I better get to it

And give a blog post since I was trying for today at the latest, though I'm short on time.

So, it's been busy here. Yesterday I spent the day designing, messing around with dogs, and getting another job. Yep, I have another part time job working in a local pharmacy. Fingers crossed that all goes well, it begins tomorrow. A little more money in is a good thing since publishers clearing house still hasn't knocked on my door.

As you can see, country living is still agreeing with us. I love being able to hang clothes and sheets to out on the line when the breeze from across the fields doesn't smell of pig poo.

However, the boys and I decided to amble around downtown the other day while the sun was out and people were busy at work.

I thought perhaps it would get me a touch more familiar with the area to walk the streets at a slower pace than trying to figure them out behind the wheel of a car.

I think the dogs prefer their country yard... Of course, the grate they're sitting on so I can snap this picture was very disturbing to Sullivan. I decided today as we were walking that perhaps we should have named him Don Quixote. His imagination seems to be just as grand as the "noble" knight.

Fall is sliding in, the next post will have some pictures with color in them as the nights get cooler here. We're definitely enjoying the cooler weather however. The day temps are still warm, but with it dropping down at night the house stays comfortable enough that The Guy took the A/C units out of the windows this past weekend. It's amazing how much more open the rooms they were in feel with their absence.

This is the "Grand Vitesse". It's a landmark to be sure, and you can read more about here:

Like everywhere else lately though, the wasps were very bothersome around it. I had noticed them in our own yard, but it seems with the cooler weather they are much more present as they prepare their nests to survive the winter as they themselves won't.

Been playing in the kitchen as usual, despite the sensitive gut that's been plaguing me. Made some lovely stir fry not long ago that used up the last of my saffron. MMMMmmmm, I love saffron rice, don't you?

Our little grocery store has nice produce but not a lot of selection, so since I couldn't get any napa cabbage I settled on some brussel sprouts sliced and thrown on top to steam at the end of the cook session. Came out really good, no matter what The Guy says. Even Tucker enjoyed them. I have also made pear sauce (a lot like apple sauce just a bit fresher tasting), potato soup and tried my hand at rice pudding. If anyone has a good recipe for rice pudding, let me know. Mine is okay, but it's lacking something.

That's about it, except to let any local readers know that we're going to be launching a Mystery Knit Along of my own design at the yarn store on Monday nights through the month of October. Come on down if you're interested... More details to come.

Some Bloggers...

Just can't be counted on! So sorry, it's been busy around here, and I've been a bit under the weather. However, I'm aware that this is a Tune Tuesday and wanted to get this up quick and promise that I will return (I'm hoping tomorrow or Thursday) to give you guys and idea what's going on and how we're doing.



As for Tune Tuesday, I hope you enjoy Andy Moore. I have been leaning towards singer/songwriter folksy stuff lately. Possibly because I'm working on that spinning fiber that keeps making me sing "Turtle Dove" to myself over and over again. Anyway, I'm always a bit sad that this gal fell off the map as far as new music goes, but love this song of hers the most. It's just such a great break up song. Who hasn't felt that need to relearn who one's self is after a break up? I think in most bad relationships that fail, there is that losing of one;s self that must be recovered from therefore this song speaks to most that have had that said, bad relationship. We all need at least one so we recognize the good ones, no?

Have a good night folks. Video is from vsdevera's youtube channel, for those that want more like this.

It ain't nuth'n but a numba

What's that exactly? Age, because it doesn't mean a dang thing. This was brought home to me again, the other day when we went to the movies. If you recall I stated we had gone to see the Hundred Foot Journey. It was a great movie, but even as we were queued to buy are tickets we took a look around us at the other patrons and noticed a little skewing of the demographic. 50+ year old women to be more exact about that skewing.

 I then laughed as we entered the theater and that normal hush of people whispering and speaking low to one another was a dull roar for the smaller size of the crowd rather than the expected murmuring. When the burst of laughter slipped out, The Guy looked at me and I said something like, "I can tell it's an older crowd due to the loudness since everyones too deaf to hear a whisper." He lauded to as we took our seat and I looked down into my lap and shook my head at myself before whispering, "Since I'm the only one with knitting in the movies and I'm the youngest in the room, maybe I shouldn't talk."

