Icewind's Ramblings

Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers In its April, 2013 issue Defenders Magazine announced that Dr. Aprile Rooz, a noted wildlife biologist, had found a fascinating new Arctic species: the hotheaded naked ice borer.  These bizarre creatures were each about half a foot long, very light, and had a bony plate attached to their head that could become burning hot, allowing them to bore tunnels through ice at high speeds.  They used this ability to hunt penguins.  Packs of them would melt the ice beneath a penguin causing it to sink into the slush, at which point the borers would surround the hapless creature and consume it. Dr. Rooz discovered the borers by chance as a result of their predatory nature.  While studying a group of penguins on Arctic sea ice, she noticed one frightened member of the group rapidly sinking into the ice.  When she pulled the hapless creature out of the fast-growing slush pool that surrounded it, she found a host of small creatures attached to ...

It’s getting to be that time again . . . Wacky Winter . . . when Chicken Little’s prediction finally comes true: “The sky is falling.”   Winter has long been here in Alaska , and the darkness with it.  As we once again approach summer and finally moved into “Springtime” in Anchorage we are gaining approximately 5 minutes and 44 seconds of daylight every day until Summer Solstice on June 20 th @ 9:04 PM Alaska time. For most people it may seem strange to hear “springtime” as barely having temperatures just above freezing still in the thirties or if we are lucky reaching the low 40’s for a few days.  Anything to help melting commence and get breakup out of the way is desired by everyone it seems. How one handles this time of year makes or breaks many people who live here.  It is a wondrous place to live . . . most of the time but it does wear on you in the late stages of winter when you want the snow gone, light to return, and the “heat” of summer to on...

When we were on vacation last summer we came across this while wandering around. Enjoy! Ice

Life Observation # 160 . . .    Trust is the invisible bond that holds all of human interaction together. Without it, we are all alone and dysfunctional.   Ice

“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

Thank you by Dido Ice

Trying really hard not to think about something makes that something the only thing on your mind. Ice

Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers In its April, 2012 issue Defenders Magazine announced that Dr. Aprile Rooz, a noted wildlife biologist, had found a fascinating new Arctic species: the hotheaded naked ice borer.   These bizarre creatures were each about half a foot long, very light, and had a bony plate attached to their head that could become burning hot, allowing them to bore tunnels through ice at high speeds.   They used this ability to hunt penguins.   Packs of them would melt the ice beneath a penguin causing it to sink into the slush, at which point the borers would surround the hapless creature and consume it. Dr. Rooz discovered the borers by chance as a result of their predatory nature.   While studying a group of penguins on Arctic sea ice, she noticed one frightened member of the group rapidly sinking into the ice.   When she pulled the hapless creature out of the fast-growing slush pool that surrounded it, she found a host of small creatures attac...

Here is a fun video showing you what happens to boiling water at 20 below zero when thrown into the air.   Pretty wild! I invite you to come up to Alaska during the winter time where you can find things to do with a little creativity.   Peeing at forty below is something else if you can find it . . . freezes before it hits the ground. We’re having our winter time blues and wishing for the calm winds of the Caribbean or Mexico about now. Ice

On this eve of yet another new year, we celebrate the good memories of years past.   The hang gliding years are yet another chapter in my life that’s been closed and left behind with a twinge of regret.   One remembers riding the air currents all over the world seeing many wonderful things. “Fair winds and following seas” is a nautical blessing repeated by sailors.   It means, “may the wind fill your sails favorably for the duration of your voyage and may the seas be calm.” My New Year’s wish is that your days ahead be warm and safe wherever you are, and that gentle winds will help us ride out whatever challenges lie ahead. In 2011, let’s sail full speed ahead at peace with each other and nature. Happy New Year. Ice

This past weekend while temperatures in Anchorage plunged to minus digits as a solid few days of extremely cold air settled in over the state there were those who braved the extremes for a worthy good time. I say ‘worthy’ because it was an annual fund raiser for the Alaska Special Olympics organization and a good time because you must be nuts to jump into a hole cut into the ice of a frozen lake at minus 11 degrees. But that is what over eight hundred jumpers did last Saturday morning while several hundred onlookers and well wishers cheered those who took the “plunge”.   There were over 4,000 pledges made for this fantastic event. Notice the “steam” coming off the participants after getting out of the water heading to the warming tents. The event was another great success . . . raising over $ 275,000.00 for the organization to help train our special Olympic athletes and other programs offered throughout the year. Congratulations Jim Balamaci, for all you do directing this...

Continuing last week’s trip and catching up on posts . . . Wednesday to Larsen Bay 5/27/10 Brian and I were heading out to Larsen Bay this morning to set up another camp for our Larsen Bay project.  The weather was colder and light rain was falling as we waited for the plane to arrive.  We had Paul (one of our surveyors) drive us over to the airport as we watched a plane land and thought it was ours as it taxied in to stop.  It was a Servant plane and Wes the owner was flying in a group of school kids and he told us our plane was right behind him on final approach.  Several minutes later Nick, our pilot taxied in with more children who had been in Kodiak for a school function. Once they unloaded and gathered the cargo of supplies off both planes everyone quickly left as we loaded our gear and some of the surveyor’s items into the plane.  We taxied out for takeoff and climbed out to the southwest over the harbor where several fishing boats were out haul...

