from snow to super cold..

 

i remembered that i have auto start this morning.  such a joy! car is plugged in and ready for the winter fun. the element on the other hand...well the battery is dead. i went out to use it on one of our zero degree mornings only to find i hadn't shut the door tightly...probably the seat belt got caught. anyway.  it wouldn't start.  thinking i'll rejoin AAA and then request a jump in a few days to get her started again. it's still newer than the car above.  these are from July

mixing it up. 

i head back to work again tomorrow night. no anxiety this stretch off.  the overall covid numbers appear to be decreasing, most importantly, the number hospitalized is decreasing and before we had over 30 on vents in state and now it's less than 20 so that helps. 

not sure what will happen in December.  many of our help will leave and we shall see...

have been out walking and enjoying the great outdoors, no matter how chilly it is.  i come home and snuggle in under the covers and electric mattress pad for a bit and then try to get a few things accomplished for the day. 

i have managed to get the calendars and cards made! bought a few gifts so things are starting to get done.  i like to get the business of the holidays under control so that the holidays aren't so insane 

i have had some double walk days with treks to my new obsession of rock hunting out at Ruth Arcand. 

so Monday i walked out at Campbell Airstrip with friends and then hit the dentist and then zipped over to Ruth Arcand. i've gotten a winter inner loop figured out.  just exploring and finding new paths.  just adding the park to the mix of trails i use. i'll tire of the rocks at some point i'm sure or just run out of rocks to paint to trade with. in the summer i suspect the bug count will get pretty high out there like it does in the bog here.

today i headed to Ruths for a quick walk and then met LS out at North Bivouac for a nice loop. always good for me to get some actual social time in the mix. 

the other night i was painting rocks.  trying to improve my skills a bit.  looking on pinterest for some better options so i don't feel guilty in my trades.  there are some impressive artists out there. 

i have a few new options to add to the mix. my paddlers are cute and i'm starting to build on my mountain scenes.  

some of these are from the crow creek mine.  there is a cat that lives there...i was happy i left the dogs in the car!  they would have given chase.  the cat was super sweet and came right up for pets.  extra toes, which i always love. 

so several of these are from Crow Creek mine, also Portage valley, Girdwood/virgin falls and i think another trek out to Independence mine. 

lots of pretty flowers at the mine.  they do weddings and other parties out there so many pretty photo ops

their blue poppies are quite the sight. so pretty.

we also do many of the usual walks through the summer

loved these from below shots of the flowers.  always trying new angles.

one may have made it in to the calendar.  we shall see. it's usually not too bad, the calendar. 

my photography is better than my rock painting but i have artistic skills in me so i just have to be more patient.  the painting is very relaxing and i try to make up for my lack of artistic skills out there by adding some volume of rocks. many of mine just stick around there or get moved around the circle, never finding a new home.  

it is interesting to see what goes and what stays.  the paw prints do seem to go.  i think because they are small and interesting rocks at baseline so that makes them easy to carry around in a pocket. 

i'll have to layer up once more this evening to go check the mail.  with temps so low you can't just pop outside without being prepared. 

i for sure took advantage of many of the popular mines out here.  each season is different and each summer i hit different things.  need to plan another Alaska outing for next summer. i've still never gone to see bears out at Brooks so always a possibility.  i think i may have a few visitors.  though i don't really plan around that until it sounds more solid.  many want to come but often they do not actually come. 

we checked a few winter trails in N. Biv today.  this one is usually the last one frozen. there were some foot prints going a ways out and then they had stopped and returned.  we laughed. 

not yet.  

watched some netflix and did some baking.  that is it for these days off.  felt good i got those few projects done though.  perhaps i'll get the poetry blog started tonight and get signed on to AAA. was thinking of getting the Skelly's changed over to Christmas...not sure i'll feel that ambitious tonight though.  

they were looking for on call for tonight so maybe that will be an option the next few days. chill while i can and be rested for what comes in December.

i had gotten this new dental hygienist because mine wasn't available once and so now it seems i have him all the time.  he's nice enough but i wasn't too sure if he could tell the difference between gums and teeth.  ouch! took some ibuprofen after my visit on Monday. 

below is from Eagle River Nature Center.  dogs on leash there so not always my favorite spot with them. they are not the greatest on leash and now that Ivy is feeling better she seems to be jumping more and more again.  was hoping that the knee issues would have meant that was done for good. such an annoying habit. 

they aren't perfect but i sure love these pups.  they put up with me and even seem to like me.  dogs are just that way.  they think the world of you.  they adore you and they don't know to be any different.  

when you are single you are not adored for sure...i do realize that many who aren't single live without adoration as well. perhaps that is just part of aging.  you are no longer called beautiful. you are just a face in the crowd, an old face. 