Some People...

What was I knitting? A potato bag. And yes, I can knit it in the dark. It was the main mesh part of the bag, and that's easy enough to do in the dark. Now the top garter stitch part that has decreases? Ummm... I did do them during the movie but there was some definite scrambling fingering of the stitches as I counted and tried to remember how many stitches I needed between this set of decreases. In fact I had to put it down a couple of times and just enjoy the movie between rows a couple times.

The seasons are a changing as we head into fall and start the cool off. It's nice. Much better than the definite dip Casper Wyoming had yesterday from Sarah's blog. Tell you what, I am not missing the wild temperature swings. Snow today but 80 on Tuesday? Ugh. But I am enjoying the cooler weather here, especially the cool mornings as I walk the dogs and enjoy the dew kissed plants and smell of everything as it starts to transition away from green to autumns golds, browns, oranges, and reds.

Though, it's always disconcerting to witness the loss of light that happens this time of year. Before I left I was out after dawn, now I am having to wait for dawn for a bit before getting the boys out.

I don't know what this thistle like plant is, but these ones right by this pole are so very tall. I'm estimating about 12 feet. Sorry, I didn't realize I snapped a shot of Emmitt taking his morning break until I was looking at the photo as I dropped it into the blog. unintentional photo bombing. Sorry E-man. I low, Dad is so embarrassing.

I mean really, he can't even remember your collar or leashes! Hey, it was early and my brain wasn't quite up and going yet. That's why I have well trained dogs so such little gaffs are quite an issue. the fact that Emmitt is blinking in this picture, well that's just his bad timing.

I also found these nest little weeds green flowers this week while out walking. I think they're pretty at least. It's a horrible blurry picture. Sorry, I'm still on my phone or useless little point and shoot... I gotta get a grown up job before buying a new camera, and I refuse to be one of those people who look like complete idiots out there snapping photos on their iPads.

I snapped this picture while trying to get a shot of the cat birds that serenade us on our morning walks. No idea what kind of birds nest it is. The cat birds however  are always present and calling it seems at dawn, but they are shy little critters. I hear them much more than see them. I was assuming that they were grey catbirds all summer based on their calls until finally the other day I got a look at one and confirmed it.

With it being fall, the battle for homeownership with the resident wildlife has begun in earnest. The Guy informed me that Sunday morning when he fed the dogs he found a mouse stuck in the kitchen sink. Which immediately made me search for broken into food or other objects to which I found none. I have also not seen any mouse droppings. We hurriedly bought a couple sets of traps, and quickly scored another kill for our team. Good old peanut butter. As you can see, the trap was licked clean even with a dead mouse in the trap, which means there are others, even if I haven't caught them. We did find a drowned one in the bucket we have sitting under the air conditioner to catch it's drainage to use in the bird bath. Other than those three, none have been spotted or caught though I know they are out there. This is life in the country after all. I can deal with mice, but I'm happier if that big fat garter snake we've seen around deals with them. The whole circle of life thing and all that. This is what snakes are for, right? If you're going to live in my garden, you have to pay the rent, and I think mice and insect disposal are perfect, now if only I can teach it to leave the frogs and toads alone.

Peanut butter is making me hungry, which leads me back to dinner. The other night I grilled up some eggplant. I'm sure the mice were after that, right? Which is why I ruined it. It made me so sad to have to pick out the eggplant. Teach me to pay attention to what I'm doing. But see those beets on the counter? I roasted them with the eggplant to, but have you ever seen "striped" or chioggia beets?

Well, now you have. And they are good eat'n. And pretty to boot.

I was surprised when I cut in to the first one. Then I couldn't resist getting some pictures as I got them diced. They're just so pretty. And roasted up with some herbs and spices with some melted cheese, they're delicious too.

