Hooligans and Happiness

HOOLIGAN. Noun. A small oily fish, hunted by Beluga whales at the mouth of the Kenai River. (Lots of talk about Hooligans in the area lately - took us a beat to realize that Ice Cream Newton wasn't in danger of being flipped over and set on fire...)

Photos courtesy of LGL Alaska Research Associates, MMPA/ESA research permit No. 14210

HOOLIGAN. Noun. A young troublemaker. (Are those moose skull and crossbones t-shirts on preschoolers? ...Trouble.)

We will, we will, stomp you.

HAPPINESS. In a crazy, end-of-the-spring maneuver, Team Leslie is moving from our beach house (a rental, which sold) to a cool cabin in the woods (another rental, which is not for sale), complete with a three-story spiral staircase, lots of lakes for skating, and even more moose and bear. We are now officially off the paved road system and have a feeling our day-to-day Alaska Adventure is about to get a lot more Alaskan! We are attempting to get everything situated in this final week of school so we can truly sit back and enjoy this next part of our adventure in time for summer and our visitors.

We have yet to take many pictures of the new digs, but I will give the following teasers:

• A huge hunk of fleshy moose hide is nailed to a tree in the yard as a bird feeder - tasty!
• Indigo has her own mini play cabin which sports a real wood stove, wooden bunk bed and desk set with a big window looking out over the yard - think Little House in the Big Woods.
• We have not one but two storage sheds with many moose and caribou antlers "decorating" them.
• On the corner to our new street sits the Tustumena Smokehouse ready to prepare any big fishies we catch this summer - really tasty!
• A-la our friend Ed, J finally has a bedroom with a toilet (minus a sink or any other bathroom elements) right next to the bed for easy access... we just need to put our coffee maker up there and we won't have to get up 'till noon!

I took the following photo of a front yard near the new neighborhood because it just captured the whacky Alaska spirit (i.e. managing to be a gun-owning, conservative Republican who still owns hippy RV's and paints joyful messages on rusting boats in the front yard). As I slowed Ice Cream Newton to snap the picture, J warned, "Honey, don't stay here too long - we don't want to get shot!" On that note, I'm off to finish cleaning the old beach house, load up the fleet of bikes and trikes, and get my woodland groove on...

Wise words.