Icewind's Ramblings

I . . . am curious to know your thoughts on this?  As you know, recent Earthquake activity has sparked death and fear throughout Chile , Haiti and Japan .  It seems that more and more earthquakes are occurring, more and more wars are beginning or starting and the rumors . . . such as Libya declaring a "jihad" of sorts against Switzerland .  What’s that all about?  Are we rushing towards the “End Times”?   What are your thoughts?  Is this simply sudden random acts of nature . . . or are the predictions of our Lord coming true? The news of yesterday’s earthquake in Chile brought to mind a bible verse I learned so long ago . . . Matthew 24:7 Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Ring of Fire Chile and Haiti . . . Two countries . . . Two earthquakes, both tragedies and apparently two vastly different outcomes. One , Chile : a relatively wealthy nation, one of th...

This one is a little strange story that I should probably not make light of but it struck me a little funny when I heard that from my co-worker Kelly this morning. The last two or three summers have not been very nice to us with more rain and clouds than previous years. Last summer there one only one day that the temperature hit 70 degrees and that was only for about 2 hours, not much of a summer for my tastes. This spring it has been wonderful with pleasant weather for almost a month now. We had not had any precipitation since the snow quit in mid April and this morning I awoke to a nice light rain. It helps wash away the dust and debris left from a long hard winter with the crews still working hard to clean up all of the road sand/gravel mixture before the main contingent of tourist arrive. Anchorage is a vibrant town with a lot of pride in both how the city looks after another winter and in our residents. For a city of our size we probably have a slig...

I’m not sure if it’s just me or does anyone else do this? I consider myself an observer of people and things I encounter during my daily routines and travels and on the more interesting ones I sometimes report them back for your amusement. It may also just be that I have too much imagination for my own good. Anchorage is sometimes like a gold mine finding strange oddities in this arctic northland. Some of it could be considered comedy material or slices of life in sometimes strange or ordinary places about town! All you really have to do is walk the street for a few minutes and then let your imagination run wild. Outside a downtown cafe, I saw a homeless man sitting at a table. He had a toothpick in his mouth and one hand rubbing his belly. On the table in front of him was a single, tiny, baby shoe. I was somewhat odd but it made me laugh. Now look, I'm not saying I wanted there to be a missing baby, but if I'd turned the corner and there ...

I used to give almost every homeless guy or gal I saw a dollar. Then it occurred to me one day that if I keep giving every homeless person I see a dollar, I will need to start asking everyone for a dollar myself. Anchorage has a fairly large homeless community. Even during the winter months there are those out on the street corners ‘pan handling’ at the traffic lights or in front of the malls or stores around town. The weather does not seem to matter much as they wear clothing needed to keep them warm from frostbite. The bunny boots, insulated bibs, and the layered garments worn by most of the homeless would work well up on the arctic slope of Prudhoe Bay or Barrow. I was involved with building a new Brother Francis Shelter several years ago and it turned out really nice. Hydronic heating in the floors and nice showers with great quality equipment and fixtures made the place a comfortable temporary home. I thought it was much better than it could have been bui...