each day an adventure in alaska: a change of precipitation

drove out to portage lake and back. just to get out for a little drive. it started to rain soon after i passed girdwood. i was actually quite happy to have that change in precipitation that means winter is taking it's leave, not that winter will really be away all that long. also stopped at potters marsh and watched the new arrivals for a bit. great to hear the sounds of sea gulls again. over the next bit more and more birds will pass through. the transition times in this land are rapid and impressive.

this is a better picture i took of the moose the other day. they looked so chill sitting on the side of the path there. did i say how much i love our moose!!

a few more from potters. i didn't see any swans out there, but i didn't get out and wander. just rolled down the windows and listened to the birds.

rio took a pass today. probably best. blossom and i went out to the coastal trail closer to the airport. nobody else attempted the trail so she was able to be off leash and chase her toy through the slush. it's pretty messy out there. in general the coastal trail is high traffic by anchorage standards so this is a rare time of year that i would allow her off leash here.

left rio with NPR on and we listened to NPR on our drive, until we got too far away. they were talking about a girls school in afghanistan. apparently a conservative group added some sort of poison to the water supply and the students all got ill. wasn't something that would kill i guess, but they wanted to scare them away from education. an educated woman is apparently a terrifying thing. many are nervous for 2014 and what will happen to thier country when left alone. the girls have been able to have access to education since the taliban fell, but what will happen in the future. we shall have to wait and see, but i suspect this poisoning thing, though frightening only increased the resolve of the girls to become educated. apparently, they were all wanting to get back to school.

always amazed how things that in this nation we often take for granted are things that are cherished in other nations. the right to get an education is not universal. i get so irritated that so much of the money we put to education has to be used to repair and replace things secondary to valdalization. so many kids just don't have any respect for what a gift education is. sadly, they don't have the respect for thier instructors that they should have. i'm an advocate for kids being made to wear uniforms to school. it should be seen as thier job, that it is a thing to be valued and respected. many of thier parents don't get that either though.

mud flats and ice. turnigan arm is always pretty, even in a rain.

another show came on NPR about autism. guess the numbers are still rising. now it's more like 88/100 kids will have some form of autism.
my fear sometimes is that in our culture too many kids get labeled with things and medicated rather than encouraged to learn how to adapt. not that i don't believe there are forms of autism, just that i think some of these diagnosis are over diagnosed.
some kids are hyper. often parents just don't have time to deal with a hyper kid so they would prefer the kid to be medicated. there is alot of stress on kids and parents though. we had a such a relaxed childhood. lives are so overly complicated and busy. i'd say full, but i think a full life is a more contemplative life. i feel for these kids and thier parents, but then the parents put alot on themselves and these kids.

was talking about how money issues have changed. to file bankruptcy in the old days was a huge event. it wasn't socially acceptable, it was frowned upon. now people tend to spend tons of money or manipulate it to thier benefit before they file. ads on tv encourage those who have filed in the past to come to them for new credit cards. i'm sure the interest rate is huge, but it just seems that no lesson is learned and eventually, they will be in the same place. now it's just part of a conversation...bought a new car, kids going to the prom and we filed for bankruptcy...so odd.

last night anita mentioned they hadn't seen any moose yet, but they had seen buffalo. buffalo do not wander around the kenai or anchorage area. then i realized they'd seen these guys at the wildlife refuge place on turnigan. there are also bears, moose, caribou....there. the buffalo were acquired in a plan to release some herds up north in a re-introduction program. they are in limbo here at the refuge as the details are ironed out. they've been there much longer than expected and i hope that soon they will be put out there in the wild. not everyone is excited by the idea and these things are much more complicated than they were back in the day. then some biologists got together said, we should put some musk ox here, got some and put them out there. much more red tape now and people who need to be involved/included.

interesting headline today...kayaker dies of encounter with swan. apparently this happened in illinois. swans are not generally seen as killer animals. the swan went after the guy, his kayak flipped and then the swan continued to go after him. he apparently drowned. strange and sad.

there is still ice under the water, loved the colour.

think i will finally watch the movie i've had here forever from netflix. it's over 2 hours long and the subject matter is wwII. haven't been up for a halocaust movie for a bit. this one is called, "the hiding place". i read the book i believe years ago.

often over the years of me being single and without kids people have said, you have to have kids, who will take care of you when you are old. of course, i can find so many examples of how having kids in no way guarantees this. by the way...now that i'm past my baby making prime this is no longer said. anyway, there seems to always be some example in the news of a kid killing the parents. one i recall here. the son killed the mom and then duct taped the hell out of her and built her into the kitchen and rented the mobile home out. eventually, the body was found as the smell leaked through.
many children are simply too occupied with thier busy lives to be able to assist the elderly in thier families...or they live far away. several friends are getting to that point in thier lives where their parents have need of assistance. some have moved closer to family to help out.

