October 7 ,2016

It’s been quite a summer. Even though Jim claimed we “moved in together, just without our stuff” when we had the apartment in Seattle for his cancer treatment, we now have our “stuff” in one spot—Nikiski, AK. He bought the large log home on Daniels Lake when he retired from teaching in Bethel. It was constructed in the ‘70’s by a fine craftsman as the house is still strong and beautiful. Down the hill at the lake is a small one room log cabin, with finely crafted Dutch door and window. It hadn’t been used for years. It has become The Writer’s Cabin and I spend many happy hours in it and on the porch at the water’s edge. Writing comes easily here and I keep a notepad handy.

I moved from Anchorage in August. We all know what moving is like. It was really hard. My daughter, Jennifer came and packed for 3 days, but I never seemed to stop packing. Unfortunately, when stressed, my TBI and tumor injured brain balks at the simplest things. Unfortunately it appears that among my donations were many treasured items as well as several presents I planned to give. My fatigue was at its worst and it wasn’t until my doctor found I needed a strong medication adjustment, which took a month to work, that I realized that there was another reason for my fatigue.

Unpacking? On and on. Although Jim has a large house, there is little storage and I seemed to be able to effectively unpack for a couple of hours a day. 2 months later there is still much to do. However, the living room is now furnished with cozy chairs, lamps…….and books!! I have always loved sitting down to read, but, now, in addition to comfort, I can look out of the large picture window at the every changing lake. The bay windows bring in lots of natural light, as do the skylights.

DustyKitty had settled in early in the summer. She was so traumatized by traveling back and forth, we decided that it was best for her to move to her new home early. She has adapted marvelously, finding new hiding and sleeping places in the house; running outside hunting; sharing the best voles; and stretching out in front of a fire. Her favourite though, is coming down to the lake with us, because the best grass is by the dock. It was fun for her to walk out on the dock (never alone) and look at the fish. And once The Writer’s Cabin was ready with two cushy chairs on the porch, she happily took over one of them and was the best companion while I soaked in the healing nature. She is happiest when we are all outside.

Jim stayed busy with some projects for selected clients, including custom decks and helping others who are widows with big houses that he has helped for sometime as well as other special people. He still suffers from neuropathy in his feet, fatigue and chemo brain—forgetting things that came naturally before. His big project is to retrofit The Grey Panther for the fall trip out of Alaska, but with moving and working, it fell behind in the list.

We are leaving 3 days late, all we dare with snow…..another peculiarity of Alaska! We both have had to quit early evening getting ready as neither our brains or my still paralyzed body parts will continue. Said goodbye to the Writer’s cabin yesterday and tucked in the kayak. I so love both, they have brought me much peace this summer.

I am sooooo happy here and Jim is sooooo happy I’m here….Off we go.