Our days as tour guides continue starting Saturday. More family coming to visit. I am so excited! We have a jammed pack week of gold panning, bay cruising, river rafting, wildlife refuge, Sea Life Center, etc. I just hope the rain stays away for a little while longer and the sun comes out as it did last week.
Unfortunately, right now the air quality is terrible as we are having horrible wild fires in the southern peninsula and it seems all of the smoke wants to visit us. We are now under an air quality advisory.
Luckily I am baking doggie cookies and that reeking is over powering the smoke in the air. Squirt really likes these!
Speaking of which, I don't know what the UPS driver ever did to Squirt but EVERY SINGLE TIME a brown truck rumbles by, Squirt is up defending the property as if his life depended on it. He has always done this. Maybe it's because the UPS drives never bring him biscuits. The mailman does and therefore the mailman is on Squirt's good list.
(I just realized I haven't posted any pics from last week yet....oops...maybe I can get to that today.)
Friday, June 22, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Happy Summer Solstice!
We had 19 hours and 42 minutes of between sunrise and sunset today. The rest was rather dusky.
Sadly the days are now getting shorter...winter is coming!
Sadly the days are now getting shorter...winter is coming!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
OK - Polar Bears are REALLY BIG
Many corporations in Anchorage are very community oriented and not only donate funds but do community service projects. I was lucky to be invited to participate in one of the projects today. It was Zoo Day. We got there at 7:00am and the animals were out enjoying the weather. The red fox was surveying the entrance; the arctic fox came to the bars and stretched his front legs; the wolverine was watching; yaks were stomping; musk ox were standing (although, I don't know what else they do). All were active except the porcupines. They appear to be late sleepers.
The weather could not have been better. Sunny, 75-80 degrees, slight breeze. Perfect for outdoor work. Robert and I started off on a project sealing the administration building. (Yes - with all of the potential animal projects, we are on the building with humans.) This consisted of painting two log cabins with the equivalent of baby oil. Slightly messy but when finished, they looked much better.
Since the team zipped through our project (8 people to do the 2 - one story cabins) we proceeded to the Polar Bear Cage Painting Project. This required the team to paint the very tall bars of the cage with primer and then with white enamel. Sounds easy except the bars had to be 18 feet high and we couldn't use ladders. Everything had to be done with paint brushes, small rollers and small rollers on really long handles.
Lyu was not happy. Lyu is the very big, fully grown, male polar bear. There were strangers in his cage along with nasty paint smells and he couldn't protect. The bear sat at the gate of his inside pen and smacked it hard with both paws for what seemed like hours. He has really big paws (probably 4 times the size of my hand) and big teeth which he gladly showed us when trying to gnaw through the bars. I was amazed at how large he is. I have seen lots of polar bears in zoos before and there is something about being on the other side of the pen, fence, moat, glass, etc. that diminishes their enormous girth when compared to standing three feet away from them.
Ahpun the female was much quieter and more patient. She seemed to be shedding more and I grabbed a handful of hair to bring home with me. (Squirt wasn't that interested.)
Needless to say, there was hair in the paint by the time it was finished. For what it's worth, there was paint in hair (workers) also.
To see the Lyu and Ahpun, check out polar bear cam (if it is working)
We also had the privilege of working next to 2 baby moose. They are so cute and awkward. They were very "chatty" today. I kept hearing a noise and finally figured out it was them bleating. I think they were lonely and wanted to come out to play.
After the bear cage, we moved on to paint picnic tables and then home to clean up for the BBQ.
All in all - a two thumbs up day!
The weather could not have been better. Sunny, 75-80 degrees, slight breeze. Perfect for outdoor work. Robert and I started off on a project sealing the administration building. (Yes - with all of the potential animal projects, we are on the building with humans.) This consisted of painting two log cabins with the equivalent of baby oil. Slightly messy but when finished, they looked much better.
Since the team zipped through our project (8 people to do the 2 - one story cabins) we proceeded to the Polar Bear Cage Painting Project. This required the team to paint the very tall bars of the cage with primer and then with white enamel. Sounds easy except the bars had to be 18 feet high and we couldn't use ladders. Everything had to be done with paint brushes, small rollers and small rollers on really long handles.
Lyu was not happy. Lyu is the very big, fully grown, male polar bear. There were strangers in his cage along with nasty paint smells and he couldn't protect. The bear sat at the gate of his inside pen and smacked it hard with both paws for what seemed like hours. He has really big paws (probably 4 times the size of my hand) and big teeth which he gladly showed us when trying to gnaw through the bars. I was amazed at how large he is. I have seen lots of polar bears in zoos before and there is something about being on the other side of the pen, fence, moat, glass, etc. that diminishes their enormous girth when compared to standing three feet away from them.
Ahpun the female was much quieter and more patient. She seemed to be shedding more and I grabbed a handful of hair to bring home with me. (Squirt wasn't that interested.)
Needless to say, there was hair in the paint by the time it was finished. For what it's worth, there was paint in hair (workers) also.
