Absolutely too cute!

The girls and I went on a little nature walk after picking Gwen up from school yesterday. I can't believe how adorable and amazing these girls are! We all had a fun time in the very crisp (mid-4os) Juneau day. It was the first time in weeks that the cloud cover hasn't been hiding the mountains and glacier, so I thought to grab the camera and it turned out well. Juneau gets about four days of fall before winter hits, so we try to enjoy it all we can.

In related news, I was on the national call-in radio show Chris Fabry LIVE yesterday, talking about my favorite memories of fall, and what fall means to me. If you go to "past programs" you can listen to the Sept 22 show yourself. The show is a favorite of mine and I try to listen every morning, but if you want to zip through most of the show, go to about 19:15. That's where my call starts and I yammer on for about three minutes. Spoiler: my comment involves football and napping.

By the way, in the above pictures, that's the Mendenhall Glacier and the Mendenhall River. Original, huh?

Happy autumnal equinox, everyone!

Bear Report

Since we moved, we have not seen any bears around in our new neighborhood. However, we did hear all about one of the cubs we had seen at our other house... here's an excerpt from last Monday's news from kinyradio.com:

Wildlife Troopers: Bear cub apparently crushed when sow tips dumpster
A black bear cub was killed in an unusual manner over the weekend. State Wildlife Trooper Nicholas Massey says it happened Saturday morning on Tongass Boulevard in the Valley. He says it appears a sow and two cubs were feeding out of a dumpster there when the sow tipped over the dumpster crushing one of the cubs. He says the cub was laying underneath the dumpster when he arrived. Massey says police were on scene and made sure residents were safe and provided support while he put the bear in his vehicle in the event the sow came back. He says the sow was very angry and disturbed.Massey says he's never run across such a case in the past. He thinks it's pretty unique. He says the owners of the apartment building have made arrangements to stabilize the dumpster so something like that doesn't happen again.

The big boar we had reported on a while back has not followed us over, and we have not heard anything from our old neighbors about his fate. I've got a message in to the local wildlife biologist, so I'll pass on any news. As you can see, anything could have happened to him. It's a tough world out there for bears.

And...... we're back.

OK, so during the move we didn't so much lose our minds as the camera. Yep, that's why we haven't blogged; we couldn't find the camera. We are in the new rental, and done with the old one aside from the matter of our deposit. We like and trust our old landlord (why do I think of an old SNL/Eddie Murphy skit every time I say "landlord"?) so we should be able to tidy things up in that department soon.

So, although we are 'in", we are so not yet "in" to our new place. I can't find a thing. Like forks. And baby wipes. And guinea pig food. Shampoo. Greg's pants.... The list is endless. Since we were merely moving across town, I just tossed stuff in willy-nilly wherever it would fit and now I'm having second thoughts about that tactic.

Nonetheless, we are pleasantly pleased with our new "home". It is about twice as big as the old place, judging from the amount of stuff we have crammed into it. Plus the yard is great, the neighborhood seems pretty wonderful. We're on a quiet (until you-know-who moved in!) cul-de-sac which dead ends into a park. We know several of our neighbors already, plus.... well, sorry to open an old wound for my friend Crystal, but I've got to tell this story... While we were moving in, four separate neighbors came over and asked if they could a) help us at all and b) welcome us to the neighborhood. What a place! There are lots of kids and I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year like I haven't in a long time.

The only minor negative thing I can drum up is that this place has been neglected. It is in need of paint, appliance repair, new windows, and plumbing. On the plus side, our landlord is very open to any work that needs to be done. She welcomes our input and is happy that I am home during the day to supervise any workmen that might appear from time to time. We're happy that this will be a good fit for us for a while.

OK, one more tiny issue: the lady directly across the street from us in the house that I have to look at from my (really cluttered) kitchen has her yard, mailbox, and house plastered with Ohio State stuff! She was the first neighbor to come over to meet us (as I was trying to back the boat into spongy, muddy ground over the top of the cap to the water main - that's a tale for another day!) and I just had to tell her "Go Blue." She laughingly replied, "Well, there goes the neighborhood!". Little does she know.

In any case, we are indeed back online. Until the house is less cluttered however, pictures will be scarce. Our new address will be forthcoming via email. If you think I may not have your current email address, please post a comment here (using [at] instead of @, to reduce spam and whatnot) and I will add you to our contact list.

Here's the one picture I've taken since we moved in:

This was taken from the loft looking down on Gwen who had apparently passed out from playing with her dollhouse so frenetically this afternoon.

Ooh- tomorrow's tale? Greg subbed for me as the work parent at preschool today because I was too sick to go. Gwen loved it! Greg, not so much.

Now it's personal

Well, as we were waiting on pins and needles for Greg to arrive back home from his hunting trip, I finally decided that the truth must be told. I have been sitting on these pictures for a few days now and I just must share them. It's outrageous, I tell you! But we'll get to that soon enough. For now, the build-up.....

Remember the bear who has been tormenting our bear-proof trash can? Well the documented case was not an isolated incident, my friends. He has been here several nights in a row, but suspiciously did not maul the can one day this week. Instead, I later learned that he had broken into our neighbors' garage and proceeded to eat all their trash plus some pantry items that were shelved just outside their adjoining kitchen door.... which was not only not locked, but also ajar during the entire time this cocky bruin was munching the treats he'd uncovered.

Yeah. This was at about 2:30am, and I heard nothing. We must've been snoring to beat the band here in our house while just 40 feet away a big bear sat stuffing himself.

Uh-huh. So this is where it gets personal.... I've really been abused by this bear. Here I am, alone with my two small daughters and this bear is just lurking about, wreaking havoc with my psyche, right? I mean, yes, sure, I know where the 44 is and the ammo as well, but that's not the point. We're just minding our own beeswax and he's strutting around as if he owns the place. I couldn't take it and I turned him into the Alaska Dept of Fish & Game. They unfortunately have a considerable backlog of problem bears and said they would get to our guy when they can. They have a lot of really aggressive bears this year that need to be euthanized.

Anyway, after this blatant break-in and vandalism to our neighbors, I was still a bit upset. I mean, this bruin seems to be toying with me. The next morning, as I was perusing our back lawn, what do I see? Look closely, just about 12 feet from my bedroom window...

Yes, it's a pile. Of. Bear. Scat. Well the gloves are off! This means war, Buddy Boy!