Icewind's Ramblings

No Cars in Iraq ! In Alaska we have a great group of men and women serving our country while stationed at Ft. Richardson , home of our “Artic Warriors” and the 172 nd Stryker Brigade . Their tour was extended over in Iraq and like many other units the number of wounded or killed has grown over the last few months. I saw yet another news story recently about insurgents using car bombs to attack security personnel in Iraq . This includes the peace keepers and the Iraqi soldiers trying to support the new “Freedom Plan” government being established for this country. This has become an almost daily occurrence and seems to have escalated in the last few weeks. Thinking about this for a little bit, I decided that the major issue as far as I can tell isn't with the feisty-ness of the insurgents or the poor security in Iraqi cities. The biggest problem I can see is with the cars there. They are just too convenient and plentiful to stuff with explosives, drive into...

If you travel west four hours by jet to the international dateline from Anchorage, Alaska, out on the ice cold tundra, you will find Eareckson Air Force Station on the island of Shemya - - the Westernmost island of the Aleutian Island chain (besides Attu) where I led a Project to refurbish the housing for part of the National Missile Defense Program’s Site Activation Facilities several years ago. Shemya is a 2 mile by four mile island that is a radar site and was called “Big Alice” and “Cobra Dane” back in the days of the ‘Cold War’. It is now part of the defensive system to protect the USA and Canada from any missile attacks from that part of the world ( North Korea , China , & Russia ). We were doing a project on the island remodeling several barracks that had been abandoned years earlier but were being brought back online with the missile defense program. I'm always impressed looking at a map of this place. We were very far from almost "EVERY" where; a...

Insanity can be organized. Just look at my Blog. Ice

Never buy a car you can't push. Ice

I leave messages on the toilet paper roll in public bathroom stalls for the next person to find. It's hilarious to stand out of the way outside the bathroom and watch their faces as they come out! Try it sometimes to brighten your day and someone else’s. It’s fun sometimes to go back and see if anyone answered or left another message. Ice

Accept that some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue. Ice

Alaska this past week has been full of contrasts. There was ‘fall’ in the air with the mountains and valleys painted in the yellows and reds of autumn. The night brought with it a full moon. This was an October ‘harvest moon’ year and one that appeared to brighten our spirits from the cloudy days and nights these past few weeks. Fall leaves Aspens Looking down the valley We had a slight chill in the air at night with ‘termination dust’ on the mountaintops. Termination Dust We had strong winds from 60 to 100 mph along the hillside (where I live) and Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet . Leaves gone & Fog in the Valley There was a warm trend almost like a late summer with our temperatures in the mid 60’s for a few days but with it came the rain. And lots of it. Seward received over 9 inches in less than 24 hours. Valdez Alaska also received record rainfall but was cutoff from the road sy...

Everyone is given the key to heaven. The same key opens the gates of hell. We are given choice! Ice

I had lunch today with two friends who are also business associates. Anchorage has a new restaurant that opened last Friday with much anticipation and eagerness for many of our city’s residents. We have waited for the Golden Corral Buffet. Many of us have watched the construction as the time was announced that we would be getting this “Southern” chain steak house. When I lived in Atlanta we would eagerly hit several locations that were in our area and my company helped build several stores at the time. Anchorage has many great places to eat with more of them being ‘mom and pop’ type eateries. We do have several “national chains” here like Outback, Chilies, and Friday’s but also lack others like Red Lobster, Olive Garden, & Cracker Barrel. Getting back to lunch today, we met and had the small waiting line to go through before getting to our table. It has been crowded since it opened last Friday with lines winding outside the building but moving qu...

As most have figured out by now I have a fascination to Moose. Whether they are sitting in my yard chewing their ‘cuds’ or lazily walking munching the trees and water foliage, you may sometimes see them running (probably faster than you thought). We have just passed this years hunting season so I give you some information on that tradition for many people. For most of Alaska , September is moose hunting month. Some areas of the state have additional limited times in mid-winter when it is legal to hunt moose, but for the most part, people hope and plan to take their moose in September. Only bulls are legal to hunt, and only one per person. In some places, the bulls are further restricted to those with a 50 inch rack spread (antlers measured at the widest point). Moose are the most sought after big game animal in Alaska . Hunters report harvesting over 7,000 of Alaska 's estimated 175,000 moose each year. Going out to “get a moose” is a fall ritual for tens of thousa...

