It's spring?

At least according to the calender it is. We're having daytime temperatures in the mid to upper 30's and night time temperatures in the teens. Some things are turning green, but there's no sign of flowers yet. The stores are getting ready for the gardening season though.

Young Mr Moose says it's a little chilly, but it doesn't bother him that he can see his breath. It was bothering him that I was interrupting his breakfast. Mr Eagle was watching me the whole time though. He was high enough to be enjoying the sunshine. He must of already had breakfast. I was drinking my mocha, eating a muffin and talking with a friend on the phone while watching these guys.

Anyone lose a shoe?

A trip to the farm

That's the Musk Ox Farm located in Palmer, Alaska. The Farm is a private non-profit organization dedicated to the development and domestication of the musk ox for the purpose of providing additional subsistence income opportunities for Alaska’s first people.

This is a really neat place with an excellent staff with loads of volunteers. Until this past Wednesday, I did their website for them. Unfortunately I wasn't able to give their website the attention that it really needed. Being caught up in too many projects, working for a living and The Farm is about a 45 minute drive from my home.

So on Wednesday I drove to the farm and turned it all over to Amanda. We spent about an hour on website 101 and then I got to play tourist. It's still winter even though you don't see much snow in the pictures. It was in the mid 30's and had a little wind blowing and the musk ox didn't care. The sun was out and it was a gorgeous day.

I didn't stay long because I had just got over a nasty head cold. But' Amanda invited me back at anytime to take more pictures. I of course left an invitation to call me anytime if they need assistance with the website.

The musk ox in the last picture have their first birthday this spring.

P.S. Good luck Amanda and thanks for the tour.

This time of year is tough

It is tough on you. The weather plays with your head. It's cold one day and the next the snow and ice is melting. The days seem gray and gloomy. Your looking for that really great photo op and it's not around every corner like you got use to during the winter with fresh snow, ice fog, sled dogs and stuff like that.

It is, but you're in a slump because it's not winter and it's not spring yet. The corners are a little farther apart and you have to keep your mind open.

We had an interesting sunrise this morning. I was taking shots of it at one of my favorite spots and I caught something out of the corner of my eye. The sun was reflecting off of another cloud that was kind of twisting. Ruth saw it when I was uploading it to the pc and called it a fire bird. That's what it kind of looks like to me also.

Business was kind of good today, but a lot of time on the cell phone. So I would pull over and talk for a while. At one place I was being watched by Mr. Raven. When the call was done, I got out of the truck with camera in hand. He let me get one shot off and he was gone.

I made it down to Ship Creek Dam where it's really starting to thaw out. The ice is mostly gray and rotten. There is some color of what will be spring trying to break through.

The pigeons were everywhere. Almost daring you to mess with them.

Come on spring. I'm trying to be patient.

One lump or two?

The tide is going out. Here's where Ship Creek flows into Cook Inlet. These large chunks of ice get left behind until the tide comes back in. The rest of them flow down Cook Inlet into the Gulf of Alaska. Even though the temperatures have been down in the 30°'s, the ice has been melting some and of course it breaks up with the tide coming in and out.

Working like a dog

The girls at TLC bring mans best friend to work with them often. Say Hi to Tank and Belle. I don't know what type of work they accomplish, but at the end of the day they look tired as a dog and are ready to go home.

Lance Mackay first into Nome

by Channel 2 News staff
Wednesday, March 12, 2008

NOME, Alaska -- Lance Mackey has pulled a feat some thought impossible even two days ago.

He has defied the odds and pushed his dog team more than 1,000 miles to win the 36th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race after winning the 1,000-mile-plus Yukon Quest race.

And it's the second year in a row he's won both races back-to-back.

Jeff King, a four-time champion himself, has run neck and neck with Mackey for the last several days. At one point Monday night he was just minutes behind the leader as the two pulled out of the Koyuk checkpoint about 16 minutes apart.

But most of Tuesday and certainly Wednesday morning belonged to the reigning Iditarod champion, who now claims his second title in the Last Great Race.

Mackey pulled into Nome at about 2:45 Wednesday morning.

Borrowed from KTUU Channel 2 website.

Breaking up is hard to do

The weather has been terrible. It's been +40°f and all of the snow and ice is melting and breaking up. We call this season break up. The real question is "is it really break up"? Most of us feel that's it's too early and we'll have another dumping of snow and we'll get to break up all over again.

What makes it real sad is to watch the national news and see all the snow they are getting in Ohio right now. Break up is my least favorite time of year in Alaska. Everything is wet and dirty. Don't even think about washing your car or truck because it would be just a waste of time and money. It would be dirty by the time you finished driving home.


It's hard to get motivated to go out shooting pix's. The railroad yard was busy. I've always liked trains. I remember as a kid I use to watch the Casey Jones TV show. When those guys head south to Seward or north to Fairbanks they get to see a lot of beautiful scenery and wildlife. We'll have to check it out later this summer.

The ducks were busy also. I don't know if these guys migrated back or stayed for the winter. There's always some open water somewheres around here for them to stay the winter.

Man we need some snow.

I like American made airplanes

I do. I can count on one hand how many times I've flown on a foreign made aircraft. I remember the first time, I was totaly uncomfortable, I didn't sleep. Now a days you can pick what flight and when and where it goes on the internet. I always look to see what model aircraft is scheduled. I always fly Boeing.



I've flown around the world in Lockheed, McDonald Douglas and Boeing made aircraft. I never felt uncomfortable. Even the first time I flew. I've flown with foreign crews, but on American aircraft. I never slept, but I was comfortable with the aircraft. Now a days I prefer to fly Alaska Airlines which has an all American fleet made by Boeing. I sleep very comfortably on Alaska Airlines.



I can't imagine being a young airman or soldier and getting on an aircraft designed in Europe. I don't believe I would have made a career in the Air Force if that was so in my time.



I belive yesterdays decision by the Air Force to award the contract of the KC40 to Northrop Grumman and Aerobus is a big, big mistake. Keep the jobs and the cash at home. Our economy is having enough issues without send ingthe airframe manufacturing over seas. Keep our airmen and soldiers safe and keep them in American made Aircraft.

more Fur Rondy

Fur Rondy has been a huge success so far this year. There are events all over town everyday of the week. I decided to catch a head cold and my allergies kicked in at the same time. One of my friends said I looked like Marty Feldman from Young Frankenstein. So I didn't get any pix's from the Iditarod start. That's kind of a bummer. I like rooting for Dee Dee Jonroe, she's a true Alaskan Musher.

Buddy Streeper won last weeks World Sled Dog Championship. He just plain looked fast on the trail. Check out the links below for lots of pix's.

Also, check out http://www.iditarod.com/ for updates on the Last Great Race.

2008-02-22

2008-02-24