To see the Lyu and Ahpun, check out polar bear cam (if it is working)
We also had the privilege of working next to 2 baby moose. They are so cute and awkward. They were very "chatty" today. I kept hearing a noise and finally figured out it was them bleating. I think they were lonely and wanted to come out to play.
After the bear cage, we moved on to paint picnic tables and then home to clean up for the BBQ.
All in all - a two thumbs up day!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Vacation in Alaska
Is GREAT!
My sister and brother-in-law have been here this week and we have had a great time. We went cruising in the Bay and had beautiful weather. We drove to Fairbanks and poked around and had beautiful weather. Took the train to Seward and has fantastic weather...Denali even decided to show up out of the clouds one day due to the exceptional weather....
OOOO....I hope summer isn't over!!!
It has to last two more weeks for the rest of our company to get here!!
Animal life was abundant this week....humpbacks in the bay, Dall porpoises, several moose, sand hill cranes, baby mountain goats, Dall sheep, but sadly no bears - yet. We still have today but since we are going shopping, I expect the only bears we will see are human ones.
Pictures to be posted as soon as we get them downloaded and minituraized!
My sister and brother-in-law have been here this week and we have had a great time. We went cruising in the Bay and had beautiful weather. We drove to Fairbanks and poked around and had beautiful weather. Took the train to Seward and has fantastic weather...Denali even decided to show up out of the clouds one day due to the exceptional weather....
OOOO....I hope summer isn't over!!!
It has to last two more weeks for the rest of our company to get here!!
Animal life was abundant this week....humpbacks in the bay, Dall porpoises, several moose, sand hill cranes, baby mountain goats, Dall sheep, but sadly no bears - yet. We still have today but since we are going shopping, I expect the only bears we will see are human ones.
Pictures to be posted as soon as we get them downloaded and minituraized!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Hello from Bear Country!
We received neighborly e-mail today notifying us there is a black bear hanging around on a nearby deck. Not ours... NO more walking Squirt in the woods without his bear bells on!!!
Speaking of bears, this article (or portions of it) made it to several news wires yesterday.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/bears/story/8949935p-8849155c.html
This was withing a mile of our house. Note - this one was a brown bear instead of the "very large and fat black bear" which is hanging around here in our neighborhood.
Could be interesting walking tonight!!!
On a different note, the painters are almost finished! Only a little bit of trim left and the deck and - BONUS - the new railing around the deck should be almost done by tomorrow! The car gets detailed Friday and Squirt on Monday. If the weather holds out, all will be ready before company gets here Monday night. (I can't wait! I'm really looking forward to our visiting family!)
Speaking of bears, this article (or portions of it) made it to several news wires yesterday.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/bears/story/8949935p-8849155c.html
This was withing a mile of our house. Note - this one was a brown bear instead of the "very large and fat black bear" which is hanging around here in our neighborhood.
Could be interesting walking tonight!!!
On a different note, the painters are almost finished! Only a little bit of trim left and the deck and - BONUS - the new railing around the deck should be almost done by tomorrow! The car gets detailed Friday and Squirt on Monday. If the weather holds out, all will be ready before company gets here Monday night. (I can't wait! I'm really looking forward to our visiting family!)
Monday, June 04, 2007
There they were...
On our evening walk tonight, we once again wandered into the Chugach forest from our neighborhood and just off of the last back yard we passed stood a momma and 2 moose calves. (If I hadn't said anything, Robert would have missed the whole thing.) They were enjoying snacks of leaves off of bushes. We stood there and watched for a few minutes - the babies are so very cute.
Of course, the camera is in the car.
And for some reason, I couldn't convince Robert to run back and get it.
We left before any of them made it to the path and while Momma watched us, she never flattened her ears and didn't appear to be agitated. We did the whole circuit and I doubt they are still there as that was 50 minutes ago.
That makes 3 moose babies this year for the neighborhood so far.
What are the chances we will go for a walk again without a camera?!? Any takers? Slim to none!
Of course, the camera is in the car.
And for some reason, I couldn't convince Robert to run back and get it.
We left before any of them made it to the path and while Momma watched us, she never flattened her ears and didn't appear to be agitated. We did the whole circuit and I doubt they are still there as that was 50 minutes ago.
That makes 3 moose babies this year for the neighborhood so far.
What are the chances we will go for a walk again without a camera?!? Any takers? Slim to none!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Right here in our Neighborhood!
Yes - we drove all over the city parks on multiple days looking for moose babies and all we had to do was walk into our next door neighbor's back yard. This little one was born Sunday morning and is only a few hours old at the time these were taken. He is right in front of momma in the second picture. Our neighbor said momma would move the calf to a denser woody area before the end of the day as the birth location would probably bring a bear into the neighborhood. Squirt and I were very careful this morning when going outside. :) Hopefully we will have more pictures to share before spring is over!
More importantly on this Memorial Day, I want to say thank you to all of the US soldiers who have defended our country and made this such a paradise to live in. I shutter to think what life would be like with out you and the sacrifices you and your families have made.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Living without windows...
Here we are in, what from all appearances so far, is paradise and we are without windows.
