accomplishments...0, but a fun day anyway

 it was even colder out there today.  my side of town is always colder.  i also dressed less well i think. i should have stuck to my snow pants as they are warmer.

 met lena for a loop around rovers run then i headed down to turnigan just to cruise and do something different.  there is always lots of ice falls out there.  ran into a few people who were ice climbing so i took some pictures of them for a bit.

 i'd gotten a bit chilled on the walk but with the heater blasting i eventually warmed up in the car.  then i just hopped in/out to take a few photo's.  the ice is always cool though.  hard to capture the beauty of it, but i'll keep learning and trying new things.

 i do tend to prefer the black and white though it's cool to see the real colours too, the blues and even the yellows that come from the mixed sediment.

 a few years ago one of these big ice falls actually fell onto a car that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  you could never repeat that.  it was unfortunate.  there were people who stopped to help and the person in the car survived.

 they look kinda similar i guess.  i kept trying to find the cool area's of ice that may show up better.

 the tide looked to  be coming in, but other times i thought it looked to be going out.  lots of ice out there. it's always changing.

 my ambition waned again tonight and aside from laundry dishes and household chores  i didn't get much done.  you really just settle in once you are back home and warm on a day like today.  i really will have to get some stuff done tomorrow as i work 6 of the next 8 days.  my phone's been ringing from work calling to see if i would do extra.  i really should start scheduling myself for some extra's.  save money for my kitchen remodel one day.

 actually started working on a novel i have thought of writing. i have another one that i had started as well, but it will be more involved and tricky so i'll set that aside and work on this idea for a bit.  not sure if i can be a successful novelist but you don't know until you try right?  i like the idea and was writing it out by hand last night.  tonight i wrote out what i had written onto the laptop and added some.  so 5 pages into this novel.

 when i think of how much i have written in this blog just by blocking out the time it makes me realize that if i just start writing and dedicating that same amount of time to a novel i may be able to get it done.  what one does after they have written the thing i have no idea.  you gotta start somewhere though.  won't put the cart before the horse as it were.  i'll get the writing done first.  5 pages is a good start though.  there is hope.

 nice to walk with lena today.  we just booked.  it was so cold that was all we could do. i'd guess we hit 15 below. there were some pretty cold pockets.  i had blossoms chuck it out there.  the ball was freezing into the plastic chuck it device in under 3 seconds, one time it froze almost immediately. we counted a few times.  it was impressive.  i know that usually on a winters day this can happen around zero especially, but i think i usually have more like 5-10 seconds.

 the ice cracks up at low tide. looks pretty

 this guy looked pretty sore already.  must take some upper body strength.  i've never done any ice climbing and really have no desire to. it looks tough and i don't like heights all that much.

 liked this with the dusk colours and the train tracks.

 fun to photograph these guys out there.  i've seen them out there but i haven't ever stopped and taken pictures.

 took some in colour and some in black and white.  i think i'm liking the black and white in these too.

 then i'm sort of a black and white addict at times.

 looks cold though.  it can get windy out on turnigan, thankfully it wasn't really bad today at all...the ambient temperature was enough though.

 i wasn't alone out there.  we didn't see too many other walkers out on rovers. one jogger went by and she must have been out there for a bit or breathing hard as she had a lot of frost on her.  i just had a frozen braid.

 after you've been out in that cold you can still feel cold for hours.  since i blew off the pool yet again...i know i've been terrible!!  i drew myself a hot bath and settled in with a book.

 it was too hot at first...worried i'd scalded myself.  i don't like it too hot and i never can stay in a  bath for too long.  it does feel great though after a day out in the cold like today.

 this train was parked out there.

 ARR is Alaska Railroad.

 always fun to add a train to the pictures.

 like sheldon...i like trains.

 i didn't time my drive exactly so i missed seeing the actual sun as it went down.  did get the leftover skies though, which were pretty enough.

 there were these few wispy clouds hanging over the arm.

 this is redoubt, a local volcano.

 this is the sunset i captured.

 not bad.  below you can see some pancake ice as we call it up here.  big sheets of ice.

 another of Mt Redoubt

 a few from rovers run today.  didn't get the camera out too much as it really was dam cold.

 mani and blossom have the coats for the cold. rio again stayed home.  she doesn't seem to mind being left behind.  i always give her some snuggle time when i get back.

 blossom again, under trees making dog forts in the woods.

 the light is always amazing in winter

 got lena to join me on a short walk along the creek. it's always pretty down there.  again, not many pictures as it was bitter cold...and i mean bitter!!

 super pretty though.

 they are forecasting more snow coming up soon so i think that means we will get a break from these super cold days soon as well.

 blossom got frost coated, way more than me today.

 the rest are just powershot views from todays drive south. this is a big wall coated with ice falls. i think this may have been the section that came down on that poor lady.  it was pretty close to town i think.

 i stopped several times on the way out. didn't get quite to girdwood.  fun to drive for a bit today though.

 this gave a view of the whole area where these guys were climbing.  you can see the guy below belaying.

 and a few post sunset shots.

 my sisters package arrived.  she'd said if i carefully remove the outer brown wrap the gift was wrapped underneath. i had to laugh as she taped the hell out of it.  i finally was able to get it carefully unwrapped and under my tree.  she does an amazing job lining up the wrapping paper.  i'm so not detail focused like that...but impressed with those who are.  wow!

 some years i'm all in to christmas and other years i'm less so.  this is more of a less so year. i suspect it has to do with thanksgiving and working christmas.  that was the bigger holiday for me this year.  i'm getting stuff done, but i still have a bit more to get done...must get that motivation in.   i know in my head what i want.  maybe shorter walks tomorrow and get some stuff done.  force rio to do the bog with me.   i can doll her up with her booties and her neck wrap.

well, lots of writing today and it's time to hit the sack.  rest up for another day.  good night.