Icewind's Ramblings

Last night turned into a very interesting night for me. I was invited to go to the Sullivan Arena for the “Friday Night Fights”. It’s not an every Friday night event but about once every 5 or six weeks. There has been the long running Thursday night boxing event held at the Egan Center but it’s not quite the same in style or attendance. Now mind you I was not really into going to see this but as a summer novelty thought it might be interesting to check out. If nothing else would possibly be blog material. Turns out it was and more. For the ultimate fighters it’s all about the thrill of the fight and the cost of becoming an ultimate fighter includes a lot of pain and a chance for glory — or for some embarrassment. All for about $ 500 . . . if you win. I found out after arriving at the arena that there are also cross promotions, including concerts after the fights. The AFC is becoming one of the hotter tickets in Anchorage for something to do but also has...

The last few weeks have been extremely busy here in the far north. Summertime it seems is always that way. With about 20 hours of sunlight available each day there is usually no problems finding something to do or places to go. This summer has been no exception and it has been crazy with all that has been going on. We have had family relocating up here, friends visit from the lower 48, and the hectic schedules of having new born grand babies arriving this year. So much has happened that it has been hard to post anything and everything that has made its way into the summer of 07. I wanted to do a couple of posts that would give a great picture overview of some of the great times happening here in the far north this summer but so far it has been hard to upload the pictures so I decided to glean a few of the better ones and get a post up. The odd thing is that since I first started writing the draft of this post almost two weeks has passed and still no uploads of pic...

Yesterday is gone. The best I can do is to learn from it. Tomorrow is yet unborn . . . but I can determine how it will be to a great extent . . . based on what I do today. Ice

Education is a cure for ignorance . . . not stupidity. Ice

Last Wednesday night I wrote about my grand daughter's goldfish and our sense that it was time to call in the hospice. This morning when I got out of the shower I noticed that the little sucker had rolled over onto his side and was no longer breathing. I left him there and got dressed because my grand daughter was not yet awake and I wanted to make sure that she had time to say goodbye. I had gone to work and I just finished speaking with her and she was a little sad because this time when she tried to blow her air into the bowl it didn't help her fish. So we wrapped him up and threw him away so that the cats in the neighborhood wouldn't eat him. Apparently her sadness was short-lived because she has decided that she and I can go find a big fish that is purple and has teeth to come live with us. I should add that her Nana (my wife) told me that she said that if her papa was home he could have saved the fish. It is good to know that I am still Superman in her eyes, even ...

What’s yours? It’s a rainy day in Alaska today and I sit here thinking about all of the things I wanted to get done this weekend but didn’t get to . . . there was the Dipnet fishing I was hoping to fill my freezer with fresh red salmon filets for the winter . . . maybe next weekend. Then there is the shed I have been working on the last two weeks . . . thousands of pieces, I should have just built it out of wood as it would have gone a lot faster. I always have a little yard work to be done . . . I have cut a few limbs and dead trees that need to be disposed of sometime before the snow flies again. I awoke early and it was nice having everyone sleep in giving me time to leisurely read the Sunday paper. I sat out on my deck that is covered by a nice seasonal sun room. Even the sound of the rain on the tented roof made for a relaxing morning in the mid 60’s. Summer in Alaska is different than other places I’ve lived. I awoke yesterday morning to find a grizzly be...

If you are one of the fabulous long time readers to my ramblings you have seen that there are days when I can put up seven or eight posts in a row or then real life steps in when you cannot find the time to sit down to write things down. Then again, probably like everyone, there are those moments when I have almost nothing to say and it is an effort to update the blog. Ok, luckily those days are few and far between. In general I usually have no trouble coming up with material which is part of why my draft folder is filled with drafts of posts that never managed to see the light of day. I see things or something happens to spark that odd thought which I jot down so I can come back to it later. I’ll write it up and it all falls into place and gets posted. But, sometimes I can't make the post work. That is, I don't like the end product or it gets bogged down as my style sometimes wanders off point. It doesn't flow. I can't stand the way it reads. I hate the way i...