The Guy got a new camera and I stole some pictures off of it. Well, I really borrowed them since I left them on his camera for his use. He snapped some of our friends that are gathering in the nearby fields and seem to be growing louder as the days grow shorter. Which is fine, I like hearing and seeing them.

Speaking if the fields nearby, all summer long we've occasionally smelled the aromas of steer and horse manure being spread over the fields. This week however, I got home from a walk, took my shower, and dressed for work when I smeller IT. I ran to each dog, looking for which one rolled in IT while we were on our walk. I couldn't find it, so I threw them all outside.

To their credit, they were very disturbed. If they could find out what I was looking for, they would have showed me.

Poor Dogs...

You can see they were very disturbed as I looked for IT all over the house. I went out back and ran my hands over each dog again, not caring if they got it on my work clothes, again just trying to find IT. When I went around the house, I noticed that I smelled IT all around the house. I brought the dogs inside, closed all the doors and windows and gave it a few minutes noticing as the stench of IT faded. Then I realized as the smell became more gentle that I knew that smell. PIG SHIT. They had spread pig shit on the fields in the area, and I can only hope that this is a once a year kind of thing since we ran the AC for a few days instead of opening windows. I don't mind the smell of farms, but pigs, they're different. It's just nasty for some reason. Perhaps its due to eating anything and everything? No idea, but it was gross. I reveled in our Wednesday rains as they rinsed the stink into the ground, and let's hope it stays there.

Today The Guy got off work early and we hit the John Ball Zoo.

We purposely plan things like this for days that the kids are in school. We were a little saddened to see how many of the exhibits and things were closed to the season already. Yes, it was in the low 50's but in my world, that's still shorts weather to me.

We stated that we'd have to come earlier in the year next year...

Yeah, I don't know if we'll be back.

It's not a bad zoo at all. The animals look tended too, the enclosures are... okay, but it's lacking something.

Many of you know I used to work at the Alaska Zoo. Granted, ours was a little bigger, but not by much, but much better laid out. And with time, our exhibits are getting better as they expand and build new for the animals. Many of them are outdated, but they're working on them.

The John Bal zoo is funded in part by the county. To work there you are hired on by the county, yet the cost is ridiculous and any of the "rides" such as the zip line are small, and insanely expensive for what the are. Yes, you pay at the gate to get in and have to pay at each "extra" thing you want to do. And the little Funicular tram, is a few dollars, one way. Really, one way? It's 900 feet of track per their website, and they charge extra for it and not even make it a two way trip...

I guess my main concern isn't for the animals. They look well tended for, even if a bit bored, but that happens in zoos. I worry about misuse of funds. You spend how much money on these things and they are a pittance for the price. Then you have things like these obviously new wooden walkways that aren't even made out of pressure treated wood in a wet environment. I think at these prices they can splurge on some trex so in 2 years they aren't replacing rotten boards or paying for injuries to staff and visitors. Or the earthen wall around the Africa exhibit that is actively crumbling near the tigers because the mortared around tree trunks instead of removing them so the wall didn't crumble as they rotted over time. Obviously either a zoo work crew or hired contractors cut some corners and there wasn't oversight or who ever was doing said oversight was either negligent or ignorant of things.

Fingers crossed that no one is ever injured and the animals don't suffer due to any issues.

Enough of that! If you have young kids, go, they'll love it. Just don't go on a budget.

The boys are home from their evening walk, I better go check on them. You all have a great night.

Tune Tuesday 9.9.2014

So, not a lot to tell you all today. It's been a busy couple of days and I promise to get you something up here soon that tells you all about our going on's down here in Michigan, but until then, here's a little something to listen to.



I love this band. They are "Leftover Cuties" and have such a neat laid back older sound. This is one of my favorite songs by them and when I found it today, I knew I had to share. Even now as I type I have it playing and am singing along. So everybody join me!

Oh, and if you all get the chance to see The Hundred Foot Journey, do. It's wonderful. And I was excited to see that they are putting a sequel to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel out as well. Can't have too much Bill Nighy, Judi Dench a Maggie Smith in my world... Even if it has Richard Gere. Every plan has it's weak spots, right?

Have a great night everyone.

When it rains...

