Icewind's Ramblings

The Masters started today in Augusta and with it a return of two great champions, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer for the honorary first tee shots.  We are off for a great weekend of chasing that little white ball around the hallowed grounds that is Augusta National Golf Club. Yesterday before the competition started and the hoopla of a returning Tiger Woods there was the usual press conference from the Masters chairman but it was not the normal talk with little meaning as Billy Payne did the right and necessary thing for all of those who love the game, the traditions, and keep The Masters what it is. For all his brilliance and leadership as the man in charge of the Masters, it is unlikely Billy Payne will ever do anything as masterful, as blunt and certainly as necessary as what he did Wednesday afternoon on the eve of the 74th edition of The Masters. In what was a stunning and rare departure for a Masters chairman, he not only admonished one of the players in the field for...

Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live. As one approaches sixty it’s funny the things you think about as the day approaches for the next birthday. I was blessed to be born on my mama’s birthday and with it came a special bond between us even across the miles in our lives.  Happy Birthday Mama, I love and miss you big bunches.  I spoke with her and my sister this afternoon and my daughter called me this morning from Iraq just before we had a 4.6 earthquake just north of Anchorage near Palmer.  A little five second shake to start the morning. I did not think I would see snow on my birthday but it happened this year Anchorage got about 3 inches yesterday and another inch or so early this morning but by late afternoon the sun was out and things were melting again.  We had gone through breakup over the last couple of weeks and most of the snow had melted before this latest dump. Work was busy but productive today and when I came home d...

I work in an engineering firm where we have a wide mix of people working in our various departments.  We are the division of the Native Hospital group that provides the design, engineering, and construction of clinics and water and sewer projects in rural (bush) Alaska .  With it brings great changes to many lives that have never had medical care or running water/sewer in their homes before.  These changes with something simple like clean water help those families live a healthier life with less trips to the “city” for medical care. Working within an “engineering” environment sometime means you can have a little fun with co-workers as their analytical ‘mindset’ seems to run a little differently that those of us who have a more practical ‘street smart’ way of thinking. I put up a "Microwave Use Tracking Form" in the break room before everyone arrived this morning to see what if anything would happen.  It had blanks for writing down what you heated up, when and ...

This week I am at our annual construction conference so my time is limited in posting but hopefully there will be some interesting stories to come out of this as we prepare for another busy season building in rural Alaska . I have done a few PowerPoint Presentations and it has taken my time in the evenings getting them ready for the next day’s activities. More to come . . . Ice

Palm Sunday is today and with it the start of Holy Week for many of us and the beginning of the Easter season. Most popular historical records agree: Jesus was a real man, who actually walked the earth 2 millennia ago.  Whether He is/was the Son of God remains up for debate in the secular community, but it's irrelevant.  Look at it this way . . . a guy cared so much about humanity that he taught millions of people a new, more respectful way to live and he died instead of betraying his faith.  No matter what religion you follow, that sort of character deserves the utmost respect. We need those type people more than ever right now. Happy Easter everyone. Ice

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...

Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the people who have to wait for them? It was a busy work week with everyone getting ready for our company's annual conference next week and added to that was a 2 day course to certify about 12 of us to do inspections on our projects for AK-DEC and EPA for our Storm and waste water pollution plans.  It was an interesting course but time away from the office was hard to handle with the construction just getting into full swing. Work progressed on my shower this week with some grouting being completed but not before a slight panic that the grout color was too dark as it was being applied but after it dried it slowly cured to the right color.  Wasted almost a whole bag of grout mix and additive but at least much of it was done. We are going back towards full light now so things are finally melting as the sunshine and temperatures are mostly above freezing except for a few overnight hours.   Ice

I finish this series of Iditarod 38 with SP Kennel’s musher’s view of the last legs during the run along the coast to the burled archway finish line in Nome .  It has been a long trail, cold this year but the weather and winds of the last few years subsided for an almost record pace. We begin these last few video’s “On the Coast” with evening setting over the frozen Ocean as nightfall takes over Aliy’s run and transition the next morning to daybreak between Unalakleet to Shaktoolik.  It gives us another massive expanse of Western Alaska and the isolation of the trail.  This next video is pretty incredible as the trail this year cut out across the middle of Norton Sound where in years past it ran closer to the shoreline from Unalakleet to Koyuk.  Looking at this with the GPS tracker on the sleds the other night around midnight it looked like Lance Mackey and Jeff King had gone way off course running during the night as they veered out across the middle of the...

