my brain is in crash mode.  never called in friday night.  saturday night was a pretty easy night.  pleasant talking patients.  sunday..back on call.  did get called in around 11:15 i think.  overtime pay.  no complaints.  stopped up at basher trailhead and walked a bit just to enjoy the sunset. it's always a close and easy way to get a good view of the happenings across anchorage.  big sun today.

 the other day i took blossom and rio up to gasline to powerline to tank trails.  the names are pretty descriptive.  tank maybe less so, followed it leads into the local base.

 i let rio chill today.

 still ice out powerline,but a bit less, easy to get across. i had my cleats, but never put them on.

 used my time wisely while i was on call last night.  got my annual calendar made.  i had loaded a bunch of potential pictures into the area where you build the calendar, but when i returned shutterfly had somehow switched them out for all these other random photo's of mine.  very annoying.  trying to get those off and reload others...well, hopefully the calendar turned out nicely.  some months i like better than others, but overall it seems good.  previewed it for co-workers last night.  have one taker for the annual bid for the extra calendars. have been putting names in a hat of people who want the calendar and have donated $25-50 to a charity.

 also got my christmas card made for the year.  discounts if you get them ordered before a certain date.  thought that came out pretty well.  so me..productive..shocking, i know!!

 still need to load the bulk of all my iditarod photo's onto my shutterfly page.

 thought i would take a before and after shot.  begining of the snow season.  last years after shot would have been much more impressive.  this is one of the many snow dump sites around anchorage.  there was a mountain in there by the seasons end last year.  roads up the mountain built of snow and big trucks driving up those snow roads.  kinda crazy.

 drama sunday.  decided to take the dogs to university lake.  i'm always fearful of blossom going through the ice.  she is addicted to water and becomes oblivious to my calls when she gets water on her brain.  she booked towards the creek area and despite my calls to her kept on going.  in she went.  i had a few worried moments as i dumped rio on a person who was walking around the lake with me.  off to the dogs rescue.  i started to strip down to do a belly crawl across the unstable ice and assist blossom.  i think the site of me calmed her and she gave it another try to get out of the water and managed to free herself.  crisis averted.  my heart skipped a few beats.  you can really love a dog!  i would be so devastated if i lost her.  i know eventually she will succumb to something, i prefer old age.  she is 7 and i'm hoping for many good years with her.  every so often there is just a dog that comes along that fits your personality.

 so she was snuggled up in this blanket drying off, we both curled up and took a nap.  it's really not that blossom was chilled by the icy water honestly. i think i was just upset at the incident and needed to baby my puppy.  i think she was a bit nervous about it initially, of course, a few minutes went by and she wanted off her leash to chase her toy again.  dogs don't hold onto anything for long.  so wise!!

 todays monday walk.  gail, karen and i wandered around.  we went a few different routes.  we took part of the mushing trail as it's frozen, but not mushing ready really.  could take the entire loop...that would be interesting one of these days.  i think it's several miles though.  hmm....i'll have to see if anyone is game to try.

 gail was off as it was a holiday.  being that i work at a hospital, we are always open so i kinda forget that holidays exist sometimes.  can't complain since i just worked 2 nights last week and already got 4 hours off this week, only to get time and a half for the 8 hours i did work!

 great to have her join us!!  she was accomadating to karen and my desire to wander around looking for photo ops.  the sun is cool this time of year.  long, long shadows, the light was grand.

 so pretty.

 have been enjoying listening to npr.  it's better background noise than most of the television shows on.

 went to costco.   again forgot it was a holiday and was wondering why all those people were there on a weekday....holiday.  then i stopped to check my mail...no mail...holiday.

 have been debating the tire situation.  i prefer to be safe so i think i'll bite the bullet and buy tires.  if i buy them at costco i get an additional $100 off...if i buy before thanksgiving i believe.  they don't carry studds anymore but they do have those blizzacks that everyone seems to be raving about. if the price he quoted me was correct at costco they were cheaper than studs and johnsons.  will probably just go for it.  as an alaskan i have 10 tires for one car.  4 summer, 4 winter, 1 spare and 1 full spare for long road trips and poorly maintained roads.  that is not unusual!

 the ice across the open stretch was a wee bit soft in places.  not deep though so even if we cracked through we'd just have cold feet.

