HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

I.C.U. Well, maybe not but my eyes are starting to open

Today I celebrated the 24^th anniversary of my 30^th birthday. It may not seem like much of a celebration to others, but in spite of a few challenges I found the day to be delightful.

Because of the rains in the area power failures have occurred frequently as water seeps into tranformers, poorly rooted trees fall over into the overhead lines and so forth. Since I’m in a rural area and water is provided by a well, a power failure is also a pump failure, making it difficult to do anything. We sometimes forget how much we rely on reliable electrical until that power proves unreliable.

Today the power went out about 6:40, and wasn’t restored until nearly 11:00. Apparently there was a power pole fire, which I imagine was probably weather related. Thank goodness I had made some coffee before the first power failure of the day. I’d have been particularly grumpy if I couldn’t flow enough potable water to create my obligatory caffeine fix.

Since the power was off, I decided to get some more work done around the yard. I removed three bales of old, moldy and musky straw from the storage area and dumped it into a big ol’ sink hole on the power line right of way. That darned hole is easily 10 feet deep and obscured by brush it could be a real problem for a four-wheeler or snow machine rider.

That went along fine for a while, but the garden tractor died and wouldn’t restart. No big deal, all I had to was recharge the battery – but of course the power was out. That would have been a good time for a coffee break – but of course the power was out.

I decided to head over to Lynn Orbison’s place. Lynn will be boarding Lucky and the litter while I’m work and we needed to do a few things in the “puppy pen” to prepare. We scrubbed down the interior of Lynn’s whelping house with clorox water, filled in a few holes, raked up some debris, and set up a tunnel and some other play apparatus, even though the pups won’t really be ready for them for a while yet. It was really fun to do those things with her.

Finally, the power was restored. I headed home and got the tractor running again, finished tidying up the straw storage area and junk in front of the storage shed, and have essentially been laying back and just enjoying the rest of the day, in the company of my dogs.

Wouldn’t you know, just before feeding time the power went out again. This time only for 10 minutes, just long enough to have to reset all the electronic stuff in the house. I hope GVEA will be able to stabilize the situation before too much longer.

So, does it sound like an awfully mundane birthday? Please consider this. I enjoyed the day in a place I really enjoy, in the company of good friends, great dogs and some delightful tiny puppies. The weather started breaking up this afternoon, adding a splash of much needed sunshine. I accomplished some necessary tasks and still found time for some rest and relaxation. In a bit I’ll cook up some nice lamb chops and steam some fresh vegetables and perhaps pick some ripe wild raspberries to mix into a nice, crisp salad. I have a bottle of fine Alaskan Amber in the refrigerator for an after supper drink.

It may be simple and even old-school, but for this old-school Alaskan life can’t get much better than this.