Happy New Year

I've been on vacation since December 21st. I carefully saved just enough vacation hours to cover the work days of Christmas week and I thought for today. But a last minute count showed me 2 hours short. I was going to drop by this afternoon for 2 hours but it turns out my girlfriend Kate was short a whole day. So we are working today and then back to holiday and vacation until January 7, 2008. There is only 1 other person at work today on my floor. He's probably being as productive as I am. Tonight we'll probably celebrate New Years by making a nice dinner and watching a DVD. I try to stay off the roads on what are traditionally, Drinking Holidays.

Seems Only Fair

I'm sure I have it somewhere, but I could not find the picture of my daughter on the horse. I did have a picture of her with a new bike.

Damn Global Warming

The temperature dropped to -10 on Tuesday night at TrippingOverMoose Ranch. This morning it was a balmy -14 when I went out to start the car. In the past these cold snaps have produced -20 to -30 degree temperatures. So if this heat wave is a result of Global warming I'm going to help by letting the car warm up an extra 10 minutes each day.

Alaska State Fair Around 1982

I was cleaning up my office, here at work and came across a CD of personal photos. I found this one while I was checking them out. The adorable little boy on the horse would be my son.

Ravens

On our daily lunchtime walk, Kate and I walk down an alley between parking lots in downtown Anchorage. Today as we approached the parking lot at the Architecture firm where my former daughter-in-law used to work, (whew,) we saw a silver pickup filled with ravens. Ok, there were 8 ravens on the roof and in the bed of the pickup. I said, "I'm betting on dogfood." Sure enough when I walked up to the truck the ravens, complaining loudly, decamped to the edge of the nearest roof. When I looked into the back of the truck I saw a previously unopened 40 pound bag of Pedigree dogfood. Unopened until the ravens spotted it. They had pecked open a large hole and were happily gorging themselves until we interrrupted. As soon as we walked away they swooped back down to lunch. On the walk back to the office 4 or 5 more ravens passed overhead flying down the alley to the gathering. I know the owner of the dogfood won't be happy but I've always liked the smart feathered thieves.

Hunting Pictures and Stories

Dana asked if there were going to be hunting stories on my blog. Of course there are. I thought I'd start with the biggest moose I have killed. He is also the last moose I shot, four years ago. Our preferred method of moose hunting is "spot and stalk." Sometimes we spend days, one year 8 days in a row, just sitting looking through spotting scopes from sunup to sundown, trying to find a legal bull. Where we hunt a legal bull must have a rack 50" wide, or three brow tines on one side or have a simple spike or fork on one side. The moose tend to get up and feed at day break, midday and evening. The best time to catch them is at midday because then you have all afternoon to stalk them. I spotted my moose when he stood up at lunchtime and walked from behind one hummock to lay down behind another 50 feet away. He was only in the open for a short minute but I just happened to be looking his way. I was pretty sure he was at least 50". He was way above timberline, across the river and at least a mile away. Two and a half hours later we slowly closed in on where we had last seen him. My hunting partner and I were standing on a small rise looking into the shallow gully where we had seen him disappear. No moose. After a few moments I did a bull moose grunt. Instantly he climbed to his feet about 75 yards away at the far end of the gully. He was staring straight at me, standing in the open. A quick glance through the scope made me sure he was legal and I dropped him in his tracks with one shot from my 300 Win Mag.

Dogs and Moose

After I fed the dogs last night I let them out the back door into the fenced yard. After the usual interval I let them back into the house. As Shadow went past me an aroma wafted off him. He had found a disgusting item to roll in in the back yard. He's never done this with deposits left by Kiska, himself or other dogs so it was some other animal that passed through the fenced back yard yesterday. It's been very cold this week and, trust me, the "material" was fresh, not frozen. Clamping down on my gag reflex, I gave the stupid dog a bath last night.
This evening as I drove into my drive way I had to stop a wait for a cow and calf moose to amble out of the way. At the house I let the dogs out of the garage. As usual they make a bee line for the nearest bunch of trees to pee. There was another cow and calf moose in those trees. Fortunately they choose to run away a few steps instead of stomping the dogs. I called the dogs back and took them in the house. After feeding them I let them out into the fenced yard. As I expected Shadow ran immediately to his little treasure. What he failed to notice was that I was right behind him. A little shouting, jerking on his collar and several "No"s later I hope to have discouraged him from rolling in the sh... stuff. He hates baths so I'm hoping he made that connection too. I know I explained it to him carefully.

Sunset at Trippingover Moose Ranch

Been a long quiet week. Five days of work after being off for a 5 day Thanksgiving mini-vacation. Get up and drive to in the dark. Spend the day in the office and drive home in the dark. Watch some TV, go to bed, get up the next day and do the same. Twenty one more days of decreasing daylight before we turn the corner. Seasonal Affective Disorder is in full bloom.