They are painting our house this week and instead of doing it with a brush it is being sprayed on. Right now, everything not wood is covered in plastic or removed from the house. It started Thursday with a power wash of the house. (John the painter said Squirt did not like that at all.) Friday and Saturday were taken with prep work (scraping and masking). Unfortunately, the paint store wasn't ready with our 40 gallons so they will be back on Monday to finish prep and then start actually painting Tuesday. Hopefully the weather will hold and thank goodness we did this early in the season before it got hot (you know - in the 70s). I really miss the views and this can't be done fast enough.
Robert and I have gone crazy with flower baskets and planting stuff in the flower beds. I'll take some spring pictures once the plastic is off of the house!
They are painting our house this week and instead of doing it with a brush it is being sprayed on. Right now, everything not wood is covered in plastic or removed from the house. It started Thursday with a power wash of the house. (John the painter said Squirt did not like that at all.) Friday and Saturday were taken with prep work (scraping and masking). Unfortunately, the paint store wasn't ready with our 40 gallons so they will be back on Monday to finish prep and then start actually painting Tuesday. Hopefully the weather will hold and thank goodness we did this early in the season before it got hot (you know - in the 70s). I really miss the views and this can't be done fast enough.
Robert and I have gone crazy with flower baskets and planting stuff in the flower beds. I'll take some spring pictures once the plastic is off of the house!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
A Sad Moose Tale
As Spring arrives in full force here in Alaska so do the animal babies especially bear cubs and moose calves. Moose are so much fun to watch. How can you watch video like this baby moose attacking a septic vent or this teenager taking a Spring shower (pick the one titled Alaskan moose shower) and not want one for a pet or at least a neighborhood moose to feed the occasional carrot to. (btw - This is illegal in Anchorage.)
Of course, some of the freshly awakened bears are hungry (wait - probably all of them are) and there is the ever present natural order of things such as bear attacking moose - normally it isn't caught on video in your driveway. While this is a fact of nature, bears attacking people (although rare) is frowned on (by the people especially) and hence we have a new wildlife plan this year for problem bears on the Russian River. This is a very serious concern and danger, but I keep flashing on the Christmas Song when no other reindeer will play with Rudolph because he is different. The blue bear will be an outcast and none of the others will play with him...
Today's sad moose tale though is what happens as people move into the homes of these wild animals - after all, they were here first. Some kids were playing and accidently got too close to a momma moose and her two calves. Momma, wanting to protect her babies, attacked an 8 year old boy. Luckily, she wasn't out to kill him or she would have. He is bruised, very scared, sore but very much alive. Momma, however, isn't. Police had to shoot her and carry away the small, orphaned calves. It was the only way to get the child out of the yard safely.
Besides cars hitting 650 moose last year in the Anchorage Borough, this is the second time since moving here I have seen a story of police shooting a charging moose. The first time, tourists were bothering one downtown and wouldn't leave it alone until it was too late.
Of course, all of this publicity about moose babies caused us to go look for them last night. They must have been down for the evening as we didn't see a single one.
Of course, some of the freshly awakened bears are hungry (wait - probably all of them are) and there is the ever present natural order of things such as bear attacking moose - normally it isn't caught on video in your driveway. While this is a fact of nature, bears attacking people (although rare) is frowned on (by the people especially) and hence we have a new wildlife plan this year for problem bears on the Russian River. This is a very serious concern and danger, but I keep flashing on the Christmas Song when no other reindeer will play with Rudolph because he is different. The blue bear will be an outcast and none of the others will play with him...
Today's sad moose tale though is what happens as people move into the homes of these wild animals - after all, they were here first. Some kids were playing and accidently got too close to a momma moose and her two calves. Momma, wanting to protect her babies, attacked an 8 year old boy. Luckily, she wasn't out to kill him or she would have. He is bruised, very scared, sore but very much alive. Momma, however, isn't. Police had to shoot her and carry away the small, orphaned calves. It was the only way to get the child out of the yard safely.
Besides cars hitting 650 moose last year in the Anchorage Borough, this is the second time since moving here I have seen a story of police shooting a charging moose. The first time, tourists were bothering one downtown and wouldn't leave it alone until it was too late.
Of course, all of this publicity about moose babies caused us to go look for them last night. They must have been down for the evening as we didn't see a single one.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Dog biscuit report
Squirt says:
"Yum - Can I have another??
Can I have another??
Mommy! Daddy! Can I have another???"
"Yum - Can I have another??
Can I have another??
Mommy! Daddy! Can I have another???"
Sunday, May 20, 2007
I was mistaken....
Last fall, several asked what moose droppings look like. I described them as a pile of golf balls. (Of course, I had only seen them in the dark and I didn't really do a close inspection.) Since then, the snow has melted, the sun is out when I am and I have come across many many more nuggets. To set the record strait, they look more like a pile of pecans. In fact, a brand new Cheechako could easily wonder who left a pile of pecans on a trail...up until they kick them. I never fell for that.
And yes, I have been called cheechako by several over the winter. I don't know how long you have to be here to become a Sourdough but I personally think one winter should do it. :) Although, cheechako has a nicer ring to it than sourdough...
