a day of ice...

another day, another few hundred calories burned. the dishes are done and the laundry is loaded. it's the small accomplishments that matter. some people live by, what would jesus do. i'm more of a "if i died tomorrow.." kinda thinker. yes, someone would have to bulldoze the house, but it's better to get out and live life than spend all your time cleaning house. this i learned from my mother. though, actually, jesus didn't seem like the sort to sit at home and make sure the place was swept up so perhaps on this one i follow both creeds. find most of the people who live by the " what would jesus do" don't really get what jesus would have done.
my mom just didn't like housecleaning. it's a never ending task so i must agree with her in the less is best plan. i remember the sun had finally shown up in ketchikan and everyone was out enjoying it. everyone except this co-worker i guess. she said she hadn't gotten out there because she had too much housework to do...really?? in a place where you get over 12 feet of rain a year, when the sun comes out, forget the housework.
started my day in the bog. well started my getting out of the bed/house day. took rio and blossom for a loop there. blue skies and close to 20 degrees. there is talk of snow, we'll see, one can hope. after the bog i met my friend sandra out for play time at westchester lagoon. the lagoon is frozen over each winter and it's a great place for ice skating and family play. there are some big loops hot mopped. today it seems many others had the same idea we did. everyone looked to be having a great time. love seeing all the town out on the ice. great living some place where the cold doesn't hinder peoples activities. there are some barrels with a warming fire. no lights though, that would be cool.
as you can see, many different activities take place on the ice. above a woman pulls her baby in a sled. below..well that is sandra getting some lovin from blossom. that dog is pretty wiped out and sore i suspect after running on the slippery ice. i took her frisbee and tossed it on the snowy bits. i think that and all the people to say hello to was her favorite.

had her harness on and we did a loop with her "pulling". too many distractions though. she's a great dog out there in a crowd so i let her play solo after the first loop. the loop may be about 1/4 mile.

there you can see part of the loop. below is blossom and i with the mountains in the background.

there is a large round area and then 2 smaller circles as well that are also hot mopped. in the background the cross country ski trails run by the lagoon as well. you can ski/walk/bike from close to my place all the way here and then on to kincaid park. anchorage has miles and miles of trails. they are lit i believe on that whole stretch.

sleeping lady is easily seen out there. great to be here for sunset. we booked before that. sandra's feet were chilly and blossom was getting beat. besides i wanted to hit the pool. didn't get as many laps in today as my feet were cramping. probably a bit dehydrated. i'll have to rectify that tonight. thought about another ski this evening as well, but with the cramping i opted out.

pics with blossom.

this family was quite entertaining. they had a active and happy lab and an active and happy boy. the boy was getting dragged all over in the sled by the dog. there were some pretty good wipe outs with loads of laughter.

westchester is just a great place to be for views.i'm always a bit baffled getting down there though as it's tucked away in the neighborhoods and there are some one way streets and it's confusing.

hoping to get to bed earlier tonight. have some great cookies that i'll take to the monday walk tomorrow. never know if anyone else will show up, but i know i'll eat cookies. baked oatmeal/chocolate chip. the dough isn't as good as plain chocolate chip, but the cookies are quite tasty.

folks warming up out there on the ice with the train passing in the background. loads of tourists take this route in the summer, not sure what all was moving through today. lots of cars though. 2 trains passed while we were out there. with all the modernization in our world, trains and trucks are still vital to our society. will they ever be relics?

there were a few kicksleds out there today. you can see one in this group, along with another kid in a sled being towed by the family dog. the dad is holding the rope as that dog can book, the dad lost the rope once.

there is something for everyone out there. love the communityness of it. again, great to see kids out and about, away from tv and computers and such. gives one hope for the future.

since westchester is near downtown i thought i'd stop by the ice sculpture displays at the city center. have wanted to stop by in the evening when the lights are on, but will try and do that another day. fairbanks has a huge ice sculpture contest, international from what i can gather. would love to make a winter trip up there one of these years. i thought several of these came out pretty nice. there were several folks out here as well enjoying the ice rink and sculptures.

i really liked the walrus, i'm a bit of a fan of walrus.

thought the lynx was amazing as well. the details are always impressive.

need to have a shredding session. the paper in the house is piling up. always saving bits to be filed and then never looking at the files again, except to file more crap. every so often i have a purging party. since i want to start re-doing floors in the bedrooms, purging is going to be needed. we collect so much crap. great to watch one of those hoarders shows for inspiration. not that i'm anywhere near a hoarder, but i think most of us are pack rats. i'm more cluttery than others, but still not near pack rat status. not a goal i want to acheive though. my parents were definitely pack rats, of course, i think usually what happens to most people is that they just get busy and more stuff comes in than goes out and who has time to declutter. my parents weren't hoarders, just extremely disorganized. i tend towards an organized mess. i like stuff to have a place, i just am not always good at getting it to the place.

still have yet to see a lynx in the wild. have run across tracks a few times. not sure what i'd do if i actually saw one. i suspect it would be gone before i could get a lens on it though.

i believe that is the performing arts center. have seen plays there, though i'm not one to go to many plays/operas. the lion king sounded like something i'd enjoy, and i thoroughly did.

looking back from the art center towards the little ice rink and in the background is our wyland wall.

blossom was a good sport about walking around with me, but she was tired and sore i could tell. she is one of those once in a lifetime dogs. just perfect for me. she also looks so adorable in her harness.

no alaskan ice sculpture display is complete without salmon.

the mastadon was pretty cool too though. i'll have to go back at a later time. the sculptures always look cool with lights on them.

can't believe it's almost february....eek, time passes so quickly.

i hadn't noticed this before but they had made a maze out of blocks of ice for the kids.

wyland is an artist out of laguna beach. he paints huge oceanic murals on walls across the globe. always makes me happy to see his paintings. not sure how many are in alaska, but this one is downtown.

the signature in the right upper corner there says it was created in '94.

very cool.

well, as i said more laundry and attempt to retire early this evening....though as i say that it is already nearly 11pm. just a night owl.