Icewind's Ramblings

I didn’t sleep again last night so tonight I will be playing this piece several times I am sure as it takes me to a place where my mind will stop racing in the wind and allow me to a calm place. Here are two pieces of the same John Denver song, the first as originally performed with Mike Taylor as complimenting guitars.   It is just part of a suite of songs called “Season Suite” by John Denver, Mike Taylor & Dick Kniss consisting of: Summer Fall Winter Late Winter, Early Spring (When Everybody Goes to Mexico) Spring They are all beautiful music pieces & were released on the Rocky Mountain High album. Please take the time to listen to both versions as it will be a rewarding experience and we need those in these times . . . The next is the Lee Holdridge version with full orchestral arrangement performed both in a stage setting and also in the Rocky Mountains close to the Maroon Bells in Colorado just outside Aspen. It is a very beautiful piece with three ballerinas...

As I sit here this morning it has been several days now since I heard about Lance’s passing and like many people we are trying to make sense of it all. It is strange how news of such an event can take the wind out of your sails and gives us another reminder of how fragile life is.   Today would have been Lance’s fifty fifth birthday. When I first moved to Alaska Lance was one of the first people I met when I started working.   He dropped by my office to talk with my boss about several projects we were doing and his company was providing the insulation.   We chatted for a bit and then Lance wanted to take us out to lunch to get to know me more since I had just arrived. We talked and shared stories about ourselves, some good & bad and I realized that I liked his attitude and how much he embraced the “give a guy a chance” in life.   He said we all need ‘second chances’ and he was grateful that after problems in his own life someone was willing to give him a br...

It has been one of those weird Saturday’s with various things going on and nothing in particular. It was a bits and pieces kind of day with morning coffee and waiting for the concrete guy to show up to start his forms for pouring a slab in the garage.   Needless to say it was about noon before the phone call came in that he would not be here until Monday.   Possible morning golf missed before the weather turned, typical for this summer so far.   Then it was debated on heading out to the lake with golf tomorrow but the boat is still in for a tune up and not ready until next week so again no golf. Have a tee time for noon tomorrow so it allows time to piddle around finish laundry and other chores so not totally a wash plus I went to Lowe’s this afternoon and bought a BBQ grill and a couple chairs for the deck. A friend of mine emailed me this joke once he heard I was installing drains in the garage and possibly was going to install a urinal along with a slop sink in t...

Happy 4 th of July, a time to pause for reflection This past week has been a busy one filled with plenty of activities both at work and personal. The work time spent preparing several new projects added to this construction season which means taking of material lists so I can order all the parts and pieces to be shipped to the remote work sites.   The logistics of these endeavors are daunting trying to coordinate barge or air freight schedules with the crews and getting everything organized for a successful project. On the personal front there was “The Moving Wall” a half size replica of the Washington, DC Vietnam Veterans Memorial.   It is making its way through Alaska and was in Anchorage last week. I wanted to make my way to ‘The Wall’ at first with friends and then I knew it was a solo personal time for me to visit my fallen brothers.   I made my way to the Park Strip across the street from our Anchorage Vietnam Veterans Memorial and there it was the black mon...

We’ve all heard this one before. Most of us think about this when it comes to being generous with money, but this lesson applies to way more than charitable giving.  You literally get back everything you put out there.  It starts with the concept of “paying it forward” in your daily life.   Give that smile to the person who serves your coffee or brings you that lunch or dinner.   Help that person you can see struggling even if you know they will never ask for assistance. If you want more of anything in your life, then be aware of what you are personally putting out there . . . kindness, generosity, love, anger, frustration, and money.  It all comes right back to you. In the theme of that great 1967 song . . . “You can get anything you want . . .” Give freely, of your time, yourself and let the river of abundance flow through your being and welcome the things and blessing it brings. Have a n Ice day!

