Duck Squad

So...I saved a duck.
Helped save a duck is probably the better wording as it was Greg who was the mastermind behind the operation. Here is what happened:

Greg and I were driving to the office after work, very late I might add since we had a super later whale watch going out that we were trying to fill. So it's about 6 pm and we are driving down the only four lane road in all of Juneau when a little tiny baby duckling, about the size of a baseball, runs out in front of us and tries to cross traffic. Greg swerved and just missed it and thought things were done when, upon seeing in his rear view mirror what is was that he had in fact dodged, he suddenly became very concerned and declared, "that was a baby duck!!!!!!!!! oh my gosh, that was a baby duck!!" I tried to make him feel better by assuring him the duck was probably ok since he didn't hit it, but he was not to be consoled. He pulled a quick U-turn at the light and parked on the side of the road, ran across all four lanes of traffic, and proceeded to lunge after this tiny, scared, baby duck, almost getting hit by cars in the process.

Once safe in the car he placed the duck in my hands and, realized the gravity of the situation, "what am i going to do with this duck?", he called his mom. She advised that we take the little duck to "swampy acres" a local farm that takes care of baby animals. She had to remind Greg that he probably shouldn't keep the duck since, "it probably wouldn't be happy in your home, it needs other ducks", even though he had decided that perhaps it was fate that he saved the duck and maybe he should continue to take care of it.

We took the duck to the office so we could finish the paper work we were originally on our way to take care of. When I asked Greg if he would take the papers so I could carry the duck in he said, "you are going to carry it? LUCKY!" So I gave him the duck and took the papers in, thoroughly amused by the amount of passion he portrayed for this duck. Since our bosses have a cat we decided that we would take turns holding the duck while the other did paper work. Greg did his paper work first, then we switched. When I gave the duck to him he took it the couch, plopped down, placed the little thing in the top of his vest to keep it warm, and contentedly pet its little head and convinced his friend Robby that it wasn't geeky of him to save the duck. Seeing how in love he was and realizing we would be getting rid of it so soon I offered to drive to the farm so he could hold the duck which he agreed to all too readily.

The ride out to the farm was kind of long and spent mostly just looking at the duck and talking about how Robby probably actually liked the duck when he saw it and didn't expect it to be as cute as it was. The lady at the farm came to the door after much knocking and amusingly took the duck from us, declaring it was a "duckling", not "baby duck" or "little chick" as Greg had been calling it, and said she would put it with the other baby birds and see how it did. Reluctant to leave Greg asked, "well, can we at least see where it's going to go?" Biting my lip, I smiled being actually a little curious myself but still completely amused by the extent to which Greg cared for and was passionate about this "duckling". She did let us see where she put it, in a trough with baby turkey's who were twice his size and ugly looking, which didn't really make us feel any better about the situation. We however thanked her and went home. When I asked if he was going to call and check on it he cooly said, "no" as if he could have cared less about what happened to it, and we left.

And so, we saved a baby duck, well, a duckling.

Journey North

I graduated college April 30th, 2010 and started to make my way north and the beginning of a new adventure. So far the plan is to live and work in Alaska for the summer season (into September), hopefully be able to take a road trip across the united states and then fly to Ireland and WWOOF followed by random travelings in Europe to hopefully return by the hollidays and see the fam. Whatever follows after is tbd.

After moving out of school I spent one last night with some dear friends and headed up to Tulsa to have dinner with the fam and spend a few days with the sisters, brother-in-law and new little niece. We had a few ice-cream and movie nights, trips to vintage stores, watched Tabitha do roller derby, went on walks, and were together.

Tabitha and I has the same flight out but at our lay over she boarded a plane that took her to Rhode Island and I boarded one that took me to Seattle where my friend Laura met me and drove me to Bellingham.

Once at the house she is living in with our friend Hillary and Hillary's grandpa, we discarded my bags, jumped on her scooter and went and grabbed thai food. They rest of my days spent there consisted of walks on the board walk, breakfasts with friends, time spent in book stores, dinner on the deck overlooking the bellingham bay, two trips to REI a day, a trip to trader joes, and rides in a convertable with the top down even though it was slightly cold for it (we turned the seat warmers on) and much laughter!

