The weather today is exactly as it was nine years ago on this date. Overnight lows nearing freezing, early morning fog dissipating to a brilliant sunshiny blue sky. Chilly, with autumn colors rapidly nearing full display.
By late morning the weather was spectacular, but inside our hearts it was the blackest of black. Loss of hope left room for despair as two immense buildings fell in an avalanche of steel and concrete, men and women.
Today our world is filled with troubles--war, economic woes, diplomatic failures, and political angers. An Islamic imam in New York insists on going forward with a building that many, including me, consider provocative and insensitive.
A pastor in Florida is condemned for lack of tolerance and sensitivity for threatening to burn the Quran.
How many Western religious books have been desecrated in the name of Islam? How many Bibles did the US Military destroy to avoid even the appearance of U.S. GIs proselytizing? How many home-made "care" packages went to Iraq and Afghanistan devoid of pork products in sensitivity to Muslim beliefs?
Tolerance and diplomacy must travel in both directions for it to succeed. Where's the tolerance from Islam?
After the anger and horror of 9/11, the feeling I remember most is how America came together in love and patriotism. I still retain that feeling.
It's something that, in addition to victims of terrorism, we should never forget.
Palmer. Site of the Alaska State Fair. There's a reason it's held here every year. This is farm country.
Or rather, it used to be farm country. Nowadays it's mostly subdivision country. There are still a few farms operating, but nothing like back in the day.
There's some history here, too, and it has to do with President Franklin Roosevelt and the infamous New Deal. In 1935, in the dirty depths of the Great Depression, 203 of the hardest hit farmers in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were offered the change to go north and prosper in the Territory of Alaska.
Made sense, after all, to extend the offer to folks who already had experience as farmers--and who were already able to take care of themselves in extreme cold. After a spurt of infrastructure construction, the colonists, as they were called, arrived in the Matanuska Valley to join the few farmers who were already tilling the rich loam.
A drawing was held for the 40 acres of land that each colonist would own. As you can imagine, the would-be farmers encountered many problems and obstacles, and quite a few left.
Eventually, those who stayed discovered that cole crops, like cabbage, broccoli, turnips, and the like, absolutely loved the long days and cool temperatures. Alaskan potatoes became well known for their high sugar content, and mass food producers bought Mat-Su pea crops year after year.
By the way, Matanuska is the name of a glacier and its river, a river with a voracious appetite for gobbling up homes along its banks. "Su" is short for the Susitna river that also runs through the valley, so Mat-Su is short for the entire area., which includes Palmer and other small towns in the area. Mmmm...including Wasilla.
Fairs are all about farms and crops and animals. Theoretically. There are also carninal booths a rides, a stomach-bending assortment of food choices, numerous crafts, and entertainment.
But this fair is renowned for its veggies. Giant veggies. Veggies that soak up the moisture, bask in round the clock daylight, wallow in the fertile soils, and (I'm sure) channel the competitive excitement of their growers.
While I was wandering around in search of a pork chop on a stick, the cabbages were being weighed. I watched a couple in the 35 lb. range, and figured this must be the baby cabbage weigh in. Off I strolled, and saw these be-ribboned veggies on steriods:
Little did I know that Mr. Hubacek had yet to weigh his next cabbage. While I was marveling at 93.9 lbs of sauerkraut, cole slaw, and stuffed cabbage rolls, he was dragging into the show ring a 105.6 lb. monster.
And that cabbage, friends, was 22 lbs. less than the Guinness world record 127 pounder that he entered last year.
Ah, but Anchorage had a red hot competitor. Not only did his long gourds win ribbons, but take a look at this:
Then I went off and found my pork chop on a stick. When I'd eaten as much as I wanted..... No, not anywhere near as much as I wanted, but more like "as much as I dared...," I headed for the exit. I'd been there two hours already, about as much of crowds as I could take and the crowds seemed to be increasing.
Just before the exit gate, I did something I've trained myself to do. I turned around and took one more look. This is what I saw:
I stayed. No way was I going to let a sky like that go on without me and my camera.
(to be continued)
For more information on the Matanuska Colonists: http://explorenorth.com/library/yafeatures/bl-matanuska.htm
From a friend in New Mexico came an astonishing e-mail. I had no idea the illegal immigration problem was THIS BAD:
The Manitoba Herald, Canada, as Reported by Clive Runnels, August 6, 2010
The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party are prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and to agree with Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck.
Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night. "I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left before I even got a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"
In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush Limbaugh across the fields. "Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through and Rush annoyed the cows so much that they wouldn't give any milk."
Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons and drive them across the border where they are simply left to fend for themselves." A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a single bottle of imported drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley Cabernet, though."
When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans being made to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races.
In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans in powdered wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior - citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove that they were alive in the '50s. "If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age." an official said.
Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and are renting all the Michael Moore movies. "I really feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them." an Ottawa resident said. "How many art-history majors does one country need?"
