"Hooray sunshine." When the June temperatures edge up past the mid-60s, (mid-to-high teens Centigrade, if it hits 20 degrees Centigrade (70F) it is a HOT day...) and the sun stays out all day (and, of course, all night) it is a lucky day! Flowers on the decks are all blooming and the joys of Nature rival my Blog Buddy Richard's tales of country life. Richard and I slowed down in posting, and he made a new buddy-deadline today at noon (JST, but I am pretending I heard Alaska Daylight Savings Time), so hey, had to do it!  Only running five hours late, too. However, even though it looks like it, I am not competing in the Country Life sweepstakes--it's just that other news is sparse on the ground.  

Time to start a new notebook, this time, Elderly Life Planning (I have already checked out "Eldercare for Dummies" from the library). Been to two seminars on the subject, and there is a lot to plan for. There are Elder Law attorneys now, Health Care Power of Attorney separate from Durable Power of Attorney, the fact that one needs Long-term Care Insurance coverage for only three years before Medicaid kicks in, things called "Miller Trusts" and so on and on.  

I really hang out at the library. I can get anything I want to read, well, almost anything. They do have Alan Booth's Japan, but not Eric Liu's The Accidental Asian. One can check out up to 50 items, which floored me until someone reminded me that a lot of people come in from very remote areas (this IS the Last Frontier, after all) and 50 items for a family in a remote area for 3 weeks, renewable, is not so surprising.  

Have tried two of the local Japanese restaurants. The most local, right here in Eagle River, is run by Chinese, and the uni (sea urchin), advertised as Fresh Catch of the Day, was almost as old as I am, the tofu in the miso soup is 3 teeny tiny cubes, but hey, the yellowtail and the salmon are fabulous. At the one in Anchorage I went to, my waitperson was from Tarumi, and they had takuan and nappa o-tsukemono (pickles). Understand there are several others in Anchorage to try. A Thai restaurant here in Eagle River is said to be great, but have not made it there yet; keep getting sidetracked by the barbeque place.

The days all look like one another, which is what is necessary for elderly folks with any sort of dementia, routine, unchanging routine, except for treats within the routine (a new video, a new People magazine, extra finely diced fruit in the yogurt). Hard on the caregiver, as Squirrel Cage Syndrome nips at one's heels. One of these days I am going to get on top of the caregiving routine and make it work for me instead of me working for it. One of these days real soon now.....
    Stay tuned....             
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          --Alaska's answer to the cherry blossom season: in June, the European mountain ash in flower all over the subdivision; looks lovely, smells good and comes in all sizes and degrees of blossoming wonderful to watch on a walk.....

           --European mountain ash . . . .  

Actually May 21st, not this week, planting flowers on Mother's deck...stay tuned for their full bloomin' beauticious bounty!

and my other Blog Buddy's blog   

  Thanks again, Richard.

  A fun read and I'm even in it....