still sneaking in pictures from my fall drive north. these swans were on the talkeetna spur road. they always look pretty in the fall colours and i really should stop by potters marsh as they are no doubt congregating there about now. the moose will also start chilling up glen alps way for their games.
when i got on my computer this morning, it flashed and then suddenly i had no more norton antivirus. not sure what happened. at first i called what i believe was some number in india, but that was taking too long fortunately and i hung up so that i could head out for my monday walk.
several winters ago i began the monday walks. each monday whoever wants to meets up and we head out for a loop at north bivouac. the people and dogs vary as does the weather. it's great though as it's just a nice social outing that gets people out and active through the winter months. we start up sometime in fall so this was the day i selected and put on the fliers i posted at work. today we had 8 dogs and 7 humans...well 10 dogs and 8 humans if you count my friend nelly, who got confused and showed up 2 hours late. we meet at kaladi's about 2:30, walk is at 12:30. i think she just saw the second part. bummer. hopefully, she'll try again.
this is the river in talkeetna and some of the local decorations. i always love thier cool decorated moose all over town.
these guys were at a coffee shop.
the flowers are dying all over. mine are still hanging in there in my little deck pots. didn't have the heart today to dump them. was outside for a short time pulling grass from a side bed. all the beds really need to be cleared out. woke to frost outside today so i guess it must have dropped down a bit last night. 
the women of saudi arabia have finally been given the right to vote...well not until 2015 and they still must be accompanied by a male in order to vote. women aren't allowed to drive. i am excited for them for this small step forward in feminism. can't imagine living in such a repressed place. though, oddly, i read recently that most european nations do not have any laws that relate to sexual harrassment in the workplace. those women have no place to turn and this sort behavious is generally accepted in the workforce. 
i do enjoy the freedoms given to the women of this nation though i often shake my head at how many women, especially young girls, see themselves only as sex objects. too often women and young women demean themselves in thier quest to be popular with the male of the species. know your worth. 
the only moose we saw in denali national park. she does look nice with the foliage though.
another news item that caught my eye today. two men held in iran for the past few years were released. our country paid iran 1 million bucks to get them back. this seems quite ludicrous to me. too often people from our country do stupid things and then they just look to the nation to save them. these guys were charged, ridiculous as it was too, with espionage. they sounded like they went hiking and got a bit too close to the iranian border and got picked up. i'm just not sure we should be paying iran 1 million dollars "bail" money. i may sound mean to feel that perhaps they should have just done thier illegal time in iran, they were being held humanly as far as that part of the world is concerned. does this set a precedence that now americans will be nabbed with the expectation that our government will come to the rescue with "bail" funds? it's nice that in thier press conference they have to add that they are opposed to us/iran relations. perhaps they should then pay back the united states government the 1 million. i just see that money now being added to irans nuclear weapons program...thanks again us governement. if you are hiking near north korea or iran...take a gps, know where the hell you are or better yet stay several hundred miles from the border!
people seem to believe that the laws in the united states go with them when they cross borders. they are shocked when they do not get those same freedoms in other nations and then they insist as us citizens this should be honored. if there is a rape or murder in another nation they believe they should get the same police involvement that they would have if that rape or murder occured in the states. 
little pica above or whatever we are calling these cute little critters these days.
these are back on the savage creek. i think i never posted any of these as they were from the camera body that had the zoom on it. i didn't take too many pictures with the zoom
those are our favorte denail trees.
this is back on the denali highway, our walk out mcclaren, that is what the sign says.
the glacier is the mccleran glacier.
we had some beautiful views that day.
weather was perfect today. we all enjoyed the fresh fall air. 
this is the squirrel that seems tohave decided to homestead my shed. brat. he's very adept at getting to the birdseed. there have been less birds about this week i've noticed. there is a fluffy grey cat that has been on the prowl. i sent blossom after it as soon as we got home. found some wings in the backyard. really like my cats, but i like that they stay inside and no birds are injured.
few more pictures from denali...
got my alaska magazine yesterday. had been thinking i'd heard about a mushroom that is prized. morel. there just happened to be an article in the magazine this month about them. they can fetch upwards of $9/pound. they tend to spring up in areas that have been damaged by fire the year before. well the article says people can make up to $50/pound. must be on a good year or a bad year for growth i'm guessing. not too many forest fires this past summer so i'm guessing that means a poor harvest next summer.
crews get together and plan thier summer mushroom hunts months before the season starts. guessing it can get a bit competitive. professional morel mushroom pickers..who knew? must be good, though i admit to not being one to eat the shroom. i just like to photograph them.
onto pictures from the monday walk.
there were a few tiffs as we waited to get started. it was a nice size group. loads of malamutes. people in alaska like big dogs. have never seen so many large breed dogs as i have since moving here. we had 4 malamutes today. 3 from the same breeder out in palmer or wasilla i think, one from the lower 48.
amy shares water with the thirsty pooches. 
so many leaves dropping down on us.
blossom is the non-dominant dog in the pack...except when it comes to her blind dog sibling, rio. she always humps poor rio when she is surrounded by dominant dogs. so another photo of blossom for the humping hall of shame. she doesn't seem to concerned about it though. so embarrassing! poor rio catalina! 
rio is a trooper, tough walk for her, loads of roots out there hidden under leaves. she's snoring tonight. we had 2 mastiffs today in addition to the 4 malemutes. one lab and one labradoodle.
i think everyone had a great time. i had baked cookies and brought those with the leftover cookie dough for all to enjoy. it turns out it was andrea's birthday. she loves cookie dough!
several of us went to kaladi's after for cookies and cocoa. 
val, linda and amy.
was also joined by tanya, andrea and lena...it's a great way to get to know people and build new friendships. the dogs love it too!
these last ones are from my walk in kincaid sunday i believe. just another pleasant fall hike
i think i take some of the exact same pictures year after year. 
these trees are so cool though. exhausted from my computer issues. those things can be draining and i really don't know if i've actually solved anything or not. may have to cart the whole thing in to be looked at. is nice to have the green/secure light flashing on here tonight. don't want to get too confident, but it's super nice to have worked through this on my own...don't want to fancy myself a computer genious yet though as tomorrow it could all repeat and the entire computer could crash...perish the thought.
vegged out as the computer ran through it's paces. watched a show about a family that got disoriented driving a mountain road in oregon and got trapped out there for like 10 days i think. the husband took off after like 8 days in hopes of saving them, but he ended up dying from exposure. the wife and two kids did survive, though it sounds like it was pretty close call there. another few days and they wouldn't have made it. the cold, lack of food, dehydration...it takes it's toll. would be easy to be driving late, take a wrong turn. just sad that they weren't saved in time to save the dad. i do remember hearing about that family being missing, it was around thanksgiving. 
and so to the end of yet another long winded post. hehe....good night.
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