Icewind's Ramblings

One of my favorite books over the years has been “Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” by Richard Bach.   I have read and re-read it over 35 years now and it remains a sort of ‘Life Bible’ for me over the years. It is a simple book and easy read with many gems on how you should live life and treat other people.   Bach is an aviator and flying stories over the years has been his common theme.   One of his early books was ‘Jonathon Livingston Seagull’ which was made into a movie. I have after a period of time gone back and read things again and asked myself some of the questions and have been surprised by the changing answers over the years.   Was it maturity or circumstance that brought about the perspective swings?   Here are a couple of quotes from the book to start you off on a flight to a better “me” or “you”.   Enjoy! Quotations from the Messiah's Handbook "Reminders for the Advanced Soul" in "Illusions - The Adventures of a Rel...

This is another in the Observations of Men vs. Women. There is such a difference in the way the male brain vs. the female brain works.   It is illustrated by the following experience. When you go on a long trip and your end destination is to a woman driven household, you will be greeted with a meal and some quiet conversation and a warm bed. When you go on a long trip and a man is at the destination what you get is a bottle of tequila and two shot glasses left on the counter, Oh, and a lime.   Probably with a beer chaser, Life is good & relaxed. The thought process was the same behind each action . . . love and concern for the mental health of the people that had to drive or fly a long distance . . . but it is expressed in entirely different ways. Oftentimes what happens between men and women is that the ‘tokens or gestures’ are not recognized for what they are.   Women please don’t bitch for a half a day about the shot glasses and why on earth would a man ...

Why do musher’s seek the challenge of the Iditarod? If you listen to them, they'll tell stories of experiencing the serenity of a beautiful day on the trail, dog team and musher working as one.   They'll talk of the intensity of the experience.   They'll talk of the challenge of meeting the demands of the world's last great race. On the early morning flight from Anchorage to Kotzebue and then to Nome the other day the last person to board the plane was an old haggard looking man who sought out a space to put his items in the overhead space on the plane.   He looked the part of what I would call the Alaskan Old Timer who had on his flannel shirt, Seal skin hat and bushy beard with thick glasses.   He was not a big man but rugged in every sense of the word. He sat down in the seat directly behind me and started talking, and talking, and did not stop from push back, deicing, take off to Kotzebue, landing and the hour turn around time to head to Nome and only quit ...

Highlights from Anchorage Daily News of Coast Guard Video of the rescue of 4 people whose boat had grounded on rocks and this rescue helicopter crew hoisted them from the ice in Portage Bay. This is another great example of the selflessness of our military going above to keep us safe. We have had temperatures well below zero for almost a month now so this rescue had to be in some pretty extreme conditions. Air Station Kodiak rescues 4 from Kimberly from anchoragedailynews on Vimeo . This is our Alaska Coast Guard at work, there are men and women in all branches of the military who give of themselves each and everyday so we may be safe.   Keep them in your prayers and when you see these great people in or out of uniform, give them your thanks. We salute you for all that you do, for your professionalism and honor in performing your mission. Ice

Traveling around Alaska with my job I have the pleasure/pain of flying all over the state in various aircraft.   Most days I have an early morning departure from the main Anchorage airport, Ted Stevens International Airport flying Alaska Airlines from my base in Anchorage to one of several ‘hub’ airports.   It has been from the southern end of the Alaska in Ketchikan, Sitka, or Juneau to the “island”; Kodiak or out to the delta area of western Alaska to Bethel or Dillingham.   For my trips farther north it has been to Fairbanks, Barrow or Kotzebue in the arctic regions of the state. Once I arrive in a hub airport I go over to one of several smaller carriers which are the typical “bush” plane operations which may use both float planes and more conventional small aircraft.   Some carriers use turbine engine planes which carry more passengers or more cargo depending on the pilot’s mission for that particular flight.   Most days the pilot will make multiple flig...

Its cold too early in the season for these temperatures so it seems somewhat strange that everyone has pretty much shut themselves inside the home hunkered down to stay warm.   Blankets are about and coffee or hot drinks available. It’s still in November and we have had several days with below zero temperatures and for the last several days’ extreme high winds which lower the wind chill factor and also create many problems with flying debris downing power lines.   There have been many communities without power from the winds. People seem to be staying indoors and not heading out to the normal activities usually seen on a weekend.   The area downtown is mostly barren of the throngs of people who hit the several restaurants and bars close to Town Park.   There are still the few protesters who have a small wind break tent to take turns warming up between carrying signs along 6 th Avenue. Internet activity is quiet tonight as I think many people are just happy for...

In this place, Alaska, I fondly call the ‘far north’ today is one of those very lucky days that doesn’t come around very often.   I awoke and saw the light dusting of snow from my window as I poured my first cup of coffee.   Winter is finally settling in here in Alaska so it was still dark outside.   A Friday morning like many others, I showered and ready to head out for a cup of coffee. It is Veterans Day and I will take time off from work.   It seems somewhat funny to me now as I think about how things have changed over the years.   We are just working stiffs who proudly served and take the time off remember our brothers in arms who have fallen or are serving this country right now on battlefields across the globe. There is something else we share. We are all military veterans. The purpose of Veterans Day is to honor all veterans. So how does this country honor them? By letting the veterans, the majority of who work in the private sector, spend the day a...

