Hello to all, from Moose Pass, Alaska, gateway to wonder and amazement, and all free to every satisfied customer. Yes, I believe I'm going bat-crazy from being in the house too long, but the episodes of MASH continue to make me smile. We've had rain off and on for two days, so the snow on the ground is retreating rapidly.
We actually hit 60 something degrees the other day, but then it cooled back down to the 30's. We have seen our first summer bugs, which I personally believe is the only thing that keeps Alaska from being called Eden, as in Garden of. We have so many flying, crawling and leaping bugs in this wilderness, but maybe that helps in keeping our population down to a tolerable range.
A couple nights ago, once it got dark, I was asked to step outside to view this very strange light. Four of us viewed the bright light, which at first looked as if it was on the ridge of the mountain across the highway from us, about at the 3500-4,000 foot mark. But then it sort of moved about, vanishing behind the mountain for a few seconds and then reappearing. It was directly west of us and we decided it was not come lost campers trapped on the mountain, nor did it appear to be an aircraft and was much to bright for a satellite, plus it remain mostly in the same position. Brighter than the North Star, it couldn't have been an aircraft, nor was it some parachute flare drifting to the ground. No, it remain in place for sometime. Being that I have seen so many strange lights in the sky and I was dropped on my head as a baby, I decided to let it go and went back inside. Most likely it was our military. We got a call the next day from one of our grandchildren asking us about the name of the aircraft I had a photo of in my office. After a quick description we informed said grandchild that she was referring to the B-2 Bomber. We took the kids to Eielson Air Force Base for the naming ceremony of the B-2 Bomber "Alaska". Each B-2 is named after a state, but as to whether the military still has only 50 of these birds is unknown. A tremendous aircraft, our son James worked on them when stationed at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. During the ceremony we were surprised when the "Hawaii" flew overhead, a really cool thing to watch. So it would appear a B-2 had visited Alaska very recently, possibly due to the saber rattling China is doing in the South China Seas. As to whether or not it had anything to do with the strange light, who knows. As I've said many times, Alaska holds a lot of mystery.
I mentioned it before, but in Alaska the severe cold we used to get up here ( minus 60 F and below, which we don't see anymore), the Northern Lights could do some really bizarre things. Once and only once I was able to witness a "starburst" as multi-colored ( blues, reds and white) suddenly burst overhead. Rare, but they used to happen and it was such a colorful sight to observe. In my 42 or 43 years up here, I forget exactly which one, and since I have my shoes on I cannot use my toes to add...I have only observed it once as the sky exploded into a Disney Land fireworks display. However, on one very cold night I was driving a Air Force bus back to our shop from the flight line, having just dropped an air crew off at their aircraft, I heard all this crackling off to my right and saw that there were strange Northern Lights, in blue and green colors is varied brightness, dancing along the electrical and telephone wires that ran beside the road. I stopped abruptly and for a few moments enjoyed the beauty of nature and this bizarre phenomenon. When I got back to the shop and spoke of it, I was told by a couple of the civilians who worked with us that they had seen the same many times when it reached this frigid temps. Sadly, it was the only time I saw it. Strangely enough it was the last winter to record such severe temps...oh, until the winter of 1988-89, when the temp dropped and we saw minus 122 below zero wind chill factors in Whittier valley. No Northern lights though, wind was blowing just too darn hard and the night sky was filled with blowing snow. I talk about that winter and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in one of my upcoming Badge and the Cross books.
I just erased 5 paragraphs, deciding I didn't really like the items I was covering. I just wanted to check in with you all and let you know we are fine. Ava was outside, her first days at attacking the garden areas to get them ready for planting. She and Mona plan to do a fare share of installing new plants to make our world more attractive, plus veggies to consume. Still working on the chicken angle and which old sheds to tear down to make room. As I've said before, so many summer projects to pick from. We will soon be seeing an additional two adults here for the summer or maybe longer and that will make 9 of us. This is a woman, a dear friend to Mona and our daughter Elizabeth and her 18 year old son. . They bought a 48 passenger school bus that now sits in our backyard to convert into a home. I told Chris today that maybe we should build a hallway between his bus and the school bus we use for storage, giving them an extra long room once the seats are pulled out of our bus. Then enclose both buses to look more like a house. Our bus has no engine and won't be going anywhere. We originally planned to use the school bus, we were given by the church, to use for a give and take...a free thrift store. But, our health sort of took a fall and this didn't occur. Right now the bus is filled with storage, which we hope to go through and get rid of most of it. I figure I need at least 12 strong backs and 5 ten ton dump trucks to haul away all the stuff we have stored for a rainy day. From lumber, tires ( hoped to have built this massive tire thingee for kids to play on), and other "treasured" items we no longer have time for.
I still desire to build this small tea house on stilts out over the stream on our property for Mona to have for her quiet times. But first we must clear the area of trees and shrubs. Things grow so fast up here with all the day lights and the road I had built out back is already overgrown and near impassible. Getting old can be a drag, but think of all the wisdom I've obtained and mostly forgot.
