Well, we all try and be romantic don't we? I mean we try and have adventures, and spend quality time together, and make memories...... and sure enough, there's usually something to remember, even if it's not quite the Hollywood moment you hoped for.
Perfect Husband decided a couple of weeks ago that we should take a drive out of the city and watch the sunset. We had the two dogs (Whiney Dog and Rescue Dog) with us in the car, and we set off in good spirits. In Anchorage you only have to drive for a few minutes and you are speeding along the scenic Seward Highway. At any time of year the scenery is beautiful; the inlet, the mountains, glaciers, and if you're lucky enough, the chance to spot some wildlife; Dall Sheep, Moose and even Bears and Beluga Whales. Perfect Husband's job means that he does this journey twice a week, whereas I don't get along that way very often, so I always enjoy it.
Bindi the rescue Chihuahua also enjoys the view when I hold her up so she can see out of the window, trembling with a mixture of excitement and fear (are we taking her back to the rescue place???) and Casey the whiney Dog paces about in the back of the car and whines, uncertain whether to be pleased to be out of the house and possibly about to have the opportunity to poo somewhere other than our garden for a pleasant change, or distraught as we drive further and further away from the house and therefore the food cupboard.
We stopped and enjoyed the sunset, stepping out of the car into the wind and taking some beautiful photos. I snapped a selfie with Bindi, enjoying very much the way her ears blow backwards and forwards in the wind, although I probably wouldn't be nearly as pleased if my own ears did the same thing......
After driving on for a while we stopped at Girdwood which is where everybody stops as there is a petrol station, complete with public toilets (inside toilets with soft paper-joy!!!). We took the dogs for a quick forage and peeing session- they were besides themselves with excitement over all the strange smells and scurried about, noses to the ground and necks straining theirs leads- surprising how strong an enthusiastic 6 pound Chihuahua can be!!
There are numerous shops selling souvenirs, pizza, ice cream etc, but we bought some glorious petrol station snacks including crisps and ginger ale and continued on up into the mountains a little way. Now that the sun had set and we were away from the city we figured it would be nice to do a little star gazing.
Of course Perfect Husband had his eyes on the road so he missed it, but I saw it and it was Amazing. It was a shooting star which scorched brightly along in the sky, then as I watched it broke into three parts which all raced along beside each other for a second or two like nature's finest firework- now I was the one beside myself with excitement-wow!!
We pulled into a rest area along the pass and parked the car; the sky was dark and the stars were appearing. We let the dogs out for a few minutes to sniff and explore some more- they were awfully keen to examine some dog poo a previous canine had left some 6 feet or so from the car.
We all got back into the car and warmed up a little , waiting for more stars to appear. After a while Perfect Husband and myself decided to get out by ourselves and look at the stars for a few last moments before we headed home.
As we breathed in the cold clear night air and gazed at the star filled Alaskan night sky, I was overcome with emotion and decided it would be a good thing to kiss my lovely husband under the stars and tell him I loved him; what a perfect memory this would be.
I crept closer and tipped my face up to his, feeling all romantic and after I had given him the most magnificent and perfect of all kisses, I opened my mouth to tell him how much I loved him, certain that this would be a memory we would still talk about when we were old and feeble. However, as I took a step back to keep my balance (I have to stand on tiptoe to kiss him, unless it's in our kitchen where there is a small plastic stool) my foot made contact with something much softer than the ice and I found myself not declaring my undying love, but instead saying "Ah. I think I've found that dog poo."
Memories come in all shapes and sizes.
