Thursday, August 13, 2009

kodiak to dutch harbor...11 dutch/unalaska

since i can't resist a chance to take yet another bald eagle shot...i took a few more and will post a few tonight. above is a baldie landing on a light post in the parking lot at the grocery store. i love how stretched out his legs are in preparation for landing. did i mention these baldies in dutch are larger than any i remember seeing...they were also all pretty dirty. the pretty clean white heads seemed to be missing. still an amazingly beautiful bird to watch. the bird below was hanging out on some of the many crab pots laying about town.


above is at summer beach. i think that is what it's called. it's also the place where our travel mate, maria, decided to take a dive into the bering sea. she just stripped down and dove in...gotta give her chops for that. i did mention that i would have prefered a more substantial under garment than the thong, but whatever. hehe. she wanted to do this swim so i thought a sandy beach would be easier. after we walked this beach we took a drive up the road. it eventually leads back into town,but at the top you have a view of both the pacific ocean and the bering sea. they looked the same to me up there,but the greens were just stunning. it was a fun drive. a bit scarey at times as i wasn't sure the 2 wheel drive car would make some of the hills and the rocks were brutal. i was in fear of a flat and eventually being stranded and missing the plane. we didn't go over any cliffs though and all was well.

in case you hadn't seen enough eagles see how many you can find in this picture of a stack of containers. more pictures later...

just returned from the funeral. erik was a special needs kid and so there were several of his buddies there. his family wanted donations to special olympics in lieu of flowers and such so that is what i did. it was the minister who spoke for the most part. he had known erik so did have some fun ancedotes from church and spoke of things the family had asked him to mention. it was like attending a church service overall though. i did like that a buddy of eriks spoke. they had communion, which i've never taken before, so didn't start now. i'd say i'm agnostic,but hopeful that there is some order and plan. a co-worker next to me asked if i'd be going up, i think she was relieved to know she had an option. religion gives comfort to those who believe so it serves a purpose. several people there from work to support benita.

watched a net flix the other day that kelly had recommended. she said keep the tissue handy. it was called, "taking chance". a marine who has remained in a desk job for years feels torn because he's at the desk while other marines are dying in iraq. he looks at a computer list of casualties and when a name comes up from his tiny home town he decides to escort the body back to his family. it was interesting to learn the level of care that is taken in the return of these soldiers from the field and back to home. it is based on a true article about this duty. he was a fairly high ranking marine and normally wouldn't do this duty, but he felt duty bound to be involved somehow. the movie just takes you through the emotional journey these escorts take. all along the journey he meets the regular americans who stop what they are doing and pay respects to the soldier who gave his life. it's a very moving movie and i'd recommend it to everyone. i appreciate that the marine corp takes this time and effort to give these men and women the safe passage home they have earned.

went to the bog a few mornings with rio and blossom. the other day, i had a few interesting encounters. first i had the dogs on thier leashes and saw a guy coming so i pulled the two dogs off the trail about 10 feet and put blossom in a sit. a normal person would just walk past with thier dog. this idiot kept stopping and letting his puppy get closer and closer til the puppy was sniffing blossom on her extension leash. he never asked if my dogs were killer attack dogs or anything. the puppy was 9 months old. just seemed so odd to me. if someone makes the effort to pull thier dogs off the trail i just go past them. when rio started circling to get a better sniff the guy starts realing in the pup cause he doesn't want the leashes to get tied up.

a few minutes later i'm walking down the side of the road, again dogs on my sides on leashes. a young girl pushing a stroller comes running across the street right towards me, stops 10 feet from me and snottily says,' "i don't want this baby near those dogs!!" and sneered at me. she had come to me...i did the only thing a mature woman can do...i sneered right back at her with that squishy/scrunched up face look that kids do so well. so she's destined to grow up to be an idiot.
took blossom to campbell airstrip for a longer walk. it is raining now, but it was sunny. no bears, but we did have a few moose encounters. they were close, but in the trees so no good photo ops.

have been working on these baby quilts as well. picked out materials that i feel pretty happy with. 2 are all finished. i took them to work to finish off the edges. had to use my old lady reading glasses and found myself tipping my nose down so i could see the moniters for my two kids i was caring for. it's such an old lady move...tipping the head with the reading glasses on. hehe. i had purchased a little crafters sewing machine at walmart thinking that would be enough to replace my failing sewing machine i've had since i was 18. that little machine was falling apart within the first hour i had it out so i returned that today...of course, i got through 3 quilts before i returned it...so i guess i kinda borrowed it. i just was set on doing the projects and it was too late to return it. the box was initailly all taped shut and when i got the machine out it was already threaded and there was a sample peice of material with stitches already in....makes me wonder if they didn't use all these for a craft class of some sort. the foot pedal ceased working after the first quilt.

i stopped by sears, but they don't have much in stock. target tomorrow perhaps so i can get this last quilt put together. i can tie the one i have here then i'll have 3 done and can get them shipped out soon. did i mention the beginings of fall colours creeping into the landscape?

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