It was one of those mixed days here with it starting out early this morning with a cold dark sky out as I left for work.   The day progressed with the usual things of ordering items for several different projects and coordinating between people, tools, and materials. Lunchtime brought with it a quick trip to Peggy’s Place a local eatery which is not up on my list of ‘good’ places to eat.   When we left there and drove by Merrill Field I could see the production crew which is in town right now making a movie, “Frozen Ground” based on the 1980’s serial killer Robert Hansen.   They were preparing two helicopters for a scene in the movie.   One was a police helicopter and the other was the camera platform copter.   About an hour later I went to our shipping and receiving yard and the film company had just taken off in front of me.   The two helicopters flew in close formation with the camera chopper trailing slightly and to the left of the “police” helicopte...

They are starting to take flight all over Anchorage signaling colder weather to come. It’s September now and in the parks, lawns, and bodies of water all over town the Canadian Geese are scrambling for that last meal before they take flight and head south.  When I returned to work at lunch time it reminded me of several scenes from the movie Fly Away Home . The resident geese are taking over the skies around here and are they noisy!  There they were several hundred in various groupings in their awesome “V” formations.  You can’t help but look up as they pass overhead (hoping they won’t crap on you or your car as there are so many of them).  You can see the white turd bombs falling from the formation it is an almost funny sight as long as it is not zooming earthward towards you.  These Canada geese have begun their journey southbound from the farther north land locations for the coming winter.  It’s amazing how they use the “V” shape formation so they c...

The morning dawned much like it did ten years ago with crispness in the air and clear blue skies.   How likely is that in days of fading summer in Alaska?   The similarities keen within the consciousness of the day for many people but there is also an overwhelming sense of loss . . . both in loved ones and in a broader sense in clarity. Before the events leading up to that tragic day there seemed to be a sense of almost mystical character that was America.   It had been chiseled into our beings by our forefathers and shaped the direction of its people would interact with each other and the world.   It reminds us of all that was good in our world and how things should be for our children.   As a nation we had grown up (from another attack on our soil in December, 1941) and moved to never let such transgressions happen again.   But somewhere as a country we were lazy in not recognizing how the world had changed around us and nothing prepared us for the so...

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...

Or The Alaskan Adventure of a Steinway B This is taken from a newspaper notice last week and I thought it may be a fun thing to see some of the unique fun of springtime in Alaska.  I hope you enjoy!  Check out the short video On Monday, April 18th we made a bit of history as Peter Halstead, classical pianist < http://www.pianistlost.com/peter-halstead/ > and I set out with Keith & Deb Essex of Alpine Air, < http://www.alpineairalaska.com /  Mickey Houlihan of Wind Over the Earth Productions plus crew to fulfill Peter’s dream of performing piano upon one of the most remote wilderness peaks on earth. About 40 miles helicopter flight from Girdwood, Alaska we landed upon one of the most incredible sites I have ever seen about 6000 feet in altitude overlooking the Marcus-Baker glacier and icefield, thunder rolling through the mountains as avalanches broke loose in the spring sunshine, no wind at all and about 45 degrees. As the music began we all stood in awed...

I made my trip up north to Selawik on Tuesday morning leaving the house at 4 am making my way to the airport for my Alaska Air flight to Kotzebue.   We took off into the clear cold night sky leaving the sparkling lights of Anchorage below as we turned northwest for the one hour forty five minute flight.   I thought about grabbing a nap since this would be a long day returning to Anchorage around midnight but chose to instead listen to my music on the iPod and enjoy the coffee and Danish the flight attendant had given me.   I sat next to the window but many of these early morning trips I do not spend time looking out the windows since in the darkness it is like looking into a black hole in space.   Tonight was different as there was almost a full moon to the west a couple hours away from setting casting its silvery bluish glow on the landscape below. As we made our way at flight level 340 (34,000’) and had just crossed over the Yukon River below with its ribbon li...

I started off the New Year with a ‘quick’ trip up to Selawik Alaska for meeting with the tribal leaders on our plans to refurbish their water treatment plant and add some water and sewer service to 8 new homes added last summer to the community. There was a large group of us flying up from Anchorage leaving for the airport around 4 am to light snow mixed with rain.   We gathered at the boarding gate in the airport with everyone mostly quiet as we waited to board the plane around 5:30.   Once on board the plane several people took the chance for a quick nap since we were not due to return to Anchorage until almost midnight.   The rest of us chatted briefly or listened to music on our iPods.   We landed in Kotzebue which is a small spit of land on the Arctic Ocean along Norton Sound.   We deplaned from Alaska Airlines and made our way over to Bering Air for our charter flight to Selawik. Everyone dressed in their arctic gear and boarded the plane in the darkn...

Remember the Fallen . . . The face in the picture drew me in.   So much warmth and vitality in his smiling face.   What would he have been like today?   A doctor?   A writer?   A businessman?   Hard working and good-humored I am sure of that much.   I think he would have been a great family man and, if a father, full of love and warmth for his children.   These were dreams unrealized because of a life far too short. As my eyes widened to that inward reflection, I wondered why things had turned out the way they did.   It could just as easily been me long since dead.   This is the burden of one who remains.   Survivor guilt. I can hear his voice so clearly and after so many years as we waded in the surf of the South China Sea. "Are you afraid of dying D?"   "I never really thought about it Jim.   No, I guess not." "I am." The humid air and blazing sun baked us. Jim's comments dampened the conversation and made me u...