Awhile back my grand daughter managed to win a couple of goldfish at the local carnival that was in town. It’s called Saturday market and it runs on weekends from May till September when tourist season ends here. The booths have many handmade crafts and native items from which to buy and send home or it’s just a great way to spend a sunny afternoon. Some booths are set up for the children with games that offer the goldfish as prizes. It is one of the bigger draws at the carnival, especially among the younger crowd because it is enticing and cool to win a fish. Those of you who have experience with these particular fish know that they are not the hardiest of creatures and often expire rapidly. In the old days they used to actually pass out the fish at the carnival. This presented a number of problems. As a child it was "papa can you please carry my fish so that I can play other games" and as a grandparent it was "I am carrying too much crap to begin with, how...

During my travels as an outside salesman I see many things that are both beautiful and sometimes just extraordinary. This is Alaska . . . a place with a wondrous sight around every corner or bend in the road, wild life of all kinds may be found anywhere. The mountains reaching from the sea up through the timberline and into the snowfields that linger all summer long. I saw something the other day that still I cannot get over or figure out. It was just too . . . strange . . . even by Alaska ’s standards. It was a ‘hot’ summer’s day by Alaska standards with the afternoon temperatures approaching 70 degrees. There were a few clouds that seemed like they were placed in the sky here and there . . . just right. The deep blue of the sky with the mountains as a backdrop makes one wish for that perfect day on the water fishing but this just before the start of our fishing season so that would have to wait until another time. I stopped by the golden arches for a quic...

The more you complain, the longer God lets you live. Smile, it’s all good! Ice

“Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.“ Ralph Waldo Emerson The whirlwind days of summer is among us all and there is just so many things pulling for our time . . . work, family, things you have no control over, . . . and at the end of the day . . . you’ve been pulled, twisted, and blindly fall into the twilight of sleep that is Alaska right now. The days start with good intentions of writing that quick note or making that phone call to family or friends but shortly things go into chaos mode and the day runs without any breaks or slowdowns. Good intentions fall by the wayside once again. The time leading up to this was hectic with the preparations of my brother in law’s move to Alaska from Utah . . . a quick fishing trip since his work rotation of three months would put him returning ...

It has taken me longer to write this than I wanted but summer is in full swing and it is again full schedules for everyone. Here is our recent fishing trip summary. Thoughts from the trail, almost forgotten due to the many hours of fishing last week before my brother in law flew out to Shemya (The Rock) for a 90 work rotation. The weather this summer in Alaska has been almost perfect . . . not like the cold gray wet summer last year. No clouds . . . an unbelievable blue sky . . . and full daylight the full 24 hours each day. The twilight of the night sky gives some contrast to brightly lit days with sharp details in the shadows cast from objects all around. Fishing has been great this year as the weather last summer made it almost impossible to get a line in the water. It either rained all the time or the wind was blowing so hard it was impossible and unsafe to get a boat away from shore. It is great having things return to normal times and temperatures. ...

Marriage changes passion; Suddenly, you're in bed with a relative. Busy but strange week with the holiday in the middle, thank God the weekends here as I will be building a storage shed to put everyone’s stuff in. I have the materials but need to find the desire to build the thing as I would rather be fishing or playing a round of golf. Have a great weekend everyone. Ice

This happened some time in the recent past as it’s been busy here and no time to write lately so I thought I would write something light hearted again. Outback Steak House, is one of our few chain restaurants here in Alaska so that and Chili’s are one of the better places to eat if not going to one of the many mom and pop eateries. This is Alaska , the Last Frontier, land of few chain restaurants and strip malls. I would prefer my unique hole-in-the-wall Japanese joint but then most of the group would complain as that seems to be the ‘in place’ lately with all you can eat king crab for $19.99. "Crab again? Like, from The Deadliest Catch?" (sigh) And so Outback Steak House it is. It's the only place we can all agree on this trip. I won't complain. A rack of spicy ribs always suits me fine and I'll do some serious damage at that salad bar. I've already hungrily spied a bucket sized Blooming Onion. An aloof, teen-aged hostess seats us and then we...

