Adventures in Ornamental Shrubbery

I have dried lilac blossoms down the back of my shirt.  This is one of those things that happens.  Could happen to anyone.  They itch. 

It's Christmas day here, and Christmas brunch at the Ervine house consists of too much coffee, and Grandma Ervine's coffee cake.  Suddenly, I realized that I was restless (probably a result of the four or five cups of coffee).  I needed to be moving, doing, I could not sit still one more minute.  I announced that I was going for a walk.  No one wanted to come, even though it's warmed up to six degrees above zero -- and the sun hadn't set yet.  (Anchorage in winter is a land of austerities and you take your luxuries where you find them.)

Before I left, Dad asked me to go out into the back yard, and shake the lilac tree* which was bowed under the weight of the week's snow fall.  I went and did exactly that.  Unfortunately, the best way to shake the lilac tree is to stand right under it and shake the main trunks.  Truthfully, I knew exactly what I was in for, but I shook the tree anyway.  It took five minutes or so to get all the snow out.  Much of the snow ended up down the collar of my silly looking "Help, it's the dead of winter in Alaska" down sleeping bag... er, parka.  As long as I was outside that wasn't so bad.  The snow was cold, but it was frozen.    It was when I came inside to change from my pack boots to a pair of heavily insulated hiking boots (more comfortable for walking) that I realized the extent of the problem.  The snow melted and ran down the back of my shirt in my own personal Niagara.  Apparently carrying with it a multitude of dried lilac blossoms.  Which itch. 

I then went for the long walk, and watched the sun set.  If I were a good blogger, I would have taken pictures.   You'll just have to take my word for it that even though winter sunsets in Anchorage occur at 3:30, they are still some of the finest sunsets in the known world.  I alternated thinking "it's freezing, why does anyone live here?" and "It's so beautiful, why do I live in Seattle?"  Good questions both of them.  Occasionally punctuated with "why does my back itch?"


*Yes, tree.  It's almost as tall as the house.  The house is two stories tall.