Heather's Blog

Hello Ivy Kathryn!
May 16, 2012

 Three days early but right on time as far we are all concerned-- her dad and I caught the last plane to Juneau last night, arrived at 9:15pm, and little Ivy made her entrance into the world at 1:01 am. Sarah's big sister Eliza and I are busy with Ivy's big sister Caroline, and  we all...

Monday Morning News, Sort of.
May 14, 2012

Well, Saturday's Chilkat River Walk was more like a wet wrestle with the elements, what with the rain and wind-- gusts to 35 mph, the weather service said, but I think they were higher.  (This is no doubt why the season's first Farmers Market held indoors at the school was so much more...

Mother's Day Morning at Church
May 14, 2012

Still waiting on the new grand baby, which is fine, since she is not due until Saturday. (Although I know Sarah would like her to arrive sooner, since she has to wait in Juneau to be near the hospital and would rather be home.) I figured if I scheduled Pearl's spay surgery surely I would have to...

Sunday's Thought
May 13, 2012

A Mother's Day holiday was first envisioned in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe (of the Battle Hymn of the Republic fame) who was still reeling from the carnage of the Civil War when the Franco-Prussian War broke out, when she declared that there should be a day where mothers of the world unite to...

Waiting for the Sun to Shine
May 11, 2012

 It is a kind waiting day-- waiting for the rain and wind to stop so I can garden, waiting for Sarah to have the baby, waiting for the temperature to warm-up so the chicks can move to the coop, waiting for the inspiration to write something brilliant for the new book, waiting for the...

A Little News

May 09, 2012

 I am a little out of touch thanks to trips to Florida and then Anchorage and the arrival of our son and his friend from Mt. Baker this week (for the summer) and the tiny worry about when  I'll head to Juneau to care for grand daughter Caroline while daughter Sarah delivers the baby (...

We Are UAA
May 08, 2012

I had just about the best seat in the Sullivan Arena for my daughter JJ's graduation from the University of Alaska Anchorage on Sunday, and certainly the best I'd had when her three older siblings graduated from Bowdoin, Washington State, and CU Boulder. That's because I was graduating too, and...

Off to Anchorage for Graduation
May 04, 2012

'Tis the season-- the home track meet begins this afternoon, tomorrow is the community-wide kick off for the pick-up-the-trash- that-blew-out- of-the-truck-shed-your hand- God only knows where it all came from-- and now has migrated to the brush, roadsides, ditches,  creeks, playgrounds,...

Taking Care of Cyclists and Eagles in the Eagle Preserve
May 02, 2012

My husband Chip and I cycled out to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve  parking lot, and on the way back my rear wheel popped a spoke. It just went "ping" and I wobbled to a stop. Chip, being ever chivalrous (and just like me) saw no reason to cut short his ride, so he suggested I...

The News From Pearl's Beach
Apr 30, 2012

 Every morning I listen to the news on the radio and scan the Internet papers to find out what's going in the world. Pearl gets the first news of her day from the sights, sounds, and smells of our morning walk. (Part of it, I suspect, is Pearl's aristocratic pedigree, her father was English...

Sunday's Thought from Anne Lamott
Apr 29, 2012

 "You are going to have to give and give and give, or there's no reason for you to be writing. [ Or living well, for that matter .] You have to give from the deepest part of yourself, and you are going to have to go on giving, and giving is going to have to be...

Friday's With Caroline

Apr 28, 2012

I get to spend all day every Friday with Caroline (2 in January) and now Pearl (5 months) and I thought you might like to hang out with us at the beach for a few minutes. So here's a postcard from yesterday morning. First we blew bubbles ( Pearl chased them) then when we used them all up we made...

Signs of Spring
Apr 26, 2012

This morning as we pedaled by Doug walking to work, Chip said, "There's a nice little cinnamon near Brouillette's." Doug heard that through his iPod headphones and snapped to attention and smiled, "Sweet." They were not talking about the aroma of breakfast rolls from the...

Finding the Good
Apr 25, 2012

So, I have spent the morning, well most of it, organizing my notes for the new book, which is called Finding the Good (for now anyway) and will be published by Algonquin as soon as I finish it. My wonderful editor has decided to help me by making a couple of deadlines, July 1 for part...

Made for Goodness
Apr 23, 2012

The title of a library book that I learned was overdue while I was traveling, thanks to the library's automated notification system, is Made For Goodness. I could not for the life of me recall reading it or checking it out, and thought I had returned all my books, which were mostly...

Not Thinking Much This Sunday
Apr 22, 2012

I have been traveling in the land of very limited Internet access (it still exists deep in the swamps and plains of central Florida) and got back in time to make a cake for the Hospice bake sale (which Chip promptly bought so the family could eat it) and to babysit (Caroline slept over last...

Florida Lessons
Apr 16, 2012

Here are a few things I learned at the 25th annual Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society Conference:  The farther north you go in Florida the more southern you are. The proper way to introduce my mother-in-law, Grandma Joanne, who winters here in Ocala, is "My husband's mother." (A...

Heading South
Apr 11, 2012

I am off to Florida, to visit Grandma Joanne and attend the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society conference in Ocala. I will give a little talk on what I learned about writing and life from the the author of one of my favorite books, Cross Creek (and the The Yearling.) I'll...

A Pyramid Island Postcard
Apr 10, 2012

There are two times a year when the tides are low enough and the Chilkat River is dry enough to walk to Pyramid Island on the tide flats, Spring and Fall, and the Spring walk usually falls around Easter, so while we were all watching the kids find Easter Eggs Sunday, my friends Teresa, Jane,...

Sunday's Thought: Happy Easter!
Apr 08, 2012

"Love one another." - Jesus Christ

Oh my gosh, I lost the stuff for the Easter baskets. I put it up high somewhere so the puppy wouldn't eat the chocolate, and now I have no idea where it is. Oh well. The babies are too young to really know what the Easter bunny is, and the big...

Is Sun News?
Apr 06, 2012

You bet it is. This morning my Tlingit big game hunting guide friend called and asked, as usual, what the weather was doing at my house, and I told him the daffodils were blooming. I say that everyday, even when it is snowing sideways, but if it weren't for the few feet of snow on top of them it...

A Few Thoughts on Holy Week
Apr 05, 2012

Today begins a kind of marathon church session for some of us, with Maundy Thursday services tonight, Good Friday tomorrow evening, the Easter Vigil Saturday night at 10, and then Sunday morning Easter services. All offer moments for reflection, prayers, grief and ultimately joy. It is a kind of...

Finding the Good
Apr 03, 2012

It's a little slow around here this morning, since the guy who usually wakes us all up slept in. Chip had to go to the ferry last night about midnight to help other Arts Council members pick up the Thodos dance troupe from Chicago. Actually, they...

Sunday's Thought: a hymn for sunny April.
Apr 01, 2012

"Now thank we all our God, with heart, and hands, and voices, who wondrous things things hath done, in whom his world rejoices."-- Words to the hymn Nun danket alle Gott,  by Martin Rinckart (1596-1649).

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Lots Going On. Mark Your Calendars.
Mar 30, 2012

 I have a to-do list a mile long before I babysit Caroline after lunch-- and you should make your list of stuff happening in Haines too, if you are here,  so you don't miss anything--and if you are not, know that we are all crawling out of hibernation. Do you think it is possible that...

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