It pours... Thursday morning I woke to the sound of Thunder and all three boys chilling out in bed with me. They weren't even trying got wake me up to go for a walk. I got up, threw them out to potty real quick, did the same myself and as I was letting them back in, I noticed this site.

Now thats the way to wake up! Then the storm it was escorting hit. It was a doozy, with a good light and sound display and lots of rain. I can get used to this only watering a couple weeks out of the year instead of aaaallllllllll summer long.

Anyway, it wasn't a bad storm, and when it headed off to the north and east I hit the road with the kids. They were needing their walk, as was I. Since it was later than usual and I didn't have a lot of plans for the day besides a couple errands, we did a good 6 miler.



I also shot a little video, you might have to turn up your volume quite a bit to hear much of anything. Nothing exciting, just singing bugs in the humid heat of the day.

Yesterday I had a meeting at work until about 7pm, and we had one doozy of a storm. I can't even tell you how many lightening strikes I saw on the way home. The radio today kept saying that there were some 400,000 Michigan residents without power due to downed lines. I believe it because as I headed home from Ada, there were many times I had to go around limbs or trees on the road. I took quite some time to get home and I count us lucky to still have our power after last October... Though, if it's going to happen, this is the time of year that it would be okay. No freezing pipes, or frigid houses. Do you hear me mother nature? I'm sure I'd still whine, but less so, and you all wouldn't hear much of is anyway since I wouldn't be able to blog about it with no power.

Due to the evening storm, when the Guy and the kids went out for their later than normal walk, it was more moist and humid than normal. I noticed that it had gotten dark and as I passed by the front door I hit the front lights, and interrupted a little discovery channel fun on the front path. This fairly big garter snake had been in the process of hunting down a toad that quickly used the interruption to hop to the plants.

But don't worry, I checked in on him to make sure he was safe and get a picture.

He's a sizable toad. I re-hid him in the plants where I found him and finished up this little clothesline pin bag I've been working on the last couple days.

It's not quite as big as I was wanting, but that happens when you just make it up as you go. I know, I should have looked for a pattern, but that was a waste of time and I wanted a quick easy knit. Next time I'll get it on the mark. This is honestly how I knit most things, and it has some advantages, but some big disadvantages as well, especially when you work in a yarn store. Last night at the meeting they were asking about designers, and I don't follow designers nor would I pay to go to most retreats to work with a designer. I would however pay to go to a retreat that taught an interesting technique, because I'm all about learning new techniques. I am always looking to add to my arsenal. Alas, I probably need to do some designer homework.

Anyway, this was a spur of the moment knit that will probably be redone some day, and not with an old gnarly green wire coat hanger thats coating was cracking off and was no longer holding shape well for use as a hanger. It's second reincarnation will be a little more polished. However I am happy that I used this yarn for something along this lines. It was one of those that looked kind of cute for little kids in the skein, but I don't like the blue skies peeking through brown smog look of it knit up.

Well, I better come up with the next event (flea and tick treatment for the boys) of the day. we've been busy with the usual first weekend of the month duties such as dog baths, brushing, toe nail trims, Heartworm med dosing, playing between sessions of chores to make them go by a little easier. Just thought I'd throw a quick blog post up since I had a couple pictures to show off!

It's about D*&# Time!

I know I promised to have this wrapped up yesterday, but life got in the way. You know how that goes, right? Today however, I had a couple of pictures that I wanted to share with you all, which made me realize, that I never got to sharing my AK trip pictures. Well, yes, the ones from my phone, but I meant a real post. One with a bit of substance.

So here it is. Not only did all the boys greet me at the airport, but also a newly installed clothesline back at the house.

As well as some of the local wildlife. I found this guy hopping about as I was cleaning up the backyard today so my freshly hung towels didn't smell of dog poo.

What the heck?!? Any guesses as to this lovely creatures identity? I can tell you it's a cicada of some species or another, but nothing beyond that. I found it on the freshly painted deck yesterday and had to snap a couple pics.