We saw serious sun yesterday - it was warm enough to sit out side without a jacket for hours and luckily because of the garage sale, we had an excuse to do just that. I finally have a little color back on my face and arms. Today looks to be exactly the same. A good day to plant flowers. I hope it is warm enough for shorts and a tank top!
The mountains are beautiful in the winter with the snow on them but, in the summer, the valley is going to be incredible. It has been a long time since I lived in a location that actually had a winter where all of the green left and a spring when it all comes back. I look forward to discovering what flowers we have in our gardens!
BTW - we didn't sell everything yesterday but we got rid of a lot. After we tally what is left, it will get boxed up and go to charity.
And yes, I have been called cheechako by several over the winter. I don't know how long you have to be here to become a Sourdough but I personally think one winter should do it. :) Although, cheechako has a nicer ring to it than sourdough...
We saw serious sun yesterday - it was warm enough to sit out side without a jacket for hours and luckily because of the garage sale, we had an excuse to do just that. I finally have a little color back on my face and arms. Today looks to be exactly the same. A good day to plant flowers. I hope it is warm enough for shorts and a tank top!
The mountains are beautiful in the winter with the snow on them but, in the summer, the valley is going to be incredible. It has been a long time since I lived in a location that actually had a winter where all of the green left and a spring when it all comes back. I look forward to discovering what flowers we have in our gardens!
BTW - we didn't sell everything yesterday but we got rid of a lot. After we tally what is left, it will get boxed up and go to charity.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Today is "Garage Sale Day"
As we were unpacking our stuff in October, there were several things I came across where I made at least two executive decisions: 1. I'm not packing this in another move (my stuff); 2. Asking the question, do you really want this and if so, why (his stuff). (Hey - at least he got a say in the matter!!!) If the answer was toss it, the item went into something marked 'garage sale'. I didn't know if we would have a garage sale but at least it wasn't in the house and put away.
It turns out our housing addition has a neighborhood garage sale twice a year and today is the spring garage sale. The day dawned bright and sunny (about 4:30 this morning) and looks like it will be a great day to hike, bike ride, walk and I guess sit outside trying to sell stuff. We have been culling, moving and marking for the last two weeks. Pricing has been tough. This is some priceless crap here....or at least expensive. Do we put 50 cents or a 1.00 on that shirt??? After all, I don't want to haul it back in to the crawl space!
I have participated in one other garage sale since moving out of my parents house. In that neighborhood, it seemed a common occurance to have people show up an hour before you were going to open, wait in the drive and give the appearance of stop, drop and roll as the garage door was going up. Now to find out if that is a Lower 48 habit or it it happens here too.
I am actually looking forward to dumping some invaluable goodies and meeting some more locals. We will be bone tired tonight as we (including Squirt) normally don't have to be captivating for 6-7 hours in one day. :)
Maybe it it will all be sold in an hour and we can go bike, hike and walk...
It turns out our housing addition has a neighborhood garage sale twice a year and today is the spring garage sale. The day dawned bright and sunny (about 4:30 this morning) and looks like it will be a great day to hike, bike ride, walk and I guess sit outside trying to sell stuff. We have been culling, moving and marking for the last two weeks. Pricing has been tough. This is some priceless crap here....or at least expensive. Do we put 50 cents or a 1.00 on that shirt??? After all, I don't want to haul it back in to the crawl space!
I have participated in one other garage sale since moving out of my parents house. In that neighborhood, it seemed a common occurance to have people show up an hour before you were going to open, wait in the drive and give the appearance of stop, drop and roll as the garage door was going up. Now to find out if that is a Lower 48 habit or it it happens here too.
I am actually looking forward to dumping some invaluable goodies and meeting some more locals. We will be bone tired tonight as we (including Squirt) normally don't have to be captivating for 6-7 hours in one day. :)
Maybe it it will all be sold in an hour and we can go bike, hike and walk...
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Happy Mother's Day
Dear Mom
Thanks for everything! I hope you and Rascal have a good day.
Love Janet, Robert and Squirt
Thanks for everything! I hope you and Rascal have a good day.
Love Janet, Robert and Squirt
Friday, May 11, 2007
Baking Dog Biscuits
I can't believe it has been over a week since I last posted something. The days fly by when the sun is out so much!!
Today is my day off and I had planned on getting ready for the addition garage sale next week. However, I have been fighting what I think is a dislocated shoulder since mid February (no I don’t know how I did it) and yesterday I think the chiropractor may have finally gotten it back into place. Anyway, I am doing non-lifting things today in an attempt to let it heal.
One of those non-lifting things is baking dog cookies. As I mentioned before, Squirt is supposed to be on a really strict diet of no dog treats. While Robert and I decided he could have some dog treats, we are going to minimize what he gets and substitute a dog biscuit made out of Science Diet. Today’s recipe is as follows:
Preheat oven to 250
Open can of soft U/D dog food
Cut into rounds about ¼” thick
Cut each round into fourths
Spray cookie sheet
Place dog food pieces onto cookie sheet
Bake for 4-6 hours turning once after 3 hours
Squirt and I are into hour 4 of the baking and all of the windows are open because this stuff stinks. I was going to be creative and make actual biscuit shapes but the food was too disgusting to mess with for very long.
