wicked stick and its huge tentacles whipped around trying to “Sweep the knee Johnny!” I finally got Tess to stop, untangled the branch and was prepared to start running again, when I realized that Tess was now completely afraid of the “possessed” stick, and all the other sticks around it. There she was, tail between the legs, shaking a little, and suspiciously eyeing any sticks in the vicinity, quite sure that they were going to “get her.” Ah the joys of parenting “Timid Tess.” I spent the next five minutes convincing Tess that she could smell and touch the branches without them “chasing” her. I still couldn’t quite convince her to put one back in her mouth, but at least she wasn’t fearfully dodging all the random branches on the trail the entire way home.

Score at the end of FFF:
Sticks of the forest: 1
Tess: 0
Kate: N/A

Our Adventure for the Day:
In the afternoon, Tess and I went for another walk along the train tracks on the Gird to Bird path. It was a very pleasant walk. Tess found lots of tall grass to run through, which in turn dropped a plethora of grass seed on her back. She looked like she was covered in grass seed confetti. It was adorable. (As I said earlier, apparently I am easy to please). We also saw more berries and berry pickers along the train tracks. I just love the fact that you can harvest so much straight from the land in Alaska. It really does feel like the land of plenty.

Random Observations for the Day:
The large picture windows in my house are quite dangerous for birds. We’ve had a few birds fly in to them over the past couple of weeks. They usually recover and wobble off looking a little ruffled and drunk after the experience, but it is NOT helping Tess’s fear of things attacking her via the sky. There is something fairly disconcerting about napping on the couch and being awoken by a loud “thud” about two feet above your head!

My knees sound like shit. Anytime that I bend them while bearing weight (like my body) they sound like sandpaper rubbing across wood. Thankfully they do not hurt a bit. They just sound horrible. I simply ignore the odd noise and keep running, walking, or bending. And in case there are any doctors out there who just read this and are currently considering commenting about how this is a clear sign that my knees are going to explode in the next two months, please don’t. I don’t want to know what is actually causing this noise. I prefer to be blissfully ignorant about any impending knee explosion.

The clerks at the mercantile are weird about their produce. I know that I have already mentioned the spotty produce selection and the general expense associated with purchasing anything fresh at the mercantile due to the cost of shipping to “remote” locations, however, I’m beginning to think there is a conspiracy about buying anything fresh at the mercantile. If by some chance, you manage to wander into the mercantile on the day that they have been stocked with fresh, albeit expensive, produce you are bound to feel like you are being judged when you bring your fresh cherries, oranges, or grapes up to the register. I could drop 20 bucks on a bottle of Jack Daniels or two six packs of mike’s hard lemonade and the clerks won’t bat an eye. But, if I wander up with 7 dollars worth of cherries, no matter who the clerk is, they always have the same response. First, they put the produce on the scale. Then they wait for the price to show on the display, for the entire line of customers to see, and then, without fail, they suck in a big breath of air through their teeth, look at you with pity in their eyes, shake their head and say something like, “Oh man. That hurts. You sure you don’t want to put some of those back?” The first time it happened I thought, “Oh, that’s nice of him to be concerned, but really, it’s the first fresh fruit I have had all week, I think it’s worth the splurge.” But now, it’s happened about four times, always the same way. And, I’ve seen it happen to anyone else who dares to bring fresh produce up to the register. I think the clerks must be getting bribes from the canned vegetable/fruit people. I don’t have any definitive proof yet, but I’m keeping an eye out!