Hello everyone  --

We pray all of you are doing well.  Things go well here in Alaska.  We have already had a frost, actually two of them.  Some plants around town have been nipped and many have not.  On our  walk today we saw some squash plants that really looked horrible.  Many of the flowers are still okay.  While many of you are suffering from a heat wave we are having cool nights and pleasant days.  The days have been in the mid 60's.
The coolest morning was Sunday.  The man who taught our Sunday School class said his children wanted the furnace turned on.  He refused.  It was the principal of the thing.  This is too early.  He might start the furnace in mid September but not yet.  We have not used the furnace for our apartment yet.  So far it has not got below 70 in here.  I have no scruples, however, about when to start the furnace.

We went to the botanical garden at the University of Alaska Fairbanks last week.  Luckily it was before the frost.

This is a ice cream strawberry mum.

This is Larry by a big cabbage.It was about 15 inches across.  The biggest cabbage on record is 115 pounds.  It was from somewhere in Alaska but not Fairbanks.  ( In case you are wondering, I am the one with less green.)

Our van had been feeling it was on the outside looking in.  But no more.  It now has an electrical cord hanging below the grill like 99% of the other vehicles we see here.  It feels better but our pocketbook is feeling worse!  Three things get electrical heaters - the water, the oil, and the oil pan.

Friday we were going to a barber shop choir concert.  On the way in Elva and I were talking about whether or not we would see anyone we knew.  In fact we were wondering if we would ever see any one we know from the lower 48.  But, lo and behold, Ellen (former student) also came to the concert.  We had a nice talk.

Besides that, Sunday we visited a couple from Wisconsin.  They are James' next door neighbors and are volunteering with the army corp of engineers at North Pole, about 12 miles from Fairbanks.  So we saw more people we know.  Their volunteer work here is to be helpers at a dike or dam on the Chena River Dam.  Once every 20 or 30 years the Chena River has a devastating flood that destroys much of Fairbanks.  So the army corp of engineers built a 9 mile dike to keep the flood waters from reaching Fairbanks.  That is good.  Our apartment is about 150 feet from the river.

This is the Chena river flowing into the open gates of the dam.  Here it is about 50 feet wide, about the same as by our apartment.

                                                                     

This shows the dike.  You can judge its height by comparing with the pick up ahead of us.  It is perhaps 30 feet high.

If there is enough water in a flood the water behind the dam ends up flowing into the Tanana River at the other end of the dike.

Our apartment is beginning to feel like home.  Though since we left North English no place has quite seemed like home.  If I were to "go back home" I don't know where I would go.  Perhaps Cheraw, Colorado, where I grew up.  Perhaps North English where I have lived longer than any other place.  And our children grew up there.  Perhaps Wayland where we were just before coming to Alaska.

One day we went to Creamer's Field to see the sandhill cranes.  This is one gathering point for them before they head south to roughly the Rio Grande valley of Texas.  They are relatively tame here.  There are walking paths near where the cranes (and some geese and ducks and other water fowl) eat and they allow a person to get withing 50 feet or so from them.  Then they walk away and don't fly away.

Mature cranes, both male and female, have red on their heads.

We attended First Presbyterian Church last Sunday.  It felt good.  The people were friendly.  One elderly lady (91 years old) gave us each a hug.  The singing was more our style.  The sermon was good.  It is within walking distance.  That is, when the weather is nice.  It is about 3/4 mile away more or less downtown.

Elva's maiden name is Stryker.  When we travel we are in the habit of looking in phone books to see if we can see any Evers, Strykers, Planks (my mother's maiden name), or Shriders (Elva's mother's maiden name).  In the Fairbanks phone book we found none of these names.  However, Elva just read in today's paper that there is another Stryker in Fairbanks  --  the canine unit for the Fairbanks police dept. has one dog  -- and guess what, his name is Stryker!

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  Some people have asked if it is okay that they tell other people about this blog.  That is fine with me.  Anyone may read it if they wish.

God's blessing to each of you.

Larry and Elva