Today’s catch . . . 25 pound King Salmon My friend Scott and I after the catch . . . This was a relaxing way to spend the night and following day . . . fishing one of our ‘local’ spots without much driving. Five of us went for the overnight trip, Scott, his son Bob, Steve, my brother in law, Mike, and me. It is great as there were about 150 people there fishing in the twilight of summer. Going back in the morning . . . for more. Let the ‘smokin’ begin . . . more pictures later. Ice

Tonight, of course, is mid summer's night in Alaska and fabulous things can happen on mid summer's night. According to my calendar, tomorrow June 21 is the first official day of summer. Going by the temperature here today, 78 degrees when I left work, summer is a day early as things are heating up in the northland. The sun rose at 4:20 am this morning and will set here tonight in Anchorage Alaska at 11:42 pm, giving us 19 hours and 42 minutes of sunlight. I can't deny it any longer. Summer's officially here. After last year’s summer of cold and wet weather, let me just say, “Excuse me while I go melt.” I'm already longing for autumn. NOT!!! In one of the few places on earth where our summer weather forecast: “Mostly sunny for the remainder of the night.” . . . Right now there is about 4.5 hrs of what could be called twilight in between the “day” and the next day - no real night per se. It is like this . . . you get in your rig to go ...

I know I haven’t written much lately as it has been a madhouse here over the last month or so. I think it probably is that tweaking of mindset getting ready for summer after a long dark winter. As we approach the summer Solstice on Thursday and the time gain each day has slowed to a few seconds now we move into that high gear mode of an active summer. We are in our period of ‘full light’ now with only a couple hours of twilight during the middle of the ‘nighttime’ hours. It seems everything is moving faster now with more activities to fill everyone’s time each day. Fishing season has begun again with a quickly put together trip to Homer last weekend. It was great with summer temperatures here again around 68 degrees. It became windy while we were fishing during the ‘night’ high tide so it was a little breezy with my light shirt on. Who needs cold weather gear while we are in summer mode? It might have been more comfortable but I still had a great time anyway. ...

"When a baby is born, it takes a deep breath in. When we die, we breathe out that final time . . . What's in between is what we call life." Ice

It’s been a mixed bag of odd happenings here over the last few days. One of my client’s, a plumbing contractor here in Anchorage , had a very unfortunate accident here yesterday. One of his plumbers was working on a project soldering a pipe and his torch accidentally started a fire. The fire was in a condo complex downtown and pretty much totaled one of the buildings as the fire spread up an elevator shaft to the roof. Between the fire and water damage it was a total loss and 42 units (families) were at a total loss. (There is a video in the ADN link that shows it also.) There were no injuries and everyone was evacuated from the building. The fire started around 3:15 pm and was whipped by 25 to 40 knot winds which kept the firefighters busy trying to keep the fire contained to the one building with the hot embers being blown away from the fire site. The three alarm fire was finally brought under control around 10 pm last night with the Red Cross and Salvatio...

We have just passed Memorial Day here in the USA also called Remembrance Day for those who have lost their lives in wars and conflicts over the years . . . We have lost a number of people from Alaska recently . . . it sometimes seems like more than our fair share . . . we remain steadfast in our support of the men and women who’s sacrifice is what made this country so great. I want to laugh but it is sometimes hard . . . seeing the many services at our local base here and the stories of their families in the newspaper . . . it reminds me of my time long ago before we finally changed course in Vietnam . I am reminded of a story several year’s ago . . . *This is the actual radio conversation of a US Naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October 1995. Radio conversation released by the chief of naval operation 10-10-95. Canadians: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision. Americans: Rec...