Still Life

Sleeping Woods | Yea Yea Pueblo

Still life: what an elusive concept.

Stil Life | Yea Yea PuebloStill Life | Yea Yea Pueblo095A6326Sally the Beagle | Yea Yea Pueblo

With Isaac out of town the last two weeks, and Woods refusing to sleep through the night without mums face within arms reach, sleep has been fleeting, and alone time has been an abstract notion.

Tensions rose to a breaking point: the unending laundry, the sleep deprivation, and the thankless, lonely week left me on the brink of eruption. But the mood in my home finally pivoted from heavy and melancholy to light and refreshed. The kids and I napped at the same time this afternoon. I can’t ever remember catching sleep when feeling so run down, and I speculate I will never again be graced with a nap at such a opportune moment.

Downstairs, the vegetarian chili on the stove burned without my attentive stirring, and a package on the front porch sat uncollected, but when I awoke from my cat nap, my cheeks were rosy and youthful, and my spirit was restored. I could have cried from the relief, and maybe I did — but the takeaway is that I was extended grace when I needed it most, allowing me to do the same to my children.

Winter  | Yea Yea PuebloSally the Beagle | Yea Yea PuebloStill Life | Yea Yea PuebloI suppose one day I’ll realize these days will come and go, whether or not Isaac is called to service away from home. My sophomoric attitude towards motherhood needs refining through experience. If this week has taught me anything, it’s that I’m well on my way to gaining wisdom, but I think I’d rather have a full night’s sleep.

 

Fairbanks’ Newest Cheechakos

This post is coming to you from Fairbanks, AK where we are the newest Cheechakos (or Canadian/Alaskan newcomers)! Our travels through Canada went off without a hitch, but I sure did miss reliable cell service and wi-fi.

Watson Sign Forest, Yukon Territory, Canada via Yea Yea Pueblo

We were your typical tourists: camera and baby clumsily in hand, an overweight dog on a retractable leash, and a dirty Subaru with out-of-state plates.  The back seat became our diaper change-station, the front seat, our refrigerator. We lived in that car for up to 14 hours a day. Margot was patient, even when I wouldn’t let her crawl on the floor of at least two off-putting hotels. She was content to roll around in her pack ‘n play or hang out in the slightly cleaner beds for a energy-burning nightcap.

Watson Sign Forest, Yukon Territory, Canada via Yea Yea Pueblo

Yukon Territory via Yea Yea PuebloWatson Sign Forest, Yukon Territory, Canada via Yea Yea Pueblo

The Watson Lake Sign Forest was a fun tourist destination. We weaved up and down the aisles, looking for artifacts from our respective hometowns. Isaac was a little more successful than I was, oddly enough.

Then there was the beautiful Whitehorse, YT; a beautiful Canadian city with friendly locals and great food. We strolled along the river front, poked around in gift shops and ate BBQ Salmon at the famous Klondike Rib and Salmon BBQ on their very last weekend of the season. Many northern businesses shut down for the winter months, presumably because of the lower number of travelers passing through. And little did we know, the Yukon Territory, with an area the size of Germany, Austria and Switzerland combined, only has a population of about 36K, most of which (26K) live in the Whitehorse metro area. My high school was bigger than nearly all of their towns. Mind-boggling!

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Greetings from the Alcan!

Canadian Rockies, British Columbia via Yea Yea Pueblo

After a few long days on the road, we’ve made it to Whitehorse, Yukon. We’re making great time, so we’re taking an extra day here to check out the local sites and sounds before we hunker down in Fairbanks for the winter.

Our initial departure was delayed when my darling husband spilled a five gallon bucket of exterior paint in our garage while the movers loaded up our goods to ship to Alaska. It took several hours to clean up, adding to the moving-day chaos.

Toad River Lodge, Yukon via Yea Yea Pueblo

Canadian Rockies, British Columbia via Yea Yea Pueblo

The first night we only made it a few hours north to Bellingham, where some criminal tried to steal the wheels off of our trailer. Thankfully, they were only successful in taking our dust caps which we expediently replaced. However, those dust caps fell off as we drove off from the parts store in Blaine. We resigned ourselves to life without dust caps and forged onward.  

Continue reading “Greetings from the Alcan!”