planes, ski's and happy dogs...

so some were watching the superbowl yesterday. i did put it on my tv, then went upstairs and took a nap. somebody won, somebody lost, the world went on. i was granted an evening off saturday night. on call. usually i have a difficult time sleeping when i'm on call, but this time i read, slept, read, slept, read, slept and eventually it was morning and i woke up having never been called in.
every superbowl sunday in anchorage is the ski for women. it's a series of fun and serious races by women, for women. benefits women in crisis, abuse. i didn't sign up this year, but stopped by with the pups to show my support. was a bit late as the party wave had left already. did see my co-workers come back to the finish line. i think sandra was excited to see rio and blossom there. i had dressed them up as i wasn't sure how the dogs would be recieved at the event and dogs in costume always go over better than dogs not in costume. the party wave is a costumed event.

after the event at kincaid i was a bit chilly. it was kind of windy out there. so the dogs and i cruised around lake hood, which is fairly close to kincaid. i'll have to take a walk out there soon. i always love little planes, they make for fun photo's so i just wandered about and took pictures. it was a beautiful day as you can see.

many of the floats are off the planes for obvious reasons...the lakes are frozen. lake hood is said to be one of the busiest float plane airports if not the largest in the world. it can get pretty crazy in the summers. in the winters it slows down. planes do still land on the lake, but the flaots are changed over to ski's. above are floats in storage or for sale.

i have landed in wheeled, floated and skied planes. love water landings. they are just so cool. i've only landed on the ski's once. did the flight to ruth glacier and around denali. it was one of the smoothest landings ever.

sleeping lady is in the background, lots of planes waiting for summer in the foreground.

it occurs to me often that people think they know what is best for them. they can even become obsessed with what they believe they need to have happiness. they often pray fervently. personally, i think that old quote, "be careful what you ask for, you may get it" (okay, i'm paraphrasing), but it's true. i think there are powers greater than us who know our path, but if you annoy the gods or god, eventually, you are given what it is you so fervently believe you need. this doesn't always lead down the path envisioned.

love the floats...thought they made for cool pictures, like above. perhaps i'm the only one who likes stuff like this. was thinking i should head down there for a walk with the dogs closer to sunset one of these days. the planes, the skies, the lake...could be some fun photo's

it was quite quiet there yesterday. i love quiet. it's missing so often in modern life. my work is so noisy. alarms are constantly going off. when i get in my car, more often than not, i turn off the radio. i think my brain just needs peace. this peace is lacking in the lives of those around me i suspect. at work, the babies and kids sleep with televisions blasting most often. it doesn't seem to matter to parents what content is on. there is just so much stimuli in this generation. more and more even the remotest places have access. not long ago there were just places that electronics/phones couldn't reach. this is not as true. everywhere you go there is input/stimuli. where will this next generation find peace and quiet, will all the noise they are exposed to impact them, how?

on the lake are these tiny huts and then a plane, hut, plane, hut, plane. some are quite plain, others a bit spruced up.

floats sit by a hut on the lake.

love the quiet of snow, the crunch, the wind through the tree's. those sounds bring peace to the soul.

work was work. craziness, sadness, poor choices. we see it all. lessons seem hard to learn and you see a grim future for those you care for if they don't gain some understanding into thier lives and the consequeces of thier choices. my work does help clarify things for me in my life. does this mean i make all the right choices? it's doubtful, but i think i have insight at this stage of the game that assists me to constantly consider things. getting older is great that way, at least for some. more often than not, people are stubborn and foolish. they repeat previous habits and just don't get the change that would bring them greater happiness. sad to see so many go through the process of life and walk back out with so much learning undone. i like to think another chance awaits them. in the buddhist philosophy it seems like it's a long process to enlightenment.

who could look out at this beauty and not find peace and strength.

i don't get many days off like the other night. great when it happens though. made it easier to wake up this morning and get the day started.

they tracked a polar bear that swam for 426 miles without locating any sea ice. her cub died in the process. she lost a great deal of weight. who thought a polar bear could even swim that great distance, but how many will survive that sort of challenge in the future. not many people really care about the polar bear and it's potential loss. i'm grateful i made a trip to see them in churchill and hope to go to kaktovik or some other northern alaskan community to see them. i'd love to travel to norway as well and see the polar bears in their natural habitat there. i fear the adaption could be too much for them and they will fail. some think, yes, well, that is the survivial of the fittest. perhaps in some ways it is, but i can't help but feel humans have a great deal of responsibilty for the speed of this process. i do know it will be a sad day when polar bears no longer roam the earth freely.

loved the sky in these pictures.

one cutely decorated hut.

the polar bear is now considered threatened and the walrus may not be far behind in it's listing. these animals have such a vast area they inhabit and inhospitable to humans in most ways. it's very difficult to assess their actual numbers and situations, which can then make accurate listing difficult as well.

was driving around today and a girl in the car next to me was texting while driving. i can totally see why there are many who would want this outlawed. she almost took off in the red light when i moved my car slightly forward, then when the light did turn green she was texting and driving and her car moved into my lane nearly a foot. i can barely text and stand. just don't think this constant communication is really needed. i suspect also that many of these texters would rather text a person standing next to them, than actually speak to them.

