more images from Barrow....

 lots of dead stuff in Barrow. these drying racks are mostly on the roofs...i presume to keep them a bit safer from polar bears.  not sure what all this is. looks like wolf pelts and perhaps seal ribs or caribou, i have no idea really.

 a living being in Barrow..jelly. loads of jellies out in those waters for sure.

 val off in the distance walking .

 got a commentary piece written and sent off to ADN.  who knows if they will show any interest in it at all but you don't know until you try.  also called and left a message with POTUS. it was a real person taking the message so i've no idea if it gets recorded or what happens to it.  so i copy and pasted the script to the POTUS web sites contact page.

 my next commentary piece...

 i am a member of the Rationalist Party.  as of this moment i am the only member of the Rationalist Party.  time to start the revolution.  this major two party system of government needs to be shaken up.  i know there are other parties but those are mostly splinter groups.  we need  a party to represent the bulk of the American people. the ones that aren't crazy right or crazy left.

 i have long surmised that the ones that are driven to vote are the most left and the most right.  those in the center often stay away as they do not feel represented by either party.

 my feeling is that the majority of people reside somewhere in the middle.  we know that the world is not as black and white as the major parties would have us believe.  we know that the world is filled with grey areas and the Rationalists would then be more willing to seek compromise and common sense answers to the things that plague our nation.

 that is the start.  obviously that commentary piece would not be WARIS related. WARIS comes first though.

 more artwork in Barrow.

 representing my family name....

 not too many flowers left i'm guessing but these were pretty.

 slept in today...so easy to do when it is raining out.  by the time i actually got out there it was perfect as it never actually rained on me.  it started again as i drove home.

 i did the big loop in North Bivouac.  meandered and looked for mushrooms.  sang "peanut, peanut butter....Jelly" to keep the noise level up and avoid bears.  the fish are running in the creek, though i stopped and didn't actually see any. it has rained though so the water is flowing a bit faster these past few days no doubt.  saw a few pairs of mama and calf moose along the road as i headed back home.

 above is an opening to one of those underground permafrost freezer things... guess they used to mark them with whale bones.

 a usual means of travel around town in the summers.  in winter they just switch to snow machines.

 spies among us.  apparently Chinese operatives are secretly in the US hunting down Chinese who have fled and "encouraging" them to return home to China to face charges or something.  always love a good spy story...i think we all do.

 powdered alcohol may be banned before it ever goes on the market.  apparently someone has created alcohol that you can just add water to. would be great for backpackers or kayakers and stuff, but no doubt tough to control.  in this state many villages are "dry" or "damp" like Barrow is.  others are "wet".  those just mean various levels of being able to obtain alcohol.  wet is normal. dry is no alcohol and damp means you can have some alcohol but it is more controlled.

seal skin boat below with skins on.

 not sure if they let the skins weather off or often remove them and store the skins for later use?

 this is baleen piled up outside a house...a common scene up there.

 whale skull with church steeple in the background.

 had a headache for a good part of the day.  it seems to have finally left. can't stand headaches.  hoped the fresh air and excedrin helped. later i took a bath and i think that may have finally done the trick.  got off and on the bike a bit.  it's noisy but i think it will be great through the winter.

 lots of dog photos in Barrow.  they were tied up at many houses. perhaps an early warning for polar bears.  dog food is spendy in the market. i suspect people either buy in bulk and barge it in or they give the dogs some of whatever they kill...meaning these dogs probably eat a lot of salmon, caribou and moose.

 as i said before, may have seen one dog loose. with a high rabies incidence in the surrounding fox i guess a loose dog is at greater risk or being killed or getting rabies.

 homes around town.

 a giant algal bloom in Washington state has Alaskans on alert apparently.  it contains a neurotoxin and is impacting crabs, muscles and clams and such.  so far the numbers are not high in Alaska but it is a risk.

 caribou skull/antlers dry out on the deck...also a common scene.

puppies, boats and drying meat.

 doubting too many people purchase expensive cuts of meat at the local grocery.

 more baleen lying about.

 empty drying racks

 another caribou skull.

 yesterday i was out in Girdwood. there is a hand tram on the winner creek trail. it's really the reason most people walk that trail.  i didn't take the hand tram but just walked down to it.  as usual there were several folks taking the tram back and forth.  most people just take the tram, then take it back and hike back in the direction they usually come instead of doing the trail through.  as i arrived some guys were helping a pair of females across.  they go off on the side i was on and then was telling the guys loading to "tell the people on the other side that they shouldn't sit in the middle and take photo's because we  want to return and don't want to have to wait too long".  so silly. i was so happy to see the guys stop in the middle and take their photo's.

 what is the point if people don't get to take their pictures in the middle.

 more baleen in a front entry way

 and another hole for storage i believe.

 one of our assembly members apparently owns shepherds and one got loose and killed a small dog who was being walked on leash by his house.  probably pretty embarrassing for the guy in office. he was fined and paid the vet bills...he also said he had offered to take the lady to the shelter to look for a new dog.  i cringed at that quote.  just a wee bit insensitive.

 another late night for me.  back to work again tomorrow night anyway.  so at this point easier to just stay on a near night shift schedule.  the rain is great sleeping weather anyway.

 did get my steps in today.  not my best week, short of my goal average, but closer at least.

 cute face on this guy. i still think a lot of the dogs look like they have similar blood lines, which would actually make sense i guess.

 cute little birds all over.

 didn't get too many pictures of them and these i thought i had in color but i was in black and white...i know i do that all the time.

 more baleen and boats.

 just odd and cool!!  the boats are really cool i think.

 even cooler that they are still used.

 dogs and baleen.

 this baleen is still all attached to bone or whatever..does look like maybe it is bone it's attached to.  kinda cool to visualize a bit more how baleen works.  we always see the individual baleen.

 guess i shall get a snack and turn in for the night.   a day of leftovers.  but that meant taco salad which i always love.

grateful for:  A.  sugar...i know i shouldn't but sometimes a treat is so dang good.  today it was a tiny individual chocolate satin pie by marie calendars.  they make these cool single pies. B.  being able to express my opinion.  i'd really do poorly in a dictator state.  C.  relaxing baths