north to alaska

early june in alaska...hangin' with mom, vern, deb and the kids, lots of hours of light. little archie made his first sale as part of Archie's Artic Chickens. he is normally so wound up, but if he is holding a chicken, he becomes all soft and tender. evie has a chicken-killer reputation, not out of intention, but excess enthusiasm and affection. vern is still making steady progress in his physical therapy and we saw him stand up out of his wheelchair and step up a stair of a couple inches height. he is my hero. this visit i felt that he was much more his old self for the first time since his nightmare began. he was full of stories and jokes and ideas for the future--crackpot ones and good ones both. i got used to going to sleep when it was still pink in the sky and staying asleep in the light. mom's garden was in the initial stages, it being early in the season, but in the week i was there, the lobelia grew a few inches! Her little house and big yard is an oasis of order, neatness, cleanliness and beauty and we both slept in as late as we could and worked on relaxing....on learning that wonderful thing the italians call the ' bel far'niente' which translates as the 'beauty of doing nothing,' not necessarily that easy to do for some of us driven Americanos.