the sunshine continues...

 temps in the 30's this week.  so lovely out there.

 mixed bag of pictures, as usual.  yesterday i headed up towards Near Point with Blossom.  we didn't go to the top.  it was a nice walk and a good work out though.  ran into friends in the parking lot when i got back.

 the day before was the Monday walk. realized that we are starting to get to the winding down of the Monday walks for the season.  seems so fast, winter.  i know that sounds nuts to those who don't live with 6 months of winter, but it really does go by quickly...every season seems to.  some faster than others up here i guess.  winter lasts the longest but otherwise there is just this constant change break up/spring/summer and fall and then right back to winter.  i love it though.  a few above was a young eagle.  right above a new puppy joined us, Dharma, she is a golden doodle.

 it is funny as i guess, i didn't remember, but the owner, pj, had apparently kinda gave me crap for paying for a doodle and now she has one.  she said i convinced her.  i don't remember her giving me crap for paying for a "mutt".  above is from the near point trail, anchorage below. i probably just should have kept walking to the top.  i'm sure if i'd gone with someone else i would have.

 this little guy.  i was downstairs at the kitchen table and i kept seeing movement out the window.  turned out to be all these tiny shrews zipping out from beneath the fence to the neighbors yard.  they were nibbling on seeds the birds had dropped from the feeder above.  there must have been 3-4 of them.  no decent pictures.  i attempted, but it was getting dark, they are small and fast and i was shooting through a window.  cute little buggers though. i'm sure they can cause havoc on houses and wiring and such.

 have gotten a few things done finally on my to do list.  finally bought my plane tickets for Ketchikan.  hate buying tickets...!!  it is done though.  so that makes the trip feel more real. i'll get there a few days early, i rented a car and can hopefully hit a few trails and see a few friends while i'm there.  still have to figure out hotel.  thinking i may do the cape fox place for that last night after the kayak trek for good eats and a nice atmosphere.  was looking for a cool b&b for those first days.  had a great one, but they require 5 night stay.

 still have to get final confirmation from a few folks and then i can shore up my numbers.  perhaps i could crash at a friends for a night or two as well and save money.  not sure how many are left in Ketchikan that i can crash at.

 was listening to NPR today and there was something on there about an app for the homeless, i think in San Francisco area.  it directs them to shelters with openings or food places...

 of course, the obvious question that came to my mind was, do homeless people have phones.  apparently the government gives out cell phones to the poor.  according to the guy they were asking questions of, cell phones used to be a luxury but now they are a necessity.  he even took that another step and they are, in his mind, a right!!  so life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and a smart phone.

 not sure i'm buying that!!   we don't have the money to feed or house the homeless, but everyone gets a cell phone!  interesting...and silly.

 early morning, well early for me anyway, Dr appointment.  only my second year going to this Doc, but i like her.  wanted to have a doctor other than my gyn.  with my reactive airway it seems like a good plan.  had my bloods drawn the other day.  all are normal.  even better my cholesterol numbers are great.  yeah me!!  wanted to touch base with her regarding my brain as well.  still moments of fuzziness.  don't last long.  for sure sensitive to noise and flashing lights.

 i was able to meet with L and we booked it through the big loop out at North Bivouac.  no wildlife sightings just a walk, enjoyable!

 a few more Iditarod dog shots.

 got highlights and low lights put in my hair this afternoon. i hadn't been to the hair dresser for quite awhile again. i get bored of dealing with it so i just let it grow out.  so some colour and some longer layers just to freshen it up.  looks fine. not ready to put in strange colours.  always seems silly at a certain age to me, but to each their own.

 just haven't gotten into this trend where people my age get tattoo's, piercings and dye their hair bright colours.  for me it just seems like something one does when they are a teenager or in their early 20's, something one grows out of in my mind.  clearly i'm not in the majority in this one...i am apparently an old fuddy duddy.  some one posted pictures of their evolving tattoo on their calf on facebook.  i clicked the "i don't want to see this" button.  50 year old calves are not always things of beauty...another reason i would not be putting a tattoo on  mine.try to avoid the varicose veins and spider veins...or i guess you could work them into the design.