Needless to say – the house is cold.
The Nenana Ice Classic is over. There were 22 winners splitting over $302,000. Neither Robert nor I were one of the winners. Luckily, there is next year as I am sure the river will freeze again.
I happened to be up this morning at 12:15am taking aspirin (see shoulder comment) and was amazed at how light it still was in the north. Looking out the south windows, it was dark but looking out the north windows, it was still light enough to read by. I haven’t checked lately but I would guess we are getting about 17 hours of sunlight now. I am getting better at sleeping when the sun is up.
Last Saturday and Sunday were labeled "Flower Bed Clean up Days". It took both days and 9 garbage bags to cut out all of the dead stuff. Multiple people stopped by and expressed how beautiful our flower beds had alwasy been in the past. They will proabaly be disappointed this year. Besides the raspberry thicket, we found 4 black currant berry bushes. We have decided the previous owners wanted the bears to stop by for snacks as we have lots of things to draw them to our yard.
Our bicycles are now tuned and ready to go. I opted to have treaded tires put on mine instead of slicks. I don't plan to do any road racing while here. :) The first ride in several years was Tuesday night. We went up hill number one and I was averaging 2 pants per tire rotation in granny gear. After reaching the top Robert wanted to know if I wanted to go home or go to the next hill. Always up for a challenge, of course I said “I can go!” At the top of the second hill I said “I’m ready to go home.” Coming down the hills was GREAT. I don’t know how fast we were going but I was really enjoying it until Robert said “Watch out for moose.” I am sure the moose would win if I should ever hit one on a bike path! I think I heard him say he is going to get a GPS for our bikes – that will make 4 for our family. You can never have too many!
Today is my day off and I had planned on getting ready for the addition garage sale next week. However, I have been fighting what I think is a dislocated shoulder since mid February (no I don’t know how I did it) and yesterday I think the chiropractor may have finally gotten it back into place. Anyway, I am doing non-lifting things today in an attempt to let it heal.
One of those non-lifting things is baking dog cookies. As I mentioned before, Squirt is supposed to be on a really strict diet of no dog treats. While Robert and I decided he could have some dog treats, we are going to minimize what he gets and substitute a dog biscuit made out of Science Diet. Today’s recipe is as follows:
Preheat oven to 250
Open can of soft U/D dog food
Cut into rounds about ¼” thick
Cut each round into fourths
Spray cookie sheet
Place dog food pieces onto cookie sheet
Bake for 4-6 hours turning once after 3 hours
Squirt and I are into hour 4 of the baking and all of the windows are open because this stuff stinks. I was going to be creative and make actual biscuit shapes but the food was too disgusting to mess with for very long.
Needless to say – the house is cold.
The Nenana Ice Classic is over. There were 22 winners splitting over $302,000. Neither Robert nor I were one of the winners. Luckily, there is next year as I am sure the river will freeze again.
I happened to be up this morning at 12:15am taking aspirin (see shoulder comment) and was amazed at how light it still was in the north. Looking out the south windows, it was dark but looking out the north windows, it was still light enough to read by. I haven’t checked lately but I would guess we are getting about 17 hours of sunlight now. I am getting better at sleeping when the sun is up.
Last Saturday and Sunday were labeled "Flower Bed Clean up Days". It took both days and 9 garbage bags to cut out all of the dead stuff. Multiple people stopped by and expressed how beautiful our flower beds had alwasy been in the past. They will proabaly be disappointed this year. Besides the raspberry thicket, we found 4 black currant berry bushes. We have decided the previous owners wanted the bears to stop by for snacks as we have lots of things to draw them to our yard.
Our bicycles are now tuned and ready to go. I opted to have treaded tires put on mine instead of slicks. I don't plan to do any road racing while here. :) The first ride in several years was Tuesday night. We went up hill number one and I was averaging 2 pants per tire rotation in granny gear. After reaching the top Robert wanted to know if I wanted to go home or go to the next hill. Always up for a challenge, of course I said “I can go!” At the top of the second hill I said “I’m ready to go home.” Coming down the hills was GREAT. I don’t know how fast we were going but I was really enjoying it until Robert said “Watch out for moose.” I am sure the moose would win if I should ever hit one on a bike path! I think I heard him say he is going to get a GPS for our bikes – that will make 4 for our family. You can never have too many!
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Bears and Trash
We received a letter from the Alaska Waste Department yesterday letting us know: “Your neighborhood has been identified as an area with high probability of bear/trash encounters.” Oh good. Now that the ravens have gone back to where ravens spend the summer and they won’t be bothering the trash, we have to watch for bears. We can’t put our trash out the night before pick up. It must be the morning of. The city may ticket/fine something like $300 if a bear is caught rooting around in your trash. I wish someone would explain to the bears they can be expensive and if they are going to root in trash and cost residents, they need to provide a floor show to an audience.
