end of day two...nome

 one picture from day three.  this picture was in todays anchorage daily news.  they post a reader photo on page 2 often and today it was mine!! always fun! i loved this musk ox shot.  they are losing their winter coat so it looks like he's got wings!  love action shots. so musk ox are next.

 the rest are pretty much flowers and lichens to wrap up day two.

 always love these tiny blue flowers. forget me not i think. the state flower?  i could totally be wrong i guess.

 feeling a bit better though not totally myself.  natalie suggested that i was having allergies.  pollen counts are super high this year and my neighbor mentioned that he's having allergy symptoms even though he never does so i suppose it is possible. sinus, sneezing, itchy eyes, runny nose.  i took a zyrtec last night.  will repeat tonight.  still feel sinus but not as sleepy today so i'll try for work tonight. it's overtime tonight because of the holiday the next day.

 went to bed early last night.  watched a documentary on bee's.  there is so much i didn't know.  they have been having these huge die off's of bees.  had no idea that they ship bees back and forth across the country to pollenate crops.  the transport is stressful for the bees, they are given this syrupy food to tide them over until they can get out of their hives, the food is basically like feeding us total junk food.  they also kill off the queen bee's well before their normal life cycle would end and amazingly they do artificial insemination on queen bees.  who knew. crazy stuff.  there's a job..what do you do for a living.  i do artificial insemination on honey bees.  that's nuts.  they think the huge die offs are mostly related to these new pesticides that actual are put on the seeds and in the soil so the pesiticide becomes part of the plant.  it doesn't kill the bees off right away but within a short amount of time the bees all abandon their hives and die off.

 our farms are more super farms now that grow only one type of crop.  this means the normal bee activity won't work.  in the old days farms would have various crops so the bees would just rotate around to the various plants doing their thing. now with only one crop they have to get it all done and then there is nothing left to do so they are packed and shipped off.

 the same thing happened in other countries, like in europe.  they have fought back and have stopped allowing these more permanent pesiticides from being used.  there is a new trend for more backyard or organic beekeeping to happen.  laws are being struck down that made it illegal to have a backyard beekeeping station in city limits.  they are learning how important bees are.

 anyway, interesting stuff.  i've had that movie at my house for a few months now, finally got around to watching it.  back to netflix it goes, they probably thought i'd lost it.  just had to be in the mood for a bee documentary.  it was interesting though.

 these are all various lichens.

 finished reading, "the burgess boys" by elizabeth strout this morning.  woke up too early. not much left to read so i cranked it out.  can start another book now.

 it's almost nap time. i'm getting sleepy...i'll probably start the new book but pass out on page 2 or 3.

 trying to plan this fishing trek for sunday. anita is seeing if she can swing joining us. i'm trying to decide what to do with the dogs.  they could go to friends houses but now i'm wondering if i can just feed them super early, let them out and then get the kid next door to come let them out and play with them or walk them once during the day.  may be better than trying to farm them out.  i'm away for 12 hours at night for work so it wouldn't be that different i guess.  it's going to be hell getting up so early though. i am so not a morning person.  yikes.  told anita she can fly in a day early and crash here and we can just leave from here

 see summers are exhausting...i'm almost ready for winter to start so i can rest and relax...haha!!

 house rock.  i went out there in the afternoon on day 2 as the skies were blue.  seemed like a good idea to check it out before it got cloudy..in the end by the time i drove to teller it was cloudy out.  so i'm happy i went just this far a bit early.

 i wandered around the rock, took a few photo's then headed back to town.

 looks a bit more like a house from this angle

 nice little excursion..i totally kept myself busy this day.

 there were some pretty flowers up around house rock as well.  i think house rock is one of those remnants of a time when glaciers filled this area. as the glaciers receed they sometimes leave behind these random rocks.  there is a name for these rocks, but i can't recall it right now.

 always love these purple flowers.  star something.

 this old plane is actually in town at a spot that was set up for training for firefighters. they have a volunteer fire department i think. very sad for all those young fireman that died in that fire in the lower 48. what a horrible thing.  feel so badly for them and their families.

 made a loop at the cemetary there in nome.  always kind of interesting.

 it's up on the hill.  every communities cemetary is unique.

 the city is in the background.

 eventually i drove out to the far beaches out council road to walk the beaches at midnight in order to celebrate solstice.

 another solstice picture.

 love the light this time of day.

 super long shadows.

 headed back to the hotel to be to bed by 1-2am.

off to nap and get ready for work. enjoy your week and happy fourth of july...have fun and be safe!!