Icewind's Ramblings

It is great being back at work again and I am getting into the grind of putting bids out to get projects done around Alaska this summer.  The group that I am working with are great and now that my official State of Alaska email is up and running I have started to receive emails 'welcoming' me to DPS and 'congrats' on the new job replacing a long time employee who is retiring at the end of the month. My first email this morning was from one of the troopers who sent this to me so I know I will fit in just fine with this bunch of characters.  Missing Wife Found by Alaska State Troopers The day after his wife disappeared in a kayaking accident, an Anchorage man answered his door to find two grim faced Alaska State Troopers. "We're sorry Mr. Wilkens, but we have some information about your wife," said one of the troopers. "Tell me! Did you find her?" Wilkens asked. The troopers looked at each other. One said, "We hav...

I have been off for a couple of days and I thought I would be doing a couple things but I have enjoyed that I have had the time to go through many CD’s and load my music into this computer.   I have spent the last two days listening to about 25 or 30 disc of my favorite music and some I thought I would share with you with the great YouTube recordings out there. No particular order but I found some recordings of my favorite musicians.   Enjoy! The Music is You – John Denver James Taylor - Copperline Joni Mitchell – For Free Postcards from LA – Joshua Kaddison Walk Away Joe – Trisha Yearwood Fishin’ – Reunion show in Cullowhee Long Ago and Far Away – James Taylor John Denver – Eclipse Secret of Life – James Taylor Everyone in his own way need’s to decide how they want to "Enjoy the ride." Operator – Jim Croce & Maury Muehleisen Night Moves – Bob Seger Mail Order Annie – Harry Chapin Against the Wind – Bob Seger Carlene - Phil Vassar I hope ...

It’s that time again for the annual trek down to the mouth of the Kenai River in Soldotna to fill freezers with nice red salmon for next winter.   It is called the personal subsistence fishery or as Alaskan’s call it . . . Dipnetting. This year we have had a run of reds of biblical proportions with last weekend’s one day sonar count of fish passing the weir 19 miles up river at 230,600 fish in a single day.   The previous biggest one-day total was 218,000 salmon, back on July 21, 1987, according to a newly revised figure from Fish and Game.   The state began compiling its database on Kenai salmon counts in 1978.   The last several years we have been lucky to get over 100,000 fish in a single day. What the Fish and Game try to manage to ensure enough sockeye salmon eggs get spawned into the river for future returning fish is roughly 700,000 to 1,400,000 sockeyes.   The Department is projecting a run size in excess of 2.3 million late-run Kenai River sockeye...

It has been awhile since I’ve written a blog so I decided to do a quick one to let everyone know what I’ve been up too. Alaska finally came out of a pretty harsh winter with a somewhat nice (but short) spring.   With that comes a busy time for me preparing for the upcoming construction season here.   There are so many tasks to do in a relatively short time period where our projects are assigned to the different construction managers to make things happen so construction may begin during the summer. The construction work plan has to be written up along with safety plans and assembling all of the required paperwork and permits.   There are the usual ones for storm water runoff control and spill prevention but there are a couple one would not think about.   There are the archeological permits if we dig anywhere since we may disturb possible ancient burial grounds that are unmarked.   There are very specific plans to follow if you do come across human bones or a...

Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack? That’s how I would feel lately if I knew exactly what it was.  Sorry for not writing much lately but it has been one busy summer with work keeping me on the road . . . well not really “on the road” since where I travel is not on the road system.  Traveling to ‘bush Alaska ’ this summer has been trying with all of the rain and marginal weather.  Multiple projects in various parts of the state has me going in so many directions about 4 or 5 days a week it has been hard to keep up with things. During the brief down time I have managed to get in a couple rounds of golf (though not enough but with the weather, it is not a bad thing), three fishing outings (not as many as normal years), and I have finished my projects around the house.  The master bathroom turned out nice and it is a joy to be able to shower in there again as 4 people trying to use one bathroom for many months was a pain in the butt.  I ...

Alaska and the nation lost a great fighter for the American way of life especially in “The Last Frontier” yesterday when a floatplane he was in crashed in the mountains of western Alaska near Dillingham.                                      (origin of photo unknown) Of the nine people on board the aircraft, four people survived the crash. “Uncle Ted” as most Alaskans called him fought hard to bring Alaska from a Territory to statehood.  His legacy will be the 49 th star on the American flag as well as his tireless work to bring a better way of life for rural Alaskans, mostly natives who continue the subsistence lifestyle of many generations. As word spread last night and into this morning of his being on the downed aircraft the wave of concern and remembrances flowed from all sections of the...

This summer has been going in what feels a hundred miles an hour.  So many trips to different places for work with little time for doing the things that make this such a great place to live. The last month or so has been a series of trips to inspect and visits the many projects going on around the state.  I have several on Kodiak island and several more scattered around the state so it has been one plane ride after another going from project to project. Last week was to several jobsite visits on Kodiak and the weather was trying not to cooperate.  There were times of fog and rain showers in between times with millions of mosquitoes buzzing around my head.  It was something else wearing head nets while wondering if I should be in a full body “bug suit”. I need to upload some of the pictures about the villages and trips but my internet service while out of town is totally lacking.  The brief time at home has me playing catch up to laundry, finishing house pr...