my self esteem was never the greatest to begin with.  aging does not always improve that.  it can be odd.  i will find a rock and then debate even taking it...do i deserve to have a pretty rock? can feel pretty pathetic that you are convincing yourself that you are worthy of a pretty rock in life. 

i felt a bit of the melancholy monday and Tuesday but today it seemed to have passed. always something i guess. 

thankful that i have outlets.  walking, photography, poetry, painting and of course, the pets.  you really just have to find ways to distract yourself from your own negative feelings some days. 

plug along and eventually you will find there are more good days than bad in life.  

bear poop....no bear sightings on the trails so i'm always good with that. hoping this cold snap is putting those bears to bed. 

more painting tonight perhaps.  it seems that many of the painters out there use very fine tipped brushes or their hands, which i did a little finger painting the other day.  worked pretty good. messy but messy can be perfect. 

me with some himalayan blue poppies and fireweed above

lots of flowers in June/July, then it gives way to mushrooms and then...back to snow and ice.

i do love it up here though.  don't really feel a need to leave really.  

i'm a bit of a home body, and i get into my comfort zone at times.  i don't mind being other places but it's always so stressful planning and getting to/from them. 

i'm not a keen airplane traveler either. 

maybe i like the small planes because they are always just shorter hops.

november is halfway over, time really does fly, whether you are having a good time or not.  

i used the crock pot for a turkey breast yesterday. fun to change it up a bit with some comfort foods from time to time.  may just eat a salad here in a bit. 

family photo time.  thanks SH, pretty sure she took these.

lupine. another favorite. well, i better get some other stuff done.  top it off with some painting i guess. 

thankful for. A. distractions, hobbies and the pups who get me outside when it's super cold, them and the rocks. B. brainless tv shows that i use to drift off and veg out C. the art skills of others, i'm always amazing at what folks come up with. 

the rock found and lost....

 

the downside to mixing with the other humans.  haha. i did the big loop and the new to me shorter loop the other day.  i must have been right behind this great rock artist, T.  i found a beautiful snow leopard he had done.  small rock, just the face, the eyes were amazing.  i took that one and later i found the tiger that he had also made.  it was also super cool.  i didn't want to appear greedy so i opted to keep the snow leopard. after close to 5 miles walking i get to trailhead and run into another rocker who brings her two kids out there. the little girl had seen the snow leopard on fb and had her heart set on finding it. 

her face just fell when i said i had already found it.  she was gracious in the loss but she just looked so sad....so i handed her one of my prizes of the day.  kindness won the day.  i did come home with a very cool jelly rock. so no cats for me that day but i am hoping for some good rock karma on another day.  the rocks giveth and the rocks taketh away.  

there are some good personal lessons to be learned from this rock thing.  in addition to getting me painting a bit and out of my own head.  it's good to remember that they are just rocks and that there are others out there.  greed, jealousy are not good traits so it's a good practice for all i think.  the other day another rocker had the same happen. she'd gotten both of T's rocks on the super snowy day. then she met me.  i was wearing my yeti snow hat while looking for the yeti he had painted.  she didn't give up the yeti but she did give me the tiny lorax.  

the rocks often get put back out there at another time.  i doubt his do but others do...mine mostly.  the mother of the little girl had some rehides with her...they were pretty much all mine.  i laughed that what i lack in artistic skill i try to make up for in volume of rocks shared.  there have been a few that have turned up later.

many of mine circle or return.  my paddlers and a few others do seem to take flight on their own. there is some hope i'll improve in my painting skills over time...not T level but enough. 

the best part is that the rocks get us all out there on the trails.  the pups appreciate that.  it's also a nice group of people who you normally just walk by but now you stop and chat about a common interest. another perk is the lack of politics...though there is one nasty akita woman who strikes up conversations with random strangers out there about all her conspiracy theory beliefs. she's become a bit of a joke in the group and rocks with peace and love have been created and placed out there in hopes of changing her attitude...or annoying her until she starts walking elsewhere to get away from all the liberals or libtards as so many like to refer to anyone who has any sort of view different than their own.  

these often evangelical conspiracy crack addicts should really ponder the side they find themselves on.  as they dish out hate and anger at such an alarming rate.  hate and anger does not come from the side of the light, it comes from the side of darkness.  who are they really aligned with? 

so lots of walking and this week lots of snow shoveling. we got well over a foot.  

i was on call that night and thankfully was never called in. i would have had to do some major digging out before i could work.  we are now into the deep freeze.  it was at 0 this morning. 

today i headed out to the beach.  there was a little fog, it was so beautiful out there though. the ice is forming. 

the cr-v now has it's snow tires on.  i ended up needing a cab both directions.  a bit spendy but both of the cab drivers were super nice.  one grew up very poor in Palestine and the other came over years ago from Pakistan.  both love living here and have raised kids here, the kids were becoming very productive members of society. the first guy and i really had a lovely and continuous chat.  exchanging our philosophies on things.  we were very much alike in much of our thinking. 

