Homer's best bets</MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 2:34 p.m. Thursday, May 20, 2004

Homer's best bets

Photo by Chris Bernard, Homer News
Free wheeling Riders spin their cars on the ferris wheel Saturday night at the carnival that set up for the weekend at the corner of Lake Street and the Sterling Highway.

In more southerly, temperate climes, the seasons roll along and change without much notice. Heck, back when the Betster lived in Florida, the seasons there didn't change hardly at all. OK, there might be one cold day in January when you had to wear a sweater and maybe a scorching day in August when you wanted to sit in a bathtub filled with ice. That was it. Seasons, schmeasons.

Here at Latitude 59 degrees give or take a few minutes, forget about a nice, gradual shift from winter to spring. Uh-huh. It's like falling asleep on the beach. One moment you're snoozing on warm sand, and the next you're washed out to sea on the high tide. Kabam! One weekend the Betster had a foot of snow up at Chez Betster, elevation 1,200 feet, and the next weekend a foot of grass. Lazy cats don't dare fall asleep outside lest they become one with the pushki.

And so we enter the Dervish Season, where our motto is Carpe Diem Fortissimo, loosely translated as "Seize the Day, Loudly." Visitors to our manic little town, if you see what looks like people zipping around really, really fast, you're not in that Star Trek episode where Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock accelerate time. It's just us enjoying the summer and some of these Best Bets:

BEST WE WERE SOLDIERS BET: Quiet and brave, the men and women of the Greatest Generation who fought in World War II don't talk about it much but that doesn't mean we can't honor them. Friday at 6 p.m., the American Legion Post 16 invites WWII vets to an evening of supper and camaraderie at the post, Mile 2.5 East End Road.

BEST GET TO KNOW YOUR LOCAL WATERSHED BET: Come fall we find out exactly how much water flows through town, but right now Woodard Creek seems but a trickle. Laura Ballock, a University of Washington graduate student, gives a presentation on the creek starting at 6 p.m. Friday, part of this month's (and the last for the season) Community Conversation at the Pratt Museum. Deland Anderson facilitates.

BEST GET DOWN AND DIRTY BET: Do you live in a little shotgun shack with a lawn the size of an Astroturf doormat? Don't despair; you can still plant a few rows at the Homer Community Garden off the Poopdeck Trail. Saturday there's a work party from 1-3 p.m. Garden plots are $25. Want to learn more about gardening? On Sunday, listen to Daisy Lee Bitter, Dave Schroer and Delmore Schmidt present "A Wealth of Local Knowledge" at 2 p.m. for the monthly meeting of the Homer Garden Club at Homer City Hall.

BEST HOLY FLIPPIN' TASSELS BET: Small town high school graduations aren't just for the families of the graduates; they're a community celebration. Even kindergarten teachers come to see kids they taught goodness, was it that long ago? graduate from high school. Seniors graduate from Susan B. English today at 5 p.m., Homer Flex at 7 p.m. Friday at Land's End, Homer Christian School at 4 p.m. Saturday, Ninilchik School at 4 p.m. Sunday, Homer High at 7 p.m. Monday, Voznesenka at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Kachemak Selo on Tuesday, Nikolaevsk School at 7 p.m. May 27, and Razdolna at 1:30 p.m. May 27.

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