The Sun and The Moon

Yesterday, on my birthday, the sun came out for a while. I wandered around the Matanuska Valley practicing my photography skills. It's been a long time since I had a real good camera, the last one being a 35mm Film SLR. Among the best quality of Digital SLRs is the number of shots you can attempt. It cost nothing to try. I took over 100 shots yesterday. Most aren't that good and a few are mediocre. But I'll continue to practice. Here are a couple of the mediocre shots. Notice the airplane in the moon picture. He was on final approach to Wolf Lake Airfield, where I used to park my Taylorcraft. He just barely got into my frame before dropping below the trees.

Double Nickel

Today is my 55th birthday.

"Self Portrait in a Palmer Hay Field At Fifty Five"

Thanksgiving Day

On the way to Thanksgiving dinner at my mothers house a young bull moose dashed across the road in front of me. Fortunately I saw him loitering on the edge of the woods, slowed down and got my camera ready. His path across the road surprised me and I was only able to get one quick shot throught the windshield.

The Sun Came Out

The long AWOL sun came out today so I drove up into Hatcher's Pass and tried to find something to photograph.

The Eagle Has Landed

While checking the front yard for moose I noticed a couple of birds in a tree across the driveway. The one in profile was a raven but the one with his back to me was slightly smaller and had a different body shape. Before I could grab the camera the raven took off and what turned out to be a hawk jumped after him. The hawk made one harassing pass at the ravens head and then they flew off into the woods. But at the far end of the property I noticed an eagle sitting high in a tree watching the other birds. He stayed long enough for me to snap a couple of quick pictures. Today is just as gloomy and the light is flat as it's been all week so the picture is not very good.

Winter Wonderland II

I didn't take any pictures of the stupid snow. First because I had a long tiring week and slept in until 9 a.m instead of my work day 4:30 am. Then I lazed around the house until noon when I finally got out and fired up the snow thrower. Three and a half hours and a sore back later I was in no mood to take pictures of the frakkin snow. Besides in was a gloomy overcast day with no shadows so the pictures would have been damn near monochromatic anyway. Today I went to Anchorage with my girlfriend Kate and her brother to work on a property problem. That was a nightmare but I'll spare you the details. The trip home was similar to my October 24th post. It was snowing - freezing raining all day turning the highway into a skating rink. Predictably there were cars upside down in the ditch and bouncing off each other and the guard rails all the way home. It was another 3 plus hour ride home. It's Alaska! You'd think people would know how to drive in these conditions.

I finally dropped off Kate and her brother and headed home down the twisty country road that leads to TrippingOverMoose Ranch. About a mile from home I watched a Mini-van approach from a side road a couple hundred yards ahead of me. He caught my eye because he was going too fast to stop at the intersection he was headed for. I was right. When he touched his brakes the mini-van turned into a sled did a 200 degree rotation across in front of me and slid backwards off into the ditch across the road coming to rest with the drivers door firmly jammed into a tree. I carefully slowed and pulled into the next driveway about 35 yards beyond the street he had come from. I made my way back to the accident scene on foot to lend assistance. I arrived at the scene no more than 1 minute after the car impacted the tree. There was already another car stopped on the road right at the scene already. That car must have successfully pulled out from the same side road just after I went by. A woman was standing between the 2 cars directing a large group of small children as they climbed out of the car in the ditch and into the car on the road. The ditch diving driver, a man, was still in the drivers seat. I asked, " Is everyone alright?"
The woman, with a Russian accent answered, "Yes, Yes, " and then said something to the driver in Russian.
I said, " I just wanted to make sure everyone was OK!"
She said "Yes, Yes," spoke to the driver motioning to a bag on the front passenger seat. He clambered up and over the passenger seat grabbing the bag and getting into the backseat of the upright car with all of the children. She then got into the front passenger seat, slammed the door and they all drove away, leaving the car, headlights still on, leaning rejectedly into the tree and me standing on the side of the road in the falling snow. I figured they were late for a potluck or he had no drivers license, insurance nor english and damn well did not want to be there when an Alaskan State Trooper Arrived.

I finished my ride home, fixed something for dinner and fell asleep on the couch for awhile. When I woke I stood up and glanced out the front window just in time to see something move in the darkness just to the left of the porch. I quickly killed the interior lights and moved to the kitchen window in time to see a big healthy moose calf stop at the corner of my shed just on the thin edge of the light from the porch light. As I watched her twin stepped out from behind the shed and the two touched noses. Then their mama followed the first one out of the light and the three of them slowly walked down my driveway into the dark.

It's still snowing. Tomorrow more snow removal.

Winter Wonderland

It snowed 8 to 10 inches at TrippingOverMoose Ranch last night. The snow is pretty wet and it's suppposed to be warm tomorrow so clearing the 600 plus feet of driveway is going to be a workout for me and the trusty snowthrower. This being Alaska in November, it was dark when I left this morning and it'll be dark when I get home so I'll try to get pictures tomorrow.

