post chinook ramblings...

There's no hiding in the snow,

Wherever you go,

All know,

Tracks follow where you creep,

Slush or crust,

No secrets keep.

They tell the tale,

You've left behind,

Stories grand,

Your footprints find.

feeling like getting back to a few poems again. it comes and goes. should take more time for it as i quite enjoy it. our monday walk took us out to n.bivouac trails. the trails were crusty at times, slushy at times and covered with loads and loads of twigs.

chinooks,

blow in,

dammed wind,

twigs down,

rutted ground.

wind has ceased,

trails at peace,

crunching, crushing,

at our feet.

soon,

the snow,

will fall again,

beauty comes,

before the wind.

still pretty out. pleasantly. wasn't sure if anyone would show up but karen and lena joined me for a lovely stroll. i think karen and i were both wishing we'd brought our bigger, fancy cameras. the scenery turned out to be surprisingly beautiful in places. always amazing that you can hike the same trails over and over and yet, with each stroll there is another gift that nature brings. it's never the same. the dogs are pretty oblivious. brought rio along, not because i think she was excited to join us, but she's had diarrhea and i really didn't want to leave her home. she woke me up a few times again last night. she's actually seemed much better since this morning so hopefully all will be back to normal by tomorrow. poor girl. did see some poop outside with big chunks of not chewed up rawhide. i get the pressed stuff mostly, but that stuff can be difficult to digest. always a good reminder. everyone was patient with rio today which i really appreciated. there were lots of ruts and deep tracks in the crusty snow. much more difficult for a blind dog to walk on a trail such as this. if you stepped off the more crusted stuff you postholed. i think she has to really concentrate and i think she's more exhausted after these hikes because of it. that dog is a trooper!! she is snoring and happily dreaming right now. i think this gives a bit of an idea of trail conditions out there. it seems to have re-freezed out which is good. falling into slush isn't fun, but i came prepared for it. we did a different loop than usual which turned out to be a good idea. this area turned out to be really pretty. loved the green in the ice that obviously had thawed and refrozen over the days. should get the kicksled in the car and meander a few places tomorrow. see how rio's night goes.due to the chinooks it appears that everyone in anchorage did what i did and got thier christmas cards written over weekend and got packages ready to mail. i tried to stuff my cards into the mailbox but it was packed and overflowing so i dropped them inside. the line to mail packages was also longer than i expected. i gave myself a half hour before the dog walk...luckily the line moved pretty quickly and i had time to spare. still enjoy the snail mail cards at christmas. i know it's a tradition that is rapidly disappearing, but it's still nice to take the time to remember friends and family in the old forms. remember watching a movie based on olden days when couples weren't allowed much together time. they wrote letters, got to know each other and those letters could be quite romantic. simplicity is overlooked in our culture. probably more marriages would last longer if people took the time to get to know each other through words and gestures of kindness.blossom of course, went into the drink immediately. manny joined her. dogs don't mind getting wet and romping in icy ponds.it's really nice to have those cards off and several packages as well. mailed several of my calendars out. should have leftovers for a drawing again. did that last year with the leftovers. to enter people just had to donate $25-50 to a charity of thier choice. karen looks happy, she planned on putting her skates on later today. i fear anymore i'll kill myself iceskating. i've gotten quite fond of my kicksled for these conditions.turned out to be beautiful out there.was a bit chilled when i finally arrived home so i snuggled under the heated throw and that was it for me. i think between all the wake ups last night and being chilly, i crashed for a bit. love a nap!winters glow,

ice overflows,

the world,

is crusted white.

darkness decends,

short days end,

world tansforms,

at night.

you were probably all sick of me rambling anyway. a little quick poetry writing can't be much worse than my perpetual ramblings. manny and blossom had a great time wrestling today. they are well matched. dang...the big camera would have been fun out there! could return, but there may be other cool places to explore. and right now the skiers can't possibly be out so all trails are accessible to everyone.. that's a thought. where to go, where to go?did look up immodium and dogs and gave rio half a pill, which she puked at some point through the night. not sure it really helped in her situation.see how i got back to dog diarrhea. it does seem to take over your life, these animals. blossom and manny test out the thickness of the ice for us humans. always good to let the dogs go first. yes, they are lighter, but they are also better at self recovery.the creek remains safely frozen over in this area. we safely travel on.the light is always amazing in this side trail.the snow really melted back over this weekend though. crazy.cow parsley.blossom, my velcro dog, there is a stick on her shoulder. poor girl. everything attaches itself to her.we got another treat when we got to the little creek we walk over on the tank trail. very cool icicles!sniff, sniff, why didn't i bring the good camera???? just so cool! loved how that twig is coated in ice.finished reading that book, "the nineteenth wife". actually followed the history of this wife pretty closely and those parts were really interesting. he just took some liberties here and there with the history thus making it a novel. he also added a story that intertwined about modern day polygamists and how so many of these isolated communities have degenerated. it was good, the ending was a bit of a let down in some ways, but also not surprising. saw at the UAA store that wally lamb has a new novel out so i think i will load that on the kindle and read it. he is an amazing writer in my opinion.icicles form,

as water flows,

building slowly,

as it goes,

though the water,

rushes past,

an icicle is cast.

hours, hours,

it trickles by,

until the water,

is twisted rods,

dancing, hopping,

like twisted gods,

the water rushing,

a forever song.

must be time for me to sleep, the poetry is getting worse. not sure if you can see, but those same icicles that are in the creek are seen on blossoms coat here.shot from the drive through at mcdonalds. every so often i need a happy meal. today i got an ice cream cone...hell temps were over 30, a heat wave!! good night!