From there I boarded the ferry Matanuska and began my 2 1/2 day journey to Juneau. I slept under the salarium (sp?) on a lawn chair and read "Redeeming Love". The sky was clear the first night and the stars were bright and abundant. The whole first day was spent on the water and the second day we started making stops.

The first stop was in Ketchikan where I took a taxi to the Pioneer cafe for breakfast and got a small tour from my 80-year-old drive for free on the way back. He just wanted me to get my picture taken by a totem pole, too bad the shadows didn't help his photography much.

Our second stop was in Wrangel. The whole town was closed and the only people I saw were kids on the shore selling rocks to those of us who got off the ferry. I really liked Wrangel, its was really small and seemed community oriented.

Our third stop was in Petersburg but I didn't have time to get off so I bought myself some clam chouder (a nice change after a stict diet of nutella, bagels, and dried green beans) in the cafeteria on board.

That afternoon a younger native man sat by me in the salarium and asked me if I was interested in different cultures. When I said that I was he started telling me some history of the migration of his people through the very mountains that we were drifting passed. Then he took out his native american flutes and began playing and teaching others how to play. It was so perfect to lay back and listen to the native music float through the hillsides where it was once abundant. It was like an old friend had come back to visit home.

I woke up at 3:30 the next morning to get all my stuff together and prepare for our landing.

My dear friend Greg drove out to the ferry terminal at 4 AM to pick me up and take me home. Once I spotted his all too familiar beamer I realized my journey was complete, I was where I needed to be, at least for a few months.

Quick Update

I just went home for a almost a week to witness my sister Sara do the unimagineable, get married. It was a great trip, great people great city great sunshine... everything was great! And since I have been back I have been more upbeat and refreshed in general. And today it got sunny here, which was nice.
Basically I have been here for like a month and a half already and only have the same amount of time left, which seems waay to short! Especially compared to last summer which seemed like a whole year in itself. I have made some new friends since being here and have really enjoyed my time getting to know them and the encouragement they have been to me in a place where I knew essentially no one. I don't really have a whole lot to report on my adventures seeing as my biggest one was going home and other than that I work almost all the time and am so tired at the end of the day that I usually just kind of veg out a little and relax and then go to bed. Sometimes I go on really long runs (like I did today) and enjoy the nice weather and the scenery. I did just purchase a car, Quirky Murky is its name, and now have some mobility of my own to cart me around town. I even bought a little disco ball in portland to hang from the rear view window. Today when the sun came out it hit the ball just right and little reflections of light shone all around my car as the song "what is love" blasted on the radio.... the classiest ride in town!

3 Weeks Of Sunshine

It is incredible here! There have only been like 2 days of rain since I got here and for the last week or longer I have been wearing shorts and t-shirts. One day I even had the audocity to wear a tank top. I got burnt, again. I have basically been experiencing both kinds of Alaska, last summer was the aweful rainy and this summer is the beautiful nice, neither of them typical.

My job is still going pretty well. My bosses say I am doing a good job and I believe that I am as well. I enjoy it, mostly because it comes with being hit on by old men constantly, and who could ever ask for more?!?:)

I have started going to Crossroads Church which meets on Saturday nights and so far I really like it. I mean its different, but sometimes you need different to really understand why you are doing what you are doing and if you should be doing it. The people there are really sincere about God and they interact in each others lives throughout the week. They are like a community, its really great! Its a small church, only like 30 people including the kids, and I think I have already gotten to know them all. After church every Saturday we have a bbq at "the guys" apartment just across the street from my own. The church is actually just across the other street, its nice to have everything within waling distance!

Kate was out of town for a week and a half and let me use her car, but she just got back which is exciting to see her again, but now I am without a car again, so I really need to go get one! Which I am still working on!

I haven't seen a bear yet, which I am a little bummed about. But I have visited my old house twice, each time making it seem more and more like I really am in Juneau. Sometimes I forget its the same place as it was last summer, and also sometimes I forget that I ever left... kind of confusing I know, to always be here and to have never been here before at the same time. Anyway, Andrea (my roommate) and I hiked Mt. Roberts on Thursday or Friday and bought trinkets at the gift shop so we could ride the tram down. I bought a cute mug and then I dropped it when I got down and broke the handle.. figures.