Sometimes Life’s just hard . . . for no reason at all. (From – Remember the Titans ) Ice

“Bull” the Moose was last seen wandering around my subdivision in South Anchorage just a few days ago. It is assumed that “Bully” was lured into an area just down the road where several female moose were seen casually going about their business of attracting prospective fathers for next years batch of bull. “Bull” the moose was 3 years 6 months and 17 days old when last seen. He was sporting legal antlers and a huge gaggle, a magnificent coat, and he reeked of urine . “Bull” never came to his name when called, only looked up at you momentarily and continued eating. If you believe “Bull” is near you should . . . 1. Place the first finger of your left hand over your right nostril and press down firmly. 2. Take a deep breath through your mouth. 3. Exhale rapidly through your entire sinus cavity while rubbing finger briskly over your nose while making a HEEEEEEEEEE! sound. This, if he's alive, should bring “Bully” running. It is advisable that ...

Still on track Ice

I started thinking about this last night when a friend of mine in Portland, Oregon was letting several people who play a computer game, Diablo II LOD , that for the next 24 hours the family would be helping with a school project assignment of “living” without electricity as in medieval times. It was interesting to see the responses from fellow gamers on the “spirit” of the assignment and how the family should handle the very different lifestyle without modern conveniences. The family started at midnight last night and it will be interesting to see what activities and how everyone coped without “items” everyone has become used to. It started me thinking on how tings have changed in the last 100 years and more importantly the last 50. Progress has been made in the medical fields, science, and added many “conveniences” to our everyday lives. I talked with people all day on what they thought about the challenges faced with this project and what they would not “give up...

Ice

I found another video of scenes throughout Alaska that share the sense of grandeur and beauty unlike many others found in the world. I hope this shares the vistas and warmth found within our vast spaces we call home. This afternoon outside my house over the snowcapped mountains was a beautiful r a i n b o w going from the left horizon to the right one. It was something to see with about 6 colors within the rainbow. Ice

I saw this video about Alaska and wanted to share it with you. The video introduction says this is an excerpt from “WildSide” with Nick Molle: Alaska , Television pilot. It’s not “Men in Trees” but gives a pretty good feel for what we have here in the far north. Enjoy! Alaska Wildside Have an Ice Day! Ice

Google will help someone take over the world someday. Look at all of the information at your fingertips. Ice

First, thanks Icewind for asking me to guest comment . . . I know that most of you humans think we Moose are pretty stupid. But, we see a lot of things that happen when we're not eating. We've got time on our hooves, time to contemplate what's going on in our world. I've been living in this neck of the woods since my own mama ran me off up north from here. She'd gotten tired of me hangin' around eating the tasty browse and making eyes at the available bachelors. I can't blame her, because it's a tough world out here and there's a lot of competition. You probably think moose aren't deep thinkers nor able to offer advice to you humans. After all, our brains aren't much bigger than an apple. And certainly our brains are much smaller than a head of lettuce. But we moose are surprisingly thoughtful. Anyway, I want to talk to you about some changes I see around Alaska . First off, this place is getting way too crowded! I used to be able ...

It’s getting to be that time again - - Wacky Winter - - when Chicken Little’s prediction finally comes true: The sky is falling. Winter comes to Alaska , and the dark comes back with it. In Anchorage we are losing approximately 5 minutes and 30 seconds of daylight every day until winter’s solstice on December 21 st . What are we to do? Move away? Lock, stock, and Igloo ? Pack up our bathing suits and the women their small bikinis (or, in some cases, orthopedic swimwear of the large kind). Put the snow plow on the front of your four-wheel drive, and as soon as someone says, “What is that thing?” you know that you’ve reached a warmer territory and can stop and buy a house. If that is not an option, then make a list of the things that didn’t work out so well in the depths of last winter’s dark days. Don’t have a list ready yet or have you forgotten all of the little things that drove you nuts? Use mine as I think I have my list around here somewhere . . . *It is...