In Conclusion

This is poem by the door at Val and Cliff's house and expresses how I felt when I lived in this special place.

If ever you lived on an island

If ever you lived by the sea;

You'll never return to the mainland

Once your spirit has been set free.

If you've ever smelled the ocean

Or tasted the salt in the air;

You know you discovered a haven

That is uncommon, precious and rare.

If you've ever seen the whales play

Or watch the eagles in flight;

You'll remember, again, why you like it here

And why it feels so right.

If you've ever seen the sunset

As the ferry passed the shore;

You've seen the beauty of the island

That will be with you forever more.

If you've ever seen the seagulls

The waves, a foghorn, the winds;

Then you've heard the song of the island

And the peaceful message it sends.

Indeed if you live on an island

If you're lucky to live by the sea;

You'll never return to the mainland

Once your spirit has been set free.

And then I did leave and found another heart home that I love.....no one has to have just one heart home.

So here are pictures of my home in Northern California, tucked among the redwoods and firs and above the Russian River.

I park up here and walk down to my home.

Down through the gate to my porch

Welcome all !!!

My view out across the river to hills beyond

Porch to my front door

My little living room and ....

my dining room and kitchen (all one room)

In my back yard looking up at my house 

Looking across the yard 

Entrance to the little apt. I built under my house

And so this journey is over AND.........

"The road goes ever on and on

down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the road has gone,

And I must follow if I can.

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say."

Bilbo Baggins

Request

Marty found a photo of Molly modeling her blue tarp raincoat down at the boat harbor in her dance gear.  So here is the lovely photo....

Good morning on the last morning in Alaska

It is 6am and I am in the Anchorage airport watching an incredible sunrise.  This sky show has been going on for 45 minutes already and the sun isn't above the horizon yet.  I am excited to be getting on a plane as they mean adventure to me and I am ready to be home, and yet I am sad to be leaving Alaska and the wonderful friends I have here.  

Tuesday night with Val, Cliff (the friends i was house sitting for) and Marty watching the sunset until 11pm.

And Wednesday after we finished taking down the garage door.

Along a path near the channel

Leaving Kodiak

Sunset in Anchorage at 10:30pm.

And leaving the state after that beautiful sunrise.

Some friends in Alaska want me to put on my blog some pictures of my home in Forestville and so I will do that in a couple of days as my last blog for this trip.

Coming to the end.....

All of a sudden I am realizing that I only have a few days left here.....

Marty and I went to see Mark (the doctor who birthed both Deva and Kila) and Carol (his wife and another physician in Kodiak) 

No rest for.The wicked......Marty and I are taking the garage door off of her garage.

And going out with Val to feed her horses...

And meeting old friends that I worked with at Kodiak Western Airlines in 1976 and 1977.

                                    Betty.                  Sharon.                  Me

This afternoon watching puffins at Ft. Abercrombie

They are little in this picture, but they are on the right, on bare rock

 

Goodbye and relaxation

Well, I took the kids to the airport Saturday morning and it is awfully quiet around here.  I went over to Marty's and we decided to go down to our beach by way of her meadow.

Looking out on the North and Middle Sister

Headed for the beach

Watching the fisherman pick up their seine net from the beach and soaking up some sunshine

Marty posing in front of her green house in the raincoat that Molly made out of a blue tarp.

The back has the Big Dipper from the Alaskan state flag on it and on the lining there is a map of Kodiak.

The buttons are made of femo.

A beautiful day for Bob's memorial

Friday was the most beautiful day since Kila, Deva, and Mark arrived and it was the last day of their visit.  So today was centered around Kila's wish that we scatter some of Bob's ashes here in Kodiak on the 10th anniversary of his passing.

We started off the day at Harborside Fly-by coffee shop watching the planes take off from Island Lake.

We knew we wanted to take some of the ashes to the beach that was a 10 minute walk from our old cabin and where I walked almost every day while I was pregnant.

The tide was out so we were able to walk and explore along our beach and around several points.

This is also a shot of the North Sister that Deva had been wanting to climb since they got here.

And then we picked one of the spots to put Bob's ashes.

And another spot

And another

There was a Bald Eagle that flew over when Kila tossed some ashes into the sea.  Bob always said if he believed in a god then it would be the wind.

Next we walked up to our cabin that is now deserted to look around again.

And Kila put some ashes along the window sill.......

We drove out to an overlook that was near where we got our water many years ago and Bob loved to sit here and write poetry.

I threw some of his ashes into the wind.

The day just kept getting lovelier and we decided to start the climb up then front side of the North Sister along one of the bear trails.  I knew I wouldn't go all the way, but wanted to make up to a stand of trees that stood about 1/3 of the way up.

Our car is that little silver one parked at the overlook.

The trail was steep, narrow, with bushes up to our shoulders.

I got up to just opposite that stand of trees before starting back down.

The young ones continued....

Mark is on ahead, but I could see the girls along the ridge.  When it got really steep it was all fours to scramble up.

Now they are on their way down.  Of course, I have no pictures from the top, but Kila did a collage of Bob's Memorial Day.

Upper left at the overlook, upper right and lower left at the top of the mountain, lower middle at our cabin and lower right at our beach

It was a wonderful and special  day!!!!

That evening we went over to Marty's to take photos of all of the girls and to have salmon berry tart.

The three babies that were in the belly picture, now 32 years later,

And then with the Mom's, too, except for Janice.

Emmi, Deva, Kila, and Lily all born in Alaska and all back visiting at once.

Kila combing Marmalade