this movie is from 1975 and i think the book i read of the same title is way post this. similar subject matter. different so far though.

the rail tunnel headed to whittier. eventually to get to whittier both cars and train share one 2+ mile tunnel. it's quite impressive as far as engineering is concerned. there is not room for both train and cars so there is a system set up. head to whittier on the hour and away from whittier on the half hour. not sure what the train schedule is...obviously no cars when train is there. before they made the tunnel accomadate cars the cars would be loaded on a train car and people would just ride inside. it was a much bigger deal. now tourists are carted back and forth easily. the weather can be totally different on the other side of the tunnel. many of our kayak trips in the past have taken off from whittier.

a girl at work joined our discussion about kids who harm their parents. it was said that perhaps some of these kids parents were less than stellar. she was apparently a victim of pretty severe abuse or perhaps more neglect. her mother had psych issues and apparently didn't recognize that she or another sibling existed. obviously more to it than was briefly mentioned, but she felt strongly that it was still her role to care for and show respect to the one who brought her into this world. people do overcome a great deal.

it's almost like the worse it is the better they fare. when the trauma or abuse is horrific either a person completely loses it or they somehow compartmentalize it and tuck the bad away in some place in thier brain. someone like me with very mild childhood issues can easily ruminate about it and feel badly for myself, but with severe abuse or trauma in any form i think it may just be too painful to dwell on and so those people just avoid it. most of those who survived the halocaust went on to lead fairly regular lives i think. that girl, smart, who was kidnapped and forced to marry that crazy guy, just got married. watched an interview with a girl who was kept in a cage for much of her first years and abused horribly and she seemed to be trying at least to just live her life and not dwell on the past. to dwell on those things may take you to a place where you could never return from. i always admire those i meet who have risen above the horrible childhoods they were forced to endure. it is possible. sadly, many don't fare as well.

did my psych rotation at los angeles country...did many of my nursing training there actually. i stayed in the teen lock down unit. reading those kids histories was heartbreaking. how any kids with those backgrounds survive is a testament to their strength and character.

hard to see much at portage lake today.

there was also something on NPR today about incest in pakistan. most never gets reported and girls who dare go to police are chastised for dishonoring thier families. one woman they interviewed, who was not named obviously, had been sexually molested by her father for years. her sisters weren't spared, both committed suicide. i think a few weeks apart from each other. her abuse only stopped once her father was murdered. her sisters killed themselves, she was trying to make a difference. i'm not saying that she doesn't still suffer just that she must have found some way to compartmentalize her pain in order to move forward. no doubt that pain is always with you, but some just seem more able to push through it.

tons of waterfalls out there. will be a great year for waterfalls all over!

the rest area at portage lake will not be accessible for some time it appears.

can't see the lake or the glacier that is out there somewhere.

lots of little waterfalls along the seward highway. a few weeks ago these were ice falls. we had a random, freak accident where a young woman was driving along the road and huge chunk of ice crashed down on the roof of her car. i doubt she had any idea what hit her. there couldn't have been any warning. you couldn't repeat that if you tried. guess it's like a rock falling from above. you are driving one second and the next second your life is changed.

always risk of rock slides in the area and avalanches in the winters. never really think of the ice toppling over. i think that is what it was. that seems pretty common in the area they said the accident occured.

nice light out there.

the rest are from our trek on the coastal trail.

above susitna or sleeping lady, below fire island.

a "good" portion of the trail.

frequent loud planes fly overhead in this area of the trail. my picture is pretty dull. my friend laura lives back east and posted some cool pictures of the space shuttle piggy backed on another plane and headed to it's retirement home. sad to see the space shuttle program end. i'm a fan of the space programs in general.

the bummer part of all that exploration. i remember writing a report on the history of space travel, going back to air balloons and such. each new leap forward it seemed like the governments weren't just interested in flying or space travel for that, they really wanted a better way to take out their enemies. i just remember seeing that pattern as i wrote my little paper as a jr high student. so there are those who study science for the love of science and those who then utilize all that hard work to creat a better war machine.

downtown anchorage and our beaches!!

from flakes to rain,
precipitation changed,
soon the white,
will melt away,
our world of grey,
will return,
but not before,
the seasons of green and brown,
where wildflowers and life abound,
silent winter,
we will miss,
but our hearts,
happily welcome,
the coming summer bliss.

back to my 5 minute poems.

enjoyed these shots through the trees.

made another pizza crust tonight. had all that leftover pizza fixings and as i drove home it just started to sound good. i really should finish up here and work on hotels for the round island trip. thought i may try to get the regular hotel before and then see if we can book that bed and breakfast for after the trip. was thinking about this as i drove today. so many fun summer plans. still lots to prepare for though. need to find a petsitter for the critters. that is the hardest part. i get so stressed leaving the animals behind.