This last weekend we were pretty busy. We spent Friday and Saturday in Seward. Friday we went on a whale watching tour and saw harbor seals, stellar sea lions, eagles, sea otters but someone forgot to notify the whales we were in town. Didn’t see a single one of the 22,000 migrating gray whales. Maybe we will see some on one of the other whale tours we are going on later in the summer. Then Saturday on the way home, we stopped off at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and checked out the animals. Since it was so pretty, we also headed to the Portage Glacier area. I am pretty sure I caught a glimpse of a moose baby but by the time we got turned around it was gone.
Sunday was ‘test the bear gun’ day. A group of us took several pistols, rifles and shotguns to a local range and had a blast (har har har). It was beautiful, sunny weather – a perfect day to be outside shooting targets. Btw – the bear gun has quite a kick to it – however not as much as a .50 caliber pistol.
Monday was the official start of Anchorage City Wide Clean Up (getting ready for tourist season). All week long, there will be people by the highways and streets picking up literally tons of trash tossed out over the winter. There are thousands of orange bags filled with trash on the roadsides now. I was amazed at what we found in approximately ¾ of a mile yesterday on one side of one of the main roads. There were the typical fast food wrappers, newspapers, soda cups and 5 gabillion cigarette butts but we also found a ring (assume costume jewelry due to the greenish tint on the silver), CDs, game boy cartridges and a passport. Others found wallets complete with $$, credit cards and driver’s licenses. Of course, one compatriot said at the end of the day she was really glad she didn’t find a body under the really tall grass she was walking in. Of course next year this will be the only thing I think about the entire time I’m out there. The team was a grimy mess but our 2 miles or so looked very nice when finished.
This last weekend we were pretty busy. We spent Friday and Saturday in Seward. Friday we went on a whale watching tour and saw harbor seals, stellar sea lions, eagles, sea otters but someone forgot to notify the whales we were in town. Didn’t see a single one of the 22,000 migrating gray whales. Maybe we will see some on one of the other whale tours we are going on later in the summer. Then Saturday on the way home, we stopped off at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and checked out the animals. Since it was so pretty, we also headed to the Portage Glacier area. I am pretty sure I caught a glimpse of a moose baby but by the time we got turned around it was gone.
Sunday was ‘test the bear gun’ day. A group of us took several pistols, rifles and shotguns to a local range and had a blast (har har har). It was beautiful, sunny weather – a perfect day to be outside shooting targets. Btw – the bear gun has quite a kick to it – however not as much as a .50 caliber pistol.
Monday was the official start of Anchorage City Wide Clean Up (getting ready for tourist season). All week long, there will be people by the highways and streets picking up literally tons of trash tossed out over the winter. There are thousands of orange bags filled with trash on the roadsides now. I was amazed at what we found in approximately ¾ of a mile yesterday on one side of one of the main roads. There were the typical fast food wrappers, newspapers, soda cups and 5 gabillion cigarette butts but we also found a ring (assume costume jewelry due to the greenish tint on the silver), CDs, game boy cartridges and a passport. Others found wallets complete with $$, credit cards and driver’s licenses. Of course, one compatriot said at the end of the day she was really glad she didn’t find a body under the really tall grass she was walking in. Of course next year this will be the only thing I think about the entire time I’m out there. The team was a grimy mess but our 2 miles or so looked very nice when finished.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Bad News from the Dog Treat Front
We just returned from the vet for stitch removal and Squirt received terrible news....no more treats. No more steak bones, biscuits (regular or chocolate covered), chips, snausges or rawhide. He feels so bad he came right in, nested in his dog bed and went to sleep (right after I gave him a guilt biscuit because he can't have them any more and he hadn't had one for two weeks).
Of course this is harder on Robert and myself than it is Squirt. We are pretty sure he has been asking all the other dogs he sees if they still get treats. The vet suggested I try buying the soft food (he normally eats dry) and baking "cookies" out of it. They say it smells the house up but dogs think it is a treat due to the texture difference. Squirt is pretty smart though so I only bought 2 cans. We'll see if he takes one bite and spits it out.
One of these weekends, we will have a ceremonial last biscuit event and explain to him it's tough getting older. Then we will bake some of the new ones and sneak the other ones out of the house to a good home.
Of course this is harder on Robert and myself than it is Squirt. We are pretty sure he has been asking all the other dogs he sees if they still get treats. The vet suggested I try buying the soft food (he normally eats dry) and baking "cookies" out of it. They say it smells the house up but dogs think it is a treat due to the texture difference. Squirt is pretty smart though so I only bought 2 cans. We'll see if he takes one bite and spits it out.
One of these weekends, we will have a ceremonial last biscuit event and explain to him it's tough getting older. Then we will bake some of the new ones and sneak the other ones out of the house to a good home.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Signs of Spring
As I have mentioned, spring is well on its way. Our 70 inches of snow is almost gone, the ravens have left town, moose babies and bear cubs are coming out. Here are just a few of the recent events marking the changing of the seasons:
Sunrise this morning was at 6:15am – sunset will be at 9:30 or so tonight. In only 8 more weeks we will start to lose daylight each day as the sun travels south again.
Per a previous post, the bears are awake. We had friends hiking this weekend who saw a mother and two cubs and this article contains more information on the bear mauling mentioned last week. This is an amazing story. The hunter chose his partner well for his shooting ability. Very few people could put three .22 caliber bullets in a bear’s head in that high adrenalin situation.