There was a "Juneaupalooza" on Friday night with lots of local bands that played. Dearing and Down was there but they still hadn't played by midnight and we were pretty tired so we left... I have yet to watch them play.:( However there was a rap concert in town, the "Swollen Members" were here. Aparently they are awesome and my friend Greg has been a fan since he was in college a long time ago. But I met them, they were at the Hanger and Greg found out so we went and saw them and talked to them for a second, it meant basically nothing to me but I think Greg's world was changed forever. And Every Day Sunday is coming on June 14th to play so that is exciting also.

Well its a friend of mines birthday today and she is having a bonfire out the road on North Douglas so I better be off....

Back In Alaska

Well I am back in Alaska for the summer. Perhaps this summer I will be better at keeping up to date on my blogging.
I got here 2 weeks ago today but it doesn't really seem like it has been that long. This year I came by myself, no sister or roommate or anything. However I am working for some good friends that I met last year, so I am not completely alone.
So far it has been a weird whirlwind of familiarity mixed with something quite the opposite. As soon as I stepped off the plane and into Greg's car and began driving down the highway towards town I felt as though I had stepped back in time, as if I had never left. Ever since that moment I have had to figure out what is still the same and what has changed. Most of the places and even some of the people have not changed at all since I left last summer, but I have changed and so have those around me. I am meeting new people and reaquainting with some old ones, and its been a giant game of figuring out where things are now and what my place is in this city this time around.
I have so far been enjoying myself. I stayed with a girl I knew last year for the first week and a half and two days ago I finally moved into my new home for the summer. A different home that I was planning on, but this one is closer to town and with Christians as well as a little bit cheaper. My job is going great, I am doing well and my bosses keep praising me every day and saying that I am their "Ace". It is a day by day thing though, and every day brings with it is own possibility of doing either really well or really poorly. I am a "booth person" which means I stand in a booth in a row of booths and vie for the tourists attention so I can sell them tours and make commission. Its actually kind of fun and entertaining because all day long I get to people watch and my actions bring direct results. However I never know going into the day how I am going to come out of it, if I will have made a good amount of money or barely anything. It keeps me on my toes.
Its been a little hard just making myself feel comfortable and at home here again, happy. Most of the people I hung out with last year are not here any more and so in the evenings after work I have to find new ways of having fun. A few nights I have spent by myself and while some have been really nice and relaxing, I can't help but feel a tinge of lonliness at not having anyone to share these moments with. But over the weeks I have been meeting new people and rekindling old aquaintances that I think will turn into nice friendships this year, so I am not too worried, its just the time spent before everything gets rolling that is the hardest. It always is, but it always works out as well.
For those of you who know, Doc Waters, Chilkat Cones and that little diner have all closed down and are now just empty rooms. The parking lot across the street where the busses pick up and drop off is half demolished along with part of the hill behind it, they are making a parking lot. The Mongolian grill is gone and is now an Italian place that isn't that great, but it still looks the exact same and is run by the same people. They have new booths down on the docks, they are really tall and wooden, although the ones on the other side of the tram are the same, but they have been painted white instead of green. Silverbow I think has new paint on the inside, but the colors may still be the same, althout some things have been rearranged in the front area where you order food. That big cabinet is gone and there are shelves on the wall instead. The church by my old house (where some ACA guides are living, the Tandy's and Joel Hunt along with a guy Brad Hurd from school and another guy Jeff are all in there, so I have visited and it was awesome, different but still so much the same) is almost finished now, it used to just be a construction site with a big sign of a picture of the new church and a newspaper ad about when the church burnt down. The man in the wheel chair is still there still saying the same jokes, and the same homeless people are still walking around, although they have taken to sitting on benches and holding signs asking for money. Also the Creating Place has closed down which I was extremely sad about, and there is new Weimer art up in Heritage (Coffee, not Heights, which I still keep saying). I still get asked what there is to do at the Glacier and people still want to know what sea level we are at and how far town is from the very beginning of town. Softball games are every Monday and we wear pink tye-dye and are still called the seabreezes, as we should be. Jackie still bought new shoes on her birthday and ACA is still running around in their water proof jackets, but they can only wear jeans now I think. I still see the guides who live in Juneau catch the boat over to the site, hoping they are at the right dock, and that bear chair is still there, only it has a fresh coat of paint as does the sun dial. I miss you all and if you have the money you should definitely come and visit me!!!!!!!!

