Category Archives: Life

17 Days of Green – My Hat Studio

Posted on by
5

When Andy & I first married, we lived in a 16’x18′ log cabin in Alaska, with no running water, no electricity, 2 miles from the plowed road in winter.

Our little log cabin home on Dry Creek, near Healy, Alaska.

It was rustic and cozy, and we loved it.

But there wasn’t much room for company, let alone space for my many fiber projects.

Family & friends visited for our wedding in 2001, but stayed in other cabins.

When we moved into our 1840’s home in New Hampshire, our living space increased ten-fold, and I was able to dedicate an ENTIRE ROOM to my fiber pursuits.

Talk about Heaven!

Green trim on the doors & windows of my felt hat studio in Canaan, New Hampshire.

Embroidered felt hats cover the north wall of my home studio.

Jungle green felt hats air-drying on wool blankets.

Embroidery yarns line the eastern wall of my felt hat studio.

I store my sewing threads in an antique sewing table drawer.

Did you know you can turn old bathroom tiles into dry erase boards?

Wine corks & bathroom tiles recycled into an office memo-center.

The back-side of my office desk, before adding dry erase tiles.

First tile up!

Dry-erase desk project completed.

My studio shrine: hand-blown glasses by Jordana Korsen, polymer horse sculpture by Luann Udell & wood-fired pottery by Becca Van Fleet Webb surround a photo of our Alaskan wedding.

Having space enough for a home fiber studio is something I’m thankful for every day.

17 Days of Green – Northern Lights

Posted on by
5

One of the best things about living in Alaska?

Aurora (photo by Paul Moss)

Getting to experience the Northern Lights. In person. Right above me.

Northern lights over Malmesjaur lake in Moskosel, Sweden. (photo by Jerry MagnuM Porsbjer)

They didn’t happen every night, but when they did, the intense green pulsing and flashing, directly overhead, always set my heart on edge.

The Aurora Borealis above Bear Lake, Alaska. (USAF photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang)

The Aurora are other-worldly. The first time I saw them, it occurred to me: “If they invited me to go with them, I would.”

Red and green Aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska. (photo by Mila Zinkova)

The Northern Lights are mostly an intense, flashing green. But occasionally, you might catch glimpses of red, or very rarely, blue.

Northern Lights with very rare blue light flashes. (photo by Jerry MagnuM Porsbjer )

It’s no wonder that northern Native people had many myths and legends about them.

One Inuit myth tells how the Northern Lights were imprisoned in rocks along the Labrador coast until a mighty warrior struck the stones with his spear, freeing most of the lights to dance in the sky above.

The rest remained in the stones known as Labradorite.

When I met my birthfather 3 years ago, his lovely wife gave me this gorgeous stone, to help connect me to my Labrador Metis heritage, which I’d never known before.

My Labradorite pendant steals the show and connects me to my original heritage.

Wearing my Labradorite stone pendant, I am connected both to my genetic heritage, and to my previous life in Alaska.

I am blessed.

17 Days of Green – The Green & Grey of the NPS

Posted on by
1

Once upon a time, I wore the green & grey uniform of a US National Park Service Ranger.

Embroidered emblem of the National Park Service.

Official NPS Arrowhead embroidered shoulder patch on official NPS green fleece ranger jacket.

The Park Service's official Arrowhead tie tac on the official NPS green tie.

I enjoyed wearing the NPS Ranger uniform. Life is far simpler with fewer clothing options.

NPS regulations specify that the name plate be pinned 1/4" above the right breast pocket, thusly.

When I left the Park Service, I had to relinquish my 2 official NPS Ranger badges.

However, I earned this Junior Ranger badge fair & square, so it’s mine for keeps:

Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!

And, I still have my National Park Service “Smokey Bear” flat hat:

The USNPS embossed brown leather headband on the felt Park Ranger Hat is an iconic symbol, instantly recognizable.

Nothing says 'Park Ranger' quite like the grey felt ranger hat!

When Andy & I left Denali National Park, we were given a joint Arrowhead plaque:

Meditate, Live purely, Be quiet. Do your work with Mastery. Like the Moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine. - 'The Enlightened One'

This custom Buddha quote is not standard issue for NPS plaques.

Additionally, I received a Star Award recognizing my “professionalism, dedication and hard work on behalf of Denali National Park“:

NPS Star Award presented to Carrie Cahill Mulligan, 2004.

I'm still proud of my work as a Park Ranger in Denali National Park and Preserve.

The NPS uniform, although simple, is actually quite amazing. It lends authority and credibility, transforming even the scruffiest group of young hippies:

25 Interpretive Park Rangers bundle up against the spring chill at Polychrome Pass in Denali National Park, Alaska.

Denali National Park Service Interpretive Ranger Training, Polychrome Pass, Alaska, May 1998.

In the end, my time in Denali National Park transformed me as well.

No matter what I do, I’ll always consider myself an NPS Park Ranger on the inside.