The first guns only show of the season was Saturday (and we had to stand in line to get in the door). We now own a bear gun for when we hike off of the beaten track. (Ok – it isn’t an official “bear gun” but that’s what we are calling it.) Robert wanted to know what I thought of it and I said I’m not carrying it – too heavy – but it looks very nice and loads/unloads like a dream. Now we will have to see if it knocks me over when I try to shoot it.
Spring Carnival at Alyeska was also this last weekend. This is the “last hurrah” for the skiing crows. The big event for this carnival is the Slush Cup. If you look at the pictures, people ski/snowboard down a steep incline towards a giant pool of icy water to see how far they can get across before sinking in. Many of them have costumes on as part of the creativity element of the contest. Other events include taping a lawn chair to your skis and seeing how far you can go downhill without crashing. (Sit back and picture this in your mind – it had to be funny.) Helmets are recommended for this event!
And to top it off, we went for a walk the other night (sans Squirt) on a “not ready for prime time tennis shoes” trail. This translates into, we had never been on this path before and it was muddy, muddy, muddy, slushy and there were large ponds at the bottom of hills with a small covering of ice. One of these was deceptively deep and we got soaked walking through it. (I know how the slush cuppers felt.) The neat thing was we saw two ducks swimming on one of the puddles…very happy (which is why we went the other way – we didn’t want to disturb them). Our tennis shoes are still drying out!
Squirt is doing great although he is rather perturbed at his dog food only diet! Stitches come out next week.
Sunrise this morning was at 6:15am – sunset will be at 9:30 or so tonight. In only 8 more weeks we will start to lose daylight each day as the sun travels south again.
Per a previous post, the bears are awake. We had friends hiking this weekend who saw a mother and two cubs and this article contains more information on the bear mauling mentioned last week. This is an amazing story. The hunter chose his partner well for his shooting ability. Very few people could put three .22 caliber bullets in a bear’s head in that high adrenalin situation.
The first guns only show of the season was Saturday (and we had to stand in line to get in the door). We now own a bear gun for when we hike off of the beaten track. (Ok – it isn’t an official “bear gun” but that’s what we are calling it.) Robert wanted to know what I thought of it and I said I’m not carrying it – too heavy – but it looks very nice and loads/unloads like a dream. Now we will have to see if it knocks me over when I try to shoot it.
Spring Carnival at Alyeska was also this last weekend. This is the “last hurrah” for the skiing crows. The big event for this carnival is the Slush Cup. If you look at the pictures, people ski/snowboard down a steep incline towards a giant pool of icy water to see how far they can get across before sinking in. Many of them have costumes on as part of the creativity element of the contest. Other events include taping a lawn chair to your skis and seeing how far you can go downhill without crashing. (Sit back and picture this in your mind – it had to be funny.) Helmets are recommended for this event!
And to top it off, we went for a walk the other night (sans Squirt) on a “not ready for prime time tennis shoes” trail. This translates into, we had never been on this path before and it was muddy, muddy, muddy, slushy and there were large ponds at the bottom of hills with a small covering of ice. One of these was deceptively deep and we got soaked walking through it. (I know how the slush cuppers felt.) The neat thing was we saw two ducks swimming on one of the puddles…very happy (which is why we went the other way – we didn’t want to disturb them). Our tennis shoes are still drying out!
Squirt is doing great although he is rather perturbed at his dog food only diet! Stitches come out next week.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Another Day in Paradise!
There I was, on Friday afternoon, busily working away the hours to the weekend. I had been working on one of those problems that should be ever so simple but was giving me a devil of a time and I needed a break. I got up, stretched, paced, looked out my window and saw a couple walking a really big dog in the park strip. My internal conversation with myself went something like this…
“Wow – what odd coloring for a dog – looks like a caribou.”
“…kind of a collie marking but the colors aren’t right … I don’t think it is a collie…”
“..no long tail – hardly any tail at all – I’ve never seen that big of a dog with a docked tail”
“…no long snout.”
“Hum…the dog sure walks with his nose to the ground a lot, look at those long skinny legs and what a wide stubby nose for a dog…”
“Wait a minute – it is a reindeer!!!”
Of course at that point I had to get confirmation from fellow office mates I wasn’t seeing things and luckily one of them had a pair of binoculars available for verification.
Sure enough – it was a reindeer on a leash. Not a dog leash mind you but a good solid thick piece of rope and he(?) was enjoying his walk through the park, nibbling some grass and getting frisky now and then.
And where was my camera – in the car of course…Time to leave work to see if I can catch them!
I LOVE living here!
“Wow – what odd coloring for a dog – looks like a caribou.”
“…kind of a collie marking but the colors aren’t right … I don’t think it is a collie…”
“..no long tail – hardly any tail at all – I’ve never seen that big of a dog with a docked tail”
“…no long snout.”
“Hum…the dog sure walks with his nose to the ground a lot, look at those long skinny legs and what a wide stubby nose for a dog…”
“Wait a minute – it is a reindeer!!!”
