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| Enjoying the Sunny Evening at Fairbanks University Botanical Garden. |
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| On a Clear Evening Amazing Alaskan Range Mountain View From University of Fairbanks. |
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| Mountain Map at the University Looking Toward the Mountains in Fairbanks |
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| Qivuit is Musk Ox Alaskan Product at the Tanana Farmer's Market in Fairbanks. Spun and Dyed by the amazing Kate Wattum of Coyote Trail Farm and Fiber Mill |
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| Neck Scarf Made From Qivuit or Musk Ox by Kate Wattum |
Saturday. 25. I had a call with my sister Annette today. The sky is clear of clouds with a high of 70 degrees and bright blue. We stopped by the farmer’s market so I could return to Coyote farm and fibers. I wanted to feel the musk ox thread that I learned is lighter than silk, warmer and softer than merino. I got to do that and asked Kate, the maker of the threads and fiber expert, about this product and others that I could now see. Even though I don’t use these threads or know much about either crochet or knitting, I have friends who do, and I’m interested in general about the nature of the products. The rare musk ox thread was about 7 to 12 times the price of Kate’s merino wool selection. We went on to Costco and Walmart for grocery shopping. Back to our cabin for afternoon computer work, toasting slivered almonds, and having hot tea.
Sunday. 26. Lunch at Cookie Jar restaurant with our friend William. Met a visiting family at church from Oregon. Their oldest son is coming to the university here to study earthquakes. The youngest son is beginning at Auburn in southern Alabama to study a particular kind of engineering. They drove up here 40 hours to leave the car. In a week the son here is flying back to Oregon to do the road trip to Alabama for his brother! There were also 3 business men from Bangkok.
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| On a Call with Our Oldest Son, Eric and His Son Owen (4 yrs 10 mos) in Alabama |
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| On Call with Granddaughter Esther (2 yrs 11 mos) Alabama |
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| A Fun Old Car at Pioneer Park. Me Acting Like I'm Cranking It Up. |
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| At Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. Darrell Checking Out the Saw Mill on a Truck. Story in Next Picture Below. |
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| Ingenious Invention of Saw Mill On a Truck. Fairbanks. |
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| View in Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. Lots of Saved, Relocated Cabins from the Past City are Now Used as Shops. |
Monday. 27. A call with our oldest son Eric and their two littles, Owen and Esther.
Tuesday. 28. I talked to my sister Linda who lives in Indiana. I went to see a Podiatrist today. I’ve had an ongoing issue since about the end of May with my right middle toe staying swollen and sometimes very red and irritated. I’ve been treating it as a fungus, possibly toenail fungus. But it hasn't gotten better. Dr. Hubbard looked at my toes and said it is definitely not a fungus. Yay! So now what? More details in my nomad notes below. He prescribed a steroid cream for the inflammation, and gave a few more details about my condition.
Wednesday. 29. Thursday. 30. Call with my friend Laura in Tennessee. We confirmed our decision today for a 50 day World Cruise segment L.A. to South Africa. This cruise begins in January 2028.
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| Chena River Flows Through Downtown Fairbanks. |
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| Me with a Moose. I Would Never Try This with a Live Adult Moose! |
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| Walking in Downtown Fairbanks. |
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| My Toes. My Right Middle Toe has Been Swollen to Different Degrees for 2 Months. I Consulted a Podiatrist in Fairbanks. I Was Happy to Know That It's Not Fungal! |
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| Fairbanks Downtown Fountain. Tour Bus in Background. |
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| Nice Flowers in Bloom All Over Fairbanks |
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| These Pink Blooms in this Fairbanks Garden are Fireweed. A Favorite Local Plant. It is Used to Make Fireweed Syrup and Flavorings for Ice Cream, and Many Sweet Treats. |
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| How Far Away is Fairbanks? |
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| Chena River in Downtown Fairbanks |
Friday. 31. Today seems like a Saturday! Lol. This happens in retirement. There is also this embedded habit from our past that we’ve changed in the last 2 years. We used to only eat pancakes on Saturdays because it was Darrell’s day off and he made the pancakes. Now, he still makes the pancakes, but we have been eating a big pancake breakfast almost everyday for at least a year. So our working-life Saturday pancake habit always reminded us that it was Saturday. Now in retirement with frequent pancake breakfasts we have to look at the calendar to know what day of the week it is. We invited Nick from the church over for breakfast today. He arrived to Fairbanks this past Sunday from Beaverton, Oregon. He’s a grad student studying earthquakes. In the afternoon we drove downtown to our favorite pastry shop and bought our last treats here. Then we took an hour long walk beside the Chena River.
