keeping "clam"-kenai's that is!

What could be better to announce that “I’m baaack” – or at least feeling like someone has turned the ‘life light’ back on, 4 weeks after surgery to put in a new titatium wing, and THEN fighting strep and the flu/crud for 3 weeks, sleeping (and missing Relay For Life :0(   than to spend a day with my hubby driving down to Kenai on a clear and sunny Alaska day?
 To avoid all the salmon ‘combat fisherpeople’ who line the Kenai at this time of year and the early weekend traffic, we left at 2:30AM – in full light! Today is it! Longest day of our year – we start to go into mourning as tomorrow we slowly start losing daylight!
We arrived in time to have my FAVORITE Raspberry filled jelly donuts just being pulled out of the oven at The Moose is Loose Bakery in Soldotna (along with 1/2 dozen other favorites of their heavenly delicacies!) to head to the Kenai HDL Engineering office, where Bill had to deliver some items and do a bit of his handiwork miracle-working. We were delighted that an American Cancer Society colleague and her hubby lived only a mile away, where we stopped to leave a box of books – so those of you on the Kenai – call Susie Smalley to get Loose Screws and save postage!!
And what to our pleasant surprise but clam tides at minus 3.9 – at 11:30 – a PERFECT way to spend ‘lunch hour’ – of COURSE we had put the 4 wheeler in (just in case…..plus my proxy fishing license….yes, my OT’s would be proud – I didn’t dig for any clams – I just got off balance with my arm in the sling and a sock on my hand so I would be reminded NOT to use the arm (yes, I’m an incorrigible OT)  in the muck and silt and toppled over like Humpty Dumpty or one of those bouncy clown balls. So, what’s a little (ok, ALOT) of wet sand all down your boots, up your legs, on your face and everywhere else – but whose whining?  It’s SUNNY and WARM and with no whining, found drier sand to point out the digging holes to the Master Miracle Man when it comes to clam digging. We had our limit in an hour and a half…….120 razor clams (that equates to 36 4 oz jars of minced clams for chowder/dip and 10 packages for cleam strips ala Canner Bill) and do they taste yummy!!
Off once more to beat Friday traffice coming towards us…..I think going down we saw 10 cars total once out of Anchorage. On the way home, we had 3 cars in our lane to 150 plus coming at us!! Good decision, even though long day. Stopped to see another of Bill’s jobs in Anchorage and to see Logan – the lil guy so many of you prayed for with heart surgery just a short year ago when he was weeks old….couldn’t tell a bit. Your lips to God’s heart and hand!!
The trip was a bit long, and I won’t try riding THAT long for a while longer……nor driving either. I’m finding that being ‘obedient’ with my rehab does make a difference in the day, frustrating as it is. But the “life light’ is back on…..thanks for keeping things going when I couldn’t and for stepping up when I was sleeping the days away. You are the BEST!!
Only 21 more days until I can use my R arm for anything (lifting, carrying, driving, etc)…….TWENTY ONE?!!! (Can YOU spell ‘O-B-E-Y? Didn’t think so – I’m having a hard time, too!)   Later days!