One of my favorite books over the years has been “Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” by Richard Bach.   I have read and re-read it over 35 years now and it remains a sort of ‘Life Bible’ for me over the years. It is a simple book and easy read with many gems on how you should live life and treat other people.   Bach is an aviator and flying stories over the years has been his common theme.   One of his early books was ‘Jonathon Livingston Seagull’ which was made into a movie. I have after a period of time gone back and read things again and asked myself some of the questions and have been surprised by the changing answers over the years.   Was it maturity or circumstance that brought about the perspective swings?   Here are a couple of quotes from the book to start you off on a flight to a better “me” or “you”.   Enjoy! Quotations from the Messiah's Handbook "Reminders for the Advanced Soul" in "Illusions - The Adventures of a Rel...

The last few days have been wonderful here in the beautiful summer sun of Alaska.   Had some great golf, a nice dinner last night and my usual Saturday Breakfast with friends and went to Sunday coffee before heading out to do some shopping and chores for the day. Now I am not one to complain about a lot of things but I do pride myself in observing people and commenting on the sometimes funny and crazy things that people do, especially if they do not think people are paying attention. This is a “what in the world do you think you’re doing” category rant that I observed this morning.   It totally put me off my coffee and I wanted to go out and find him to ask . . . What the hell? After about 4 cups of coffee and get up and head to the restroom and as I am walking in there is a fellow about 35 heading out the door.   I go in and there is someone standing at the urinal so my only place is the stall.   I walk into the stall and to my amazement the guy coming out did...

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

Many people hold on to their past and for some it is like an anchor that holds them back from being happy or living an abundant life.   To truly live abundantly in the present, we must dismiss the past and in many ways the future. Life concepts intrigue me as we must learn to accept this universal truth, now is all there ever is. We are here right now . . . in the present . . . no past, no future . . . Only now. Nothing else exists, besides this present moment. Think about that for a minute.   Now that is a reality check for sure. Fantasy Land is where you are when you spend your time thinking about the past or the future.   The power of our mind, we can make the past feel very real, however it is not real.   Your fantasies of the past may seem very real, our mind is quite powerful, but they are gone in an instant. Have you ever heard of placing a picture of a new car you wanted on the mirror and everyday looking at the picture and telling yourself that ...

Those words made famous by Rodney King, the man that was beaten by the LA police department in 1991 was found dead in his swimming pool in California. The police beating was captured on videotape by an onlooker and brought about showcasing the brutality and bad police tactics in LA.   When the trial ended with acquittals for three of the officers and the fourth ended in mistrial, the verdict caused one of the deadliest and costly race riots in the country’s history.   His words spoken on television at the height of the riots, “Can We All Get Along?” would later set the tone for the end of the siege on LA. Over they years since the incident King continued to have a troubled life in and out of jail for various charges and even tried a couple reality shows trying to kick his addictions.   Last year’s VH1 show Celebrity Rehab featured King as one of those trying to kick his alcoholism. There are probably two sides to this story but hopefully this troubled man finds peac...

Over the last couple of years there have been changes in my life and at times that isolation with myself has given me some time to think about all the different things and people directly around my life and those that are within that circle or circles that are peripheral to my main group.   I used to not really understand that we can figure out how this whole “life thing” works and once we do everything falls into place so much easier. I was primarily focused on absorbing as much information as I could and getting better at the things that I thought were going to “get me ahead in life”. But, I didn’t realize that I was also supposed to be focusing on seeing the bigger picture and learning from all the lessons that came my way. There were road blocks where I am sure I left family down at times by being focused on myself or the things I was involved in or closing off parts of me to get through whatever may have been going on in our lives. It hadn’t occurred to me that I wa...

One can resist everything except temptation. Ice

Many of us these days use facebook for various reasons. Most would probably say they post to keep in contact with other people, many of us have ‘found’ each other after many years out of touch.   For this it has been a great way to rekindle those old friendships from high school, the military, or old business people from work place over the years. According to facebook statistics, there are currently 500 million active users; 50% of them log on to facebook in any given day. If you are into the bigger numbers, there are over 700 billion minutes spent wasted each month on facebook. The numbers are incredible and grossly impressive. Yet, with the millions of facebook users, how many people out there can actually say their facebook friends are ‘real’ friends. When looking at some different profiles, some people have a few friends, some have a few hundred, and others . . . well . . . I don’t think I have ever met that many people in my whole life. But, because we are looking at num...

