sunrise, sunset....

 above is sunset out at Potters Marsh and below is sunrise from my bedroom window.  love these days of winter where the two are so close together and they last forever.  the color in the clouds was so awesome today!!

 didn't get to sleep until late.  ended up getting sucked into watching the old classic, "Breakfast at Tiffany's".  i'd never actually seen it before and since it's a classic i decided i'd take a look.  other than mickey rooney's totally racist role as a china man i enjoyed it.  that was terrible...but i do have to remember the time the thing was made.  haha.

 these are still from this morning.

 so i was a bit slow getting my day rolling.  just felt so great snuggled under those covers.  not much accomplished today except dishes and laundry but then some days i don't even get that done so not bad at all.

 headed out to Oceanview Bluff Park off of Reef in South Anchorage to walk Blossom.  thankfully, i wore my cleats.  it was glass ice.  i walked very slowly and avoided falling down out there.  didn't go out as far as i may have liked to have but it was fine.  Blossom had a good time.  the "trail" wasn't looking any better.  we really could use a wee bit of snow.

 after our walk there we headed to Potters Marsh.  lots of people were out there ice skating so i joined in for a bit.  had my cleats on and the kicksled is in the car so i'm ready to go whenever.  it's a good skating season at this time...enjoy it how it comes to you

 lots of Blossom pictures...she's pretty cute though and adds nicely to the scenery.

 supposed to be decent Northern lights tonight.  it's looking to be clouding a bit here.  i'll check in a few times, but i see myself turning in early tonight and watching a movie again.

 did enjoy the pretty day though out there.

 Parnell has conceded the race to Walker.  we shall see if this helps us out at WARIS or makes no difference...will he make any changes in fish and game?  not sure....he will be hearing from me though.

 liked the light coming off of the ice.

 the wind started to blow while i was out there...it can get super cold when that happens. we were fine, but i didn't want to stay too long. happy we left and hit Potters for the sunset and kicksledding.

 made for a nice albeit short day.

 there were a few patchy bits where the ice was thin out at the coastal area.  heard some cracking just once out on potters...again i stayed where everyone was already skating.  people were all over out there though.  love that people up here just go with the flow...no snow...so go ice skating!

 not sure where i'll go tomorrow.  see what the weather looks like and how quickly i get out of those warm covers.

 saw that that very tall basketball player from China is getting involved in trying to stop the poaching of elephants in Africa.  very cool of him and i really hope he is able to speak some sense that gets heard.  the elephants will soon no longer live wild due to this horrible killing for only ivory.

 there is talk of legalizing the sale of rhino horns .the thinking is that they could harvest a kilogram of each rhino's horn without harm to the rhino and sell it.  979 rhino's have been poached this year, 2013 saw over 1000.  these are not animals that breed often or have litters...they take several years to mature enough to breed.  these loses just can't be sustained. the rhino horns sell at a much higher price than gold even.  china being the largest buyer and with more chinese becoming wealthy demand is rising.  it always seems to come back to China and other countries in Asia...killing animals.  clearly education is needed to change the thinking about wildlife in these countries if we are ever to save these species.

 the rhino's that do live need to be guarded and watched over.  some days it's hard not to just be disgusted by the humans of this earth.  they really suck.

 the ice was glass...loved Blossoms reflection.

 Rio stayed home today...not way i'd take her out on that ice.  she would be sore tonight if not injured.

 not sure what Blossom thought of her reflection...she really didn't seem to notice much...where is the tennis ball.  that is her number one priority

 we enjoyed the views as we headed back up the sledding hill...as you see there is no snow to sled on right now . boo hoo.

 not sure why ADN even publishes an aurora forecast...not sure i've ever seen it say anything but "quiet"...the aurora are expected to be vibrant in cloudless areas and areas with little light pollution....but the paper still says "quiet".

 the red lights reflected are not good photography wise, but i thought it made the sun look like a spaceship landing....so kinda cool.

 a last look back at the refuge from ocean bluff.

 then on to Potters. the ice was a bit more bumpy than last time i was out.  i suspect that is due to some melt that must have occurred during our little warm spell last week.

 still quite skatable.

 just always so pretty out there.  took me years to finally head out there and enjoy it...always looked cool when i drove by and saw people out there.

 it's a good time to explore a bit as the roads are clear. the temperatures are for sure lower tonight though.

 Blossom on the ice

 sunset reflects back from the icy surface.

 skate marks

 then i hopped over and just enjoyed the sunset

 fluffy pink clouds.

 these were especially stunning.

 had put a roast in the crock pot.  made some home made potatoes and gravy...i'm full and sleepy now.  gravy does that.

 must have counted at least 20 folks out there skating as i was driving away.

 a few with the bigger camera.

 ice bubbles...can't not stop and take a few shots of those.

 this one was especially cool...like one of those theatrical masks!!

 always a stunner....sunset on the water/ice.  no big chunks yet.

 dropping, dropping, dropping...

 what movie to watch...that is the questions.  something old, something new, something quirky or something blue?  hmm...

good night.  grateful for....1.  not falling and breaking anything or giving myself a head injury while out on all that ice.  2.  Blossom not injuring her self out there and looking so cute on the ice  3.  all those nice people you meet just being out and about who chat with you.  if it weren't for them, i could go days without actually speaking to another human.