each day an adventure in alaska: my tarn obsession...

first shot is actually just random fall leaf shot from the other days walk in bicentennial park...more over next few days perhaps. the rest are from the hanging valley walk...mostly from our time spent at the first tarn. i love that word, tarn. it's smaller than a lake, but bigger than a pond. enough for blossom to swim in and enough to get some wonderful pictures and cool reflections. i took many pictures there so most of these are at the tarn. would be a wonderful place to overnight, cold right now, but there was a camp spot and i imagine that would be fun.

was trying to get a picture of blossom covered in reindeer moss, but i obviously missed. she and bodhi got into a pretty good wrestle session on the moss after a little photo op occured.

as usual blossom was on the bottom in these tussles. she's a good sport about it.

kept myself busy today. walked the bog, then ran errands and then walked the dog park at university lake. another beautiful fall day. lots of wind last night, a few trees down all over and leaves seem to be more on the ground than the trees. i did make it to the alaska mill and feed to get that corn stuff to help prevent chickweed. now i need to get out in the garden. maybe tomorrow. do a good walk and then buckle down to gardening for a bit before swimming in the evening. i love the pool on the weekends. it's just less crazy.

obviously tanya is more photogenic than i am. it's shocking that i caught her with both her dogs looking. of course, looking at these two pictures...one set up by me the other, of me, set up by her...i like how i set mine up better. it's funny how you see the picture in your head but can't relay that to another in order to get that shot of you that you see in your head. so she got the shot i wanted for myself cause i can't get in her head. so what i'm saying is that looking at these two pictures i think i set up a picture just a bit better than she does. there i said it. the difference is she stool to take mine and i knelt to take hers. amazing what a difference something so simple can be.

this one again i was wishing she would have bent down and gotten more of the moss in the front of the scene. cest la vive. i guess that is why artists do self portraits, never happy with anyone elses rendition...i'm such a critic!!

bought rio some new booties for this winter. her old ones were all beaten up and had holes in them. i also stopped to buy some material to make a friend a baby quilt. while there i saw some cute material and think i'll make rio another winter coat. gotta go buy some more fleece for the underside of it. her other coats are fleece on both and this material isn't so we'll see, maybe just a nice fall coat. not sure she deserves it today the brat. when i got out of the shower i found rio finishing off an entire bar of coast soap! ick!! there haven't been any negative repurcussions yet, but tomorrow could be a different day. stupid dog!!!

only got in 50 lengths today. all was great except i was getting quite hungry. best to not get that caloric drain in the middle of the pool. it felt good and i enjoyed my swim. if i get 25-35 laps in i'm pretty happy. that only took me 45 minutes so i've sped up. i thought i would spend a few minutes in the jacuzzi. right after i got in some naked chick got in...and i know she didn't shower before like the gym asks everyone to. double ick. i know what is in those folds and it's not pretty. so home to make manicotti.

i'm actually quite bored with foods. strange. not all foods, just the stuff i seem to have been eating for decades. my cooking skills aren't the worse, but i'm no julia child that is for sure. need to find some new recipes to keep my palate entertained.

indy is finally swimming. he found a piece of a tennis ball, which quickly was lost to the tarn.

again, this is a picture taken by tanya. she is the one with the fancy camera, but this is all crooked. strange. i took pictures of her as well, but not sure how those came out. i didn't take any with my camera.

a new swimming poem

my goggles,

allow me to view,

a new world,

people watch,

from a new vantage,

secretly i observe,

below the surface,

at times to learn,

new strokes,

new techniques,

mostly curiosity,

the who, what and why's,

of pool life,

for discussion in my head,

as i swim back and forth,

through my lane,

water aerobics,

diving classes,

old and young,

all body shapes,

are observed,

by my goggled eyes.

this don't ask don't tell thing seems so silly to me. there was another article in the paper today. a lesbian nurse got re-instated i think after a court appeal. i mean who cares what your nurses sexuality is when you are bleeding to death...you just hope the nurse is proficient and fast acting.

i've always thought it funny that they don't want homosexuals to go to war. i mean the ironic thing to me is that in the end it protects our homosexual population from the dangers of war. seems an odd thing to do from people who want no homosexuality. always thought that whole don't ask/dont tell thing was silly. such craziness. just what does that have to do with war, really. gay people can be just as proficient in battle and isn't that what matters, skill over sexuality. doubt one has to worry about a co-worker coming onto you in a foxhole with guns and bombs going off, there are other things to think about at that moment. all just a political cop out really.

went to the mall, i rarely go to the mall, but i had a few returns for eddie bauers that i'd ordered online. so returned those, bought a few more things there, basic long sleeve shirts, and then hit the body shop. every year we get $25 for christmas i think from the cardiologists but it could be from the hospital. i think the hospital gave us $25 for the local market though. i finally just spent the mall one. i went to the food court, but was overwhelmed by all the choices, finally just gave up and bought a subway club. food is such a bother.

wait..i did take a piture of tanya with my camera. yep, i like this set up better than the one she did of me.

as you can see i had loads of fun with these mini islands in the tarn.

the senator race is heating up. lisa murkowski wants to be a write in. i'm not sure how i'll vote at this time except to say that i won't vote for the tea parties candidate. we'll see. will be interesting to see how she does as a write in. those have not had a history of being very successful, but everyone likes a challenge.

guess there was another little 5.3 quake north of here about 4 am. i slept through it. the epicenter was out of talkeetna so a good 2 hour drive north. it was felt i'm sure, but i actually like having multiple 3-5's as i feel like it relieves pressure.

another thing to add to my to do list i guess is trying to make another calendar like last year. that was fun. pricey, but fun. i liked having one. i think my friends enjoyed them the most. yeah friends!! just have to sit down at the computer and load more pictures from this year to put in there. takes time.

above looks back to where we'd hike from the tarn. that was about at the little campsite that sat there at the tarn.

another new poem

a smile,

turns to laughter,

words,

to conversations,

numbers are exchanged,

walks arranged,

thus strangers,

become friends.

excited to start seeing my trail friends again. everyone goes thier seperate ways come summer, but as fall and winter arrive the old trails fill with dog walkers i've seen out there for years and have befriends. third year of monday walks starts this coming monday. sounds like kelly will be able to make it and andrea will come with her new baby as well she thinks. so should be the start of another fun year of walks.

revised old poem:

UNKNOWN RELATIVES

my fathers family,

are lined up in coffins,

in a utah cemetary,

most died as small children,

babies,

many the same day,

they were born,

all i ever knew of the eleven born,

were two,

my father and an aunt,

all the rest perished,

times were tough,

little lives fragile,

i visited the gravesite,

years ago,

my memories are few,

but those little stones,

lined up told the tale,

the tale of lives lost too soon,

one wonders how a woman goes on,

having suffered such loss,

we stress over such meaningless trials,

in this world of ours,

one needent look far to find lives,

far more difficult than our own,

and people,

whose struggles,

seems unbearable and cruel.

my father was the youngest of all those 11 lives. his last living sister passed fairly recently. before that one sibling lived to early 20's i believe only to perish in childbirth and another sibling survived to about 5 years. one has to wonder how that impacted his upbringing. his father drank and i suspect his mother probably had some issues related to all that loss, how could you not. i know they were poor.