July 31, 2014

Dear Friends:

Juvenile Delinquents

We have been enjoying a free show in our backyard for the past two weeks. Every evening at around 8 or 9, we have visits from some young moose. Twin bulls and what looks to be twin cows…all probably two-three years-old. The bulls have small horns with little nobs on the end and are really frisky. It reminds me of watching junior high kids at a bus stop fooling around, the boys showing off to impress the girls. We have four bird baths in the backyard and they make the rounds and drink them dry before they head to the lilac bush and the two apple trees that we have caged in chicken wire to protect them. Watching them jump and spar and cavort around like kids is really a treat. Come hunting season I am sure their inner alarm will go off and they will disappear, but for now, it is fun to watch their antics.

We have also given our mosquito magnets a work out this summer. We loaned them for a week to a family that were hosting a wedding for their daughter in a place where the mosquitoes were horrendous. It partially worked in that during the ceremony, there were skeeters trying to find folks to bite, including the bride, groom and preacher! Then, a week later we loaned them to the Royal Family Kids Camp (a camp for foster care kids sponsored by our church) so the little kiddos wouldn’t be carried away by aggressive flying critters. What we discovered though was that it gave the pests free reign to multiply at will in our yard and the woods nearby. When I hooked them back up, within just a few hours, there were thousands of mosquitoes in the trap inside and we have them pretty much under control just in time for the season when the “no-see-ums” come out…little biting gnats that seem to think that mosquito spray is delicious! Also especially exciting this year was the bear just beside our deck scrounging around for something to eat.

“Look, mom…fossils!”This July I was able to join Marveen in Colorado for about ten days. She goes there one month every three to help take care of her stepmom, Roberta. I was able to spend some time with Roberta as well as visit with some friends in Steamboat Springs. During my time in Steamboat, Marveen’s high school class celebrated their 50th reunion which I attended with her. It is amazing how they seem to have kept in such close contact with each other. Then, the next day was a family reunion for part of Marveen’s family at which I was asked to preach outside at a lakeside pavilion to the group after which I got to officiate at a wedding for a very nice couple. That was a full weekend. Then, we flew to Washington where we attended MY 50th class reunion! What an experience that was. I had never been to any of my reunions over the years and had hardly seen any of my old classmates for 50 years. As you might imagine, nobody was heard saying…”Oh, you haven’t changed a bit.” Instead, a common greeting was…”Who are YOU?” This was a two-day affair with the first day being the 4th of July and we all piled on a big trailer pulled by a huge truck and rode through the town of Sedro Woolley in the annual Logger-Rodeo parade. This is a huge event for this town and thousands of people turned out to wave and clap as we rode past with a big banner identifying this us (in part) as the Class of ‘64. The funny thing I began to notice was the reaction of the little kids as we rode by them. With a puzzled look on their faces, they’d ask their parents,

“What are all those old people doing riding on that truck?” I am sure it looked to them like a whole truck load of fossils.!! I really enjoyed the whole thing; the sharing of memories and getting caught up on fifty years of life and living, with old friends, was really a meaningful thing for me. Even though they usually schedule such things right in the middle of fishing season in Alaska, I hope to attend the next one.

On the home front

Well, to put it in just a few words, life here in Nikiski is good. Church is packed. Counseling is busy. My books are still selling as tourists gobble them up. Son, David will be up to visit and fish for a week later in August. Several friends are coming to visit. The insanity called dipnetting for salmon is almost over. What an experience! About 15,000 (residents only) descended on the Kenai in hopes to fill their freezers with tasty salmon. I took a couple of old friends out on the river to do this one time this year. It was bedlam with hundreds of boats in a short stretch of river all jockeying for position amidst the huge boat wakes and wind driven waves. It was scary. Several boats capsized and there were countless more collisions that happened.

We enjoyed a different type of fishing this weekend when daughter, Tracie, and family visited. Granddaughter Jordan was eager to have her first fishing experience. Although the fish proved elusive, she quickly caught on to how to cast out her line. Older siblings, Jessica and Dean were there to cheer her on.

We also received news of a victorious weekend for our grandchildren in Ohio. Daughter, Michelle, contacted us with the great news that grandsons Kyle and Jake and their teammates had won the junior “world series” in baseball while granddaughter Lauren had made a breakaway goal (tough to make) in her weekend high school soccer tournament. Overall, it was a proud and enjoyable weekend for these Alaska grandparents.

Sid the Kid!

In my book, I included a chapter called “Carharts, Bunny Boots and the Kingdom of God.” A large part of that chapter is about one of Alaska’s true giants of the north. I am not referring to physical size although Sid is a big man…I refer to his heart. He is one of the kindest and most loving men we know. He is a pastor, welder, salvage yard owner, and retired iron worker. His wife, Carol, is a real jewel herself. Sid’s winter attire is most always old insulated Carhart coveralls and those goofy looking bunny boots designed by the military for outside protection in the Arctic. We have personally been recipients of his big-hearted loving ways many times. Well, Sid was just recently diagnosed as having a large cancerous growth in his abdomen and this week is going to begin a cheomotherapy routine in hopes that they can shrink the tumor (which is wrapped around his colon) so they can remove it. Please pray that the Lord will touch Sid with His healing touch and he will be able to enjoy many more years of life and ministry.

As always, if the Lord puts it on your heart to contribute to CFM, it is most appreciated.

God Bless You!

Wayne and Marveen Coggins