 anyway, was catching up with my hairdresser.  he began speaking of this person that he seems to be following.  sounded pretty strange to me, but i feigned fascination...the guy could totally screw with my hair, right. haha.

 anyway, this guy is a transphysical phenomena medium.  he was explaining it to me, not sure i totally got it all, but somehow the guy is supposed to be some portal to the other side and jewels and crystals i think apparently come from his eyes, mouth and belly among other places.  he ends up with one such jewel for each person in the crowd and magically always has one for each person.

 according to my hairdresser Jesus had this same ability.  don't recall reading about him spitting out jewels, but he said this was how he did the whole bread and fish miracle.  it came from inside him.

 of course, i was skeptical and curious so i just had to check it out.  everything and everyone is on youtube, right?  so i did a search.

 there he was.  he goes behind a curtain and then returns and makes this big act of releasing these jewels.  i gotta say..it looked pretty made up to me.

 always amazing to me that people go for these sort of charlatans i would say.  there is so much hype around them and people just eat it up apparently.  i'm just don't convincing enough to pull it off.

 my bull shit meter was hitting the highest levels watching these video's of this guy.

 i told L that if i'm found dead tomorrow to please inform my family and friends that i was only searching this thing out and not into it.  would hate to have people see that search in there and think i've begun to believe folks like that.

 poor guy really did seem convinced that this guy was the real deal.  it is amazing what people will buy.

 guess a law is being put on the books making it illegal to use drones in hunting big game up here.  it is determined to be unfair.  i do think it is unfair, but it is ironic that it's not unfair to kill humans with drones, but unfair to kill animals with drones.  not trying to start a big discussion....just struck me as interesting.  i am all about the animals so i'm cool with this.

 big landslide in Washington. very sad, but at the same time so often people seem to build/buy houses in places that seem concerning at the very least.  it is true, the scientists try and warn against building in certain places due to risks but then it becomes a political issue and then permits are handed out anyway.  i'm sure it's the same here with earthquakes, especially our big one.  lots of talk of it this week with it being the 50th anniversary. it is funny how the further away the event is the more lax it seems we get on rebuilding in those area's that were most hard hit.  we forget.

 didn't get to sleep in today due to my appointment. always a bummer.  tomorrow i must stop by work and do this check off thing.  not sure why, but i absolutely hate going into work if i'm not going in to work.  oh well. this is this mandatory check off thingee.  i have another check off next week that i'll have to go to.  bummer...i am back to work tomorrow night as well.

 run dogs run!!

 a team stopped in front of us.  i had just mentioned to someone who was with us that every year it seems like at least one team stops right in front of us....then one did.

 already getting some snow to keep hydrated.

 long tongue, happy dog!!

 a little blip in the paper the other day.  down in Juneau someone fell through the ice in front of Mendenhall Glacier.  apparently it's like up here where folks walk out portage lake to the glacier...there is a risk of falling through. i'd think more so down there as it probably doesn't freeze as thick and the thaw/freeze no doubt happens more frequently than up here.  still something to think about and be aware of out there on the ice.

 paperwork to fill out and mail off...the to do list lingers...

1. grateful that i have worked my way through my own spiritual crisis and have come out the other end at peace.  2.  grateful for those tasty oatmeal chocolate chip cookies given to me today, nummy!!  3.  grateful for seeing all those tiny tracks out on the trails today. we don't always see the animals but it's always fun to see those signs of their activities out there.  good night.

