baxter bog and bicentennial park...

it was a foggy day here in the anchorage bowl. it was patchy at times, but very thick. i thought of doing many things, but decided doing too much driving around in that fog may be a bit of a hazard. less cars on the road is usually best. tanya called and decided to join rio, blossom and i in the bog. bodhi got neutered so was supposed to be kept a bit quiet to she wanted blossom to wear out indy a bit. i think it helped some, but indy is pretty active. the sun actually shone through as we were in the bog. it quickly disappeared when i came inside to settle rio in.
not 10 minutes passed when i looked outside to see it was totally fogged in again. i ate lunch and headed up to north bivouac trailhead. often i find that just that small amount of elevation will take you out of the fog....it did. blossom and i took a big loop up through the dog park trail part and then through some back trails. above is up on the hillside.

this is another one of those cool wasp nests. it's so odd that i never noticed these in the past years i've lived here. this one was really cool as the outer shell is ripped away a bit and you can see some of the inner design of it. i'm happy there are no wasps there presently. i'm not a fan. i guess it's wasps that live in these? we went across the marsh/meadow area and since we'd had the dense fog mixed with cold weather...there was awesome frost everywhere. the first picture is natural light and the second one i altered a bit on the computer to try and highlight the frost.

looks like a black and white shot. i still like to get black and white...and should attempt some again with my old film camera. i guess i could just alter some on the computer. i'm getting better at using the computer to make minor changes in the photo and enhance the picture. there is something about the challenge of film and black and white though that i find fascinating. i wonder if they bother at all with film in colleges anymore. seems like it would still be helpful for photography majors to work with a less forgiving media and gain some useful skills. lighting is so critical to black and white though, especially with snow and fog and such. i never got very good at it, but i love a good black and white picture. tanya was the one who handed me a few rolls of black and white when we were headed off to round island. i've lost that going digital. can only take so much camera gear on most trips and film...well, it's becoming a thing of the past quickly.

we all have to adapt to the life that presents itself to us and that life is always changing...and in our world it changes rapidly. i'm not sure i always adapt as rapidly as i should. what changes will this next generation have to cope with since they are so good at these computers and gadgets...

i've been trying to get a few pictures of mufasa since i know he won't live all that much longer...or maybe he will. he and sapogi love to curl up together so it's fun to get some with them together.

this is at the top of the dog park trail on n. bivouac. there are a few hills up which is always great on a chilly day as it helps warm you. i wanted to check it out anyway as there had been a sink hole a few weeks back. they were doing work and it's all cleared up i guess. there is a gas pipeline that runs underthere and i think that there must have been some sort of leak. who knows. it's apparently fixed so maybe next monday walk i'll take us a different route. the picture is taken about 2:30 pm and you can see the fog below.

there is an exposed creek that runs all year. probably the slope of the hill and how fast the water moves through. anyway, there was lots of ice build up on it so i took the shot below. i tried to get some cool frost pictures...but need my close up lenses for that. really need to buy those one of these days.

we saw a few moose in the bog. well...rio scented them out. these two were relaxing out there. a mother and her calf. they weren't too concerned about us and i don't think rio could tell which direction they came from. blossom noticed them and gave a small bark, but otherwise we moved past them.

sorry the next picture came through sideways. every so often a picture does that and i have no idea how or why and i also have no idea how to fix it...thus an example of my inability to adapt to the computer age completely. i have come a long ways baby though so oh well. this moose was resting comfortably until we came along. this one looks young and stood up quickly upon seeing us all. hopefully this young calf will survive the winter out there. thought it was cute that it was out there near the snowman that someone had built. i should make a snow moose calf. could be fun. i'm not thinking i have the artistic ability for that one though.

saved the best for last...i thought the one below turned out wonderful. just got lucky. right when we got to the bog the fog was still lingering. the lighting looked kinda sweet. you can see how low the sun is...it's 12:00pm. high noon when we took off for our walk out there.

i'll probably put in another oldie but goodie. i watched "fried green tomato's" last night. haven't seen it for a long time. always a good flick though. a bit of female power. i think i tend to become more of a feminist of sorts as i get older. just seems that women across the globe get the short end of it often and that men power thier way over them. not that i'm a man-hater or anything like that, but there are many men who deserve to be hated for the pain they have inflicted on others. our state has a terribly high rape rate. also a high rate of abuse. this young girl who was stabbed this week is just an indication of the issues at hand. i am often happy that i haven't had kids. must be so stressful to raise them in these times. you can do everything right and well...just so sad that girls so often value themselves through thier looks and sexuality.

i remember i used to read cosmo and a dear friend, who i always respected and who is a strong and powerful female in my mind, pointed out to me that really the magazine just instructed women on how to please thier men...just a new format, but same story. it was true. that seems to be the theme of so much of the media. how to catch the man, please the man...

guess that isn't the most uplifting lead in but...my neice just had her baby girl today. sounds like all went well and all are healthy. babies are so pure and everything around them is soft and hopeful. it doesn't hurt to hope in this world of hopelessness and new life always brings out the purest hope there is. so congrats to my neice and her husband for thier gift to the world...may she bring joy and laughter to thier world and a positive force of good to our world.

tried pumpkin bread from a box...not nearly as good as the real stuff i make, but felt good to back on a foggy day.