fata morgana

 a sort of optical illusion.  it happens sometimes.  it's a mirage really. a superior mirage as opposed to an inferior mirage. i'd never heard of the fata morgana til i came here.  these are the mountains of the alaska range.  have seen it on denali mountain as well, though i had  no idea what it was at the time.  it has something to do with a layer of warm air settled over an area of colder, more dense air.  this somehow creats what is called an atmospheric duct that acts like a refracting lens...at least this is what wikipedia tells me.  it creats these inverted and erect images.  strange and cool looking.
the name comes from the authurian morgan le fay (morgane from king arthurs court)....the story being that these were fairy castles in the air or false land that were used to lure and trick sailors to their deaths.
fata morgana can be seen from planes or the land.  they are more common in the polar regions. anyway...there you go.  today's science lesson.

 monday walk day.  after the kaladi's gathering i headed up to basher trail to see if the sunset was going to develope.  i should have got my camera out earlier as denali is more easily seen on that first part, but i had opted to head to a viewing spot. lots of folks out on trails today.  it was beautiful day and a holiday to boot.

 the sunset was lovely but not earth shattering.  the mountains looked pretty cool.  a few minutes before i took these denali was bathed in light and was really spectacular and pink.

 more fata morgana.

 it being a holiday, maddie was along for the walk.  we actually did the full 4 mile loop today.  the temperature was nice and the skies blue mostly.

 above is maddie and indy, below manny.

 blossom waits while we check on the tree we decorated for the forest critters.  they have been working away at it.

 haven't seen as many moose in town this year.  i'm sure with as little snow as we've had thus far they've been able to enjoy a larger area to forage.  last year we had record snowfall and this year we are almost the opposite with a record low of snowfall.

 it was lena, tanya, maddie and i out there.  ran into gillian and her doodles.  i had to do my malemute call a few times to get their attention.  tanya even pulled it off once.  it sounds like a high pitched war cry or something.  it always gets the laughs.   i remember going to a hockey game in texas not too long ago and doing this yell with my brothers there....they seemed a bit surprised by this skill i had.  i suspect they are usually more subdued at professional games...it's hockey though.

 lena was there with treats for all.  she is very loved out there!!

 maddie was probably not happy that we selected the big loop today, but i had made brownies for the kaladi's gathering and she was very happy about that.  i also brought the honeycrisp apples i bought at costco the other day.  those are the best apples...imho.

 have my appointment tomorrow.  supposed to be a short one.  probably just plan for the procedure.  will have to select a good time for it.  also need to figure out days that i need off for summer trips. it's time to get planning.

 a few pictures from kaladi's.  lena was even able to join us.  amy and lucy came after their walk in the dog park and alyssa and cohen came with sandra after they did a ski at campbell airstrip.

 cohen is a doll... love that hair!!

 maddie got some lucy loving in!! lucy is getting longer and longer!

 out of order i guess...but here is lena feeding the crew again.

 sandra, lucy and maddie.

 not much to say today. i have a busy week ahead.  3 1/2 nights of work to go.

gonna watch, "finding nemo" haven't ever actually watched it before.  just snippets in patients rooms and such.  ready for sleep and to get this week behind me.  good night.