In our own Backyard

Homer gives 'alaska twist' to women's health week
Staying healthy, active and fulfilled are the themes of a local kick-off celebration of National Women's Health Week on Friday, sponsored by the Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic and designed with a decidedly Alaska twist.

SANDHILL CRANES: 200 BIRDS DO MAKE A SPRING
Homer has many signs of spring: the first telephone ringing call of the varied thrush, the first time a KBBI disc jockey plays the Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun" and the first time a Spit Rat camps on the Homer Spit. For many, the definite, it's-finally-here sign of spring comes with the arrival of Kachemak Bay's most beloved bird, the honking, squawking, goofy-looking lesser sandhill crane.

HOMER KACHEMAK BAY ROTARY CLUB TAKES PARK UNDER ITS WING
The little park on the shores of Beluga Lake began getting a facelift over the weekend, thanks to the Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club and the city of Homer's Adopt-a-Park Program.

Ninilchik tribal elders served by outreach program
Early spring sunshine pouring through windows warms the inside of Ninilchik Traditional Council's subsistence building, but it's the people loosely gathered around tables, enjoying a meal and visiting with one another, that are the real heart of the weekly Wednesday luncheon.

Paul Banks unveils its peanut gallery
At more sedate First Friday openings last week, art lovers milled around quiet little downtown galleries, enjoying a nice spring evening.

RUNNERS, WALKERS JOIN FORCES FOR FUN, FITNESS
When better to kick off the Kachemak Bay Running Club than last Friday, with the sun shining, snow melting and spring in the air?

Searching for tsunami debris
A year after a magnitude 9 earthquake devastated Japan, killing 16,000 people, with 3,500 more missing, and destroying 125,000 buildings, debris from a tsunami that put 25 million tons into the Pacific Ocean could start showing up soon in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

VOLUNTEERING: GET OUT AND HELP
Looking to help out your community? Do you love the outdoors and want to do good while enjoying the beauty of nature? On Tuesday earlier this week, the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies held a volunteer meet and greet to invite people to help out and sign up for upcoming opportunities.

Fishing: not just a favorite warm weather activity
Nothing says summer is just around the corner like a day of fishing. Even with ice in the harbor. And the wind blowing. And snow falling. And the event you just bought a ticket for is called the "Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament."

KACHEMAK BAY SCIENCE CONFERENCE: ONE-STOP LEARNING
If you think something like the Kachemak Bay Science Conference is a stuffy, boring convention of people talking about topics like "investigations on degenerative myopathy in Pacific halibut," think again. OK, that's the title of one presentation, but the subtitle makes the subject understandable — "mushy halibut syndrome."

Snow Rondi: flurry of fun, flurry of snow
Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce couldn't have picked a better theme for the 2012 Snow Rondi: "Anchor Point moving forward in a flurry." What started Thursday with a flurry of activities — a chamber-benefiting auction and the raffle of pool players for Friday night's pool tournament — ended on Sunday with cancelled events due to flurries of snow.

Cruise on snow and beaches with fat bikes
On beaches and snowy trails around town, Homer's dedicated bicyclists have been popping up with bikes that evoke the big tire cruisers of the 1950s. These bikes make those cruisers look like skinny-tire racing bikes, though. Homer Winter carnival: playing the winter away

With a theme of "Play, Play the Homer Way," the Homer Winter Carnival was all set to be fun-filled.

jury duty: MEETING FRIENDS FOR $25 A DAY
Where else in Homer can you get paid to sit around and chat with your neighbors? You get free coffee and tea, comfy seats, and when you walk into the courtroom of the Homer Courthouse, everyone stands and shows you respect.

eReaders and eBooks, oH my: 'wave of the future'
At the age of 5, I angrily announced I was running away from home. Mom said she'd help me pack. Out came my little suitcase; in went the only items I deemed necessary for survival: books.

big brothers big sisters: kid activities for adults
Bored? Tired of doing the same old stuff? Want to return to the carefree joy of childhood? You can't go back, but there is a way to get the next best thing.

OPERA: Finding a voice at the end of the road
From the first note sung by Richard Croft in "Satyagraha," Philip Glass' opera loosely based on Gandhi, I was mesmerized.

Friday night lights: skiing by tiki torch
Big city ski trails have lights that will show the way on the darkest nights. Here in Homer, while the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club might like a few lighted trails, the expense and effort can be daunting. About five years ago, trail groomer and longtime volunteer Dave Brann had an idea.

ski your age: calories evaporate in ski trail fun
An astute physicist might figure the calories burned by straining joints and muscles at Monday's Ski-Your-Age event on Diamond Ridge, but for the 79 participants young and old, it was all about having fun.

Christmas Spirit comes Alive in Ninilchik
By almost anyone's standards, Ninilchik is small. It's not even a dot on some Kenai Peninsula maps.

SNOWSHOEING: EVERYONE'S WINTER SPORT
Suppose a howling blizzard blew in and totally covered all those beautifully set ski trails. Or, you're heading toward Caribou Lake on that sweet little sled, only to shred a track, totally stranding you miles from the trailhead. Maybe you blew out a knee last hockey season and the doc said no rink ice for you, kid. What are you going to do?

OUTDOOR DECORATIONS bring light to the season
If you hear Santa's looking for his sleigh, tell him to look at Dave and Linda Etzwiler's Bayview Avenue home. The red and white beauty is parked in their front yard like the real thing, complete with a red-nosed reindeer poised to leap into the night sky for a round-the-world, present-delivering flight.