This is another in the Observations of Men vs. Women. There is such a difference in the way the male brain vs. the female brain works.   It is illustrated by the following experience. When you go on a long trip and your end destination is to a woman driven household, you will be greeted with a meal and some quiet conversation and a warm bed. When you go on a long trip and a man is at the destination what you get is a bottle of tequila and two shot glasses left on the counter, Oh, and a lime.   Probably with a beer chaser, Life is good & relaxed. The thought process was the same behind each action . . . love and concern for the mental health of the people that had to drive or fly a long distance . . . but it is expressed in entirely different ways. Oftentimes what happens between men and women is that the ‘tokens or gestures’ are not recognized for what they are.   Women please don’t bitch for a half a day about the shot glasses and why on earth would a man ...

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

If you can start the day without caffeine, If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles, If you can eat plain food every day and be grateful for it, If you can understand when you’re loved ones are too busy to give you any time . . . If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, If you can conquer tension without medical help, If you can relax without liquor, If you can sleep without the aid of drugs, . . . Then You Are Probably The Family Dog! I lost two good dogs a few years ago about this time of year for both of them.   Casey was the first to go in 2005 and Levi, this man’s best friend died in 2007. I would like another dog but do not want to ever again go the distance with having to lose another one so I’ll enjoy the memories of the fun we had over the years. Ice

Attitude is everything. How else can you explain how I finished a stressful day at work with a smile on my face? It could also have been the several drinks at Applebee’s before heading home, who knows. Ice

These last few weeks we have really been soaking up the daylight as we anticipate the arrival of our Alaskan summer.   We broke our annual snowfall record in April and once things pushed past that it has been mostly nice as spring has taken hold of Anchorage and most of Alaska.   Bright sunny days . . . shorter nights is always something to celebrate in the northland.   Things make the transition from the ever present white through the browns, muddy water, dampness, to the greening up and colors again. This has led me to contemplate the differences between our winters and our summers. The contrasts are as extreme as the landscape found within this state.   Moose roam the streets.   Dogs are on leashes or locked up in yards or houses. Winters of cold and constant darkness while the summers of never ending light.   It seems like everyone carries a gun . . . but me (seen enough of them for one lifetime). There are not a lot of people here . . . compar...

When I was younger . . . much younger . . . I heard this religious message that stated love isn't an emotion, love is a decision. I'm not above thinking along spiritual planes every now and then and at the time; my reaction was . . . What is he talking about???   What an idiot.   What does he mean love isn't an emotion? Just how crazy is that? I am much older now with a lot more life experience and I realize that statement was completely right. See, it all comes down to all of us are a bunch of animals.   We are hardwired to procreate.   Period.   So, it goes to reason that all of your life, you are going to be attracted to people. That's not love . . . If it was, there would be no porn.   Love comes when you decide to make a hearth and home with someone whom not only are you attracted to, but you enjoy talking to on a daily basis.   That one you want to place before yourself, etc. Love = loyalty in my humble opinion. There are not too terr...

I do not know about you but sometimes television commercials just do not seem like much thought was given when making them. The one currently running on TV here for Viagra shows a nice looking middle age man sailing alone in a sailboat.   It looks like it is dusk and he is sailing away as it goes into the side effects of the drug.   He is ‘Alone’ in the boat.   Now I do not know about you but the idea of being alone in a boat with a ‘stiffy’ for over 4 hours does not sound all that fun.   The commercial shows him having a problem with the mainsail and having to fix the problem . . . I wonder if the ‘wood’ helped or hindered the repair.   Did this poor fellow use it to hammer the broken part in place or was this about the time the other side effects kicked in? I have never taken any of these so I can only speak from the commercials and the information provided but it seems like . . . well . . . it may not be the greatest thing it is being made out to be. ...