Sorry It Has Been So Long

Well, as you may know, I am now back in Oklahoma attending school for my junior year. Sorry I wasn't better at keeping up with my blog while I was in Juneau. I will high light some of the important things:
-I worked at a zipline company and it was fun.
-I had bears on my street quite often, but I survived.:)
-I saw a lot of whales and I even saw them bubble net feeding!!! If you don't know what that is, google it, its amazing!
-I spent the whole summer with my sister Tabitha and her husband. I miss them!
-I wasn't able to attend church while I was there (very much) since I worked on Sundays and the church was far anyway and I didn't have a car. But in this I was forced to grow and I relearned what it means to LIVE out your faith. Without the crutch of a church to lean upon to make one feel like the life they are living is fine, one must choose to either ignore their meaningless life or to take action and boldy live out their faith! Everyone that I was surrounded by (well, most of them) were not christians, but knew that I was. Many asked me questions and I answered honestly, I became a living, real, example of what and who a TRUE christian is and should look like. I redefined my own skewed vision of what that looks like as well. I also learned to love the person despite the sin, to truly truly love.
-I flew on a helicopter and landed on a glacier, walked around a little.
-I hiked a LOT!
-A friend I went to Europe with came on a cruise and I got to spend the day with him.
-I got hit on by a LOT of homeless men! A LOT!
-I cooked for myself a lot.
-I made friendships that will undoubtably last a lifetime!
-I became interested in politics and bought a canvass bag to take to the grociery store instead of always using plastic bags.
-I started drinking rice milk.
-I was the victim of a break in and entering and had a lot of things stolen. Through this I realized all the more what little value the items in my possession have to my overall goals in life. How little I actually need THINGS for survival and entertainment.
-I read a LOT of books. I still am.
-I walked a LOT!
-I flew on a float plane.
-I ate fresh fish.
-I watched the Olympics like a fanatic.
-I saw "Mama Mia" for the first time.
-I got rained on.
-I had the time of my life and I believe I will be forever changed from it. I learned a lot about life, about the human nature, about the Lord and about Love. I learned about myself and how to value others. I learned to separate work from home life. I learned to take time to myself every now and then. I learned about some new music. I learned how to stand up for my own beliefs without pushing them down the throats of the unwilling and how to talk sensibly with those who were questioning. I learned to challenge myself to seek the answers from where they are most likely to be found. I learned to appreciate the here and now and to not always wish for something else. I learned to live and live is what I did.

Part of Me

I have been living quite a frenzy of activities lately. My roommate Angie and I got to ride in a Helicopter up to the glacier and walk around up there. A couple days later a couple of us girls went out to the shrine of St. Therese, which may possibly be the most beautiful place on earth, ate pints of Ben and Jerry's for dinner and watched the whales blow their snouts. A couple days after that we woke up to someone in our house, called the cops, and never found the guy. However, when we came upstairs we did notice that Travis' wallet, Angie's camera, my wallet, camera, lap top, journal from Italy and a favorite necklace of mine we all gone. We have yet to find any trace of them anywhere.

And through it all I am still convinced that I am in the right place at the right time. I haven't been able to attend church very much since my job conflicts with it usually. Also, I work with many people, even live with some, who are not Christian. I meet hundreds of people every day. Since I don't have the doors of the church to hide behind to make me feel like I am being a "good" Christian, I am forced to LIVE my faith. Every day I have to figure out what I believe and I talk about it with people who may not know yet where they stand. I am not on some sort of "mission trip" as some are whom I have met here, they stop people on the side of the road and conduct surveys, they work with churches. I am just living the life of a Christian, as I should EVERY DAY of my life. I am not saying that I am "better" than them in any way, but I have done those mission trip things and then I have gone home and lived my life the same as I did before thinking, "well, I have done my sharing for the year, next summer I will share some more." I am instead learning how to incorporate sharing into my every day life; I am sure to live a good example for I know that many many eyes are watching me to see what a "Christian" life is like. I am making relationships with people and I hope that they can see a difference in me.

And yes, I am enjoying my life here- all my fun adventures have been perfect. I love my "family" of house mates and I am glad we stick together when the unpleasant things of life intrude upon our happy dwelling. We remain a family through it all and we continue to see and enjoy the good things of life and place that we have found ourselves in at this moment: Alaska and all it entails.