Nutcracker faire: a holiday tradition
What's best about the Nutcracker Faire?

(Re)Learning to Skate Fun Way to Spend Chilly Afternoon
Sure cold, wintry days when the temperature dips below zero can create a longing for warm, tropical breezes or hot, parched deserts. However, with the ice and snow getting thicker, there's something to be said for a philosophy accredited to Robert Frost: The best way out is through. BASKET PROGRAM STARTS SHARING SEASON
Next week shoppers will be lining up for the big post-Thanksgiving sales. Some lower Kenai Peninsula businesses are pitching Shop Local Saturday. This Saturday marks another side of the season. Call it "Help Local Saturday."

Knitting circle: warming up for the winter season
You should have seen the beautiful sweaters at the Lutheran Church's Scandinavian dinner last week. Sure, there was lutefisk, but even lutefisk — as popular as it is— couldn't compete with the sweaters.

KITe surfing: WET, WILD AND WICKED FUN
Last Wednesday afternoon on an extreme high tide and with wind speeds up to 25 mph, about 10 kite surfers zipped up and down Mariner Park lagoon, doing tricks and grabbing air.

'Tis the season for costumes, treats and tricks
A lot of costumes have come out of my sewing machine over the years. From Snow White for my daughter Jennifer, made between the time she went to bed and the time she got up the next morning, to a French fry with ketchup on the top for my grandson Colby, I've been challenged to think outside the box. COAL POINT PARK: A HARBOR HIDEAWAY
As Homer's city parks go, Coal Point Park barely makes the map. Compared to big parks like Karen Hornaday, Coal Point isn't much. Heck, the restrooms at Karen Hornaday are almost as big as Coal Point. The city's official description is as modest as this gem tucked away at the back of the harbor. Zumba and more at homer's community recreation
Exhaustion from a too-short weekend, a jam-packed Monday and a long to-do list evaporated Monday, no match for the Latin music flooding Homer High School's green room. Maria Santa Lucia cranked up the volume and the energy in the room transformed into a room filled with smiling faces.

MAKING MUSIC ALL OVER TOWN
Seaside Farmers, Yellow Cabin, Three Legged Mule, Elders on Fire, The Holy Santos Gang, Mismatched Mukluks, Zuva, Rufaro and Tamba. The names of local bands roll off the tongue. Whether a Work in Progress or musicians like Jewel and Lincoln Brewster who become famous, there's something in the water in Homer. This town spawns music like a sweet run of silvers heading up Kachemak Bay.

Market to table: healthy, economical, easy, delicious
When I walked into a class taught by Bette Seaman, dietician for South Peninsula Hospital, that offered tips for cooking with produce from Homer Farmers' Market, and I was greeted by the smell of soup and fresh bread, I was a smiling camper.

DIAMOND CREEK BEACH: REMOTE AND RUGGED
For more than 10 years now, every fall I sign up for CoastWalk and volunteer again to clean up, monitor and survey my favorite Cook Inlet beach, Diamond Creek. Now in its 27th year, CoastWalk is the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies' annual effort to not just spiffy up local beaches, but survey tidal marine life, track erosion and note human impacts. CoastWalk started with an effort to remove junk from beaches — we're talking rusty old trucks and 55-gallon barrel drums — and grew to include citizen science. Wooden boats and boaters
Here we have the elements of a good sea shanty — summer money made, a shift in the weather brings boats to the harbor and yards. The time is right for slow talking, eating, drinking and celebrating the season's hard work and payoffs. KACHEMAK BAY: MARINE MAMMALS ARE OUR NEIGHBORS
There are better ways to start a day than being interrupted in the midst of a hot shower by a phone call. Thankfully, my husband, Sandy, took the risk last Friday, knocked on the bathroom door and told me our friend, Craig Forrest, was on the phone. What followed was a graphic reminder of the rare relationship those of us living on the shores of Kachemak Bay share with marine mammals in our backyard.

Hickerson Cemetery: A quiet place with a great view
High up on Diamond Ridge beyond Homer city limits — but still on city land — sits a park whose beauty often comes with tears. Views of Kachemak Bay, Seldovia, Cape Douglas, Augustine Volcano and Mount Iliamna spread before you. Fields of fireweed surround the park. Mowed lawns and clusters of wildflowers decorate the landscape.

Parks for the people: all benefit from outdoor spaces
Where do you send the relatives after they've been fishing, flightseeing, shopping and washed all your dishes? What do you do when your 4-year-old cannot be content in the house for another minute? Where do you go when you need to step out in the middle of the day? What's your preferred picnic location? Garden Club Event highlights seven local gardens
With summer in full bloom, the Homer Garden Club holds its fifth annual Gardeners' Weekend Saturday and Sunday.

halibut campground one of anchor point's treasures
When it comes to nights away from home, give me a hotel with a shower and a comfortable bed. Add room service and a pool and I'm good to go.

Estuary Walk a short tour in a natural wonderland
Lots of people drive to Bishop's Beach, but getting there by pavement doesn't show the true marvels of the area. The popular beach sits at the mouth of the Beluga Slough, Homer's 40-acre local estuary where fresh water from Beluga Lake meets salt water from Kachemak Bay.