In an effort to ease tensions between the United States and Canada, Vice President Biden met with the Canadian ambassador and pledged that the administration would take steps to reassure liberals. A source close to President Obama said, "We're going to have some Paul McCartney and Peter, Paul & Mary concerts. And we might even put some endangered species on postage stamps. The President is determined to reach out." he said.
The Herald will be interested to see if Obama can actually raise Mary from the dead in time for the concert.
Okay, guys, you do understand this is all in fun, I hope. A writer took a serious situation and adapted it into a funny and clever piece. For bona fides:
Just in case you don’t know, and I’m sure you don’t because I haven’t told you yet, I saved y’all a bunch of money Friday evening.
Forty-five dollars to be exact.And, if you stretch it a bit, I may have saved you $185 also, by following the advice of a mysterious gypsy woman.
I know you’re wondering how this could be, so here’s what happened:
I was sitting on a bench at the Alaska State Fair, eating my quadruple-chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream bar with an ungodly thickness of chopped almonds, all of which over-powered the ice cream so I broke it off in huge slabs and tossed them in a trash can.Across the way was a fortune teller’s booth.I watched as a woman sat down in a private corner of the booth and listened for a minute to a perfectly ordinary looking woman seated across from her.
The woman customer stood up and stomped out of the booth, shaking her head.Oh, boy, I had to know what that was all about.I tossed the remaining two-thirds of my ice cream bar into the trash barrel and moseyed over to the booth.A young boy was examining a display of eyelash of cygnet and whisker of brown bat…No, wait, he was examining some mood rings and other trinkets.
I caught someone’s eye—the fortune-teller shift had just changed.Now, this woman looked like a gypsy from Romania.Certainly not a somewhat normal woman from Stanton, California, or whatever her business card read.
I asked how much.She invited me to sit down, so I occupied the recently vacated chair.She asked if I wanted a psychic reading, tarot card reading, or palm reading.The prices were $45 for the all-inclusive psychic reading, and $25 for each of the others.
She set a deck of tarot cards before me.Oh, this could be fun, I thought, recalling my one previous psychic reading in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in which I’d learned I was an old soul, and used to be a Greek shipping merchant.
“Psychic reading,” I answered.She set a deck of Tarot cards before me, asked me to make two wishes (revealing one to her and keeping the other secret), then to take the top card and put it under the deck.
Remember, I’d walked into this cold—the two wishes thing had me stumped.Finally I blurted out, “I want to live long enough to complete my bucket list.”I didn’t mention that list increased exponentially to the passing years and I’d already have to live another lifetime to complete it, so it’s a good thing she said I’d live to age 91.
Then she began reading the cards and this gypsy woman (that’s so much more romantic than saying “this woman from California”) told me:
—I’d suffered romantic disappointment early in life (Haven’t we all?)
(After each statement she asked, “You understand?”
—I receive much criticism in the things that I do, but should follow my heart regardless of what others say.(Shouldn’t we all?)
—I’d worked hard for my money, but my financial situation will become easier soon.(Didn’t we all?Would that it could?)
—Though I now lived alone, that situation would change soon.(What the hell?I like living alone. Please don’t let it be a caregiver.)
—I will soon become involved in a real estate matter that will bring me much money.(What?I’m not ready to sell my house yet.Too much packing to do.)
—I will soon receive a letter that will bring me much happiness and change my life.(NO!I like my life just as it is.)
—I have made some investments that have not turned out well at all.(Oh, hasn’t everyone who was in the market two years ago???)
Then she asked me if I wanted to know how to change that.“I’m a psychic,” she said.“I can tell you what to do.But it will cost you $185.”With that I decided to apply some of her previous advice and listened to my heart telling me this was baloney.I’d just saved myself $185.
She said I may ask her one question.Again I was blank.I began to think about what that—and the trouble coming up with one wish, no matter two wishes— told me insofar as my current life was concerned, but yanked myself back to the question at hand.
Finally, “I’d like to know if my manuscript will sell.”(What manuscript, I asked myself?)
“It will,” she said, “but not at first.You will have to keep trying and then great success will happen.”Well, if I were good at trying at all, I thought, I might be able to put together a manuscript in the first place.
By this time, my muse was clamoring to get out of there so she could think about that current life/satisfaction thing, and I was anxious to get out of there before I laughed out loud.
So, I drug a crumpled fifty dollar bill out of my pocket and paid the gypsy (-woman from California).
And that, boys and girls, is how I saved you $45 with a generic, one-size-fits-all psychic, tarot and palm reading.
Oh, which ride first? I can't decide. I should ask my twin.
I told these girls they looked like they were on a rotisserie.
About 8:30 p.m.
Ahhhh.
Is this all is does?
Yes, daddy. It's very nice.
I think I'll get the pink cotton candy.
This look says it all.
Yeah, me too.
And with this last picture, I left the fair.