he was saying how so many freak about the masks and will refuse to enter his cab since he asks for a mask.  they slam the door on a regular basis. so that led to a discussion of how spoiled and entitled so many are.  he really appreciates every opportunity for him and his kids and people where he came from would be thrilled to even have access to masks most of the time. 

the other cab driver said he worked nights for years so i said, no more nights now? and he said yes, no more...so i said, you must enjoy not having to shuttle around all the drunks.  he started to laugh and then told started to speak about how Americans will do anything in the back of a cab.  he said he can't even tell his wife what he's seen.  that he would come home and she'd ask what is wrong and he just would tell her he couldn't tell her.  sadly, he said it must be cultural.  i wish i could convince him that not all of us are like the people he sees doing things in the back of the cab, but since he's seen so much who am i to refute the culture of our people.  

the guy at the shop spoke at length to me.  he was very excited about my license plate as he loves the Beatles...then he said, that is probably not why you have that plate though.  it's not but i do like the beatles i told him. 

these photo's Homer, Clam Gultch, Deep Creek and a rafting trek out of Spencer Glacier.

work this week.  not bad at all for me.  we have help for a bit.  we shall see what happens in December. 

i think this week i started on a floor with a terrible, nasty and difficult woman as a sitter. i pissed her off immediately. that didn't take much and it was going to be a long night so i was thrilled that i was moved to ER to do holds around 10pm.  whew!

i was put on call the next night so that was great since it snowed so much.  lots of digging the next day.  i did short loops at Ruths because the snow was deep and i should have brought snow shoes. a few days later it was much better...or was that the next day? today is sunday. Thursday i worked PCU all night. 

we went for a little rafting trek out at Spencer Glacier.  pretty day as you can see.  took us down the river.  the only down side was not much time spent cruising around the glacier

you take a train to the lake in front of the glacier and then wander a bit and head down river where the train stops and picks you all back up. 

there will be many rocks to find in the spring.  

i have jury summons coming up in December.  i need to let my boss know this.  have gotten caught up on some education. 

not sure what, if anything, will happen to trump and friends.  most likely not much.  there hasn't been much accountability of late which is frustrating.  the other side doesn't even hear any of it since none of what does happen is covered on the "news " sources they will listen to.  i've always popped over when news hits all the other main stream sources. you go to the fox type places and they could be talking about some hamburger crisis they have invented. it's always some way the world is doing the right wrong. 

the whiners who seem to believe that everything they think or believe is absolute and correct and has Gods blessing and anything that doesn't fit in their box...well it's from the devil and is some sort of crazy conspiracy thing. no idea how so many can believe so many twisted tales out there but they do. 

i mean it's nuts some of it.  that JFK Jr is not really dead but is instead going to be trumps vp when he is returned to power. the whole election is not legitimate crap.  there were even fools that went to the place in Dallas that JFK was assassinated on the anniversary of his death believing that JR would be there to announce the return of trump to office with his support as running mate. not just a few fools, hundreds. 

also some from Kennicott. 

i left a rock there in front of the house of a local.  he had this whole set up with pineapples across the street, little signs and a whole scene set up.  he was excited i had noticed it.  so he popped out of his house, somewhat drunk, and began to tell me the whole tale of the scene he'd set up with the pineapples.  who am i to stop a good tale so i listened. 

the mine buildings looked rougher this time.  they are doing work to attempt to shore them up.  time will not do well by them though.  the main mine building was added onto repeatedly over a short time so i'm not sure how well it was built to begin with. 

my friend hiking back from the glacier.  i stopped often to take photo's of course.

all the old mine equipment

tomorrow a few of us will walk.  the official Monday walk seems to be on the back burner.  people mostly have found other things to do on Mondays.  tomorrow i have a thing to do.  so i may have to just book ahead so i can make the dentist appointment.  took months to get it so i had to go with what they had. 

some are a different mine...Independence still

the drive out towards Glenallen.

and to Kennicott eventually as well. 

the wrangel/st elias mountains

below is again the ice/moraine

the girls.  

i had started to work on the calendar but i tried loading a bunch of pictures and what actually loaded were photos from several years ago so not sure why that happened.  rather than become more annoyed i just took a break. 

usually goes pretty fast once i get moving on it all.

would also like to get the card made.  there was a discount price today.  it ends tonight though.  of course.  procrastination gets me again. 

some pretty fall colors along the way. 

so i'll try and get back at it. at least get a card made and start working on the calendar. they may have more specials coming up

one can hope anyway. time to get back to other stuff.  

thankful for: A. a few chill days at work.  B.  beautiful snow, may it last all winter C.  driving safer on snow tires.