kite sailers on the turnigan..

must say, i had a lovely day today. i slept in sufficiently, lingered over the paper and then went off to turnigan for a walk. this above picture was one of my favorites of the day. i was treated to 6-7 kite sailers who decided to enjoy the stiff breeze and incoming tide. the tracks always seem to add to any picture so i thought i'd take a few with them. the tracks run along the arm and then head off to seward or whittier. i really should get myself on that train one of these days. i hear it's a beautiful run.

there are trails that also run along turnigan arm. you can do them in sections. today i did potter to nearly mchugh. i tend to turn back a bit early as my girl rio is not good at boardwalk. being blind the steps get tricky for her. she does better on the steps going up, but the down steps get her everytime. i have not been able to find a way to train her on the down. luckily dogs are not as neurotic as humans and they are not concerned if they make goals. they just wish to eat and walk and sleep and get pets. the leaves were quite thick in some areas. loved how this angle shows off her sweet face. she really is a love.

the berries that are left seem to be whithering out there.

blossom was more interested in chasing her tennis ball than standing for photographs. soon after this picture was taken she found the first of several mud patches and was never clean again.

was watching more of the james herriot episodes as the pictures loaded. i love how the women in the show have calves and extra weight and everyone isn't perfect. they did a wonderful job bringing the books to life in this series and i must say i'm enjoying the show as much as i did as a girl.

rio is snoring next to me. i'm very happy as i have dog care all arranged for my trek to california in november. i'm not keen on flying, but i think honestly i think i put off buying plane tickets not for fear of flying but because i dread leaving the dogs. i know that no doubt makes me a freak and all, but i really am quite attached to these pups and it is really tough leaving them. once i'm sitting on the plane i'm fine and i guess at that point i relax as there is not a thing i can do anyway. when you are in a plane it is all totally out of your control. luckily the planes seem to go up and down with relative ease. once i realized that my fear and concern was really about the dogs and my own seperation anxiety i was able to relax and just buy my plane tickets. it's even easier when i know i have good people lined up to watch them.

the house smells so nice. first it was the turkey soup, then the pumpkin bread and now i'm smelling gladiolas i think. i changed my filter and i have these scent things that you just attach to your heater filter and it makes its way through the entire duct system. can't remember who told me about those, but i love em. bought several more the other day when i bought new filters. i use it to remind me to change the filters more frequently. when the odor ceases it's time to think about a new filter.

there is a lookout on the trail which is always a great place to just chill. the views are spectacular. the tides have dramatic changes in the arm so the view changes from when you start your walk to when you return back.

the mountain in the distance is called "sleeping lady". there is some native tale i believe related to it, though i can't recall just what it is. to the right in the distance is potters marsh.

while i cooked earlier i watched a frontline on a man who was on death row and was probably innocent. he was put to death in texas, a place that has a reputation for it's death row practices. apparently, he ran out of the house and his 3 kids perished inside. it was felt to be arson and that he was responsible and he was given the death sentence. arson investigation has had great improvements and an expert has apparently determined that the fire was actually accidental and not arson. the govenor of texas at the time was given the information 4 days before the execution was to take place and he refused a stay of execution to further investigate the possibility of innocence.

there are some individuals that i believe the earth would just be better of without so i'm not totally against the death penalty in spirit, however there are just so many flaws with the system. part of my issue is that the laws vary so much state to state. you can be a serial killer who eats your victims and live if you are in a state without a death penalty and you could have a much lesser crime and be killed in another state. there just doesn't seem to be any fairness or level playing field for who and what one should be killed for. also seems that evidence had better be extremely clear before one makes this determination.

also it is quite costly keeping someone on death row...all the appeals and such, plus the death row inmates are housed differently which is also more expensive. in the end it cost more to kill someone than to let them live. some crimes are so heinous you kind of find yourself wishing we lived in a barbaric state where the families of said victims could release thier wrath without any fear of consequences.

in the meantime i think we should settle for skipping the death penalty for fear of this one guy who may be innocent. of course i think also that our prisons are far too cushie for my liking. there are rehabible inmates i've no doubt, but i don't like that they have tv's and game rooms and exercise rooms and the opportunity to sue for all sorts of craziness. as a matter of fact i heard today that there are inmates attempting to sue for the right to vote. when you commit a crime you have risked giving up your rights in the event you get caught. oh and don't get me started on thier right to marry and procreat. what is up with that. you are in jail....you figure out how to satisfy your sexual needs on your own in your cell.

anyway, enough of that lovely subject. the trails were just so pretty with all those leaves....

the second time i came out to the lookout point i saw these kite sailers out there. not sure if that is the right name for them. i'm sure someone will correct me on facebook if anyone ganders at the pictures i posted. above is sleeping lady again with a plane taking off.

these first pictures are taken from the look out. after i was done with my walk i drove down the road a bit and took some more pictures from thier level, more or less. above one guy is preparing to take off on the water.

above is his kite only and below he has set sail. i'm a sucker for any sort of kite looking thing. love the flashy colours and designs.