We continue the Iditarod experience with Aliy Zirkle and her Red Team making their way down the mighty Yukon River , a two to three day run for some teams. Yukon River Part 2 – Excitement to break the monotony . . . Plane on the River1 After traveling all night . . . early morning dawns on the Yukon River with temperatures minus 40 below. Yukon River Part 3  Starts just before dusk heading for arrival in Kaltag. On the Portage Trail between Kaltag and Unalakleet still forty below and extremely cold.  It’s been clear weather for most of this year’s run to Nome with snowy weather the first two days. Into Unalakleet is a video of Aliy and the Team running with the first part shot about 30 miles out and Aliy shares her views of the beautiful scenery and the different kinds of trail markers along the way.  The last part picks up after the Team has slogged through a ground blizzard.  Aliy recounts her efforts on behalf of the dogs, swapping race time for the...

I guess we can chalk up another reason why things are so out of control in Washington .  Has this happened to you lately? Did you receive in the mail recently a letter telling us we were going to get our census forms in another week?  Postage for the millions of letters going out even at a reduced rate is still a ton of cash . . . gone. Then the census forms arrived.  This is more postage but necessary to find out where everyone lives and how many are in the houses for funding purposes. This afternoon, I received a post card telling me that I should have received my census form and to please fill it out and mail it back.  Another costly reminder for millions of Americans to do what is expected of us in the first place. These are the same people that the Democrats are putting in charge of health care that passed yesterday. What could possibly go wrong with that mess? I get the warm fuzzys from our folks in Washington DC . Ice

Saturday evening Montana rookie musher, Celeste Davis (Bib #58), made her way under the Burled Arch of Front Street in Nome Alaska with 9 dogs on her team bringing a close to the 2010 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.   The 37 year old musher made the trek from Willow to Nome in 13 days, 5 hours, 6 minutes and 40 seconds, landing her in the Iditarod record books with the fastest Red Lantern in race history! From the Iditarod web site . . . Iditarod Traditions The Story of the Widow’s Lamp During the days of Alaska sled dog freighting and mail carrying, dog drivers relied on a series of roadhouses between their village destinations. Since these mushers ventured out in most all kinds of weather, for safety reasons they found the idea that pilots rely on, known today as the flight plan. Word was relayed ahead that a musher and team were on the trail, and a kerosene lamp was lit and hung outside the roadhouse. It not only helped the dog driver find his destination at night, but...

This is Aliy Zirkle’s video Odyssey of Iditarod 38 with insight of the trail, the scenery, and the varying conditions in the extreme isolation of the Alaskan Frontier. The Journey continues past Rainy Pass and the decent down the “The Happy River Steps” to the valley below.  Enjoy the ride as it is like a sled dog roller coaster.  Listen and you can hear Aliy hitting the brakes to slow the sled to not overrun the dogs.  Watch it full screen for the best view.  You can also see a few television camera crews who have been dropped off to film the mushers making their way through this difficult part of the trail.  Enjoy. The Happy River Steps Dalzell Gorge has been a place where technique is the difference between continuing on the Iditarod Trail or possibly crashing into a tree or limb.  Falling off the sled or broken bones has ended many people’s dreams.  Over the years it has taken out many a musher, experienced and rookie alike.  Just be...

