The past month has included holidays, many cold days (down to -38 F on the ridge…not much inversion), visitors, continued activities and wildlife.
It was great to have visits from long-moved-away friend Ezra – to both Joan and Niilo – and from Robin & Pauline, commemorating their wedding 30 years ago in the Koponen kitchen.
Weatherization has made a beneficial difference in heating bills! We are in awe of the birds, moose, and other wildlife that carry on outdoors.
Greetings from Koponens.
Niilo this week very clearly said, “Hello,” looking with interest at each member of Chena Ridge Friends Meeting who visited and shared in silent worship with him in the Pioneers Home library. They now join him every first and third Monday evening at 7:30pm.
Joan and Alex visit Niilo every Tuesday & Thursday, when they also go bowling and to the Noel Wien Library and to eat out. Heather & Joan – and often Rob – join Niilo for a meal, visiting, and sometimes Ice Cream Social at the Pioneers Home on Saturdays. Niilo also attends other social and musical events at the home and other residents and nursing aides tell us they really like him for his smile. Wonderful friends – especially Richard F. – visit frequently.
Joan has been reading more and doing a few painting projects in recent months, cooking and enjoying meals with friends, many of whom were close neighbors in years past. Cards and other games with family members and fellow rummy-fiend Nancy are Joan’s passion, as is knitting. With seed and suet feeders hanging in front of the living room window, Joan enjoys watching the many chickadees, redpolls, woodpeckers, occasional other small birds and Canada jays that gather to eat; as well as grouse on the nearby crabapple tree. It has been a while since seeing a moose by the house, but their tracks are there! Other tracks were recently explained when Dane saw a lynx in the driveway.
November had some quite-cold weather, hitting -36 F on the homestead while setting a colder record in the valley for some dates. The weatherization done on the house in recent years has made a Big difference in heating costs! Then the first week of December brought a Chinook wind with temps in the 40’s, causing roads that look like they may be icy all winter like last year, though not as bad.
Best Wishes for all.
Home Start:
Submitted on 2011/08/17 at 2:22 pm
I was honored to become a Home Start Visitor 1971-72? The Home Start office was at Alaskaland in one of the old log cabins. Niilo was the Director. One of my fondest memories was when we were invited to Niilo & Joans home for a meeting. We all had a wonderful time of snacks and great fellowship
I have to add one more delight…they had a horse in a barn that was attached to their kitchen. The half door allowed the horse to walk up to the kitchen and poke his head into the room. Fond memory!
Niilo thanks for the opportunity of me becoming one of the first Home Start Visitor.
Margaret Lewis
Kansas City, MO
Sorry we have let so much time go by without any updates. Those checking will surely have assumed – correctly – that no news is good news.
Niilo’s life at Fairbanks Pioneers Home continues with visits from Dick, DeVonne, occasional other friends, and family. Dick brings lovely flowers.
Joan, on the other hand, traveled to New Mexico in May with Heather & Rob, meeting Sanni and Dane there. She got to see lots of desert, the Rio Grande, arts & crafts, roadrunners, egrets, horses, cows, goats, a small rodeo.
Joan also went to Manley Hot Springs for 2 days with Heather and Greenlandic visitor Ineqi. The springs were lovely, as usual, and we saw moose, owls, other birds, and beautiful scenery as usual.
Chena & Gary went on a trip to Ireland, taking part in the music scene of course!
At the homestead, the garden is doing well, with our combination of hot spells and torrential rains. Various projects keep folks busy.
We wish Neighbor/friend Skip a full recovery from his serious bout of pneumonia, and congratulate John on completing his book and other writing while in the neighborhood this summer.
Hoping the second half of this summer is good for everyone! Heather K.
Submitted on 2011/03/21 at 8:16 am from Mary Metcalf Hill:
Chena and Heather,
I have been thinking a lot about all of you of late, your dad and mom, especially; so I thought I would look you up on the web, and lo and behold, here you are. It’s nice to see that, even with Niilo’s declining health, that you are all still close. My mother passed away not long after we left Fairbanks and moved to Yakima, Washington. My dad joined her about 26 years later.
Do you still have horses? I have had one or two off and on all my life, except that I had to have my last one put down last summer and haven’t had the opportunity to get another yet.