Last night I shoveled snow off the deck several times before dark and was down to an area of about 10’ x 10’ that was still packed with about 3 foot depth of snow. All of the front decks were cleared, the side deck that runs the full length of the house was finally clean and I made the turn in the back of the house all the way to the steps going down to the backyard.  I would get them today along with the last patch of snow. Or so I thought when I went to sleep last night. I awoke this morning to find it snowing large wet flakes and the glow of the streetlight out front showed me it was coming down like there was no stopping it soon.  Four inches had falling since about 2:30 AM and when I left for work just after six it was almost blizzard conditions on the Glenn Hwy. with the wind blowing vehicles and snow all over the place.   I had not checked the weather before heading to sleep so I was shocked and somewhat miffed that we cannot get through breakup and w...

My grandson is almost three years old and proud of the fact that he is potty trained and goes to the bathroom like ‘big people’.  Saturday started out like most others for him with the typical playing, coloring, and the jumping around that comes with his age. I went to breakfast as usual and returned home to do the normal chores that come on the weekends.  My grandson went about his day and was a pretty happy little guy until his world fell apart just before noon. He prides himself in being potty trained and usually alerts someone (everyone) when he goes so sometimes it’s a pretty big deal for him.  Sometimes being new to the procedure he tries to get things right.  He sometimes can barely pee on his own without shooting a stream like a fire hose was out of control on the bathroom floor.  The problem I have to admit is not totally his fault.  The hall commode is a cathedral of tile (new I might add) and fixture with a throne set almost too high for his...

At Starbucks the other morning, I noticed a new sign at the counter. "Support our troops. Send them coffee." Seriously? I don't know about you, but if I was regularly waking up to 120 degree heat, wearing a minimum of 50 pounds worth of field equipment while being shot at by people . . . I don't know if coffee would be the first thing I would wish for. How about a Popsicle? Maybe a snowcone or just a cup of ice. Just my thoughts. Ice

Here is another one from my ‘working folder’. To pass the time here in The Last Frontier many people play board games or cards to make the day or night go by a little quicker. Winter time this is especially true as the many hours of darkness and the extreme cold can seem like time stands still or crawls along at a snails pace. Here is a little ditty from one of our recent games . . . Wife: There! I just added four letters to your word and covered the triple-word score. Thirty-three points! Ice: Ummm, dear . . . do you know what that word means? Wife: Don't worry, it's a word . . . I looked it up in the Scrabble dictionary. Ice: I wasn't questioning whether it's a word. I was just curious if you knew its meaning. Wife: It's one of those Italian ice creams, or something . . . right? Ice: No, that would be GELATO. FELLATIO is more like a Popsicle. Life from a ‘Northern Exposure’ . . . we always find a little l...

These last few weeks have gone by quickly in some ways as it has been busy with work and my daughter’s hospital stay (she’s out now and doing better) but in those few quiet moments my mind wanders to times past and the return of summer. Last weekend I was able to play a DVD concert of friends of mine from the South called Cullowhee. Most of the guys attended Western Carolina University in the North Carolina town called Cullowhee so their music is mountain rock with a mixture of all kinds of various sounds. Listening to the songs brought me thinking about one of my favorite summer activities, Fishin’ and I started browsing my photo’s to bring back the memories of past fishin’ trips all over Alaska. I thought I would share some of them with you and the lyrics of a song aptly named Fishin’ by Terry Edwards of Cullowhee. If I can figure out how to post the song so you can hear it I will shortly. I hope you enjoy part one of Fishin’ Fishin’ by Terry Edward...

We have had our share of cold temperatures this season but sometimes it just does not make much sense to me. About a month ago we spent almost three weeks well below zero in the mornings some days over minus twenty five. We have been over that now and the last several weeks it has jumped around from the twenties to back down around zero. A few days ago my icemaker quit working and as I watched the ice container slowly dwindle to nothing I figured it might be time to give it a look. I went into my handyman mode after doing plumbing work for many years so I decided to go through the logical steps to figure out why it was not making ice cubes. I looked underneath the kick plate by the floor to see if there was any buildup of dust that might make things work efficiently as far as it maintaining the proper temperature. It wasn’t too dirty so I next pulled the refrigerator so I could get to things on the back. I checked out the tubing going from the water valve up t...

I usually hit Costco every Saturday morning after my breakfast meeting with several friends and business associates. I normally will do one time a month that is a bulk buy of most of the things we will need during the month and the other times I’ll hit the local Fred Meyer (Kroger) for a few items to get us by. Standing in line at Fred Meyer I had a revelation. That little plastic bar you put down to divide your purchase from the next person's purchase in front of or behind you is amazing; couldn't we all use that bar in other areas of our life? That is not my stuff, says your bar. I am not buying that, it tells other people. Don't mix your stuff with my stuff. These issues are not to be confused with my issues thank you very much. I can just see it now you are in line for the movies when a guy starts telling you about his colon cancer. Boom, the bar comes down. The ex-wife or girlfriend is explaining how her new boyfriend just doesn't do ...

Breakup during the middle of winter . . . Just sux! But a 50 degree day in the middle of January is pretty nice . . . Except when it is raining hard and the wind is gusting at times over 100 mph. It makes the rain feel like darts hitting you. Melting snow, some flooding in places around town, and still an ice pack on the secondary street is making it dangerous to drive for some people. I was knocked off my feet on the ice as I tried to go from my mailbox across the driveway to soak me good before going into the house. I came home tonight to discover the damage at my house. Lost the fence on one side of the hot tub, parts of the covered side deck lost a few panels and I can’t tell how the shingles fared until daylight tomorrow but as the 16 inches of snow has melted in two days there are probably a few missing now that there is no ‘snow insulation’ on the roof. I had to take several wind chimes down as they were like missiles bou...