Thanks to Aliy & her SP Kennel (Skunk’s Place Kennel) for an amazing adventure for those of us who long to experience this unique and wonderful sport.  I’m trying to keep these videos in a logical order of the run but they may upload more that might be out of sequence later on as there is rumor of a video descending the ice falls in Dalzell Gorge which should be pretty spectacular and maybe some night runs. These next videos are making the climb up to Rainy Pass the highest point on the Iditarod Trail and shows Aliy going through the Finger Lake Checkpoint where you can see the check in process, a quick review of the dog log and continuing on towards Rainy Pass.   The camera is mounted on the sled and shows the dogs eager to run and the instructions given them.  The first couple of days the weather was pretty nasty with snow, winds and at times blizzard conditions.  The chase planes and helicopters were grounded for a couple of days so making sure the mu...

For something a little different . . . Iditarod 38 is ‘over’ with a champion crowned but there are still 16 teams on the trail heading for Nome .  After the excitement of the race to be first there are some other interesting stories and things beginning to show up that I think you will like.  These videos were provided by SP Kennel’s Aliy Zirkle (finished 16 th Team Red) & her husband musher Allen Moore (finished 35 th Team Black) on their website, from YouTube, and KTUU Channel 2 News.  These video clips will give you a sled’s eye view of what it is to run the Iditarod, the beauty of the countryside, the solitude and loneliness of no one around for miles except your dogs . . . and possibly the wild animals in the Alaskan wilderness.  Please take the time to Enjoy! This before the start of Iditarod 38 is a KTUU Channel 2 interview with Aliy Zirkle who has ran the Iditarod since 2001 when I first moved to Alaska .  She was the first woman to win the Y...

Have you seen this yet? Ray Stevens . . . still going strong after so many years. You Betcha! Ice

As many of you know with my work I travel all over the State of Alaska visiting many of the rural bush villages where we build clinics, water and wastewater treatment plants, large water tanks and lagoons for treating sewage. It is very fulfilling work seeing the differences made in people’s lives who may have never had indoor plumbing to bathe, wash clothes, or even brush your teeth with suddenly have these conveniences many of us take for granted. With the travel come many different forms of transportation.  I have flown in all kinds of airplanes, snow machine, 4-wheel all terrain vehicles and even on a dog sled.  The weather conditions are often ever changing even within an eight to twenty four hour period. A few weeks ago I posted about several of my recent trips, one to Selawik and the other to Old Harbor where I have projects going. The trip to Old Harbor has two flights on Alaska Air Lines between Anchorage and the City of Kodiak .  They are Boeing 737...

Iditarod 38 has a new 4 time winner who has won consecutively the last four years . . . Lance Mackey a never before feat of endurance and dog handling with a never tiring pack of champion dogs.  It is after all, The Iditarod.   Lance arrived in Nome , Alaska this afternoon with the races second fastest time at 2:59 pm . . . arriving just under 9 days from the start in Anchorage . With true grit and determination after a ‘comment’ by 4 time champion Jeff King just after the halfway point gave added incentive for Mackey to push hard to take the lead and not look back.   Winner’s podium under the burled arch on Front Street in Nome with Rev, Mackey, and Maple. Here’s a fun reprint from The Washington Post of a Norman Chad parody of the Iditarod from the four legged viewpoint.  It’s a funny read . . . Couch Slouch checks in on the Iditarod, and its canine correspondent By NORMAN CHAD Monday, March 15, 2010 The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race -- often called ...

This is the big weekend for Daylight Savings Time where those that observe this will set clocks forward one hour in the spring and set them back an hour in the fall. We pushed forward last night losing an hour of sleep during a time I seem to need more.  It’s been busy these last few weeks and my stress level I’m sure is elevated too even though I try not to let on. Friday evening I felt a big bump on the back of my neck which was quite painful but did not have the redness one would think of.  I thought it might an ingrown hair or possibly an ‘old fart’ pimple and went to sleep with some discomfort but no real thought about it.  I woke up Saturday morning for my breakfast meeting and felt more swelling and tenderness on the back right side of my neck.  It was painful and when I returned home after a few hours I felt totally like crap and had chills and was wiped out.  I took a couple of Aleve and lie on the sofa and fell asleep for a few hours.  This ...