 at one point in this area i was calling for blossom.  after yesterdays incident i wasn't taking any chances.  of course she was actually standing a few feet off, just totally blended with the tall grasses around her.

 this open area seems pretty well frozen as well for the winter.  saw ice skaters out on cheney lake..it's that time of year.

 liked the grass colours against the sunshine. it was pretty warm out there.

 bought those lovely costco steaks. like to buy the pack and toss the extras in the freezer.  they are good steaks.  nummy!

 supposed to be some decent northern lights tonight.  nice solar flares.  also there may be fog...i am fading fast though so we shall see.

 have been enjoying all the naked trees out there.  they do make good subjects.

 the creek had a zit with running water below.  funky!!

 the monday crew's long, long winter shadows.

 the rest of the pictures are from my short walk to check out the sunset on the basher trail.

 the sun seems huge this time of year.  so strange, no matter how long i live here.  up over the horizon, hang low all day then fade back away.  days are getting shorter of course,   will be until solstice. these sunsets were taken between 4-4:30, sunrise is closer to 8:30 or 9 am.

 loved the light. only slept 3 hours today. my body decided that 3 hours was enough.  it seems to always know when the weather is lovely out. it could also be that blossom knows and does that dog stare down thing they do that quietly wakes you from a deep sleep.  when i wake up she is innocently staring at her blonde locks in the mirror.  they are wiser than you know though, capable of great trickery.  i know the dogs can and do manipulate me.  they are so cute though, it's really hard to resist their charms.  

 if only i had such charms.  i think i used to be charming.  now i'm just another invisible single female.  i really should take action to make myself more visible, been there done that though.  is it living in alaska where we are so not fashion forward or is it a regular aging process.  it's harder to get motivated to look in the mirror.  that chick looking back keeps getting new wrinkles and little pads of fat in places that other, older relatives used to have them.  we are all in some amount of denial.  never really feeling emotionally the age we are physically.

 ceramic things from the powerline above.  probably fell during one of the fall windstorms.

 redoubt in an orange haze.  pretty cool.

 fog rolls in below me.

 anchorage almost looked to be floating.

 bright sun,
fills the sky,
no warmth,
the air is cold,
limbs of trees,
leafless,
enjoy the views below,
free from the green,
in summers they hold,
they rest,
await spring.

 seemed like a good time for a few fast poems.

 i once stood tall,
as these trees i see,
strong against the wind,
and each year i grew,
more powerful,
for having survived the last,
limbs reached out,
for my share of the sun,
in spring i was proud,
green leaves opened,
enjoyed the breeze.

my trunk is now scarred,
other trees,
have moved in around me,
my sun must be shared,
trees i knew,
have succumbed to the winds,
or been felled by men,
sometimes it feels i stand alone.

but still i stand,
i have not been felled,
though the earth may shake,
my leaves will again quake.

for a tree becomes mighty,
the longer it lives,
the power found,
in the shade it gives.

 it is true that the older the tree gets the more beautiful it becomes. eventually they die, but some trees live thousands of years.  it's insane really.  heard this thing on npr about these trees that were around in the time before christ.  one poor biologist had attempted to core it in order to get an accurate age. his corer got stuck.  it was decided they'd just chop it down, there were plenty more of these trees.  when the circles were counted these trees in this area were older than any other trees on earth that they had read of.  the biologist was devastated at what he'd done.  he left the field, embarrassed and harrassed.  he was known widely for this act on this old tree.  it had survived everything this earth had tried to take it down with for thousands of years...and one man ended it all in a matter of a few hours.  it really was a sad thing.

 have been on a kick of trees and ice of late.  it's working.  great to be in this world and be able to see things over and over again in a different light, finding beauty anew.

 we may never understand how this wondrous place came to be or agree on things, but surely we can all look at the gift of this earth and be grateful.  thankfully, there isn't just one type of tree to behold, but thousands.

 wise,
not yet,
perhaps,
the day i pass,
i will claim,
to have finally,
found wisdom,
but for now,
i'm not wise,
but i have hope,
that wisdom may come,
but learning to be wise,
is so much fun,
i'd rather spend my time,
and practice some,
and hope one day,
wisdom comes.

 it's only 10 pm...feels like it's well after 1.

 my fair city with sleeping lady resting in the background.

 may be out of 5 minute poems for the night. i do enjoy writing them and really should put them in the blog more often.

the sun, has gone, to bed and so must i...good night...good night...good night!!