2 posts tagged “alaska”

Do you buy products made locally?  Is there anything made in your area that you love?

• Wysong Farms down the road has the best fresh cheese curds on the planet. 
• Our Matanuska-Susitna Valley grown carrots and romaine are unlike any other.  Very flavorful and fresh. 

• We also have a gifted soapmaker here Seven Sisters Soap Company, Susan Lang who makes the best soap.  I can get stains out with her cornmeal bar.  Stains that some of the commercial products won't touch. All her soap smells terrific and works better than other soaps.
  

Ok so I bet you thought I'd say something with salmon in it. Or maybe seafood... wrong!  It's good but it's not great.
Alaska is a very different place.

All too often we Alaskans are sidetracked by the advancements of society - worried about net neutrality and the insipid displays by our Senator who insists the internet is like "tubes" or worried about the rising fuel costs and what that means for higher prices on everything here.  Yes - still life on the frontier even when we spend hours comparing ourselves to others "outside" wishing we had access to herding facilities or shows or even decent shopping.

Tonight I was shocked back into reality of life on the frontier.  I'm just now recovering from the accompanying asthma attack and racing heartbeat.  The dogs too are settling down though they take turns woofing a reminder that it is not a safe world on the frontier.  I fed them late.  With the usual ruckus after dinner to go outside, Rita barks alarm that there is someone out there.  Rabbits?  nah - probably the kids that were hanging around the place a few weeks ago and stole my neighbor's cell and GPS from her pickup truck.  I'll show them!  I open the door and let 4 herding dogs explode into the front yard.  That's when I hear this loud grunt and 4 herding dogs go into a frenzy.

As my eyes adjust to the twilight - I see they have surrounded one of the biggest, most pregnant moose I've ever seen who is violently stomping and charging them. Good herding dogs that they are - they are all doing their job.  The two smallest are at the head - I knew Tyler the sheltie was a natural header and now my suspicions are confirmed - Rita too is a header!  Crap - at the back end are the two larger boys who clearly understand which end needs to be addressed to move this monster out of their domain.

Fearing the worst and gasping for breath I whistle to come in and say, "that'll do!"  Sneaker and Tyler, the older dogs,  promptly back off and come to me and we put them up praying nothing happens to the other two much younger dogs until I get back.  Without the support of his older brothers Chai decides to chase his and I concentrate on Rita who has worked this moose into a frenzy with her barking and charging trying to bite it's nose.  Realize this nose is about 8 feet off the ground!

The moose stomps past her and moves across the yard - she falls in at the head again clearly not listening to me.  By now I"m working on "cookies! c'mon Rita!  COME!  Hey!  I've got food!"  I know it isn't working; but I'm so afraid she won't duck and will be split asunder by those powerful hooves.  The adrenalin is pumping and I'm wheezing away my mind racing 100 mph while Jean keeps repeating the worst case scenario over and over.  I clearly cannot leave the safety of the porch.  I'm going to have to trust my dog.  I KNOW THAT!  What was I thinking?  I quit calling and watch trying to catch my breath.  The moose charges her hard and she circles wide and goes back in and I calmly say, "I don't think it's a good idea kiddo -- why dontcha come up here?"  It caught her by surprise enough that she came to me to tell me about that moose (clearly I wasn't following the situation well enough in her mind haha) and I was able to take her by the collar and haul her to the sanctity of the windowless bathroom.

BUT - there is still a very upset moose inside the fence for my front yard.  Edward will be leaving through that yard to go to work in a few hours and will the moose still be there?  Probably.  We left him a note - let's hope he understands or reads it. 

Cesar Millan has yet to do a episode on rogue moose.  I don't think I'll need anymore excitement for a while and yes - I remember where I live -- IN ALASKA - still on the frontier.