In Skagway, That Said. . .

So many ways to make a statement and so little space.
Except in Skagway, Alaska, one of my favorite places along the Inside Passage. As the entrance to the Yukon, Skagway makes lots of statements, but two I found special.
First, this, which tells me that the founder of Starbucks is indeed a genius.

Starbucks along the Inside Passage

The second one was the Statement Extreme. First, the disclaimer: The views expressed in less than 1,000 words are not necessarily the views of this writer and editor. Then again. . . .

Across from the Yukon White Pass train, this purveyor of bold statements was parked.
The Car.







The Hood.


The Trunk.

Notice the Starbucks icon on the right above. Clever.

The Fender.


Well, I didn’t say it.
By the way, there’s also a Starbucks in Seward, Alaska, the AHS Class of ‘61 classmates’ last stop of our heavenly Radiance of the Seas cruise of the Inside Passage, where we landed at an abominably early hour to catch the bus to Anchorage for our 50^th high school reunion.
I hope that Spittin’ Grits readers won’t tire too quickly of future statements about the Inside Passage cruise and my 50^th high school reunion in Anchorage.

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Familiar Chant

“We’re Number 1, We’re Number 1!”

What a familiar chant this is around The University of Alabama and in the state: National football championships, national gymnastics championships, and even debate team championships. Fans will yell this even when it’s not close to reality.

Now this chant takes on new meaning.

A reporter for the (Athens, Alabama) News Courier, Kelly Kazek, wrote a story that has been run on Web sites and in news outlets in Alabama and nationally: Alabama, the state, is now No. 1 nationally for the occurrence of EF5 tornadoes, outstripping Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas.

Hooray.

According to Kazek’s story, the upgrade of an EF4 April 27, 2011, tornado brings Alabama’s total of the most severe tornadoes to seven, breaking the tie with Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Kansas.

That day was a bad day, not just for Alabama. The Storm Prediction Center’s report on storms for that day prove it; tornadoes are represented by red dots. NOAA’s National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Birmingham posted an assessment of that day: “April Severe Weather Events Set New Tornado Records for Alabama.”

This time, being Number 1 ain’t what we had in mind.

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Glittering Catastrophe

I knew I was in trouble before I got home from Anchorage, Alaska, after attending my 50^th high school reunion.

I talked to my four-year-old granddaughter, Joanna Leigh, two days before I would get on the plane for the long, long trip home. She said, in the sweetest voice, “Mama Jo, I have a special surprise for you when you get home.”

“You do-o-o-o?” I answered. “I’m so excited to see it. I’ll be home in two sleeps,” I said, trying to reassure her that I would indeed come home.

She needed reassurance. She has separation/abandonment issues from her mother’s disappearance from her life, and I left for Vancouver to pick up the cruise ship worried about how she would deal with my leaving.

So she made me a really special present.

My husband got back on the phone and said loudly, “This is really special.”

Then he whispered, “it’s glitter, not glitter glue,” which, of course, sticks to surfaces. Pure glitter, he meant.

Then he added in a lower whisper, “and it’s everywhere. I’ve tried to get some of it up.”

“Oh, ma gawd,” I thought.

I drug in at nearly midnight last Monday. She was awake and couldn’t wait to show me.

“Oh, ma gawd,” I thought, for real this time.

Today I spent all morning scraping as much as I could into a bowl. Then I vacuumed and vacuumed and vacuumed, over and over. I vacuumed EVERYTHING: her art table, the crayons, the markers, the paper, the floor, her bed, the lamp, the bottoms of my shoes, my hands, and finally, my own rear end, which sat in the chair covered in glitter. I even vacuumed the ceiling fan for fear that any glitter on the paddles would just get slung, the next time it got turned on, to those few places I didn’t vacuum. 

No Bippity Boppity Boo

A glittering catastrophe. Now I’m nursing my back from vacuuming for two hours.

Life turns on dimes. How fast can you go from being a Queen catered to by everyone on a cruise ship for seven days to a household drudge? In a New York minute. Now I will turn to my pictures, videos, and memories before the whole trip sinks into the vast past and I forget I went.

Afraid that I would hurt her feelings by cleaning up the glitter mess, I took a picture.

 

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