there are no boring days in alaska...

had a chill day mostly. slept in, read the paper in bed, did the same walk as yesterday and ran some errands. in the evening i figured i'd take a stroll in the bog with the girls. was warned that there was a moose that had a fresh baby and had charged some people already. they said it was easy to see on the trail so i figured i'd continue my walk and stop at a safe distance. the moose had moved though. there were a few guys walking ahead of me so i kept back of them. suddenly, they were charged. she came out of the woods, they went in the woods to hide behind trees. moose kick forward so your best bet is to get behind trees where it's harder for them to stomp you. she turned and went back in the woods and they came back onto the trail after a bit. i stood still. after a bit they motioned that she was moving further back in the woods and it seemed safe to pass. i took a few steps forward and see her turn on a dime in those woods. at first she headed towards them but as soon as she hit the trail she turned and headed straight at me. i booked it with the two dogs in tow. rio hadn't caught a scent and probably had no idea what i was up to. luckily she didn't slip her collar or there would have been real trouble i fear. blossom just came along with me. she's no fool! we got into the trees and the moose kept coming around at me so i kept circling into the trees deeper. she finally wandered about 20-30 feet forward, huffing at me. it was a bit of a standstill for a few minutes. i had no idea where the new baby was, i suspect stashed back in those woods. i had no idea either what would happen if i tried to move. the standoff continued for a bit and finally i just made a move to get the hell out of there. she left me be. walked out with the two guys. they watched me get chased. never saw that baby.the mama moose still had some dangly bits hanging from her back end so that baby is fresh. she may still have another birth to come. often moose are twins around here. my heart was pounding a bit, but all is well. no baby moose photo's today!! above are all backyard shots. kept peeking out to see if i could glimpse this eclipse. it was pretty cloudy out. below is as good as i got. no special glasses or anything. took it in black and white. i think you can barely make out the moon in there. it was at the right time. saw loads are really great photos on the internet. for some it was at sunset so some really pretty shots. the sun is down now here, but it's still light out there.nice to have flowers in the garden. had some thoughts of getting out there in the front gardens. they are still a mess. summer activities begin next week so i was kinda happy to just have a lazy and relaxing day. watched a show on the japan earthquake and tsunami. seemed to be mostly home videos. pretty impressive. the quake lasted a long time and those tsunami's don't give people much time to react. frightening. the voices in the clips often said stuff like, "it's over, it's over". at first i was thinking, but the water is still coming in, when it occured to me they all thought thier lives were over. the water can appear so peaceful and serene some days can be a force to be reckoned with. feel badly for all those who were there that day. i'm sure it was horrific and terrifying. my heart goes out to them for thier loses. watched the clips of all the stuff being overcome by the water and then realized alot of that stuff is now here, on our beaches. carried by the tides.this is the squirrel that lives at my house. i am apparently feeding her and in this picture it looks like she may have a brood she is feeding so now i have a family of squirrels. she was busy today raiding my various birdfeeders. she is kinda cute. blossom loves to chase her up the trees.went to lowes and was disappointed to find that the quote for the carpet was a bit more than i expected. all this talk of free installation apparently doesn't apply to stairs. quite annoying. will have to think a bit more on this and get some other estimates. bought some plexiglass to repair the cat run, not sure i'm up for the task. don't want to crack it. it was more spendy than i expected.they had the gold nugget "triathalon" on that end of town. lots of out of shape runners on the road heading over to lowes. it's a mini triathalon. apparently created years ago to be run by young girls as there wasn't sports programs for girls and the parents wanted to prove that this needed to change. i like that aspect of it and i guess it's cool that it gives people who would otherwise not exercise a goal to work towards. they do like 8 laps in a pool, anyway they can, even with a kickboard. many walk instead of run. it just seems a bit silly...all to get a shirt or a ribbon or be able to say "i've done a triathalon". everyone gets to be a winner in our society. personally, i really just think it diminishes what it is to really do a real triathalon. the real work that goes into becoming a true athlete. this goose and i are both speaking out against making each and every aspect of american life a competition. these were in the bog before my walk was interrupted by a moose. did see a mama and baby moose as i left the lowes and petsmart and headed home. the babies are so dang cute. will be crazy the next few weeks as the little ones show up. those moose can get pretty protective of thier young...as well they should. some will fall prey to the hungry bears that are not too far out of life in their dens and ready to eat!the goose was squaking and soon his buddies flew by and he took off with them and landed back in the center of the bog.so pretty with all the green out there again.saw a woodpecker out there, but didn't get my big camera out in time.here is the mama moose heading back into the woods. you don't see the two guys cause they are on the left in the woods hiding behind trees. this is after she walked away from me. she is still ticked and we are in a bit of a standoff. right after this i felt brave enough to attempt to escape. some people have been held hostage for hours. i kept talking all nice to her. telling her it was okay and i wouldn't hurt her baby...not sure it helped, but i figure a soothing voice can be understood by anyone or anything. something must have worked. moose generally don't really want to kill you, they have killed people or just kicked the crap out of them. sounds unpleasant. i believe most wild animals don't want to waste that kind of energy on you unless they believe they are truely in danger or you look good to eat. she may need that energy for the next delivery if that is the case and perhaps scaring me was enough. believe me...i'm no threat to a moose.still those moose look pretty dang large when they are running right for you!!can you see another moose on the right side of the road. saw this one as i was coming home from lowes. near my house.the rest are from our walk today. we did a repeat of yesterday. i had some errands to run and it seemed like an easy trek. worked. blossom doesn't really care where we go, she just wants to chase her toy and play in the water. lots of water on this loop. the tree below has been nibbled on by moose. they eat the bark. they can get pretty high up there. there should be some better stuff to eat now with all the greens coming out. i'm amazed how many animals out there in the woods survive the winter on bark. porcupines are big bark eaters as well.still a few puddles out there to deal with. blossom never minds that.another day, another walk...she is one happy dog. rio was out there as well, not quite as thrilled looking. that moose would have taken her out if she'd slipped that collar. rio's collar seems to always be a bit loose. her neck has alot of loose skin so collars don't always fit great. perhaps i should think of getting her a harness. it may be safer. off to read or play drums...i can play my drums at midnight this week!! so fun!