strange day when i can't see anchorage, but i can see denali!!

that is my girl blossom in the bog. she's so cute. rio is not seen as she is lagging behind sniffing something...generally some other dogs pee. must be very exciting being a dog.

i've been very excited by all the fog and frost. seems impossible to capture the serenity of it with the camera. hard to get the lighting to work out with so many shades of grey...but that is life in my world. shades of grey. i've never been good at black and white...i just live life with the shades of grey, always straddling fences on the issues. nobody is all right and nobody is all wrong. well, actually i guess a few occasionally are all wrong. there are some real nuts out there, freaks too. okay..so not always grey...but this week..shades of grey.

i think the beauty of the fog is mesmerizing despite my rambling. i hope you enjoy the pictures and i hope that i have at least captured a glimpse of how our world is up here right now.

it looks cold outside and so i think i've overdressed each day. when i walk i feel perfectly warm. of course, with the humidity being so high i find that upon returning home i am chilled to the bone and have to re-heat. sometimes i climb into bed and turn on the blanket, today i had to give up on that and just take a hot, hot shower. a hot tub would be useful and i have used the alaska club's steam room for this purpose as well. i had no idea what chilled to the bone was when i lived in california. it really does happen.

since i bogged yesterday i opted to go to n. bivouac park. did some loops in there. i had though the fog may be lifted here, but not so much. still pretty in it's own, eerie way. the pine above seemed to me to be a pine out of whoville. below...well, that is self explanatory, but came out kinda cool.

there is my city of anchorage, devoured by fog. you can see "sleeping lady" mountain across the inlet. resting on fog today.

every branch, every blade of grass is coated in frost. it was super thick up on the hillside. i know i keep mentioning it...but dang it...i wish i had the close up lenses. still looks kinda cool. perhaps one of these years i'll find a way to photograph the frost that does it justice.

i was truely shocked when i turned around from the foggy view of anchorage to see denali mountain standing proud. so crazy...so bizarre...to be able to see a mountain 5 hour drive north of you and not to be able to see the city that lies right beneath your feet. the whole thing just rocked. i kept staring at the big mountain in the distance, then turning to look at the city that was no longer there.

hope i get sleep tonight. i would love to walk further along the basher trail. it connects with the powerline trail. you can walk and walk and walk in anchorage. gotta love this town. i may just hit the dog park and then freddies. gotta mail packages, get stamps, pay bills, get groceries, change the cat litter box. the ever ending list of menial tasks that take up so much of my do nothing time.

watched "ordinary people" the other night. hadn't seen it for years. it's still a very good movie. a pretty emotional flick...angst. i love angst in a flick. i guess i missed the anchorage movie festival. i'll try and get a few of them through net flix.

i drove less than a mile from n.bivouac trailhead to the basher trailhead a bit up the road and suddenly the fog dissappated. the frost was even thicker up here. the air has been so thick you can feel the humidity of it. the ice is in the fog....it hits me. our humidity has been close to 100. so everything is coated with ice crystals. it's really cool. of course, the sun was in setting mode as usual in the late afternoon. i slept only a few hours before heading out so i'm really happy i'm on call and hoping that i don't get called in. censes has been so low i'm not too worried, but just as you settle in the phone could ring. directly above was deep blue skies...haven't seen that for awhile in anchorage. supposed to be foggy again tomorrow and then finally start to clear.

as i walked up the basher trail, i started to see this halo form. i guess, this forms with the refraction of sunlight through all those ice crystals. i think i got some awesome photo ops. it was just beautiful..so i skipped rushing home for a nap and stayed to take pictures. i guess the bright lights on either side of the halo are called "sun dogs".

this is one of the "sun dogs". pretty cool.

nature just never ceases to amaze me. there is always something new and photo worthy. tanya said she hasn't been taking as many photos as she used to...i told her to start a blog. her parents would love it and it inspires you to get out there with the camera and look around your world more intensely.

such a great source of stress relief for me too. my job can be a bit stressful at times. last night wasn't too bad though i was floated out to renal care unit. i've never worked there and have never been oriented, suddenly i'm out there with a full assignment. in my mind the mark of a really good nurse is one who can adapt to any environment. so i am proud to say i adapted quite nicely. hopefully, all was fine with the patients. those renal patients have such a litany of medical issues. they are a mess, really. it's sad. i remember thinking...two of my patients are scheduled for discharge and really they still look like crap...they probably always do though.

my co-workers were pretty much non-verbal. well, the moniter tech was too verbal. he apparently takes issue with those who live in the U.S. and don't learn english. he answered a call light and when i asked what the patient wanted he said loudly, "i don't know, she doesn't speak english". this sort of comment was made several times through the night. i just avoided him. the patient wasn't primarily english speaking, however, she was able to communicate her needs to me and her daughter was there who spoke english perfectly well. i just find people like him so annoying. i just told him she did speak english and those intercoms are tough to hear through with anyone.

also the dude insists on keeping his hair in a long ponytail despite the fact that he has no hair on top...i mean...give it up already!! the other guy, a nurse, was nice enough, just no chatting occured at all through the night. i'm usually pretty chatty. i got some cont ed done so i guess that was good.

the dogs have had some minor issues. rio has a lipoma like lump on her ear...for some reason that thing burst open. that dog has the biggest ears i've ever seen on a dog. poor girl. i think a trip to the vet when my stretch is over may be required. today i discovered a small bite wound in the middle of blossom's butt/back. doesn't look like it's festering, but does bother her when i touch it. not sure how/when that happened.

well, off to pay bills and buy a few gifts on line. just have a few more things to pick up...should get a tree i guess. this week off. i'm a bit slow. some years i'm more into the whole thing, other years less so. could be cause this year i'm working the rest of the big holidays.