Musings from the heart

It’s easy to write about day to day events or about events and happenings here in Manley, but it is often a challenge to write about what is really on my heart. Some of that is due to the nature of privacy factors protecting people here or wanting to keep things on the cheery news side factor. However, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I’ve decided to write a little more serious note about some of my thoughts.

Several people here have asked us recently, “So, do you miss home yet?” About six weeks ago, I would have casually replied, “Oh, home is where the heart is!”  I still agree with that statement to a certain extent, but I would also say that home is what you make it to be. I’m extremely thankful (beyond what words can say) for our little cabin here. Many people put work into making it live able and cheery inside. It’s a haven and provides warmth and security. However, home to me also means a place that houses not only my family, but also my memories. I imagine pictures on the walls, or decorations that in my mind’s eye are welcoming and decorative. So, do I miss home? Not necessarily, but yes, I miss the things that I call ours…our bed, our picture albums, our memories on the walls and our friends and family. I miss being able to pick up the phone and call someone I love just to say hi or to tell something funny that the boys have done. I do love the fact that we have a lot less clutter here and with the cabin being less than 500 square feet it doesn’t take long to tidy things up.

One of the other things I miss is grocery shopping…I can hear some of you groaning already!  I actually enjoy grocery shopping, and I never really thought about how many options a grocery store offers until I haven’t been in one for several weeks.  I do miss having options. I’ve realized since coming up here that I’m not much of a planner as far as meals go. I make a variety of different menu items, but I just use what I have in my pantry to make things work. In Manley, we bought the basics of groceries on our last trip into Fairbanks. I realize now how much I depend on the staples of items I keep in my pantry. Items like tomato paste, spices and herbs, crackers, corn tortillas, pasta, etc. I’ve also realized how much our family enjoys fresh fruits and vegetables.  It was a welcome surprise to get a few items from Fairbanks when Art and Damaris went in for supplies. Living here has given me a better idea of what our family goes through a lot of….those Wisconsin genes must be coming through as we finished off all our sour cream, cream cheese, ice cream, yogurt, chunk cheese and most of the butter… and it will be three weeks before we taste those again.  But everyone I’ve talked to up here says that it takes several months to really get the hang of what you need, what you use, and how much to buy. And since we are only here for a relatively short time, it makes buying groceries and using up what we have that much more challenging “interesting”. I will tell you what we have a lot to eat of in the next three weeks: lots of rice, beans, and salmon, canned green beans, and oatmeal.  Recipes? 

One of the benefits of living here in Manley these past weeks is that I don’t worry about money.  We purchase everything in cash and besides taking a bath in the hot springs once a week and doing laundry, we just don’t spend a lot of money. (It helps that there are not many places to spend it .) Roger and I have not discussed money one time since being in Manley and that has been great- we’ll probably spend most of the four hour trip into Fairbanks discussing it!  Just kidding! 

One of the things I do worry about is…bears!  The weather has been unseasonable warm here the last few days (temperatures ranging from 15 degrees to 29 degrees). One of the men who has a trap line said that he saw a bear rub along his line the other day. He also mentioned that the bears are likely to be fine as long as they are not disturbed by loud noises and such (not very comforting with having FOUR LOUD children)  “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3

There are many, many other things I’ve been learning and thoughts I have, but the daylight hours are fading and I’m off to go outside to play with the kids. I again say “thank-you” for your continued prayers. May God bless you, Sarah