Icewind's Ramblings

Time doesn't fly it just seems to move more quickly. Which is also not true. Time has a constant velocity and zero acceleration. Ice

Slackers tend to do more work to get out of the work they were supposed to do. Ice

The Coleman stove and a pot of beans had been among the first things off the boat, and by the time we finished hauling everything in and setting up camp, dinner was hot and ready. Beans & Icewind go together so well on a cold and chilly night. A deep red sunset exploded to our far left, directly down the river; the water seemed to flow like blood from the setting sun. The transition to night was quick reminding us that winter is just around the corner and could start to happen any time now. Termination dust (snow) has started falling on the mountaintops around Anchorage again so it won’t be too long before the snow levels fall to the valley floor. As the darkness grew complete, the row of mountains in front of us became a proscenium to the most incredible night sky. The Big Dipper rose, crashing the darkness and shown bright right up the center of the stage, backed by stardust to infinity. The whole night sky seemed to hold its breath waiting for the moon to rise when,...

This was going to be about something else today but I saw something in our newspaper, Anchorage Daily News that I had to comment about. Many of my observations are about life here in the far northern regions around the Artic Circle . Hopefully some of them funny or maybe even thought provoking at times. Today it struck me in a strange way reading about this. Some of the next excerpts are from the AND story by Rose Cox and then my twisted take on things. “Michelle Martin has done something few Alaska women ever do -- break into the top 10 in a national pageant. She topped off that success by becoming the first Alaskan to win the Mrs. America pageant's state costume contest, wearing a frothy confection shaped as an igloo. The Anchorage resident was crowned Mrs. Alaska 2006 at the state pageant in July, her second attempt at the title. Martin wowed five judges in separate interviews to break into the top 10; the first such success since Cindy Roberts o...

The solution to world peace is to have no opinions. That way, people couldn't disagree. Ice

Fashion Faux Pas? Wearing Brown in Moose Season There are several post cards here that show Moose sticking their head in a kitchen window or walking into your garage. One even shows a moose kissing some woman. You never really want that to happen as they are wild animals who just happen to take up residence in our city during the fall and winter months. Besides, moose rarely kiss, they mostly kick. And they really kick hard. From the front legs mainly, not like a jackass kicking from with the rear legs. I have seen a moose kick the door to someone’s rig (Alaskan for truck) because they were blowing the horn at a cow (female moose) and her calf (small moose). When the person left their rig and went inside the moose started kicking the doors and fenders doing some pretty good damage to it. Moose hunting season is a BIG DEAL here in Alaska . What we sometimes have here are “minimally sane people” who just seem to lose it during moose season. And non-hunters need...

We have signs here in Alaska in different areas about the number of moose that are killed by vehicles each year and it usually numbers around 200+ for each area. Last Winter's Moose Kill Total There is also a nifty little idea here in Alaska that other states should consider and implement. There are some strange twists to it but more on that in a minute. Should a train or vehicle have a moose encounter of the close kind (hitting) and the moose is crippled or killed, the driver may shoot the moose as most Alaskan’s have weapons (picking on a cripple, how cruel) but this person may not keep the moose. The moose murderer must report the death to the proper police department in the area. Now here’s the kicker. The person involved will also get a ticket from the troopers for hitting the moose and will pay a fine for the moose getting in the way. (How lame is that?) But now the cool part . . . People in need can sign up on a list to be called if there is a ...