Nomad Notes. I’m finally feeling like I’m relaxing in Alaska. It’s about time as I’m at week 12 of 17 in this land of the midnight sun and the last frontier. I’m able to be ‘bored’ and be settled in my non-routine routine. I’m looking forward to our coming weeks of travel and more mountain and wildlife viewing along with revisiting some friends and places. I feel like I have missed summer in the way that I know summer. I’m ok living without the need for air conditioning. I’ve done more of my floor exercise routines from ‘eddie moves” to improve my flexibility. I’ve got a podiatrist appointment this week. I’ve connected with my 2 sisters through regular phone calls. I’ve shopped and purchased gifts online for grandkids and others who I love and want to surprise. I’ve worked on personal writing projects and considered those who have lost loved ones during these weeks of our Alaska summer. We’ve planned our England trip and other countries coming up in October and November. We’ve enjoyed Darrell’s sister and our niece’s visit to our Fairbanks cabin. We’ve been amazed at wildlife up close. Especially the Mama moose and twins in our Anchorage yard, and eagles on the beach near Homer, and the grizzly in the wild at Denali National park, and more.
Going to the Podiatrist in Fairbanks. Dr. Hubbard looked at my toes and said that it’s not fungal. It looked more like ‘covid toes’ which seemed to show up more just prior to and during early covid in 2020. It could be ‘chilblains’ which is damaged local tissue that affects the circulation. He prescribed steroid cream which I am now using. Later that day I read up on both of these that he mentioned to me. I’m leaning toward the chilblains as the most likely issue. I remember being at our housesit in Anchorage when my toe first swelled up. I didn’t connect it to anything else that was going on with me. One detail in the literature about chilblains explains the issue of having cold toes or fingers, etc, and warming them too fast with very hot water or on a heater. I remember running very hot bath water and stepping into it and it was way too hot to be stepping into. This could have been the initial cause of my toe’s tissue injury. Another curious thing that occurred around the same time, that I didn’t connect with my swollen toe, was that I came down with what seemed like a bad head and sinus cold. After a couple of days of struggling with a stuffy nose and difficulty sleeping, I said, I don’t know if this is a virus or allergies. So I went to the internet and read about the different symptoms of colds and allergies. I read about the spring time allergies to Birch trees and other spring plants in Anchorage. I decided that I was reacting to the spring pollen which I haven’t done in decades most anywhere else I’ve lived. I went to the health food store and loaded up on allergy remedies. It’s possible that I had both a cold and allergies or one or the other. With the idea of ‘covid toes’ proposed by Dr. Hubbard, it is also possible that my swollen toe was connected to my immune system back up. Now as far as my breathing and sinus clearing up, as well as getting my full ability to taste back, it would be about 2 weeks. Meanwhile my toe kept staying swollen with times it looked better and times it looked worse. I began spraying OTC antifungal on it with not much change. Then I changed antifungal products, and kept up the treatment with adding in some other internet remedies. I used diluted vinegar soaks 1-2x a day, citrus oils, oregano oil (applied and taken internally) and vicks vapor rub on my feet at night. I also stopped taking my daily 2 drops of Methylene Blue. By the time we reached Fairbanks for our month of July stay, I was ready to consult a Podiatrist.
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