Update. Proof of Life Post

 Unbelievably, The Cousins finished three sets of exterior stairs in only 5-1/2 days.  That left three days for us to play tourist!

They returned home Monday and now I am ready to put the first coat of stain on my deck stairs.  They are sanded, swept, and masked and I'm stalling around writing this.

Julie got right to staining her new stairs and they look fab.

Photos and words when I have some time.  Lots of chores to catch up on first.

In the words of you-know-who, I'll be back!

CAUTION! MEN AT WORK

COUSINS CONSTRUCTION CREW

DAYS ONE AND TWO

   

 The old codgers are dragging this morning.   They, my cousins Bud and Bob, are here at my house building three sets of exterior stairs and they are stiff and sore from handling 4x12x12 foot lumber.

 

With the lumber well-advanced in the aging process, this set couldn't handle the deep snow load this past winter.

Even though still standing, the other set of stairs was in worse condition, they guys said.

Bud, left, and Bob carry a 4x12x10' stringer.

    Bud, from Wyoming, is 82, five months younger than me, and Bob, from Montana, is five years younger.

 

    I picked them up at the airport in Anchorage Friday noonish, took them right to the lumber store where we bought a bunch of fasteners for the project.   My neighbor Bruce Jaffa had already picked up my lumber order the week before and the trailer was parked in my yard, close to where the two stair sets are located.

All the lumber we need, I hope.

 

    I bought them lunch and we drove to Moose Pass.   Darned if they didn’t get started almost right away and worked several hours that first evening, well past their Mountain time zone bedtime.   Demo of one collapsed set took less than a half hour, and then they started laying out the stringers—4x12x10 foot each.

Demo complete and stringers laid out.

 

    Even with a delay caused by no one having a peculiar bit for the several dozens of weird 8” screws we bought, and a rain delay as a thunderstorm passed over, the first set of stairs was almost complete and useable by quitting time, which was very late.   They even got stringers laid out for the second set while I drove to Seward and got different screws that took a normal drill bit pattern.  They are doingthe finishing touches this morning.

Bob uses a monster saw on the timbers.

Corporate meeting to discuss design and the lack of union wages.

SO that's how they get screws into the underside of the bottom two treads.

 

Getting things into position.

The first trial.

Almost complete.

    But, as I said, Cousins Construction Crew is dragging today.    At breakfast we talked about how difficult it was for employers to find employees  these days and even more how rare it was to get kids to show up and on time.

 

    Then these two old men didn’t even get started today until 8:30!    Meanwhile, I need a nap.

How We Roll with the Nome Journals

 There is no way on earth that I will be able to write the Nome Journals while they are still fresh in my mind.    Friday I will pick up two of my cousins at the airport in Anchorage.   They are coming to rebuild three sets of exterior stairs at my house.

Lest you get the idea they are a couple strapping young lads, Bud is five months younger than me and I'm 82.   Bob is five years younger.   I will be very busy for the ten days that they are here, helping, make design decisions, writing change orders, getting in the way, and feeding and watering.

But I have a lot of photos to show you and stories to tell, so that's what I'm going to do--in no particular order.

So, my birding friend Leilani, with whom eI have taken a lot of photography trips to photograph birds and whatever else got in your way, suggested we go to Nome this year rather than the Denali highway as we usually do.   I agreed.

A Willow ptarmigan on a roadside snowbank.

Nome in the spring is a bird paradise.   Both birders and bird photographers head there from mid-May thru late June to catch the migrating birds.   For some species, it's the only place you can see them.

We were joined by my pals Marg Wood and Shelly Kurtz from Canada, both excellent photographers.

So here's a quick story from the last day of the trip.   Remember, I promised stories but not in chronological order.

  GET OUT OF JAIL, NOW!

It's our last morning in Nome and we're heading out of town when we spot a number of people pointing binoculars and cameras at some trees on our left. Leilani Devries pulls our car into the parking lot and a kind gentleman graciously points out a nesting Northern Shrike in one tree and the male close by in another.

We're happily clicking away, exchanging bird location info, and about to finish up when a burly uniformed man approaches and says, rather politely, "Sorry, but we can't have you here."

We had unknowingly parked in the parking lot of a medium-security prison. "Sorry, we didn't notice," we say and get in the vehicles.

"How can you NOT notice?" he asks, a look of stupefaction on his face. When I look at the nearby building, it is obvious that it's a correctional facility.

"People, binoculars, cameras," we respond. "That means birds!" He's still shaking his head and smiling as we drive away.

Scenery

Coming Soon to a Tundra Near You

 

Hey, there!   Just a note to say "Hi" and to let you know I am still here.   Busy, busy, busy, but still here.

If and when I get the time, I will start posting the 2024 Nome Journals.

It followed me home.   Can I keep it?

As soon as I get my transportation running, I'll be back.

For now and for the WOW factor:!