Meeting cousins soon...

I am most anxious to meet my grandmother's nephew (John) and his wife, Linda soon. John is the son of Grandma Ruiz's youngest sister, Juanita (whom I called Aunt Jenny). They are on a moose hunt in Maine and I receive updates every few days..... and the last email showed a picture of Linda with her moose. Since I am so not a hunter, this will be a new adventure for me. Will the moose be tied to the top of their car? Will it be cut up and in bags? Will the horns be tied on top? Are they called horns? It takes me back to my Uncle Ellis who lived in Skagway, Alaska for most of his life. He was definitely a hunter.

When I was 18 years old, just after I graduated from high school....my first trip to Alaska was filled with excitement, ice-topped mountains, a 6 hour ride on the Malespina Ferry from Juneau to Skagway and my grandmother Terry's disdain when I put on a two piece swim suit to go to Black Lake with newly-made friends. It was cold. But the sun was out..... When I got home, I was shivering and my Uncle Ellis decided it was the perfect time for pictures. With his moose horns. (He called it a 'rack'.) Anyway, he held the camera and couldn't stop laughing. I picked up the 'rack' and every time I tried to hold it UPWARDS so it looked just right, they'd slip and roll downward and my knee would pop up to hold them upward again. And he laughed some more. They were huge! But the memories were indelibly scanned into my memory bank. My sweet uncle was one of a kind... The 'rack'. Alaska. Moose. Mountains. And now I'll meet my peer who shot one all by herself! Smiling still......