Dear Friends:

It has been several months since I wrote a newsletter so here is a brief summary of things up here in balmy Nikiski.  Amazingly, I have not been fishing at all yet this year but am not feeling too badly about that as the salmon runs have been pretty abysmal so far.  But, hey, all is not lost.  We have a great looking pea patch that looks like it will be a bumper crop if we can keep the moose out of it.  We have had somewhat of a geriatric ward of moose this year with two disabled momma moose hanging out and occasionally sleeping in our backyard.  One has a broken foot so it gimps around….and the other has some sort of disease where it’s hooves are misshapen and she only gets around with great effort.  That the bears have not taken them down is amazing.  Neither cow had a calf this spring but one has last year’s calf still hanging around.  One day a few weeks ago, Marveen had the sprinkler running in the back yard and the yearling came over to investigate this funny looking contraption.  When the water cycle came toward the moose and gave him a good shot in the belly, he jumped back in surprise. After the second showering, he came and stood right over the sprinkler and let it give his belly a good soaking.  When he stuck his nose up to the sprinkler and got a good stream of water up his snout, he tore off into the woods running in circles.  Then, he returned, pinned his ears back and charged the sprinkler in mock combat!  After striking the offending sprinkler several times with his front hooves, the plastic sprinkler succumbed in battle and was a vanquished foe with several terminal fractures in its frame.  So, we have named this little guy “JD”…short for juvenile delinquent!!  We really should invest in a camcorder.

We had several special blessings this spring as our granddaughter, Jessica Anderson, who has become an excellent athlete, was down here on the Kenai Peninsula participating in the regional track meet doing the shot put and discus events.  She won the shot put event and went on to compete in the state meet in Fairbanks a week or so later.  We were also able to attend her graduation from Heritage Christian School in Anchorage where she was the class valedictorian and gave an excellent speech at the graduation ceremony. We were and are very proud of her.  She is really a fine person, loves the Lord sincerely and has been a big blessing to her family.  Shortly after graduating, she and her grandma (Darren’s mom) took a two week trip to England where she had a great time…but, was glad to be back in the good ol’ USA. She starts classes at the University of Alaska in a month or so.

And, while I am expounding on family news, let me brag on grandson Jacob out in Ohio who, according to mom and super fan, Michelle, hit a grand slam home run to win the game for his baseball team  a few weeks ago. Way to go young man!!

We had a very special time a couple of weeks ago when we had the official burial ceremony for Red Boucher (our brother-in-law) at the Fort Richardson National Cemetery up in Anchorage.  Almost all of Red’s kids and family were able to be there and it was quite a family affair.  I have officiated at several military funerals over the years but this one was really moving.  The whole thing started when the Viet Nam Veteran’s Motorcycle club (about fifty or sixty of them) roared into the condo complex where Red’s widow, Vicky, lives to escort her and the family over to Fort Richardson.  With condos on both sides of the streets, it captured the sound which was a deafening roar that rattled the windows and sent chills up my spine.  Though Red was not a motorcyclist, they made him an honorary member and gave him the club nickname of “Jus’ Red” and at the burial service they conducted the “Fallen Soldier” tribute.  Once we entered the grounds at Fort Richardson, we also had an  MP escort that went before and behind us and every person or group of soldiers we passed, stood at attention until the entire motorcade had passed them.  The whole thing started with a bagpipe player doing Amazing Grace followed by the honor guard folding the flag and with incredible precision and solemnity, after which a Navy man handed it to Vicky thanking her for Red’s service to his country.  After that, they did a 21 gun salute and a lone trumpeter played taps.  Though it was just intended to be a family thing, a number of political leaders and dignitaries were in attendance and I don’t think there was as dry eye in the pavilion.  I personally really miss Red…in part because whenever we went to visit him after his stroke to “cheer him  up…”, he almost always turned the tables and was an encouragement to me.  Anyway, after the ceremony at Fort Rich, the motorcycle guys invited all of us over to their clubhouse in northeast Anchorage where they gave us a tour and shared with us what motivates them to do what they do to honor veterans like Red.  One big guy I will never forget.  He was about 6’8” and just big all over.  His name nickname was “Weird Wayne.”  I didn’t ask him why they called him that…and I addressed him as “sir.”

Marveen’s brother, mom and a friend came up from Colorado for the burial service and Roberta spent the rest of the week with us in Nikiski where Marveen did her usual awesome job of being a tour guide and showing her the sights.  After that week of fun, the two of them flew off to Colorado where Marveen will be until the middle of July.  We planted quite a few flowers and a garden this year before she left  so I have some serious watering duties to attend to every morning before I head off to work.  Though the summer solstice has come and gone and the hours of daylight are getting a bit shorter every day, it is still fun to drive over to the Inlet and watch the sunset at midnight.

I have been staying unusually busy with counseling this summer.  Often, things slow down a bit as people are busy with outside activities but not this summer. I am giving some serious thought to moving my counseling office to another location fairly soon.  The office itself is very comfortable but the building that it overlooks just across the parking area is getting to be a problem.  It is run-down strip of apartments where the police are there usually once or twice a week to haul someone off to jail or break up a fight. Several times I have had to have my clients stay inside with me until things settled down and I could walk them to their cars.  One day this week I was talking with a couple who had both been exposed to some really bad abuse in their lives and toward the end of our session  a big altercation started up outside which really upset them.  You could hear the foul language and threats even after I closed the windows.  Hopefully I can find a reasonably priced space in a more professional environment.  I will probably be needing to make a deposit on a new place so will be needing to set aside some funds for that.

My book is continuing to sell well and especially in the stores where tourists have access to them.  The Christian bookstore in Kenai has asked for more signed copies twice in the past month.  What a blessing that is.  I especially enjoy the letters and emails that I get from folks in other parts of the world who have somehow managed to get and read a copy.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer where you are. Ours has been relatively cool which is just fine by me.  My body thermostat goes into meltdown when it gets over 70.   I am looking forward to celebrating Independence Day tomorrow.  The city of Kenai scheduled the parade for 2p.m. so folks could attend church and still get to the festivities.  For me, there are always two special Thanksgiving Days…one in November when we say a special thanks to God for his many blessings in our lives and then again on the 4th of July when I express my sincere thanks to God that I have been able to live my life in a free country like America and most of it in a beautiful state like Alaska.

God bless you and please, Lord, bless and preserve America.

Your friends,

Wayne and Marveen

P.S.  Oh, a few hours after I wrote the part at the beginning of this letter about the backyard moose,  I received a forwarded video clip from my friend, Paul Lautt down in Lacey, Washington that is almost a mirror of what happened at our house, except that the moose in this case were two calves and a big cow enjoying a sprinkler shower and they didn’t destroy the sprinkler!  If you want to see it, I will paste in the web address for it here. http://www.wimp.com/babymoose