this plane has it's ski's on.

still bored with the usual foods i eat, but too lazy to actually cook something new. really need to plan some nights out to eat for some variety.

a few planes landed on the lake while i was out exploring. certainly, nothing like what occurs in the summer months. it does pick up at the lake during the iditarod. the milenium hotel is a drop off point for iditarod dogs.

just ski's, no wheels on this one that i can see. the plane i took to ruth glacier had both wheels and ski's. we took off on wheels and landed on the glacier on ski's. this was reversed coming back to talkeetna. i think there are also floats that can become wheeled.

the dogs and i hit the dog park a few times this week. pretty uneventful days. it's always easy to go there between shifts. the dogs like it.

my camera is all fixed. will have to find some fun macro shots again not really hoping for colder weather, could fog up the next time i work, then freeze. i'd still prefer a bit of snow, but as i said, best to just go with the flow and not tempt the gods. take it as it comes.

hopefully, i haven't repeated pictures in here. it's easy to get confused. half the time i'm doing other things while i'm loading pictures. liked how the plane framed out the moutain in the distance. the big mountain was showing sunday as well.

wheels and ski's.

the sun definitely didn't feel too warm out there yesteday. today was a bit warmer. could be kincaid is more coastal so a breeze isn't that uncommon.

chatted with my sister for a bit today. always fun to chat with family.

really liked the picture below, not sure why, but i just thought it came out nice.

read "bunicula". a childrens story a friend mailed to me. it was fun, quick little read. "written" by the dog.

obviously, i liked the little huts out there.

still need to get some stuff together for the summer trip. i will get my money back from my insulation so that will take care of all that. acc seems to think that it's employees only get 2 weeks off all summer, peds says it's actually no more than 2 weeks at a given time through the summer, which makes much more sense. seems with all the stress the staff will go through in this computer change they should be a bit chill this summer. hire some travelers and let thier employees enjoy alaska. that seemed to be the attitude in ketchikan when i got there. reward those who stay all winter, hire travelors for summer and let the regular staff out. they have also refused all vacations during this go live period. though the hospital computer seems to have our hospital administrator out on an extended leave currently. seems a horrible time for him to go on holiday. of course, he could be on some extended family or medical leave as well. just saying though.

you are almost done with the planes. you'll have to bear with it as i enjoy the planes so much. did hope to one day learn to fly myself. it's an expensive undertaking, not that people with less resources than i haven't sacrificed and learned. we all make choices. i don't think of flying so much though it always sounds so wonderful to be able to just take off in your little plane and explore alaska. i will always be a little envious of those who have that ability.

awaiting take off....location unknown

these next pictures are from the ski for women. this is a sledding hill in kincaid by the chalet. not bad when you can sled with a view of denali and foraker mountain.

my breathing supply has just become polluted. must take break and breath some fresh air...rio farted and man those are brutal!!

incense...returning air quality. love the dog, not the odor.

enough of that though. above are the friends i ran into at the finish line, amy, cindy, jennifer and sandra. looks like they have fun. manuela also went with her kids, but the two groups never connected and i never saw manuela out there.

fun jsut watching all the costumes cross over the finish line. they all seemed to enjoy the dogs. blossom and rio were pet frequently, photo ops of course as well.

here are the girls in thier halloween costumes. great to be able to make them come in handy twice/year. i think it was a bit chilly out there for rio. not sure she was too happy with hanging out. should have brought her coat, but it didn't match her collar. slave to fashion.

sledding hill from different angle with susitna (or sleeping lady) in background.

the chalet with ski's out front.

more of ski's. looks cool with all the colours all piled up.

several clever costumes as always. liked the jailbirds, though skiing chained together couldn't have been too easy. i guess i missed the sock monkey costumes, but they made the front page in the anchorage daily news. they were pretty cool. gotta love the sock monkey.

jsut a few cute kids, unknown to me. looks like they all were having fun out there. always love to see kids, especially, outdoors, not attached to games and phones and computers.

two more groups i found fun. there was also a group of jellyfish, but i didn't get any good shots of them either. really should have gotten myself up and down to the park sooner. i was just so happy in my warm bed and the position i was in was most comfortable.

ski's with denali in background.

attempted a few macro shots today, not that i have the option again. these were some ice crystals at the trailhead. i need to practive and learn more of what the lens can do, but for now practice makes for a few fun photo's and several that get tossed.

i also took some macros of the fibers in my winter hats. love the colours and all the little tiny threads.

another dog walk monday. just tanya, andrea and i...the regulars. the dogs enjoyed being with thier buddies. sticks were destroyed and shared by all.

andrea and nash tried out a new carrier. not sure nash is sold on it, but he took a nap once we moved him back to her chest. he gets quite toasty in there. liked his new outfit, very flashy.

he's just so cute, i can't help take a few photo's of him. wish my neices lived closer with thier kids, would love to get them out there for walks.

we did our usual trip to the kaladi's. tanya got her baby time in.

drooling was in order as nash is cutting some teeth. computer class again tomorrow, then i should try and play in the computer playground. "go live" is soon. a bit nervous about the changes. it's easy to get set in your ways in this world of ours. shaking it up is good, but tough.

hungry again...what to eat?