Icewind's Ramblings

Getting together with friends on a holiday weekend is one of the best, yet simple, pleasures in life. To know those around you just a bit better, break bread and share good drinks and conversation over a meal . . . I can think of no finer way to celebrate our American Independence Day. So if you are like us in Alaska heading out to the lake, going down to the river to fish, or heading out to sea for a great catch . . . Have a great 4 th of July! Have fun . . . Be Safe . . . and enjoy the Freedoms given you. Ice

Or what length one goes for a little tail. This is for a fun Friday after a trying week mixed with the best and worst parts of dealing with people. I couldn’t resist this one . . . Moose Picture Caption: “Hi . . . what’s your ‘sign’?” After a few minutes a little more formal introduction . . . I am pretty sure this is NOT and Alaskan moose as it looks more southern to me since it doesn’t seem to care what it mates with. It struck me funny so I thought I would throw it out there. Tomorrow is July 4 th , the United States Independence Day so everyone have a safe weekend and remember those whose sacrifice allows us to have our parades, picnics, and family cookouts. Many thanks to all of you who have or are serving to protect our way of life. Thanks for listening! Ice

It’s summertime in Alaska and there is the abundant wild life roaming the streets of Anchorage . Recently the local moose population worked their magic and we see the young calves sticking close to mom and dad moose. There are plenty of geese now raising their newborn goslings it seems like in every pond or drainage pool or soccer field. I have a friend who works for Chugach Electric who was telling me about the trials and sometimes strange things that happen when there are power outages that occur in Alaska . There are the normal things like the rest of the country has like wind blown down trees or limbs that break off or blow over lines cutting power to many homes and businesses. There is the occasional transformer that goes out from normal wear or the power pole that gets hit in an auto accident but there are other things that happen here to bring us back to the “dark ages”. A wayward bear or moose may cause an outage but sometimes it’s that pesky ...

I saw this first at Chatty Crone’s Blog last week and it stuck with me. I personally have no desire to return ‘in country’ but I think it is great this man has found a way to heal old wounds. A picture taken from an ‘enemy’ 30+ years ago returned to his daughter, not much else needs to be said. Another example of why we should not forget the cost of war or of any life. MSNBC Broadcast by Keith Morrison There may be hope for our world yet. Ice

Or how to “see” Alaska in one quick trip. Yesterday was one of those whirlwind days where your well thought out plans for the day get shuffled and turned upside down changing everything? It was not necessarily a bad thing as I needed to make a spur of the moment trip to one of our project in Sitka Alaska . I did not have to pack a bag as I would return the same evening and I have learned from past trips that no being prepared for the unknown can come out and make things miserable if the weather changes. I figured I could ‘pack light’ stuffing a light long sleeve ‘wind shirt’ into my computer bag in case there was some wind or light rain at my destination. The temperatures were supposed to be in the 50’s so that is not bad for me most of the time as my Hawaiian shirts seem to give me some protective bubble and I usually do not feel the cool winds. It is after midnight when I quickly pack for the day trip and try to get a few hours sleep before leaving for ...

The global coordination of fans mourning in public was fascinating and the reporting of his death possibly even more telling about our society. How did Michael Jackson's death affect the internet's performance? Media has changed over the last 15 years as we see how technology has forced its way into our lives. Newspapers a long flag bearer of how we received our news and information as almost quietly dieing off as the digital age hammers us with new products, formats, and something else to occupy our time. I really didn’t think I would post anything else about Michael Jackson for several reasons . . . the first I really just don’t care about all of the hype within his lifetime both good and bad. Another is his persona like Elvis, left little to wonder about as both stars dimmed from all the craziness in each life. I like most of mine and younger generations grew up with the singer but with that said I don’t understand how the mystique stayed alive, ...

Today I am sitting at a stop light waiting for the light to change and look in my side mirror and see this car approaching but not slowing down to stop. I could see the young girl looking down and realized she was using her phone to text message someone as she rear ended the car in front of her which was beside me. She had looked up just before impact so luckily she had started to brake just before hitting with some force to the vehicle. No one was hurt but I am sure both felt lucky that it turned out ok but not without more drama and comedy. The guy that was hit was upset and rightly so as he was minding his own business waiting like me for the light to change. The young girl on the other hand was also slightly upset for what ever reason, that fateful phone call to the parents about the accident, or that realization that messing with the phone had totally changed her day and possibly her life. I am not sure which but she got out of her car just as the guy did a...

I think that sometimes when you wake up in the morning and hear that first song on the radio or player in your car or home seems to set the mood for the day. That can sometimes be both a blessing and an omen for things to come as music has many meanings and can bring forth several depending on when you might hear it or what happens to you in the short term. Today carried with it a little of both as I jumped into my rig (Alaskan for truck) and headed off to work. Within about ten seconds Jackson Brown’s Running on Empty came on the radio. I smiled thinking about my youth and the excitement from seeing a JB concert live and up close. I have always enjoyed the excitement that the song seemed to bring out in many people. It had enthusiasm and made you tap a toe or get into a rhythm. Another smile came to me. Running on Empty I listened as I made my way to the freeway and just let the music embrace my soul and give me that lift needed to st...

Many of you know over the last couple of years that I have enjoyed and been fascinated by the squirrels that have taken up roost at my last couple of houses I have lived in. Squirrels are just so fascinating in how they interact with each other, birds which may share a bird feeder, and my family. Then there is the dog, Gus who now has a ‘doggie door’ so he can go in and outside while we are working or away for a few hours. My bird feeder is just outside the new door a few steps away across the deck, hanging over the side. The birds and squirrels can get to the feed and do so in relative safety with Gus just lurching his way up the railing and barking his displeasure of them eating ‘his’ peanuts. The Blue Jays and the Robbins play tag team luring Gus away from the feeder while the mate flies up and gets the food and off to the nest. It is funny how they work Gus to the point he tires of running back and forth and lies down under the feeder and watches the wildl...

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes. ~William James It is funny to me how sometimes people get defeated by a poor attitude. It might even be a little sad that someone lets conditions, people, and other influences take away that which is yours alone to choose. I have experienced in my field that it takes 10 positive people to bring up the one negative person but when there is that one “sour grape” around it may only take one negative person to bring down a group of people. It can spread like a cancer within the group and may need to be ‘cut out’ to bring harmony back to the masses. Over the weekend we passed the summer solstice where the sun reaches it’s most northern point in its orbit thereby bringing us our ‘longest’ day of the year giving Alaskans our most daylight hours crossing back to losing a few seconds at first then minutes as we go into fall and back to winter. ...

Many of us look for the end of the rainbow and sometimes a few of us may actually luck up and find it . . . Was it what we expected or really wished for? Sometimes . . . and we may find a few unexpected things along the way. Land of the midnight Sun . . . Alaska Scenes . . . Alaska , Bringing our Natural Resources to America A Quiet Place And a song . . . Ice