I know that this is primarily a blog about your dad and his health, so I want to share a memory of him. I remember being up at your house for dinner one night and as we all sat around the table he was telling us about his parents. How they had met in Finland and moved to the US. How his mother had been born in the US of Finnish parents who then took her back to Finland. He said that she spoke Finnish with an American accent and English with a Finnish accent. I thought that was so funny.
I remember, too, how wonderful your house used to smell. I’ve wondered ever since what it was that your mom did to give it such a sweet-lemony scent. I’ve tried leaving cut lemons on the counter, but it doesn’t work. I alway felt very welcome in your home.
Some dozen family and friends joined Niilo for his 83rd birthday party on Sunday. Joan baked a delicious spice cake in the shape of a train (of course!) for the occasion.
Folks shared their stories of meeting Niilo and Joan and a good time was had by all…Niilo not very awake. We think they fed him too much birthday cake for lunch –He’s been more awake at other visits in the past 2 weeks.
In honor of his having been one of the founders of ACLU of Alaska 40 years ago, and for his “important contributions in guarding Alaskans’ individual liberty and civil rights,” Niilo was among 40 individual and group awardees at the 40th Anniversary Liberty Awards Gala, January 22, 2011 in Anchorage. While he wasn’t able to attend himself, friends and family attending the gala were reminded how much difference he and other champions of civil rights have made.
Of course, it is an ongoing effort. As Niilo used to say, “Onward!”
Heather
Dear Friends (writes Joan),
“So it’s January 2011.” The weather has been seasonal, down to -36 F downtown, often 14 degrees warmer at the homestead.
Joan has been “ enjoying hearing Alice’s Restaurant for the 100th time… enjoying eating also;
knitting,
seeing wildlife out the window, like chickadees, grouse, woodpeckers, ravens, moose,
and recently tracks (maybe porcupine);
doing crossword puzzles,
jigsaw puzzles,
visiting Niilo at Pioneers Home,
going bowling,
playing cards,
singing and visiting on sauna nights.”
Niilo has declined in the past year, waking little, and rarely communicating. Alex & Heather go with Joan to visit him several times a week, Hospice volunteer DeVonne visits him weekly, and others visit him occasionally. He ceased being able to stand to transfer to a vehicle in the fall, so has not been able to visit the homestead or attend Quaker meeting, so Quakers join him at the Pioneers Home occasionally for meditation.
Chena spends time with Joan at the homestead 3 days a week; Alex continues bowling and movies with her 3 times a week; Heather in a room at the homestead spends time every day.
The homestead had major construction in summer 2010 with re-insulation of a large section of roof and other parts; Chena and Gary oversaw this.
hi Heather! I just stumbled upon this website quite by accident – I have a big smile on my face as I type to you, and have often thought and wondered to and about you and family. I have to run to work right now and prep for a lecture (I teach chemistry at Keene State College in Keene, NH, where Tracy and I have lived for going on 10 years, after living in California for 15 years before that.) Our fraternal twin sons are now 23 years old, and Tracy works as the Reading Coordinator at the middle school here. I spend most of my free time mountain biking on the technical trails that abound in this area – the landscape here reminds me much of Fairbanks, actually, evergreens and deciduous and rolling hills.
I talked to Robin and Pauline this past Summer, and am often in contact with Bauricks (Richard and his wife come out here to visit every couple years, actually.) I’ve been renting out the little house on Koth Ct. now all these years, remotely, which has worked out nicely.
I hope you are well, and look forward to reading more of your blog.
best, -Bob
What a delightful visit from the gal next door. Actually, Wanda (nee Brown) lived next door for a few years before and after she was born, in the 1950s, before her family of 8 moved south in Alaska. The cabin next door is still called “the Browns’ House.” She and husband Bob have lived in Kodiak the past 22 years.
They visited the homestead with daughter Myra last night, looked at old photos reminiscing old times, and discovered various mutual friendships, including neighbor John, who joined Joan along with Chena, Heather, Alex, Gary, and Rob.
There was excitement and laughter, concluding with a visit to the cabin Wanda’s parents built and a tour of the Joan & Niilo’s.
It was unfortunate that Niilo couldn’t take part in the reminiscing; He has unfortunately been unable to transfer to a car for the past few months. Hearing this, some Quakers have started joining him to meet in silent worship some Monday evenings at 7:30 or 8 pm at the Pioneers Home.
Heather