As you can see, they're fond of acting dead in hopes you don't spot them. I love these guys. Despite the heat, it's been nice hearing these guys buzzing away (it's more a really loud trill) in the trees during the day. An extra big sounds for a not so tiny bug. The freckles showing on the back of my hand there shows how much sun I've been getting this summer.

I got to Alaska and headed out with my Mom to her place in Palmer. We then head up to Summit Lake in Hatchers Pass to spread Shiela's ashes.

It was one of those days that just couldn't decide if it was going to rain, or be sunny.

I actually like days like that. Keeps things from getting to hot. Granted, hot would have equaled 60 degrees in the pass, and that it did not do.

But beautiful, it was. The picture above has the little chalet's that you can rent below Independance Mine. In the middle of the valley you can see some of the old buildings there above the chalets.

Then again, most places are beautiful in their own way, in the rain or shine.

I know I showed you a similar picture to this before, but I still like it. It's a great final resting place for a grand ol'dog that always was up for getting out and going.

I actually spread her ashes over this little stream that flows down on the Willow side of the pass. I figured that way some went wast towards Willow, and the wind took some east towards the Matanuska-Susitna valley.

I always love the color of Summit Lake. In the cold this pond can turn steel grey, but still has depth to it. In the summer she sparkles almost turquoise. Who needs caribbean isles?

The following day I met Stefani and her mom and grandmother at the Alaska State Fair for SouthCentral. Every area has it's own fair just do to the states size and lack of roads connecting all areas.



We had a good time walking around, seeing the sites and having fair food. There's nothing like fair funnel cake is there? I already shared with you all the couple of pictures I got of the fair, but above is a little video I shot from one of the rides. No idea what the ride is called, but it was the last ride before I finally shamed Stefani into going down the little kiddie "Super-Slide" and we gave the rest of our tickets to a family that looked like they would appreciate them. Saturday we had the "family BBQ" that I shared a photo of with you before. Sorry, we were too caught up chatting and catching up to take a lot of pictures.

Sunday we drove up to Eureka to see my uncle at moose camp before heading down to Anchorage to hang out with my brothers family for dinner. Let's not discuss the grooming I did of his dog while there... Poor Kirby the vacuum. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the drive due to low clouds and rain. This one blurry shot is of Matanuska glacier. Somewhere I have better pictures of it from ice climbing on the glacier face... Perhaps I'll go digging.

Then Monday, I met Betsy and Blossom for a hike to Eagle Lake. Okay, it was more of a slow ramble while we chatted. It took us almost 7 hours to go in and back out, but checking out the link I made above, it says it's 6 miles oneway so I don't feel so bad about the pace and the blisters, but I think that's a bit generous... What does your hiking book say Betsy?

As you can see, it was a bit damp...

But we're hardy tough Alaskans.

What's a bit of damp? The moss and ferns prefer the damp, no? Remember us laughing about this photo Betsy? I took one on the way in while you were snapping ones of mushrooms, and you took one on the way out. Bet yours looks nicer. Damn little camera from hell.

Betsy and Blossom!

Besides, the colors are richer on cloudy days.

Honestly, at times, it was more than "a little damp", but keeping on the hoof keeps you warm.

We actually had to lose a layer once we crossed the stream.

My hands however, did get a bit chilly. I had stated several times that I wished that I had brought a pair of gloves. In the past gloves and a stocking cap were regular items in my backpacking arsenal. It's amazing how much warmer you feel when you get out of the tent to find several inches of snow had fallen at night when your hands and balding head are toasty warm...

Ugh, a muddy dog is a happy dog! No, her legs haven't disappeared, they're just blending in with the trail.

Table rock is a landmark that we've eaten lunch on before. This time though, we pushed back to the lake for lunch itself.

Which we shouldn't have as we got the hardest rain when we tried to eat. This here is my nemesis. I love the look of fireweed, but am so very very allergic to it. You should have seen me the day I worked with the kids at zoo camp to collect it for the elephant and bears to eat. Snotty, is about as best and adjective I can come up with, and it doesn't even cover it. It was difficult to drive home due to sneezing and teary eyes, and the whole shebang. Ugly, like a good sobbing jag makes a beautiful woman ugly. Take my word for it.