Boo!

My costume? Old guy waiting for retirement!

Happy Halloween! I awoke this morning, and drove to work in the pouring rain. The snow will all be gone by this evening. Well, it'll keep the trick or treaters off the street. Are there trick or treaters any more? The last ones I saw were my niece and nephew about 6 or 7 years ago. Admittedly to get to my house, children have to walk down a long dark driveway through Trippingovermoose Ranch, (btw...cow and calf moose just off my back porch last night.) Also most of the families in my neighborhood are Orthodox Christians that don't celebrate Halloween. So maybe there are still children trick or treating. I buy candy every year, but I end up eating it myself. When my kids were young I tended to take them to friends and relatives, malls and school parties. We didn't do random trick or treating like I did as a child.

A 4 Hour and 45 Minute Commute

This afternoon a 18 wheeler jackknifed just past the Ft Richardson overpass, blocking the one and only road between Anchorage where I work and Wasilla where I live. No one was injured. We left work at 4 pm for what is usually a 1 hour commute. I got home at 8:45 pm. For those who know the area, we had an errand to run on Muldoon Road across from the Fred Meyers. After the errand we attempted to return to the Glenn Hwy via Muldoon. It took 2 and a half hours to move the 3/4 mile back to the Glenn. Then the 3 lanes of five miles an hour traffic crept along to Ft Ricahrdson. That stretch took 45 minutes. At Ft Richardson, right where the wrecked 18 wheeler lay in the ditch the traffic suddenly spead up to normal speed. It turns out the accident had been cleaned up 3 to 4 hours before. We were just experiencing the backlog, it took 6 hours for the traffic to return to normal. We really need another route to Wasilla, but thanks to the press and "The Bridge To Nowhere" the chance of the Knik Arm bridge being bult in my lifetime is nonexistent.

Talkeetna Mountains

Government Peak, taken from my front porch 20 minutes ago.

That Didn't Take Long.

Two inches of snow this morning...

Winter Project

I bought a used motorhome. Twenty five years ago, not fully understanding what the ravages of time would do to my joints and spine I snickered at the old fogies in their motor homes. "Why bother going camping if your if your bringing the house with you," I'd say as hiked into the backcountry and slept in a 2 pound tent with only a 1/4 inch thick piece of foam between me and the tree roots and rocks. Just another example of the ignorance of youth. I can and will sleep in tents, when neccessary, for instance in hunting camp. But when ever I can get the motorhome close enough I will sleep comfortably and snicker at the young kids and thier tiny tents.

The motorhome needs some repairs. It's 29 feet long and "Just" fits into my 36 foot long garage. At my son's suggestion last night I took "before" pictures of all the areas that I will be working on. In the coming weeks you can expect a series of before and after picture as I complete each repair. Won't that be fasinating. Unfortunately I didn't think of taking the pictures before I scraped off all of the skulls, pinup girls, and biker slogans off the windows. The previous owner had a "different" philosophy of aesthetics than I. My aesthetics are over the top U.S.A patriotic symbols. Yes, I realize that some people will find that as objectionable as I found all the skulls, barbed wire and moral anarchy slogans that I removed. Yes it does make me feel good to irritate people who find American Patriotism objectionable. Deal with it!

Ok, I lied about the dog photos...

"Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!"

My old camera, with its fixed lense and 1.2 megapixel chip got a severe scratch right in the center of the lense. Regrettably that meant I had to get a new camera. My new Canon Rebel XTi arrived the day before yesterday. I've spent the last two evenings with the camera and manual taking innumerable photos of the dogs and my living room, ( I shall spare you.) However this weekend I will not be in the office for all the daylight hours and hope to try to find interesting subjects out side of my living room. Photos coming, you've been warned!

Moose calf from this past June

Feeling Old

Today is my youngest child's 32nd birthday. Happy birthday, Son. The youngest of my nieces and nephews are in High School. One of my nephews is driving home to Alaska right now after finishing 4 years in the U.S. Coast Guard. Didn't his father and I just get out of the Army a few years ago? My older sister and I are both Grandparents. Except for the fact that every joint hurts nearly all the time, I take a stack of prescription medication every morning, there is an old guy with white hair and a long white beard staring back at me from the mirror when I brush my teeth, and I've been working the same job for over 20 years, I feel like I should only be 32. Time speeds up. The days feel like a couple hours. The months like weeks and the years like months. Summer just got here and now it's gone. Time is running down hill. The only advantage is the winters are shorter than when I was young, since a day on a snow machine cripples me up for a week.

It's coming!

My brother sent me this picture from our neighborhood, taken yesterday. His message was, "In case you forget when everything is dark and covered in snow next month." Summer and especially fall is why we live in Alaska.

First Post

October 1, 2007 ... seems like a good day to start a new blog. I've kinda let other blogs drop by the wayside in the past so I have low expectations for this one. Time will tell....