June 11th: Fresh cherries

Did I mention that Talkeetna is a long way from a big city? From here it takes more than an hour just to drive to the closest McDonalds!

We have a grocery store here, but it's pretty small:

The McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and a large grocery store are all in a town named Wasilla, which is south of Talkeetna, half-way between Anchorage and Talkeetna. Wasilla is big compared to Talkeetna, but by most other standards it is also very small, with a population of less than 15,000 people. It does have a few traffic lights, though -- Talkeetna does not have any!

This morning I drove to Wasilla to buy some groceries, and ended up buying some fresh cherries. After getting back to the cabin this afternoon, I washed the cherries, and now I'm standing on the porch eating them. But mostly I'm looking at that wooden chair again, wondering how it got to be so torn up. There are pieces of wood sticking out from many places, and several pieces of wood are completely missing. Something really tore it up.

Just then I jump a little when I hear Squirrel say, "Hi Al." I have no idea where he came from, but now he's standing here on the railing.

"Oh, hi Squirrel." I was just about to ask him about the chair, when I noticed him looking at he cherries. I don't even ask if he wants one, I just pick up a couple and put them on the railing next to him.

"Thanks, Al. Mmm, say, these are good. Very fresh", he says, wiping his mouth with his paw.

"Yes, I like them", I say. "As soon as I walked in the door of the grocery store they had a huge display, with hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of these cherries, so I had to get some."

"Wow," Squirrel says, his eyes getting wide, "I've never been to a grocery store. That sounds like a great place!"