north to the future
Another casual Juneau outfit. I was thinking how it'd be awesome if it was summer so I could find more sea creatures on the beach, and then I realized that these photos would've been taken at 10 pm if it was summer, in order to get this kind of lighting. It's fun having the sun out later, but summer nights in Tacoma are nothing like the midnight sun in Alaska. At least in Tacoma it actually gets dark so you can get a good 4th of July fireworks show. It's almost not even worth it in AK! I remember we used to do 4th of July out at our cabin, and we'd have to wait until it was pretty late for any firework shows to happen, and even then it was only like dusk, never pitch black. Our cabin was on an island in a lake, and one of the hotels on the lake would put on a firework show and everyone would boat in to watch it. It was so much fun sitting on the bow of our boat at midnight, all curled up in blankets watching the fireworks. I'm sure it was a relatively amateurish show (the "hotel" that put it on was more like a motel... and it was in the Valley, so not really highfalutin if you know what I mean), but nothing could beat bobbing around in your boat watching the show as a kid. Last year we watched the big firework show put on out in front of Tacoma, which is also right on the water, and tons of people were out there bobbing around in their boats watching the show. The show itself was a huge professional show, but I imagine there were kids sitting on the bow of one of those boats, wrapped in a blanket oohing and ahhing at the show. I suppose it's a bit early to be thinking about 4th of July festivities.
I've been spending this past week with my grandparents, and it's so strange to think about aging. Hearing stories of my grandparents when they were young and spry, and seeing them so old is an interesting juxtaposition. I run up and down stairs without a thought and am doing my workouts every night and just walking around is a lengthy ordeal for them, and usually they are out of breath after any little trip. When you're young it's the furthest thing from your mind, but one day I'll be that old and slow moving. Assuming I make it that far (My grandparents turn 92 this year, wowza). It's almost impossible for my mind to imagine these people being my age, or me being their age. It's all in pictures, frozen in time. Maybe one day my grandkids will look at this blog and see young-me clambering around on beach rocks, talking about doing Insanity, and won't be able to picture my grey-haired self able do to more than scoot around with a walker. Even thinking about my parents being that old is difficult. I must say, though, that I will be sad if my kids never get to know my grandparents, which they probably won't, unless they keep living for quite some time (though they are some rather hardy folks. Hard to kill, those ones, and not for lack of trying. They're like cats with nine lives!). My grandma was making a little easter basket for a friend's daughter, and I thought about how my kids will probably never get an easter basket made by her. She could craft the pants off of any one of the best DIY bloggers out there today. Her craft room is a sight to behold. She has file cabinets full of clippings from craft magazines. She can barely see and was sewing up a little stuffed bunny rabbit to put in the basket, and made handmade chocolate covered coconut "eggs" as well. I swear, she'll craft till the day she dies.
