Amy's Place ... Poetry and Potpourri ... April, 2008

JustAmy; St.Louie1; MamaBear; Billie

[MEG33]

I am so happy for you! I look forward to the pictures!

[jaycee]

Goodnight friends...Thanks for all the pretties!

[MEG33]

Lovely!

[MEG33]

Goodnight, jaycee.

[Kitty Mittens]

Thank you to Everyone for the Beautiful Pics I just Saw Here that Brightened Up my Evening, and Amy, I Love your #278, and Yorkie, your #292 is Sweet! OESY, I was Fascinated by your Post in #285; it was Neat to Read. I Always Leave Out Someone, but Thank you to Everyone for the Fun Pics. Meg, Lori, 'Dita, and jaycee, and All FRiends, Thank you!

Poetgal26, I Hope you are Feeling Better this Evening.

[JustAmy]

LOL

Maybe when PrissyMissy develops a taste for them.

[OESY]

Don't be too put off by temperatures if you go (back) to Alaska. It was 70 in Fairbanks and 40 in New York City when we went around Memorial Day. (Of course, not far away at Manley Hot Springs, the temperatures did fall to 78 below one year, but it's hard to get there in the middle of winter.)

Outside of Fairbanks, in Ester--an old gold camp, is the Malamute Saloon. It features nightly some of the most entertaining and witty revues we've ever encountered, including on Broadway. The owner recites one of Robert Service's poems each evening. Here's another sample--and stay warm:

The Cremation of Sam McGee

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[fish hawk]

Well, all’s I can say, being the shy one, is ahhh shucks.LOL

[yorkie]

Thanks for the info, OESY!

I tend to have imaginary images about different parts of the country, especially if I have never been there.

That is why I love to hear about this country - this world from others who can tell me how it really is.

I appreciate your information - (and your great poem!)

[fish hawk]

I have seen several of those trees that have large flowers that look like Bird of Paradise, but different colors. I've been trying to find my Hawaiian tree and shrubs books to see if they are indeed in the same family. If I remember the trees looked much like a Traveler's Palm (like a large fan) There is another tree here that looks like it has orchids all over but they are not real orchids. If I find my books I'll look that one up also. Aloha

[La Enchiladita]

I will be posting photos tonight or tomorrow. I got a pretty good one of momma sitting on the nest today.

Neat!

[La Enchiladita]

Aloha. Thank you, Fish Hawk. Looking forward to the pics of the “orchid tree.”

[Mama_Bear]

Oh, I can see that I have to go back to Alaska! There is so much that we didn't get to see.

We were there in July and most of the ports we visited were cold and drizzly....in the low 60's. We had left a sizzling San Joaquin Valley where the day time temperatures were over 100 the entire 10 days we were gone, so we were quite content with with the cool damp weather.

The Cremation of Sam McGee......oh, what a treat that was. That was a great reading!

[JustAmy]

I enjoyed listening to “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. Thank you for providing the YouTube link.

[Mama_Bear]

What a delightful surprise to find that the pair of jays that I've been feeding have built their nest in my back yard! I came upon their nest in an Oleander bush about twenty feet from the lemon tree where one of them was born a couple years ago. I knew they had a nest somewhere but assumed that it was in the park behind us. Today, while I was trimming the Oleanders, I came face to face with "mama" sitting on her nest. It startled me because when I noticed her she was only about a couple feet away from me. She didn't seem nervous having me so close, but she takes peanuts from my hand each day so she probably knows I wouldn't hurt her or her babies.

I am a little concerned because the nest is fairly close to the fence and only a little more than six feet up off the ground. I hope they can keep their babies safe there. Fortunately, there aren't many cats in the area.

I will share more photos as I take them.

Mama Jay keeping her eggs warm....

[gardengirl]

**its rained for two days in a row and just gloomy and sometimes it affects my moods**

I am a sunshine kinda girl! Two days in a row of rain and I’m ready to crawl in a hole! I would never survive in Siberia, etc. Besides the cold, I couldn’t take the dark. 24 hours of sun—woohoo! I’d work myself to death, but... 24 hours of darkness—just go ahead and shoot me! LOL

[gardengirl]

Mornin’ everyone!

Great pics! MB, you’re as good as SwampSniper with your bird pics!

NnB and I were jsut talking about Sam Magee last thread. I like Robert Service and SM is one of my faves. It’s a great one to read to the kids around Halloween.

PoetGal—hope you’re feeling better! Been there, done that! Never had morning sickness, but my youngest is 18 and I still can’t brush my teeth in the am! He was massively colicky. I hope he has ten kids— just like him!

Just Amy—glad to hear KM is finally doing better! Hope you are!

Yorkie—that cordon bleu looks scrumptious! What time are we eating?

Y’all have a great day!

[jaycee]

You speak my ‘language’...LOL~~

[jaycee]

That is the sweetest thing....how marvelous is His works!
Nothing makes me happier than watching the birds making their nests. I was telling Meg those pretty Easter bluebirds are building in their bluebird house again and have been so busy carrying their little beaks just full of ‘stuff’. They have built several years now in that house. Two families per summer!

[OESY]

The trip to Alaska was quite a treat—though some years ago. I rented a plane and flew out to catch the Alaska Railroad train headed south to Anchorage. Flying above the observation cars as the train crossed trestles along the raging Tanana and Nenana rivers, I had the impression I was floating above my own model railway—and it was so realistic (duh?). I met the train at Denali, then flew north toward Tanana and buzzed some caribou on the way. (They were so unfazed I concluded--briefly--that it had to be a large sculpture.) After a bath at Manley Hot Springs, I talked to some of the guys hanging out in the dusty-musty inn next to the grass landing strip. Manley is accessible only three months out of the year.

On a second trip, Susan and I stayed in a cabin at Chena Hot Springs, but had to hit the road by 5 am to stay on schedule. I told her I would return the keys to the lodge, but upon exiting in front of her I saw a HUGE moose standing next to one of the heated pools that blocked my route ... so I casually turned to my wife and said “Let's save time. I'll get the car. You return the keys.” Needless to say, we both drove the half mile to breakfast, and had a good laugh.

Chean Hot Springs before the melt

More on Fairbanks:

Located 370 road miles north of Anchorage near the convergence of the Tanana and Chena Rivers, Fairbanks is Alaska’s second largest city, founded in 1902 when gold was discovered. Land of the “midnight sun”, summer days are long and temperatures sometimes pass 70 degrees. The hub of Alaska’s interior, it’s close to the Arctic region and North Slope oil fields with easy access to the White Mountains National Recreation Area (just north of town), the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Six-million-acre Denali National Park and Preserve with its beautiful wilderness and 20,320-foot Mt. McKinley is a 4-hour leisurely train ride or short 2-hour drive.

Comfortable accommodations in Fairbanks include the River’s Edge Resort, Sophie Station Hotel, Fairbanks Aspen Hotel, Princess Lodge, Best Western Inn, the Denali Bluffs Hotel, and the Grand Denali Lodge. For “healing waters”, try the 100-year-old Chena Hot Springs Resort (60 miles from Fairbanks) and one of the best places to view the “dancing” Northern Lights.



The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
a cloud come over the sunlit arch,
And wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.

-- Robert Frost (1874-1963)

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