Princess Central

"Four girls." "FOUR girls." "Four GIRLS." No matter how you say it, that's a lot of princess dresses.

My twin daughters recently discovered the closet that houses all the make-believe clothes that their older sisters have collected over the years. The gowns, tiaras, and slippers that their grandmas and aunties have bought them. The Disney outfits that friends have passed on to us after their daughters outgrew them. The Halloween costumes that I've made each October. And the princess dresses. Holy Snow White, the princess dresses.

Milady would like her tea and crumpets now.

Dinner last night: ham-potato bake, green peas, salad

Iceberg Graveyard

April is the month when I notice tiny birds pecking in the brown grass, look around at the blue sky, turn my face toward the bright sun, and think to myself Yay! Spring is here! After counting five straight days of dry pavement, I nudge my husband. My annual declaration of "I think it's time to take the snowtires off the minivan" is usually followed the very next day by a raging storm that leaves at least half a foot of snow on the ground. 

Spring is not a lot of fun in Alaska. We call this time of year "Break-Up." It involves snowing and melting, thawing and freezing, expanding and retracting. And mud. Lots and lots of mud. Still, there's a certain appeal to dirty water.

If you walk down to the edge of the trees,

you can see for yourself.

The silty water rushes quickly by,

carrying large chunks of ice away from land.

As the tide goes out,

lopsided icebergs settle down to rest on the muddy flats.

Dinner last night: Italian chicken strips, fruit salad

Rising from the Ashes

You may take my title literally—since I've recently enjoyed the dumping of ash from Mt. Redoubt's volcano upon my head—but metaphorically speaking, I feel rather like a phoenix emerging golden and reborn from seeming death. Perhaps I embellish with the phoenix reference. 

Maybe I'm more like a molting eagle,

preparing to take off from the beach

and soar among the clouds . . .

Alright, alright. I'm just a raggedy-tag mother lumbering toward her computer at o'dark thirty, steaming mug of coffee in her hand and a thrill in her heart, happy at the thought of returning to one of her very favorite pasttimes after six weeks of self-imposed exile from the Internet.

Since we don't have a single phoenix in Alaska (I hear it's too cold up here for them to nest properly), these pictures of eagles will have to do. 

I feel refreshed and renewed and ready to fly.

Hello, cyberworld! Kim is back and ready to blog.

Dinner last night: Easter ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, tossed green salad, crescent rolls, lemon cheesecake