Of course at that point I had to get confirmation from fellow office mates I wasn’t seeing things and luckily one of them had a pair of binoculars available for verification.
Sure enough – it was a reindeer on a leash. Not a dog leash mind you but a good solid thick piece of rope and he(?) was enjoying his walk through the park, nibbling some grass and getting frisky now and then.
And where was my camera – in the car of course…Time to leave work to see if I can catch them!
I LOVE living here!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
At last report....
Squirt is doing fine. Due to his surgery taking place so late this afternoon, he had to stay at the hospital. We will pick him up tomorrow evening. Wednesday's activities will consist of
1. Get up
2. Go to work
3. Go to vet
4. Hold Squirt (this makes him heal faster)
The huge flocks of geese have moved on. They actually go to the North Slope with the Trumpeter Swans for the summer. Luckily we get to spend a week with them as they travel through to their final desitnation.
The sun is rising in the northeast now. A fellow Southern Midwesterner (very young - not like the middle-ager writing this) asked me today how I knew which way our house faced if in the summer the sun rises in the North and in the winter it rises in the South. "That's easy! Mountains on the east. Water on the west!"
Our first whale watching cruise of the season is coming up soon. (We only have 3 scheduled so far.) I am so looking forward to it. Hopefully the whales will choose to come by the boat and wave.
Plus, the bears are waking up and are hungry. The first hunter mauling of the season was reported tonight on the news. He shot one bear and didn't realize the bear had a friend nearby. Luckily, he wasn't hunting alone and his partner killed the attacking bear before the gentleman died. Bears have also been spotted along Seward Highway around Turnagin Arm - I guess waiting for the salmon. Makes you wonder about the hikers that carry dog treats in their bags for fellow hiking pups....it is an extremely nice gesture, but I would think maybe dangerous during this time frame??
1. Get up
2. Go to work
3. Go to vet
4. Hold Squirt (this makes him heal faster)
The huge flocks of geese have moved on. They actually go to the North Slope with the Trumpeter Swans for the summer. Luckily we get to spend a week with them as they travel through to their final desitnation.
The sun is rising in the northeast now. A fellow Southern Midwesterner (very young - not like the middle-ager writing this) asked me today how I knew which way our house faced if in the summer the sun rises in the North and in the winter it rises in the South. "That's easy! Mountains on the east. Water on the west!"
Our first whale watching cruise of the season is coming up soon. (We only have 3 scheduled so far.) I am so looking forward to it. Hopefully the whales will choose to come by the boat and wave.
Plus, the bears are waking up and are hungry. The first hunter mauling of the season was reported tonight on the news. He shot one bear and didn't realize the bear had a friend nearby. Luckily, he wasn't hunting alone and his partner killed the attacking bear before the gentleman died. Bears have also been spotted along Seward Highway around Turnagin Arm - I guess waiting for the salmon. Makes you wonder about the hikers that carry dog treats in their bags for fellow hiking pups....it is an extremely nice gesture, but I would think maybe dangerous during this time frame??
Friday, April 13, 2007
Errands today!
Today is “run errands day” and one of the errands was go to the vet. Yes, once again, Squirt has a bladder stone. We saw it on the x-ray. Size-wise, it appears it is between a pea and a marble. Tuesday he goes in for surgery and a dental cleaning (might as well do both ends at one time). Unfortunately, he has had stones removed twice before and while we generally know what to expect when he comes home, they will put a 4-5 inch incision in him which is really big for such a little boy. Look for a very pampered pooch over the next couple of weeks.
Yesterday morning, we could see daylight while heading to work at 6:10am and it did not get dark until well after 10:30pm last night. The swing in the sun’s setting position is incredible between winter and summer. After dinner, we moved our patio furniture to the western deck and sat outside watching the scenery. Still had jackets on but it was wonderful.
Soon it is off to the gun shop. Robert is interested in getting a bear gun…whatever that may be…for when we walk and if we get an ATV and go to the back country. I’m OK with that as long as the kick doesn’t knock me on my butt. I have heard that if you actually do kill a bear due to defense of life and property (DLP for short), you have to haul the hide and skull back and give it to the state. Guess that requires a knife….oh and there is LOT of paperwork to fill out. I just hope we are never in that position.
The State of Alaska is allowing residents to vote for the design on the state quarter to be released in 2008. I, of course, voted for the dogs. :)
Yesterday morning, we could see daylight while heading to work at 6:10am and it did not get dark until well after 10:30pm last night. The swing in the sun’s setting position is incredible between winter and summer. After dinner, we moved our patio furniture to the western deck and sat outside watching the scenery. Still had jackets on but it was wonderful.
Soon it is off to the gun shop. Robert is interested in getting a bear gun…whatever that may be…for when we walk and if we get an ATV and go to the back country. I’m OK with that as long as the kick doesn’t knock me on my butt. I have heard that if you actually do kill a bear due to defense of life and property (DLP for short), you have to haul the hide and skull back and give it to the state. Guess that requires a knife….oh and there is LOT of paperwork to fill out. I just hope we are never in that position.
The State of Alaska is allowing residents to vote for the design on the state quarter to be released in 2008. I, of course, voted for the dogs. :)
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