it really does look like a blast. i'm sure i'd be freaking out and the water is pretty dang cold. not everything gets covered. the kites seem to be able to catch wind easily. looks like some skill/work keeping the kites up and giving yourself the best ride possible no doubt.

not sunset yet, but the sky looks like it wants to rain in some places. did get a few drops as i headed back into anchorage, but really it never materialized. there is talk of snow in the forecast from time to time. coming soon, no doubt.

another view of the arm from street level. i think there are just 2 kites out there.

not that there was just those 2 out there...just that i only caught those two in the photo. there were at least 6 or 7 with another one or two in the parking area i pulled into getting ready to take off themselves.

i had fun watching these guys out there. really looks like a blast!

i'll let you just enjoy a few shots...

a couple with just the kites. easy to see the rope system below.

when i'm on the turnigan arm for a hike i generally stop by potters and see what and who is out there. still some swans out there so of course, i took a few pictures. such lovely birds. the two above appear to be taking a nap. there were at least 8 swans out there. surprised they haven't all left.

suppose they will fill up as long as they can as much as they can. long flights ahead of them all.

even with muck on thier heads they look beautiful.

haven't decided if these grey looking swans are just younger versions of the other swans or some other sort of bird all together. i'm not any sort of official birder. anyone good at bird identification?

the one below even has a different colour beak which makes me think it's another bird altogether . potters has always got something going on. even in the winter people use the marsh as an iceskating rink. i haven't made it out there, but perhaps this year i may get out there. don't think i ever ice skated last year, i like that kick sled so much that when i get out on the ice it's to play with that thing.

managed a swim tonight. the pool had lots of waves between water aeorbics and free swim. did get in 56 lengths which is sufficient. i was getting hungry.

baked up three loaves of my half moon bay pumpkin bread. it's always very tasty. not bad for my first try of the year. fall is great what with pumpkin bread and pumpkin cheesecake. the house smells wonderful as well.

made some homemade turkey noodle soup, just like my mom used to make. always a tasty treat. comfort food is great even when you don't need comfort...sometimes it's just a lovely reminder of childhood and my mom.

pre-halloween...

have spent the evening carving my pumpkin. came out nice. those kits are so helpful as i have never had any imagination when it comes to these things.

and these are the spoils of the pumpkin carving. seeds, which i have not found a perfect recipe for and the pumpkin guts which will soon be tasty bread!

above is after boiling and below is before. found my frightening friend from last year. he's quite entertaining.

bread tomorrow...

the monday dog and baby walk. :-)

going shopping when one is tired may result in a dog getting dressed up like grapes. she is pretty dang cute though and seemed to be fairly tolerant of the get up. they don't make costumes for dogs rio's size, but she did get a nice neck accessory. i am actually off to be able to hand out candy to the kids in the neighborhood. when i've been home in the past i put the baby gate up and let the dogs say hello first, costumes will make them even more fun greeters! will have to take them for a nice long walk before trick or treaters show up.

had headaches this weekend. well had huge knots in my back and neck which led to headaches, which led to nausea. doesn't make life very fun at work when you feel less than optimum. right now i still have knots but the head feels better. headaches are such a bother. mine tend to cluster around a female induced schedule. used to get zits and cankers sores along with the headaches. not sure what god's thoughts were on the whole period thing for females. much is unanswered and it's said that god works in mysterious ways. i do recall my mother trying to appease my complaints regarding said time of the month by explaining that those poor boys had to tolerate wet dreams. yeah, waking up wet because of an orgasm sounds horrific, i don't know how they cope??? nice try mom. :-)

anyway, i felt way off my game last night, just tired anyway. had 2 relativly easy patients but that should never fool you into thinking your night will be easy. in pediatrics especially i've grown to learn that something like an iv coming out can become a 2 hour event in your night, nurses generally do not have 2 hours to spare in a night. this put other stuff behind schedule and made one mother less than happy with me. somedays you don't make everyone happy, but people are stressed out and in peds especially you can become a target of that release of stress. it's best to just have a thick skin, not take those moments personally and move on. in the end most of that stuff at work or in life is really less about you than you think. my icu nights were quite reasonable. had one patient that was the same for 3 nights running and then was paired with a different second patient each of the nights. hearts are not my favorite, but i decided i have post traumatic stress syndrome ( well i actually replaced stress with the name of a doctor i have had horrible dealings with who has now left alaska....yippee!!!!) . i'm just so used to getting yelled at for no reason by a certain cardiac surgeon that i now shy away from those posts. on that note i shall now get a glass of wine to celebrate his leaving...cheers!! my condolences to the nurses of whatever hospital he is headed to.

the object above may be difficult to identify....it's a tennis ball. it's a well loved and utilized tennis ball. we lost the intact tennis ball, but not this one. dogs do tend to latch on to a beloved item. thought the ball looked quite pathetic...so there it is. much enjoyment has come from above object....and more to come no doubt.

the day was lovely when i awoke today. it was still difficult to get out of bed after only 3 hours sleep, but i'm very happy i did. andrea and nash came and her friend wendy and her baby, chloe came as well. we were joined by julie so 6 humans and three dogs. both babies were adorable and under 1 year. they seemed to enjoy thier stroll in the woods and tea time after the walk.

