Anniversary Celebration.

I don't know what the rest of you expect on Valentine's Day, particularly adding the fact of this being our 8th anniversary as well. Maybe you plan a big dinner, flowers, romance, a fancy trip somewhere. Or hey, CHOCOLATE!!!

Steve and I are doing it our own way. Presents actually got exchanged several days ago. A card was bought. A meal is being prepared - and if you know us, you're pretty sure that means Steve is cooking. The "big fancy trip" was yesterday afternoon, a short car ride to scope out a couple local "lakes" where Steve can park a very short and horizontal distance to where he can throw a line in. He qualifies for a much reduced permit to do so, and is planning on drowning a few worms soon.

I haven't the heart to tell him worms are actually aquatic and don't drown in water, but shrivel in air. But he loves the expression, so....

The day consists of reading, watching some prerecorded TV, phone calls, napping at will. In my case, it also involves going slowly through the 15,+++ photos on the old computer. It only lets me see about 500 at a crack before it decided it's had enough for the day, but that's enough time to immerse in Alaska. In fact, it's my 3rd day for it, and I'm nowhere near done. There's been a lot of culling, but that is overlaid with the joy of reminiscing, seeing things I'd totally forgotten we'd seen, and anticipating days of viewing to come.

Those are the oldest photos on that computer, so I can tell when I switched to digital. It was for this trip, taking Paul and Jordan to show them some of the reasons I fell in love with Alaska after my late ex-mother-in-law treated me to a trip there, years before. The difference with this trip was no cruise ship was involved, thus no Inside Passage, but much time spent on the Kenai Peninsula, and we flew up to Denali rather than the group trip via train. There was still gold panning, though in a different location. My tendency to take non-stop photos was similar, only increased from 36 rolls of 36 exposure Ektachrome to whatever the sim cards could handle. Plus, there's video somewhere else, also needing much work editing.

After three days working on Alaska, I'm somewhere in Seward. Homer was yesterday's project, along with the horseback ride in Seward. Today's bit was the photographer's small boat cruise up to watch a calving glacier, with all the scenery and wildlife you could shoot including a pod of porpoises escorting the boat for 20 minutes, then Exit Glacier and the Sea Life Center. In other words, I'm in hog heaven.

And any time I come up for air, there is this wonderful guy close by. What could be better?