Icewind's Ramblings

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard My emotional baggage is in storage most of the time. I'm not afraid of it, but I don't think it helps me to be dragging it out and laboring over it all the time. It's a part of who I am but it doesn't define me. I do the defining. Working towards being the person I want to be when I finally get things right is what I focus on . . . not the baggage that might have gotten me off track. I look ahead, not back. I travel light. Ice

Ideal Marriage if there is such a thing could have been the first one. Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage . . .   He didn't have to hear about all the men she could have married. And she didn't have to hear about the way his mother cooked. Ice

My best friend went through a divorce just over a year ago and at the time there is that feeling of trying to get it right with how you respond to the news. The traditional way upon hearing that word, “Divorce” is the response, “I’m so sorry” . . . But sometimes depending on the people’s circumstances divorce might just be a happy occasion . . . after all, no one hears of a happy marriage ending in divorce.  Leading up to it might have been bad for a time but it’s over now so is it a happy occasion?  Different people probably look at it from many vantage points. Here it is a year later and I am going through it after many years together and it comes with many strange and sometimes challenging expectations. I’m older now so the prospect of getting into the ‘dating’ mode comes with mixed feelings.  The mind plays strange things with one’s self . . . you see that pretty lady and the ‘ego mind’ quickly jumps on your shoulder and whispers (or shouts) in your ear . . . You...

Growing old is never easy and for many of us our children may not know what to do with us as we grow into those golden years. I have tried my best over the years to prepare them for many things and for the most part think I have done a pretty good job of it.  One of those simple things that I started many years ago when they were young and everyone was still in the house was to wake up in the morning and put on a long brown sock on one foot and a short blue one on the other foot.  Then I stick on a tie with no shirt, either a baseball cap or cowboy hat, boxer shorts with no pants one day then briefs with no pants on the next. I think it was shocking at first to them thinking I was a little crazy but my purpose was to get them used to strange things that I may do as I became a senior citizen.  That way hopefully when the time comes and I do weird or forgetful things it won’t seem so bad and they decide to put me away in a home somewhere. I think many parents as we ge...

Elin Picked a Wedgie I find it interesting as more information comes forward in the continuing saga of Tiger Woods.  He is a very private person who for years now has developed his ‘brand’ presence while little is reported about his life off the greens. As most of us had finished the turkey, cleaned the dishes, and settled down to enjoy the time away from work news broke about the crash of the Cadillac Escalade and the injuries to Tiger Woods. At first things just didn’t seem right as the story broke on the east coast while many slept but here in Alaska it was still evening and the pop-ups on the internet flashed the early news of what happened . . . or did it? ‘Backing up’ out of the driveway . . . hitting the fire hydrant and then the tree . . . but why was there damage on the front of the vehicle?  Perhaps a quick getaway? Tiger unconscious in the car, a window broken with a golf club after a heated discussion and a neighbor’s call to 911, a quick trip to the h...

These past couple of weeks has had me tearing out bathrooms, with the remodeling ongoing leaving me little time to write or have any thoughts to put on paper. I can report the first bathroom is finished except for a towel bar so it went smoothly with the demolition of the flooring, cabinet, sink, and closet being redone.  The hardest part of the demo was getting the several layers of flooring out and the prep for the tile. Once everything was taken out the first thing was a fresh coat of paint, Lowe’s Baguette color.  It is a nice color that in the low night light conditions gives off a nice easy tone.  In full light it blends nicely with the tile shades.  What started this makeover was my wife looking on Craig’s list and finding Italian marble tile for a low price.  She found 18”x18” squares (40) of beautiful tile for fifty bucks.  It was enough for the bathroom and closet floor.  The cabinet was painted and new base trim was installed. We ...

In the continuing saga of a cool family living in the wilds of Alaska where the Alaskan Pipeline parallels the haul road as it makes its way from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez , Alaska in a little village called Livengood. Many families living in a rural area face many challenges and ours is no different from those found in our area. We live a subsistence lifestyle living mainly off the land seeking out berries, fruit, and the abundant fish around. Taking time out of our day for play time and the occasional trip into Fairbanks to stock up on food we enjoy time spent together with family. I spend some much needed quiet time with the baby . . . While the children do their work home schooling . . . While Icy washes the car . . . And there is always laundry to do . . . ...

Happy New Year everyone and to start off with something slightly different I present a family living in the far northern reaches of Alaska, out in the middle of nowhere and a figment of my imagination upon seeing some pictures in the Anchorage Daily News . My mind kept thinking of these pictures all night awaiting the approaching New Year. About 2 am under a clear sky and cold night I remembered a small spot on the road on my drive to the Arctic Circle a few years ago to see the Arctic Ocean . I drove from Anchorage to Deadhorse where the oil companies have their camps for the ‘slopers’ who work in the oil industry. As you can see I have too much time on my hands during my one day off to celebrate the New Year. Enjoy. Welcome to Livengood Alaska , population 26 in the summer and the 6 of us in the wintertime. It’s a quiet place where you can let your kids play with no worries unless the abundant moose and the occasional bear wander too close to the house. ...

While we were on vacation one of the treats was ‘spa day’ where everyone get a nice massage, pedicure, and manicure. The really funny part was the guys all agreed (somewhat reluctantly) to go ahead and defy the ‘manly thing’ and go and have a fun time with everything. We were in Mexico so we wouldn’t know anyone and if it turned out really bad our secret would remain with the Mayan women who worked on us. Scott and I had a ball with it and had the whole spa rolling on the floor laughing. There were several older women in with us having manicures and they said their husbands would not be caught dead getting a manicure. We ran with the idea and I can honestly say that my hands and toes looked great several weeks after returning to Alaska and the weather that sometimes takes it toll on my body parts. You know your feet are bad when . . . the young woman giving you your pedicure looks like she needs to be resuscitated after she finishes working on your crusty feet. W...

It’s getting colder here in Alaska and once again its time for more great food as our freezers are stocked now from another season of hunting and fishing. There is also much talk about Sarah Palin since she was asked to be John McCain’s running mate. She is an outdoor’s woman who hunts and fishes with the best of them and like many Alaskans has done her share of preparing game meat for her family. And speaking of PETA I have been getting some crazy feedback from my new recipe book I have been working on. It is a kind of recipe book on “Road Kill” from Alaska and many Nations and other such nonsense. Now before the PETA folks all get in an uproar there are varying organizations of PETA. There is the P rimary E ducation T eacher’s A ssociation And the P eople for the E thical T reatment of A nimals But the one I like best, P eople E at T asty A nimals My section of Alaskan Fare in my area includes: Moose and Squirrel Meat Balls ...

I needed this one after a long grueling week. This came along to brighten my day. Enjoy! It’s getting colder outside this week and the radio said that Fairbanks today was minus -15˚F this evening while I was driving home from work. It’s only October what’s up with that? Have a great weekend! Ice

Or inside the Man’s brain. We’ve had a little fun with the elections lately and I’m sure there will be a little more in the next couple of weeks. We can move on to something a little different and give you maybe a laugh or two. I wanted to give the ladies a little insight into the makeup of the male being. Today, we’ll talk about how you can train your new hubby and possibly make him more obedient. Over the years I’ve observed or had some of these techniques used to make me into the man I am today. That may be good or bad depending on your perspective I guess. The key to your success in training your boyfriend or spouse is trying to understand how . . . and if . . . his mind works, and then incorporating that information with proven training techniques. Remember this . . . although your spouse likes treats, loves it when you rub his belly, and often chases the mailman down the street . . . he is not a dog and therefore does not think or react as a dog woul...