Scissors

It was fun to chat with William and Martha briefly before their bedtime. Another opportunity for me to mess up my mental timezone calculations and get it wrong! I showed them the snow, and William set me a challenge of building a snowman before his birthday. Something else to add to the to-do list.

We visited a pharmacy to get our flu and covid jabs. I’ve had my flu one at home already, so I just need covid. I know how to have a good time. After waiting for a few minutes, the pharmacist said we couldn’t be processed right now because we hadn’t booked ahead of time. Oh well. So much for the sign saying ‘Walk-ins welcome’. Liesel took her Mom into the office and they obtained their inoculations later on, straight in, done. I’m still a covid shot down.

But while they were in the office, Liesel working and Leslie reading, I was having more fun walking by the lagoon, which is frozen. It looks fairly solid but I wasn’t about to walk out over the frozen water.

While walking on the path, I was overtaken by a few cyclists whose bikes had very fat tyres, and by one guy on skis.

No, I was not tempted to ask him if I could have a go. I tried skiing once, way back in ’06, and that activity is not for me. My backside doesn’t have enough padding.

The Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail is about four miles long altogether, and I probably saw about one mile on this occasion. I then had to walk home up some very slight inclines, and the old shortness-of-breath issue came back. Not helped, I’m sure, by the fact that I was wearing more than twice as much clothing as I usually do: all that extra weight!

You can come across some random items anywhere, but I thought this beacon was a bit out of place. It’s at sea level, and when lit, you wouldn’t see the flames from very far away.

No, of course it’s not a bonfire beacon, it’s a frisbee golf basket, so, Liam, if you’re reading this, feel free to polish up your disc and come on over!

Podcasts and radio shows kept me company for the rest of the afternoon, until Liesel and Leslie returned home.

The Alaska Black Caucus (ABC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organisation dedicated to championing the lives of Black people and other marginalised groups. For five years they’ve been campaigning and raising funds for a new HQ in Anchorage. Today was the day the Equity Center opened with a Ribbon Cutting ceremony.

While Liesel was back at work in the office, Jyoti came over and she, Leslie and I walked into town to witness the event. I asked someone where the bathroom was. Down there, she said, but it’s not finished yet. There is still quite a lot of work to do in the building which, from the outside, is pretty nondescript.

We listened to a few speeches but left before Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke. Nothing personal, we just had other things to do. She did smile at me though, so that’s nice.

Yes, I wasn’t quick enough to capture her face-on. Next time.

Because their bathroom was not yet functional, on the way home, we visited the 5th Avenue Mall. We had a coffee in the shop called Cake, styled as cAKe, since we’re in Alaska. I went for a wander to address my biological needs which were eventually satisfied.

I tried to find a pair of scissors and that mission was a total failure. I concluded that it’s easier to buy weapons in Anchorage than it is scissors. So I bought a gun and shot my toenails off instead.

I walked home carrying a newly-bought carrot cake for Jyoti, and, no, I didn’t drop it, but as we turned one corner, a gust of wind blew the lid open and that could have been a disaster.

In the evening, we went over to Jyoti’s for dinner. We celebrated her son Suvan’s birthday with cakes and we celebrated Diwali with fireworks.

And so we come to November 10th, or as it is known in Australia, November 11th, they’re always a day ahead. A very auspicious moment…