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.

 needed the fresh air to clear my head.  needed motivation as well.  a bit frustrated and bummed about the election results and the possible ramifications to my walrus friends.  tried to make a few calls for WARIS but nobody answered so i just left messages.  putting people together to hopefully make the thing work out.  Blossom and i headed to Potters Marsh.  it could snow so it seemed the best thing to do...take advantage of the mostly frozen conditions and get out on the kicksled.

 i say mostly as there were a few sketchy bits out there.  i stuck to the areas that were well traveled by previous skaters.  i always prefer to let someone else be brave in these situations.  as i was finishing up more skaters were coming on the ice.  my time was all my own though.

 i needed someone to just listen to me and then just say, "oh that sucks" but i find most people find listening and only listening to be a tough thing . tomorrow i may be in a better place for a rational discussion, but today i just wanted to be heard.  not sure how being heard works for others, but when you are alone it can be tough to feel heard.  i think i write so that i feel heard anyway.

 this is my kicksled, it is super fun to play on the ice with.  when i first took off from the house i'd forgotten the thing so i had to return home and load it.  then i discovered i'd grabbed Blossoms puppy harness so that wasn't going to work at all.  she's a big girl now...so i just held on to her leash.  no biggie...she looks so cute in her red harness though.

 overall, i suspect that many feel unheard at times.   we have become a world of talkers, mostly people talking about themselves, their troubles, their opinions. some of us are relegated to being more of the listeners than the talkers...but just to get the word out...sometimes us listener sorts want to speak, we want you to just listen to us, not judge, not counter, not debate, not rationalize...just listen!!

 it was quite beautiful out there on the ice.  wish i could have been here for the sunset, but the sun is setting sooner and i had the heater guy lined up.  i had the 3-5 window....he came at about 5:15...so a wee bit out of the window.  the heater is good and it's been checked now.

 met up with a friend later for dinner.  potters had helped me clear my head a bit though so i felt better.

 life can just be frustrating some days.

 thankfully, i have the dogs and the cats and my health and the outdoors to take the edge off of the frustration.  mostly it just saddens me that so many people seem to not see this beauty, they just see the money that can be made by destroying it all.  it's sad that so many people are so driven by money and power...it seems impossible some days.  once you destroy this place, it will never be put back right.

 once you kill off all the species, they can't be returned back to the wild, the ecosystems will be forever tarnished.  how can you be in a place like this and not want to protect it for the future.  erect things in New Jersey or something, leave this last bit of wild, wild.

 so that was my day.  i'm sure some of it is frustration at myself.  i want to make a difference for the Walrus Islands and fear that if this situation isn't fixed a year will go by and another and another and then the place will just be lost.  one by one the rocks crumble down and suddenly what was a beautiful mountain is a hole that will never be filled.

 i don't dabble in politics enough to totally understand the madness that it is.  i know that the major parties seem to be both corrupt and out of control. they both cater to the extremists and to the highest bidder.  they duke out who has more blue or red states and in the end nothing really ever gets accomplished in the big buildings in DC.  they blame each other and blame the media and blame the president and blame everyone but themselves.

 they are selfish and self serving overall...one new senator from ohio i think said something about making the democrats squeal?  some such nonesense...she apparently was raised on a pig farm?  anyway...she just comes right out admitting she had no intention of even trying to work with the other side, we've won the house so F you all is the lovely message.

 it all makes me want to just buy a place in the middle of nowhere near no one. i'm half hermit anyway...would anyone notice if i just became a hermit full time?  i'd miss the internet and the stores and i would be hard pressed to haul water everyday and using the outhouse would get old really fast in cold weather...it does sound lovely though.

 plenty of folks in Alaska live a semi-hermit life.  any healthy male who wouldn't mind partnering up in a semi hermit life...inquire within ( i need someone to do the heavy lifting and fix stuff, i'm so not handy)

 so this is a month of appointments it seems.  my days will be broken up a bit at times.  i do love the short days as i can often go for my walk and then just watch the sunset.....it's so early.

 these were cute of Blossom.  she really is adorable!!

 snuggled a bit with Rio on the couch as i waited for the heater dude. texted folks and watched a few ted talks.  the good thing about appointments is that it does get me up and moving. will have to switch back tomorrow as work begins again.

 they do keep predicting snow and so far nothing.  you will note the level of the sun in the sky.  this was close to noon actually.  i think i was out there 12:30-1:30 or 2 pm.  this is how winter is...the sun doesn't go up over your head it simply follows a path up, across and then back down.

 no time to drive out further and the clouds were forming deeper in the arm.

 stayed out as these skaters got rolling. they did note the ice being thin in  a few bits as i had. i heard a few crackles but never went through.

 below, that circle in the bottom there was a bit of a puddle of water.  probably over some ice, but must take note of such things.

 their dog did drop through.  mostly this is not a very deep area water wise.  marsh.

 i had seen people out skating in years past but now i think i'm more aware of it and watch for it.  love getting out there.  there is great skating here.  winter is amazing.  you just have to watch for various conditions and then plan your activities accordingly.  today ice skating, next week it could be cross country skiing or snow shoes.

 cruised over to look out towards the arm.

 the ice is forming more each day. fun to watch.

 see the ice?  in my pics from the beach this weekend it was just small chunks of ice, they are getting larger...they will be here and grow all winter.

 the light was beautiful today and the sun was shining on me as i kicksledded about.

 hopefully i sleep well tonight.  last night was a fitful sleep as they say....not sure i know where that came from.  sometimes i do worry about those walrus and worry about what i can possibly do to help them.  what do i know about it all?  it's a good thing to pursue though.  as a friend once said, "you can't make it worse" i think that is true.

 we can't always make grand changes in this world but the little things that we do each day can make a grand impact.  every kindness you impart to others makes life that much easier.  it's easy to see the world as it impacts you, but better to try and see it how it effects others.  so many compare their lives to others, but you can't know others lives only the lives they allow you to glimpse.  i think too often people compare their lives to those they deal with directly or those they see on tv...

 it's best to watch the world, find sources that open you up to how others live across this big earth we share.  by comparison i know that my dogs live better than the vast majority of other humans out there.  warm place to sleep, soft beds, running water, steady meals.  our government no matter how frustrating and dysfunctional still runs better than the vast majority of nations out there.  we may bitch about it all, but elections pass relatively peacefully, name calling, yes, but riots in the street, no.  sadly, most of the people in our fine nation abdicate their right to vote.  one ted talks speaker from Rio in Brasil was quite shocked at how low the voter turn out is in the states.  she said in Brasil voting is mandatory and still people abdicate their rights to vote or simply pay the fine rather than vote at all.
all this while in other nations people are not allowed to vote or go vote but the ballot is pre-voted for you or you vote at gunpoint.   many wait in line for hours for that right, many risk their very lives for the honor of voting.  many lives have been sacrificed in the pursuit of the right to vote.

 the votes are still being counted here, they have until the 19th to report those numbers.  a few of our races are still too close to call.  i'd rather have it counted right and each person that actually made that effort to be heard to know they are heard.

 the train passed as i was there,

 carrying rocks instead of tourists this time of year.

thankful for...A.  the right to vote and those who sacrificed so that i may have that right.  B.  gliding on the ice, beautiful C.  hope and possibilities.