Iditarod 2014 is over...

 still have dog pictures to post but i think i'll split those in with more recent shots.  i never tire of dogs but that doesn't mean everyone else enjoys them.

 the last teams came in saturday and tonight they had their big banquet.

 tired today.  lots of shoveling and today walked with the pups in the snow.  not deep enough to snowshoe the main trail but still soft so it was like walking on a sandy beach.

 blossom had a great time out there.  she built up loads of snow balls.

 i was a sitter all night last night.  thankfully i had my kindle.  great little thing to carry around for just this such occasion.  reading Malala's book slowly on these nights.  i just load that one with non-fiction/technical so i can pick it up after weeks or months and continue on where i left off.

 it is tough to keep awake in a room where it's dark and you are trying to be totally quiet so that the person you are sitting with doesn't wake up...there is a reason you are sitting with them and if you wake them you may create quite a lot of work for yourself.  let sleeping psych lie i always say...i also say, you wake em you take em.

 lots of little hot flashes these past few nights.  i am getting the feeling these are cyclic...still preferred over the alternative. strange though.  our bodies are pretty odd things.  always evolving.

 so far a great year for dogs in the Iditarod.  that is always a relief.  hoping everyone travels safely back to their pre-iditarod homes.  it's a great deal of people in that small town.  so many volunteers make this run happen.  many of these volunteers fly in to Alaska year after year.  the mushers all had great things to say about the positive energy and support from the volunteers out on the trails

 that huge jet is still not found. very disturbing.  the families of those missing must be exhausted and devastated.  i can't imagine not knowing the fate of your loved one for so many days. most on board are from China.  who knows if they will ever have the answers they so need.

 the city plows were out this morning on my street.  they really do an amazing job out there...at least from my vantage point.

 chatted with my niece for a bit this morning before i crashed. i did warn her that if i started to not make any sense it was due to lack of sleep.  she's had a stressful year but seems to be doing quite well.  we are rewarded when we are able to adapt to the things that life throws our way.  many find themselves totally unable to adapt and as the years go on you can really see the impact it has on their lives.  life is change and you have to be able to roll with it.  the good, the bad and the ugly...eventually the good wins if you do i think.

 so many people stay in bad situations be it jobs, relationships, religions, friendships...you name it.  they stay due to fear of the unknown.  it's always been so odd to me that people will stay miserable for years out of fear, but that is what it is ultimately.

 fear is powerful.  i find in times of change i tend to be excited and nervous.  those first months or whatever are tough, but that passes.  you give up too much by not going through it to see what lies on the other side.

 life never seems to follow the course you seemed to think it would but again you have to adapt.  i always thought that was tough for my mom.  she'd somehow pictured in her mind how her life would be at this age or that age as a teenager and never seemed to adapt to what her life actually was.  just always had that bit of disappointment.  it was always a bit sad.  embrace the change.

 my life now is not at all what i envisioned when i was young.  i just assumed it would follow the cookie cutter path. it did anything but that.  i took the path less chosen and it has made all the difference.

 a 73 year old man was attempting to kill his wife of many years because she was planning on divorcing him.  i'd read about couples that were together for years and how more and more of them are divorcing rather than sticking it out.  the piece i was reading was saying people are living longer, healthier lives and that seems to be making people re-evaluate these marriages.  i mean if you are not happy at 60, do you really want to stick it out with this person for another 20+ years. i think too many, especially women, feel more empowered to leave.  they have more confidence that they can make it on their own...unless of course, their husbands attempt to kill them.  he had no criminal record...save it up for something big though.

 gets back to my point though of how folks are miserable and just stick it out, first for the kids and then cause it's become a habit and they are afraid of the change.

 people pity me for not being married or having kids. i would have done those things if they had come up as a good option.  being a single mom ultimately didn't appeal to me.  it's a lot of work by yourself.  i was never one to be feeling that desperation to have kids i guess.  have a lot of nieces and nephews so maybe i got my kid time in with them.  some days i'm curious as to how kids i raised would have turned out. in the end curiosity isn't enough reason to have a child and i suspect i would have done just fine as a parent.  better than some, less good than others.  it's a reasonable assumption.

loved Mitch Seavey's bit tonight, he was congratulating his son on the win and talking about Dallas and Aily being great mushers, then said something like "but i can't get used to being beat by women and children".  haha.  the Seaveys also took the Jr Iditarod...how many kids are in that family anyway.  Dallas, Danny and the kid that won the Jr iditarod..any more?

