Welcoming Spring

We interviewed a pet sitter this evening. This is a great business around here. Just about everybody has a dog or two and everybody travels. We'll end up paying her $280 for 10 days of visiting our pets. But it'll be nice to have them here at the house instead of caged up at a kennel for that long.

It's after 9:00pm and the sun is just starting to drop. The daylight hours are lengthening. I may have mentioned that I've started hanging dark curtains in the windows. Our bedroom is particularly dark, which is nice, because it's difficult to sleep when it's broad daylight outdoors. Some people actually put aluminum foil on their windows to block out the light.

Our back deck is completely clear of snow. I moved some of Alicia's toys out there and her little picnic table and tricycle. We put a gate across the deck stairs and it makes a great outdoor playspace. We had a radio set up out there playing her Toddler Tunes CD and she had a great time dancing around and playing with her toys. With the leaves still off the trees we have a view of Mt. McKinley from the deck. At least on the days when the Great One chooses to appear. Mountains are tricky here in Alaska. Some days the sun shines on them and they're plainly visible and other times they're in a hazy cloud of sorts and it's like someone erased them. Few tourists actually get to see Mt. McKinley as it is often in the clouds...