I guess its time to stop. Need to do some background work for my next book. Love to all and may God bless your days ahead. Please, do not let fear rule your life, our world has been through so many hard times since the creation. God is still in charge and personally I'm glad He is. If I was...WOW! What a mess I would make. Trials are tough, yes, but hopefully you're all taking advantage of this time to get the best moments of life and make the best decisions for your futures.
Bill/Appa
A couple nights ago, once it got dark, I was asked to step outside to view this very strange light. Four of us viewed the bright light, which at first looked as if it was on the ridge of the mountain across the highway from us, about at the 3500-4,000 foot mark. But then it sort of moved about, vanishing behind the mountain for a few seconds and then reappearing. It was directly west of us and we decided it was not come lost campers trapped on the mountain, nor did it appear to be an aircraft and was much to bright for a satellite, plus it remain mostly in the same position. Brighter than the North Star, it couldn't have been an aircraft, nor was it some parachute flare drifting to the ground. No, it remain in place for sometime. Being that I have seen so many strange lights in the sky and I was dropped on my head as a baby, I decided to let it go and went back inside. Most likely it was our military. We got a call the next day from one of our grandchildren asking us about the name of the aircraft I had a photo of in my office. After a quick description we informed said grandchild that she was referring to the B-2 Bomber. We took the kids to Eielson Air Force Base for the naming ceremony of the B-2 Bomber "Alaska". Each B-2 is named after a state, but as to whether the military still has only 50 of these birds is unknown. A tremendous aircraft, our son James worked on them when stationed at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. During the ceremony we were surprised when the "Hawaii" flew overhead, a really cool thing to watch. So it would appear a B-2 had visited Alaska very recently, possibly due to the saber rattling China is doing in the South China Seas. As to whether or not it had anything to do with the strange light, who knows. As I've said many times, Alaska holds a lot of mystery.
I mentioned it before, but in Alaska the severe cold we used to get up here ( minus 60 F and below, which we don't see anymore), the Northern Lights could do some really bizarre things. Once and only once I was able to witness a "starburst" as multi-colored ( blues, reds and white) suddenly burst overhead. Rare, but they used to happen and it was such a colorful sight to observe. In my 42 or 43 years up here, I forget exactly which one, and since I have my shoes on I cannot use my toes to add...I have only observed it once as the sky exploded into a Disney Land fireworks display. However, on one very cold night I was driving a Air Force bus back to our shop from the flight line, having just dropped an air crew off at their aircraft, I heard all this crackling off to my right and saw that there were strange Northern Lights, in blue and green colors is varied brightness, dancing along the electrical and telephone wires that ran beside the road. I stopped abruptly and for a few moments enjoyed the beauty of nature and this bizarre phenomenon. When I got back to the shop and spoke of it, I was told by a couple of the civilians who worked with us that they had seen the same many times when it reached this frigid temps. Sadly, it was the only time I saw it. Strangely enough it was the last winter to record such severe temps...oh, until the winter of 1988-89, when the temp dropped and we saw minus 122 below zero wind chill factors in Whittier valley. No Northern lights though, wind was blowing just too darn hard and the night sky was filled with blowing snow. I talk about that winter and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in one of my upcoming Badge and the Cross books.
I just erased 5 paragraphs, deciding I didn't really like the items I was covering. I just wanted to check in with you all and let you know we are fine. Ava was outside, her first days at attacking the garden areas to get them ready for planting. She and Mona plan to do a fare share of installing new plants to make our world more attractive, plus veggies to consume. Still working on the chicken angle and which old sheds to tear down to make room. As I've said before, so many summer projects to pick from. We will soon be seeing an additional two adults here for the summer or maybe longer and that will make 9 of us. This is a woman, a dear friend to Mona and our daughter Elizabeth and her 18 year old son. . They bought a 48 passenger school bus that now sits in our backyard to convert into a home. I told Chris today that maybe we should build a hallway between his bus and the school bus we use for storage, giving them an extra long room once the seats are pulled out of our bus. Then enclose both buses to look more like a house. Our bus has no engine and won't be going anywhere. We originally planned to use the school bus, we were given by the church, to use for a give and take...a free thrift store. But, our health sort of took a fall and this didn't occur. Right now the bus is filled with storage, which we hope to go through and get rid of most of it. I figure I need at least 12 strong backs and 5 ten ton dump trucks to haul away all the stuff we have stored for a rainy day. From lumber, tires ( hoped to have built this massive tire thingee for kids to play on), and other "treasured" items we no longer have time for.
I still desire to build this small tea house on stilts out over the stream on our property for Mona to have for her quiet times. But first we must clear the area of trees and shrubs. Things grow so fast up here with all the day lights and the road I had built out back is already overgrown and near impassible. Getting old can be a drag, but think of all the wisdom I've obtained and mostly forgot.
I guess its time to stop. Need to do some background work for my next book. Love to all and may God bless your days ahead. Please, do not let fear rule your life, our world has been through so many hard times since the creation. God is still in charge and personally I'm glad He is. If I was...WOW! What a mess I would make. Trials are tough, yes, but hopefully you're all taking advantage of this time to get the best moments of life and make the best decisions for your futures.
Bill/Appa
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