A Sunday Walk on the Beach

The city plow broke during the last big snow storm so we can't drive all the way to the beach. Uncle parks the car at the Y in the road and we get out and walk the dogs up the snowy path for a little over a quarter of a mile. We follow the tracks of some snowmachines so we don't sink into the snow. The dogs are really happy to get to the beach and they run down to chase the waves. The sun is out and the sky is blue blue blue. The first thing we see is our favorite of all mountains in the world, Mt. Illiamna, an active volcano - part of the ring of fire! She says hello to us as she smiles down on the dozens of fishing boats that are in the water for the weekend's Winter King Salmon tournmanent. At the end of the beach we decide that the tide is low enough for us to safely jump the rocks to get across the slough to the other side of the beach. Today the beach gives us peace offerings, a beautiful white shell- which Sam puts in his pocket for luck, and perfectly washed beach glass that we will send to a friend. Zack picks up a rubberband that came in with the last high tide. He will carry it home in his pocket. We know that because our beach gives to us, we should also take things away from it that don't belong, like rubber bands. We feel happy and we go on home. Tomorrow will be the first day of School for Sam and Zack in Seldovia.

Things We Find and A Pack of Turkeys

Now that we're back in Seldovia again, we can go beachcombing along the slough on low tides. We take the dogs down and walk slowly, stopping to pick up interesting things along the way. Todays finds are; six blue marbles- two with chips, one black marble, a rusted butter knife handle, pieces of an old silver grate, several wires, and a discarded tin can. We carry the treasures back to the house and build something with them. Its a time-morphing space continuim device that our lego people use to jump from the real world into a space world. We also find out today that large chunks of ice and snow from the side of the slough, when jumped upon, will fall into the water and form instintaneous miniature iceburgs that our dog Maddie will swim to and then stand upon when we throw stones onto it for her to fetch.

When our Mom goes to the store, the neighbor tells her about the pack of turkeys in our neighborhood. They roam free but the people in the neighborhood feed them sometimes. There is one Tom and seven hens. Our Mom and Grandma run into them today. This is what the Tom looks like. Its a big job to rule over seven lady birds and Mr. Tom takes his job very seriously. He runs at Mom while she is taking his picture, and then when she jumps back into Grandma's car, he chases it down the street just like a dog. It is pretty exciting to live around turkeys. Turkey feathers are very pretty and quite good for making quill pens like they use at Hogwarts Academy in Harry Potter.