What I Miss from the East Coast and My Childhood

I often think of the things that I miss from my childhood. I miss the smell of a summer night. Alaska has summer and fall but the seasons are different. The smells are different. I miss fireflys and monarch butterflys. I miss New Jersey crumb buns. When we lived in Fort Lee, New Jersey there was a bakery, that had the most delicious crumb buns. I wish I had the recipe. I miss true Chinese food. I miss hearing the ice cream truck on a summer day. Alaska has been good for us and created different memories. But I still cannot call a paper bag a sack. I miss hearing people talk like me. I grew up in New Jersey but my parents were from the Bronx and I talk like a Nu Yawker. People around me do not talk the same. We are all walking together but it is different. I love upstate New York where a house in the woods is a camp and not a cabin. I miss the summer rain along with the thunder and lightening. We do not get rain storms with all the side effects. Well it is 12:48 am and I am rambling. I had best get to bed.

Our Cherished Friends from Israel

Joel, Colette, and Harland Alaska 2009

Rita, Colette & Harland Alaska 2009

When we first got a computer nearly 15 years ago, I would guess. Rita and I met each other. We both graduated from Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale, New Jersey. We have e-mailed back and forth all this time. Joel and Rita live on Kibbutz Urim in Israel. I received a call that they were coming to visit. They arrived at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska in warm coats with 2 suitcases. I met them at the airport and recognized my dear friends immediately. This was such a wonderful visit. We went out to eat, thrift store shopped, and talked as if we had known each other forever. They brought a special joy to our lives. I cannot describe how much fun we had with them. Now I want to visit them Israel. These pictures were taken in our back yard in Wasilla, Alaska. We love these special friends very much. These are moments that will be remebered always. We have been truly blessed.