This is the boulder field edges that make up the terrain that allows the lake to form. I don't know if this was caused by a rock fall from the sides of the valley, or if it is an old moraine from a glacial retreat. I tend to think towards rockfall due to the makeup of it from large boulders and not a lot of sand and soil like many moraines.

We sneak past the first part of the boulder field by going up the valley wall a bit.

Wild geranium clinging to a boulder in the path. Already bloomed out for the season at altitude over the tree line.

And we made it!

Now comes the real challenge of the boulder field. See that to the right? big oddly shaped rain slicked rocks.

This piece of bark with it's red caught my eye between the boulders as we hunted for a spot for lunch.

And after taking a tumble on the rocks and bruising my right hip good, this is as far out as I went before returning to where Betsy camped for lunch.

Then the rain came. See what I mean by the make up of the boulder field? Just a bunch of huge slabs of rock. That makes me think it fell from one of the surrounding peaks and blocked off the stream, causing eagle lake to form until it found a way around it.

Can you see how hard it's raining? It kind of sucked, and I finally felt a little cold. Of course, I was in shorts and a cold wet muddy Blossom leaning on me didn't help.

But even in the rain, it was beautiful.



I took another quick video just because I loved the noise of the stream. You might have to turn it up to hear it. I need to find a way to just loop this video over and over. As you can see, it was taken before the rain decided to fall.

I discovered that I shouldn't hike with a hood up in the sprinkles though, because it makes me shout. I can only hear my own rustling so I tend to start talking louder. Don't want to scare off the animals.

Selfie! The rain had kind of stopped as we headed back by a smaller pond down the valley from the lake.

Speaking of animals, we did see a small group of moose up on the side of the valley, but my little camera wouldn't have captured them. To see them you'll have to go here to Betsy's blog post regarding the hike. Well, second post regarding our hike. A blog you should  check out anyway because she's good with a camera. RRRRrrreeeeeeaaaal good.

Alaskan trees don't get a lot of vibrant autumnal colors, of those you have to look to our tundra ground covers. Both blue and crow berries greenery turn vibrant reds as do some of the mosses and the lichens add in some pretty oranges here and there too.

The pale green on the rocks here is some caribou moss (per Betsy). It's a lichen that caribou happily eat up.

This is an optional trail you can take off to the north to a hanging valley above south fork valley. It is very pretty up there.

You can also continue though the boulder field to Symphony Lakes further up the Southern part of the valley. That used to be a cross country running workout every year.

There are times I wish I was still 17 years old and 145 pounds running miles a day. Then my knees shout up at me and remind me what that did to them, and I quickly forget such thoughts.
Though, I have about 15 pounds I need to work on losing regardless of age and aches.

As the hike reminded me of. But it felt good, regardless of being stiff for a couple days.

I was too early for the frost to give me that smell of fall in Alaska. The cranberries and decaying leaves has a smell I don't think happens anywhere else. It's the smell of home I'm telling you.

Blossom Girl was ready to head home by the time we were getting back down towards the main bridge and arm of the stream.

I just loved the colors here with the greens and the contrasting boardwalk.

And of course, as we climbed back up the south side of the valley heading out, the sun came out.

Doesn't it always work that way?

And it decided to stay out. Meh, it would have been to hot and I would have ended up with a sunburn had it stayed out for the hike.

Tuesday we played around in Anchorage doing some errands. I bought the Guy some more AK State Trooper shirts, and a jacket since he's a former trooper himself. I already shared with you the pictures I snapped at the dog park when I met up with Betsy, Blossom, and Rio for a walk while mom did her own errand. Wednesday was her birthday so we spent it finishing up her winterization chores, going to lunch and watching a couple movies. Except, Mom we forgot to set the mouse traps and look for an entry point in the garage. Damn shrews.

Thursday, my brother had surgery, so Mom and I were up by 0400 to go get his kids for a day of goofing off while their pop went under the knife.

