Dear Friends and Family,
As it is in most places, January is a slower month. I’d like to tell you some things I love about Haines and some things I don’t! I love looking at the beautiful mountains every day and the different ways the light plays on them, they are ever-changing. We often see Alpenglow which is a phenomenon where in the morning and the evening, before the sun comes up or after it has set, the sunlight reaches the mountain peaks and turns them pink. It is breathtaking!
I love how everyone helps each other. I had to learn how to do POC (point of care}where I prick a person’s finger and then get a pipette full of blood out of it, and from that I can put it in a machine which gives me your lipid panel, HgA1C, and glucose readings.) My coworkers in the clinic were more than willing to be my victims, but I was having a lot of trouble filling the pipette because it takes more than 1 drop of blood, so I would have to stop and squeeze the finger to keep getting more blood. The lab techs came down and gave me tips and they gave me some wax paper and a blood-like substance to practice with. Then a little while later, they came down (after doing some research and said, it has a vacuum already in it! So I didn’t need to squeeze the bulb to get the blood-SO MUCH EASIER!!!! I did my first patient last week and it was a breeze 🙂
They have a Facebook page called Haines Chatters and people post pictures and lost mittens, lost dogs, etc. They also have a page called Happening in Haines which is where you look to see what is going on. They have school fundraisers where the kids actually make gelato and sell it. We bought cappuccino chip and passion fruit goat cheese (It is TO DIE FOR!!!) They ship in Papa Murphy’s pizzas and sell them, they have taco nights where before the game, they sell a taco dinner in the cafeteria and you find out about all of this on this Facebook page. In the winter once a month they have story time where people get up and tell a story. They have different themes each time. February was “Fall in Love”. They have armchair Wednesdays where the library has an expert come in a talk about varying subjects or you can stay at home and get it streamed to you. That way the elderly and handicapped can participate also. They have a very active Senior Center and on Tues., Weds., & Thurs. they cook a free hot lunch for them. They have a van that runs from 8am-5pm during the week to take them to appointments or grocery shopping.
We have a coed choir that started and we were going to work on the material and then go sing to the people at assisted living but our director tore her meniscus and will be out for a while so that is on hold. We are singing some really interesting pieces that I’ve never heard before-always fun to learn new music. I’m singing alto now because we have a REALLY strong soprano and no strong altos. There is a mother of 4 kids all under 6 who comes and one of my Water Warriors who is close to 90. It’s really fun.
We are having so much fun watching Seeley grow and change. She had her 18-month check and is in the 90th percentile for height and weight (big surprise)! She is signing and talking an away. She loves being outside no matter what the weather. The other evening we taught her to make monkey sounds and Steve was on his hands and knees acting like a silverback ape and she was having so much fun she signed for more-more and was making her monkey sounds back to him. She says Mommy, Daddy, doggie, bird, please(which sounds more like baby?), more, & NO NO NO NO NO! And loves it when we hold hands and pray, she claps afterward. We sang grace the other night and she tried to sing with us. Travis made a harness for Lego and sometimes when they go for walks Lego pulls Seeley on a sled. She LOVES it! She loves her doggie but doggie still can’t figure out why she has to be here. When he wants to go for a walk and she is still napping, he goes to her door and barks to wake her up. Smart but naughty doggie. He was being walked by a friend and ran away and the next thing Dacotah noticed that he is sitting outside of her office. He knows where she works??? He also went out to the fairgrounds to check on Seeley because that is where she goes to daycare one day a week.
I love that it takes 3 minutes to get pretty much anywhere and there are no stoplights. I don’t love how slow EVERYONE drives! SRSLY the speed limit is 35 and they are going 15. Maybe they are trying to conserve gas since it is expensive here-$4.99 a gallon. It was over $6. But we do love that a tank of gas lasts us 6-8 weeks! I don’t like how expensive groceries are but we only buy fruit and veggies that are on sale, (usually). There are a lot of items we can get shipped from Amazon and Walmart for free so if it is not perishable, that’s how we buy it. Potato chips are $8-10, a bag salad is $8, Pop is ridiculous, etc. One of the grocery stores does their own butchering so we buy meat there but they don’t usually have expensive cuts of meat like hanger steak. I’m to the point now where I usually see people in the grocery store that I know that I love! The other day at the post office, a gentleman held the door for me and said, “Hi, Stephanie, how are you?” I have no idea who he is-LOL.
We are thoroughly enjoying being renters and writing one check for rent, heat, water, and garbage! We also have Sam (Our maintenance guy) on speed dial and we don’t have to worry when something breaks down. I don’t like how my shower can turn ICE (I mean glacial) COLD and then back to warm-Sam is working on it and waiting for a part. It always happens when I have soap on my face or shampoo in my eyes and can last for 2 minutes!!!
I don’t like not having a garage and having to scrape my windshields in the am. I also don’t like the ice. It is so temperate here that I have been wearing my spring coat for most of the winter. That is also why we have a lot of ice. It snows then melts then freezes all winter long. Most people wear cleats-called trackers-everywhere & EVERYONE wears Extra Tuffs, all year round, to church, concerts, everywhere. Most are brown but some are black like mine. I’ve been getting great use out of some boots I bought in Norway (and they are A LOT cuter than extra tuffs!) Most people NEVER dress up, wear make-up, shave (all parts) or cut & color their hair so I am an anomaly.
We haven’t had too much snow this winter. We did get two feet one day but the next day it rained and it was pretty much gone. The clinic even closed, except for emergencies. The pass in Canada had 30 feet and was closed for several days while they tried to plow through it. We also had an avalanche at 15 mile which totaled a car but the people were able to get out. Avalanches and slides are real and scary because there is no warning. We also have Tsunamis? I guess the largest one Haines had seen was two feet.
The bears are still hibernating but the moose are running down Main Street. The eagles are still here and hang around the river looking for fish. Did you know that when they are born they are all brown but when they mature, their head feathers turn white because they are the king of birds and no one messes with them so they can have white heads which make them easy to see and they sit in the top of dead trees where they can see better. Did you know bears are part of the pig family?
Our grandson, Jaxon is doing well. He is waiting to see if he can get into a school for kids with Autism. He would have a par that stayed with him all the time. He LOVES going to therapy (thank goodness) and the medication he is taking is working very well. He is obsessed with trucks and lining them up :).
The picture of the kids skiing, the school takes the kids skiing! That’s a part of school in South East AK!!! They also learn how to track animals 🙂
What do you do when you have an UGLY brown fridge in your apartment? You cover it with all of your Christmas cards from friends and family!
We did learn how to make Sushi in January-what did you learn??? Our friends the McPheters showed us how and then we ate like Kings!!! Mine were the best (just sayin’) Travis needs a little more practice-LOL.
Little girls in Alaska sleep with their stuffed eagles, not Teddy Bears!
That is what we LOVE about living in Haines and some of what we don’t like about living in Haines….
Kiss, Kiss,
Stephanie
Haines Happenings 