it was a relatively warm day but there was ice built up at the creek. soon you will not be able to recognize this as a creek at all since it will be totally frozen over and the little bridge will look like part of the winter landscape.

was wonderful to see and feel the sunshine. there were predictions of snow this week, but so far nothing yet. i still have leaves to rake and i need to load the winter studs into the car for a changeover. it will soon happen though, all the signs of winter are here.

buddha enjoyed his day out there. blossom is up ahead highlighted by the sun.

bought a pumpkin and after i'm done here i think i'll pop a movie in and start to carve it. really i just want the pumpkin guts so i can make pumpkin bread. may have to gut a few pumpkins. that pumpkin bread is great. it's like $11 for a med sized pumpkin though. i guess if i get like 8 loaves of bread out of that, i've made out okay. in my tired state i also purchased some halloween lights with spiders.

wendy and andrea with thier babies. cute...!

julie ended up taking up rio's leash, which she seemed to enjoy. rio was confused at times, but she adjusted.

was a bad weekend for walks secondary to my headaches, but i did roll out of bed on saturday and get the girls to the dog park. the lake is partially frozen so i will probably avoid any bodies of water til the lakes freeze up enough to walk on. blossom isn't at all sensible about this freeze/thaw time so it's best to just avoid it. i do this in fall and spring. her tennis ball rolled out onto the lake. it can be seen in the picture above, closer shot below. blossom had quite the time of it over the loss of this tennis ball. she could see it but was unable to get to it. very distressing for a labradoodle. she would try and go out and the ice would break in front of her, but she couldn't get on top of hte ice to walk out. she was barking and carrying on. i finally had to just move on and convince her to join me.

she was obviously not the only dog who lost a tennis ball that day as i saw 6-7 of them out there on the lake as i made my way around. someone may get lucky and nap a bunch of tennis balls, more likely they will freeze into the surface of the lake and in the spring they will be rediscovered after the melt.

thought this dane pup was cute with is coat. blossom and other canine chums are playing in the open water below. the sun must hit this part of the lake more and slow the freeze.

chunks of ice from blossom attempts to reclaim her toy.

begining of freeze on the west side of university lake. i'm off to get some stuff accomplished before i crash for the night. will try and get the poetry back in tomorrow. must find some inspiration to write and am just too pooped. don't want to write incredible bad poetry, just bad poetry. :-)

miners and mistresses....but here it's just cold

bit chilly out there today. i had to put on my gloves and the hat for my walk. just did rovers run with the dogs today. i felt like i was moving slow. i put off putting the gloves on as long as i could. still have a bit of a chill and plan to curl up with the kindle in my front bedroom. the sun just pours in that room and it's like laying on a beach, without the sand and crowds and flies and stuff. lots of frost out there on the trails and the creeks and streams have ice formations already. brr...winter is fast approaching.

the paper and news sources and now looking for more to say/write about now that the miners are out of the mine. sadly, one focus is on the mistress who met the one miner. was thinking of this as i walked today. how sad that this stuff, that is personal, has to get aired globally. i felt badly for the guys wife and kids no doubt, i mean nobody deserves to have to deal with this. i'm sure next they'll be trying to talk to her about if she watched the rescue and what did she think of his mistress being the one there to greet him. i think she was wise to just stay away. can't say as i think much of the mistress for not doing the kind thing and stepping out and saying we'll deal with later. of course, that must be some ego of the miner to assume that both women would happily stand there waiting for him.

also did hear a blurb on npr as i drove to my walk. apparently, oakley donated the sunglasses that all the miners sported as they came out of the mine. the founder of that company was in my church years ago. i was just a kid. i do remember he and his wife were a bit of the hippies and the women of the church got together to make the wife some appropriate church wear. they were not wealthy people. i think they were converts and i have no idea if they are still members. i think they actually divorced at some point. when he started his company, he started not with sunglasses but with motorcycle or motorcross grips. so i still remember the company as oakley grips. he's sold the company i believe now. it is funny to google a name from the past and see that they have a write up on the encyclopedia online. i just remember that he was always nice to me when i was a kid. i did look him up on facebook, what the heck. i just wrote a quick note to say hi and don't expect to hear anything back. i googled another name from the past one night at work. ed parker. he was also in the encyclopedia. he and his wife lelani were always fun. he's well known for his karate and he also was a body guard i believe of elvis for a time. i remember him having one of elvis's fancy jacket things framed in his front entry. i attended his funeral. that was the biggest funeral i've ever been too. lots of tough looking guys in black suits.

peoples lives take such divergent paths. i know these guys would probably not remember me, but the palfreyman name will still be very familiar. we were a large family and my parents were very involved in the church.

as i drove back from jodphur loop yesterday i noticed this film crew. they are filming, "everyone loves whales" with drew barrymore in the area. i grew up in california and the film crew look is pretty familiar. kinda funny to see those crews up here. several locals have been selected to play extra's.

we've had such beautiful blue skies these past days. cold, but beautiful.

well, i think i'll head off to nap before i start my 4 nights of work. can't wait to get a few under my belt.