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July 19, 2009
Alden in Alaska
Looking back, I can see it has been a while since I threw a bone to those of you who only tolerate these pages to see photos of my child. To that end, this entry will be devoted to Alden's adventures in Alaska this year.
She fared well on the 4.500 mile journey: Washington to Seattle to Anchorage to King Salmon to Coffee Point. The first three legs were on jets. Alden seems not to suffer from the horrible inner ear pain some babies experience during takeoff and landing. Instead she seems to suffer from a bad attitude.
The final leg of the journey, from King Salmon to Coffee Point, was in a five man, single propeller plane. Here's how Iggy traveled.
Here's the view of the tundra out of the right side of the plane.
And the left.
We landed, and Alden found the tundra to her liking.
We walked from the gravel airstrip to the Behr family compound, where Alden was promptly jailed for the remainder of our stay.
She pleaded for clemency, and we took mercy. From time to time, she was allowed short outings. She seemed to thrive out-of-doors, so we gave her a few modest responsibilities.
Net inspection.
Buoy inspection.
Motor pool management.
Waste incineration management.
Perimeter patrol (harpoon division):
Forklift inspection.
Tire inspection.
Advanced tire inspection.
As weeks passed, she grew bolder and insisted on taking on new challenges.
She enjoyed buoy bouncing with Robbi.
She did not enjoy buoy bouncing with me.
One of the summer's more memorable passages came the night we decided to try some of the Japanese delicacies gifted by our friends Armand and Bernice, who had just returned from a visit to Nippon. First we sampled the barbequed whale meat, which was exotic in a good way: it tasted pretty much like beef, so we could feel bold and daring without actually suffering the discomfort of foodstuffs beyond one's textural comfort zone. Not so with the candied grasshoppers we tried next.
Exhibit 1:
Exhibit 2: (notice the unsettling viscosity of the caramelized goo in which the grasshoppers are packed)
Exhibit 3: (Seiko, who has a taste for candied grasshoppers, was intrepid).
Exhibit 4: (corruption of a minor)
Exhibit 5: (the reaction)
Alden was not opposed to the grasshopper. In fact, she tried her darnedest to consume it. But lacking molars, she was not equal to the task of crushing its hard body into a state that could be swallowed.
After five minutes of letting her try, we removed the offending creature, tiny head, wings, and legs still intact.
Exhibit 6:
I also tried the grasshoppers, adding another item to the list of foods that I simply do not want to eat. That list now includes: liver, beets, sweet potatoes, zucchini, and candied grasshoppers. If you ever want to torture me, here is the menu.
On our last day in Alaska, we added Alden to the wall on which Robbi and her siblings tracked their heights each summer in Alaska growing up.
Robbi was about 18 months the first time she went up there, so Alden's mark was the shortest on the wall, other than Mike the beloved dog, long gone but fondly remembered.
All in all, I'd say Alden thrived in Alaska. We won't know until her next checkup in a few weeks whether or not the medical community agrees. But for now, we're penciling her in for a return trip next year.
Posted by bogenamp at July 19, 2009 10:26 AM