After The Fourth

I think quite possibly it was the first time in my life to this point that I was scheduled to work on the Fourth of July. Teachers don't work that day- it's never an issue for them. Retailers for the most part, even on the coast of Maine, close for the day, perhaps excepting the oddball convenience store and the like. Fireworks are the order of the day there and trying to compete with El Dia de Picnic fills the bill for the realm of the absurd. But a campground? An RV park? A gold camp? Gotta be open no matter what and someone has to mind the shop so to speak. Marilyn and I drew that straw this time around. No biggie I suppose although it was a bit of melancholy as folks on their way to the festivities stopped to inquire as to whether or not "you" will be coming to the party. Not this time. If there was a bit of justice to the work day it was that I was oiling the two story sign posts for the camp up by the entrance and I did a portion of the job standing on the trailer I was pulling behind my four(th) wheeler and my American Flag was flying quite nicely right beside me and my paint brush. Someone surely has an interesting shot from the Fourth of Chicken! I am a bit sorry not to have captured the Chicken Fourth- a (Chicken I suppose) egg toss, a gold panning contest, a Chicken and steak dinner and a bunch more activity all held up at the post office, which despite everyone else's claim to the contrary IS the center of town- or at least the place, in any community, where everyone has to come sooner or later, no matter what their politices, their preferences, or whatever it is that matters to them. From that standpoint, sorry to have missed out. Post Master Robin is a hoot and a half, a joy to be around and could in her own right make a party a party.

One of our around camp long range projects is to refloat the mighty Pedro Dredge and move it its final few hundred feet to where it will no doubt be THE photo op of all Chicken. With the old tailings shoot hanging gloriously out over the gold camp's panning troughs and standing tall right next to the new sign- won't nobody not take out their camera for that shot. I hope it is accomplised before we leave this season so that it is a shot I have as well. Mike's vision for the image is well founded and I've no doubt he is right on target for "gettin 'r done".

As if the dredge, the poster child for the age of gold in America is not enough, even the grass and flowers surrounding it are magnificent this time of year and are a joy to behold in or not in a shot of the dredge. I'm giving it to you both ways so you can see what I mean.

As for the blogging every day or so, there is so much going on and it takes so much physical energy that most nights I just shut down when the day is done and all things computer have to wait for the next day or even the next. Do I feel some guilt about that. Well, yes, but not enough to stay awake long enough to do something about it. Day long hours of light are a boon to the physical self. The body just keeps going and going, long after the energy required to keep going is long gone. Shutdown happens fast- at least for me. Trouble sleeping in the all night light? Not this guy! One couple renting a cabin from us unwrapped a roll of tinfoil as soon as they moved in and covered all the windows with it to keep the light out. And they are Alaskans? I don't get that one, but not all knowledge is easily understood, so this one goes unexplained to me.

Two years ago, in the That Was Then era, we celebrated the Fourth of Alaska in Seward with a hometown parade, a mountain marathon and more the kind of day we are used to for this occasion. It was a grand time then and looking back on it brings a lot of fond memories of our time there. Gary and Judy's son Clint ran the mountain race this year for (supposedly) his last time. I hope he won but I haven't heard. Somehow I think, runners being runners, that the last race will happen for him in his seventies or his eighties, not in his forties, but there are some people who actually do retire when they say they will and maybe that will be the case. But my money is with the "NO" odds in this case.

I'm hoping to be better about the regularity of these posts, but, honestly, I don't know if I can be. We're lagging well behind where we had hoped to be in the gold discovery department which makes me want to spend more time at that effort and not less. If I had gained a nugget for every pound I have lost since we are here then I would be just good to go. Tried to walk from the back of the coach to the front the other day in a pair of jeans without a belt on them and the belt loops were nearlt down to my ankles by the time I covered that distance!

Mark and Chris, Jim and Jane, the fossil lady from Wachula FloridaThousand Trails are here in camp now seeing Alaska so we'd like to have some time with them as well. There is too much to do and not enough time to do it all...and still have energy left over. So for now, it will be what it will be....and we shall see what we see.