July 22 and the nasturtium have finally bloomed.






The Chugach mountains
are in the background.







There's a better view of the Chugach from the balcony.

Ruth and I had fun shopping at "the village"
and then came home and did a fashion show
for Nana. We're in the kitchen here showing
off our new duds. Like the look?
 

the three generation of ladies on the 4th of July.

 

Ruth is home -- it's real nice.


We went to see the Parade downtown Anchorage
and some hot dogs and did some serious people watching.
Very fun

















Here's a close-up of Ruth.

 

Pearl made it to Anchorage, tho' she's still wondering why the plane couldn't enter Canadian airspace and needed to stop in Seattle. Any guesses?

Ruth arrived from Montana yesterday, and now the condo is buzzing with the three generations of ladies. Lots of food going on here, and lots of computers clacking, conversations going and fun!

We're hoping for the sunshine to hold for the 4th. 

Susan Miller's goodbye from Alaska

Susan and David had a good trip. Over the weekend they joined in the fun of a neighborhood bbq, hiked on Powerline Pass, ate their freshly caught sea bass and walked on the coastal trail. On Sunday evening they drove north for a couple of days in Talkeetna that included sunshine, fishing for king salmon and seeing a black bear from the deck of their Bed & Breakfast. They're off now back to life in Memphis and Nashville. Thanks for the visit. Susan and I have known each other 30 years since we first met in Amherst Mass.

Dave and Friends!

Matt cracks himself up over crepes

Matt and Megan Dooley
Dave. Doesn't he look like a serious physicist?
Ryan, surely made to be a mech. engineer & still driving the infamous green truck.

Houseguests of Summer 06

Susan Miller, one of the college buddies from UMAss days arrived from Memphis with her son David of Nashville. He's thinking.... "so I fly all day and all I get is four lousy fruit tarts?"

Just for that, they got two days of drizzle in Seward while on a wildlife cruise and fishing trip. 

6/11/06 the three of us hiked Flattop. See Anchorage in the background?
It was windy and cold.

We hiked across some snow and went to a pass
around 3/4 of the way up.
Nice, fun thing to do on a Sunday.
It's great to have David home, even if it's
for just a couple of weeks. 

Garden at Trent Circle

The gardens are looking great at Trent Circle. These delphinium are not yet flowering for 06, but all the perennials are looking happy and getting a good rainshower today - 6/12/06. 

Jane Atuk and I know each other from work and motivate each other to go hiking during the summer. We were the two "yellow jackets" on the hike, bringing up the rear of the lead group. We kept up pretty well with all the teenagers. 

hike to Dew Lake-Eagle River

Here's the group that went on a hike.

This is Naomi, my very sweet neighbor. When I got back from kayaking on Campbell Lake
on Sunday, she wanted to sit in the boat.  

The Rajau Family hosted me in Magalas in the Southeast province called Rousillon.
They have an olive orchard that needed pruning and I got in on the fun. Very fun.















Pierre's Lauren's brother who has spent quality time in New Zealand. He and I worked in the orchard and also solved alot of the world's problems.















Frederic wants everyone to be happy and well fed! Maybe that's because he works for Air France, or maybe he works for Air France so he can keep people happy and well fed. Either
way, Frederic and Marie were gracious, generous hosts. He's saying "voila" the meal is prepared.



















This is the medieval city of Carcasonne. It's quite well preserved, and frequented by Spaniards, Germans and others to explore and learn about the history of the middle ages.

 

Lauren and I met up in our Invalides hotel and trotted off to the Eiffel Tower for the first evening. Here we're at the base. It was a great reunion and busy 5 days in Paris trying to take in the famous sites.
We got around by metro, and spent plenty of time reading the maps trying to figure out how to get around efficiently. I'd say Lauren is totally competent on the Paris metro now. Not me.













The key to having a good time when everyone around you is speaking a language that you can't express yourself in? Drink some more wine. This was Frederic and I at a big dinner party celebrating a friend's retirement from Air France. Bebe - have a great time painting!
We spent a couple of hours enjoying the sounds of mass and the quiet of Notre Dame Cathedral. 

Here is Stefania Boscarolli from Bolzano Italy. I've enjoyed being her AFS Liaison this year. She was in the school within a school program (sws) @ East High -- a smalllish learning community that helped her adjustment greatly. And her host family is awesome. This photo shows her and lots of others decked out in samoan-style leis filled with coins, chocolates, flowers, and bills. It'll be hard to say goodbye to her in late June, but another fresh crop of AFS students will be arriving in August. 

trip to France

My trip to France for a couple of weeks was just great. I took lots of photos and am sharing them with you on my blog.