Summer is a great time for grillin’ keeping the heat buildup out of the house and fishing season is upon us so I thought I would put this one out there for everyone. 1/4 c pineapple juice 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice 4 (6 oz) salmon fillets 2 tbsp brown sugar 4 tsp chili powder 2 tsp grated lemon rind 3/4 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp cinnamon Cooking spray Lemon wedges (optional) Combine first 3 ingredients in a Ziploc plastic bag, seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally. Before we start grillin’ let me give you a few tips on barbecuing salmon recipes. Make sure that the rungs on the grill are clean.  There’s nothing worse than old bits of food burnt on the grill bars, not only does it leave a horrible taste but it will make the Salmon stick. Get that barbeque really hot.  Depending on charcoal or a gas grill use plenty of charcoal to build a really good fire that will retain plenty of heat. Let the flames die down until you can see...

As we approach the holiday season and prepare for the small gathering tomorrow of family and maybe a few friends it is nice to think back on summers end.  It started snowing this afternoon giving us a fresh blanket of the white stuff.  Anchorage is known as the “City of Lights ” during the winter months so I, like many people put up lights for the winter which remain on until the last musher of the Iditarod arrives in Nome completing the race in mid March. With a little extra time on my hands I can think back on summers past where I close my eyes as the memories come back like a wild river, colorful like Northern Lights in the clear cold night, which I saw for the first time this season a few nights ago.  THE reason I came to Alaska , THE thing I wanted to see since I was a little boy in Atlanta .  There they were, dancing above the hillside, misty green, slick and wavy.  Nothing could screw this day anymore as I watched in amazement at the night sky. ...

Alaska has been sensitive to Oil spills especially after the Exxon Valdez incident over twenty years ago.  I think things have moved past the anger and aggravation dealing with the Exxon now that they finally settled the law suit brought against them . . . it only took twenty years and many people have grown old or have died before Exxon paid a dime.  Lawyers . . . kept playing ping pong within the court system even after being fined postponing having to cough up the money. For many years there were many protests about the environment and how things were going, especially here in Alaska with all of the “tree huggers” and environmental groups going on and on about one cause or another.  Things have calmed down somewhat now and seem to be a little easier to deal with when things go wrong. There recently was a small oil spill in Alaskan waters and you could see in the response that those earlier feelings had mellowed a bit.  People were now saying that a little...

Alaskan Seasons roll on by Fall by John Denver (from Season Suite on the Rocky Mountain High Album) Reflections on the water like shadows in my mind Speak to me of passing days and nights and passing time The falling leaves are whispering winter's on it's way I close my eyes remembering the warmth of yesterday It seems a shame to see September swallowed by the wind And more than that it's oh so sad to see the summer end And though the changing colors are a lovely thing to see If it were mine to make the change I think I'd let it be But I don't remember hearing . . . anybody asking me Here are a couple more pictures as the fall season comes to an end and winter’s grip has not quite taken hold.  This week the weather has been slightly above average with temperatures in the 50’s, some fog, and hopefully sunshine later this week if the fog burns off.  More photos from ADN and me. Photo by Tom Miller In this Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 photo, boaters a...

Friday afternoon we head out to sea leaving the boat harbor in Homer heading 265˚ while running about 16 knots.  The fishin’ area we wanted was 26 nautical miles from Homer in the direction of Augustine Volcano which we could see in the distance with a plume of steam rising out of the top.   The "Ring of Fire" (map) is an arc stretching from New Zealand , along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and south along the coast of North and South America . The Ring of Fire is composed over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes. This huge ring of volcanic and seismic (earthquake) activity was noticed and described before the invention of the theory of plate tectonics theory. We now know that the Ring of Fire is located at the borders of the Pacific Plate and other major tectonic plates.  Alaska has many active volcanoes ranging across the Cook Inlet from Anchorage winding its way down along the Aleutian chain. ...

One more Summer fishin’ and crabbin’ adventure. With the Autumnal Equinox passing today giving Alaskans a ‘normal’ day of almost equal amounts of light and darkness it was nice to have another opportunity to head out fishin’ one more time this summer. In what was a slight turn about of seasons I awoke Friday morning to an unexpected sight . . . the sun . . . with hardly a cloud in the sky?  We have had cloudy and somewhat rainy days the last few weeks so everything appeared to our heading into fall and winter.  I had packed away rain gear and warm clothes so I could layer up if needed for a trip to Homer Alaska to meet up with a friend of mine, Lance who owns an insulation company that I contract with to work on many projects all over Alaska .  He had recently bought another ‘boat’ and he wanted to hook me up with a few of his contractor associates.  It would be a great break from the office to network more work in a social setting. I left early Friday mor...