You already saw some of the pictures from this day as we went playing about under the "landmarks" postings. We started off with breakfast at Gwennies, then went south out of town along Turnagain arm. Here I had them playing chicken with high tide on the rocks at Beluga Point.

Only TJ was daring enough to come out on the point with me. Which was fine as I only had enough eyes to keep an eye on one of them as we climbed up the rocks, and had to rush him a bit as we raced to get back before the tide blocked our path. Beluga point is a headland separated by a gouge in the rock that fills with tidewater at high tide. And as it was on the rise, we had to make it fast.

Horrible selfie showing off my hat band line. the wind was up so I ditched the hat so I wouldn't lose it back at the car. Guess the line was still there for the picture... Ah, the joys of balding.

Coming up on Alyeska and Girdweed... I mean Girdwood. We had actually spotted a beluga off the road and pulled over to try and get pictures but they were to far out when I snapped this picture down the road towards Girdwood. I also snapped this next series of pictures along the arm.

Then tried stitching them together into a panoramic but it won't save the fifth and final shot.

Who knows why. Stupid computers.

I showed you all the lustrous town of Whittier already. Someone asked why they all lived in one place. The long and short of it is, useable buildable land. in the above picture, to the left just out of frame is the one residential building of the town I showed you before. See that ridge in the background that has the water coming off of it? That's a massive glacial moraine. I don't know if the glacier that created it has receded to the point that had the clouds not been there, you could see it, but there is a huge ice shelf that it extends from that sits up over the peaks. A glacial moraine, is not stable ground.

So between pier on the water front, railroad owned land, and the old military site that is unusable due to asbestos, there's not a lot of places one can build. Especially when you have to factor in the sizable tides, and the ground you have to leave yourself in case of tsunami. Yep, that life in the land glaciers and earthquakes baby!

After we got back to Anchor Town we hit the zoo. Watching the tigers enjoy their ribs is what made us head out for BBQ ourselves...

A lot of things have changed since I last worked at the zoo, but they still have a Northern Goshawk.

A Red Tailed Hawk,

And a Northern Hawk Owl. All injured and unable to live in the wild on their own. I don't know if the Goshawk is Orion, but I'm sure the Red Tail is not Aurora, because I believe I was told when she passed, and she was quite old and cantankerous. Just look to the scar on my left hand for proof of her formidable nature. All because she didn't feel like going on the fist that day. I do believe the hawk owl is still Hobbes however. I was one of the first to work with getting Hobbes fist trained. He was a quick and smart little owl. I was happy to see that he graduated to a larger enclosure as he recovered and trained well.

There's the happy and rambunctious otter crew. They are always good for some smiles. Since they were awake during the day and obviously on the hunt, I think the keepers hid snacks around the
exhibit for them. It keeps them active and thinking which leads to happier animals.

And they have a couple new coyotes. Hope Wiley is happy wherever we all go after this life. He was always one of my favorites regardless of his skittishness he never lost. The new coyotes have a new bigger exhibit where one was on the move but unwilling to pose for pics, which is completely understandable. This one was in the infirmary cage and sitting quietly while people passed. You can still see on his foreleg where there was an iv placed. Don't know the story, but unlike most zoos, the Alaska zoo had a mission of providing a home for orphaned and injured animals that require someplace to live should they not be able to return to the wild. Hopefully this guy fits right in and can find some peace here. I have more photos on my phone I will work on transferring over in the next few days of the zoo. It was good to wander through again with the kiddos.

All in all, it was a good day with the kids on the road. We got to chat, play I spy, and in general just hang out a bit. On Friday I tried to sleep in a bit, hung out with Mom before heading into town for dinner and to see my brother before leaving to the airport. It was a short visit, but good, and I was ready to come home.

I snapped this photo which was a perfect send off as I was settling into wait for my flight at the airport. Lovely sunset at 930pm, no?  That's the float plane airport at lake hood there in the mid ground in front of the cityscape and the clouds over the Chugach Mountains. I do miss it...



Michelle Shocked's "Anchored Down in Anchorage" cover by Mary McCarthy. I couldn't find an original version for a parting shot.