 "The Big Bang" has been renewed for 3 more seasons.  :-).  such a fun and easy to watch show.

 there was an article today with some interview from Hugh Neff.  Sebastian really reamed him.  he was claiming that he'd pushed the panic button and hours and hours went by without any sign of rescue.  the race officials have come out to say his SOS button was never activated.  he never pushed it.  it may be some mushers just turned it off for fear they would accidently hit it and end their race. if you activate it your race is over. it could also be Neff was in a state of hypothermia and thought he activated the things.  cold can make you crazy.  your brain doesn't work right with hypothermia.

 so neff was pushing the pushing the SOS button but it was never on.  ultimately, the Iditarod crew were watching out the old way.  time between checkpoints and now no gps movement.  they sent someone out to look for Neff as he was too long on the trail between the checkpoints.  they guy they sent saved his arse apparently, according to Neff. Hugh's girlfriend posted a scathing note on Facebook slamming the race officials for abandoning him out there.

 the thing is too, in Alaska weather you could push a button like that 1000 times and that doesn't mean anyone can get out to you.  if the weather is bad, the weather is bad.  like i said in the last post we had our time at Shuyak Island extended by 3 nights due to bad weather.  nobody was getting us.  we didn't conclude we had been abandoned.  it's just how it works. you have to be prepared and make decisions based on your own safety and his case the safety of the animals.  you can't rely on a button to just send some huge crew out to save you...up here you can't rely on 9-1-1 all the time either.  they can try, they can plan and organize a search but they can't actually go on one if the weather is too dangerous to travel in.

 thankfully, in the end he and his team didn't come to any permanent harm.  i think his girlfriend was out of line for posting her nasty remarks without really thinking it all through.  he didn't sound as scathing in this article in the ADN.

 several teams worried about being blown with their teams into open ocean water which would have meant fairly immediate death.  thankfully that never happened.  wind is nothing to fool with.  serious business.  you just get so cold that your ability to function mentally can really  be impacted.

 they interviews Aily for the paper today as well.  she was really worried when she got to safety and King wasn't there.  when he did show up she was relieved.  she expressed to him how happy she was to see him there safe and then he said that his dogs weren't there.  in time jeff returned with a crew to pick up his dogs, they were all okay thankfully.  she felt relaxed enough to take a short nap and kinda get herself together i guess. she woke when Dallas was seen coming in.  i guess conditions had improved enough his headlamp was visible in the distance.

 he came and went and she knew then it was much safer conditions out there.  she began the chase.  she said her "race" ended in Safety.  those last 22 miles were just a victory lap after having survived what she'd been through i think.  she had fun those last miles.

 she was close and came close to catching up to him, but that Dallas is fit and competitive.  he thought it was his dad, then he thought it was a snowmachine and then again he knew it was a team of dogs and he assumed it must be his dad so he kicked it up a notch.  she came in to Nome just minutes after he did.  he was visibly wiped from that extra push he gave to beat his dad.

 Aily pulled a hamstring when her leg got jammed in an iceberg, enough that it stopped her team.  she also got frostbite on her hand.  apparently her one pair of overgloves were in a tangled knot and when she unzipped her sled to get her other pair out the wind just grabbed them and off they went to sea.  end of that.

 saw this same group out there on the lake last year...kids are a bit older now

 was laughing today as there was an anonymous comment on a post of the iditarod from 2010.  it was pictures from the ceremonial start and i had headed the blog note as such.  this person just wrote, "the iditarod doesn't start in anchorage".  really?  haha.  people crack me up...so many need to be experts

 i am in not way an Iditarod expert, but i was aware that there is the fun run in Anchorage and then the restart in Willow the next day.  i do enjoy comments though.

 love all those long tongues.

 there is Karen in the background.

 will feel great to sleep all night tonight. need to get some crap done tomorrow.  monday walk will probably not be too well attended.  everyone is elsewhere.

 one of the twins.  both made it in.  strange that they didn't seem to travel as closely as it seems they usually do.  go figure.

well, my bed is calling me and i don't like to keep my bed waiting.