Icewind's Ramblings

Since light travels faster than sound . . . People appear bright until you hear them speak. Ice

This year, 2007, the winter solstice will be at 9:08 PM (Alaskan Standard Time) in the evening of Friday, 21 st of December. I’d like to wish all my readers a happy holiday season — whichever one you celebrate, or lack thereof. Thank you so much for making this blog a fun and successful experience for me! Winter’s Solstice for many Alaskans is a time of celebration as we understand that even as winter’s grip takes hold of our great land in the far north that tomorrow we will be heading back into the light. Day by day and night by night the days slowly grow longer at first as the darkness gives way to the full light of summer. Like all the mysteries that emerge from time with no footnotes, it is left to each of us to find what meaning we can make of them. But perhaps this one monument from the time of myth gives us, every year, one small hint. No matter what time and the universe can throw at us, we still go on . . . to remind ourselves what we have and we shall ...

Where Valor Proudly Sleeps . . . This was from an email sent to me by my wife’s friend Amy so I thought I would share it with you. Rest easy, sleep well my brothers . . . Know the line has held, your job is done. Rest easy, sleep well. Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held. Peace, peace, and farewell . . . Arlington Cemetery has had the honor of having the headstones dressed in wreaths from the Worcester Wreath Company, Harrington Maine since 1992. Morrill Worchester the president of the company had visited Arlington Cemetery at the age of 14 and its imagery had an impact since. "When people hear about what we do at Arlington , I am often asked if I am a veteran," Worcester says. "I am not. But I have made it my business to never forget." He started Wreaths Across America placing wreaths in National Cemetery ’s in all 50 states. We remember you all year long . . . to your famil...

Tunesmith Dan Fogelberg gone on ahead . . . Dan Fogelberg, the singer and songwriter whose hits “Leader of the Band” and “Same Old Lang Syne” helped define the soft-rock era, died Sunday at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer the last few years. He was 56. . . . A quiet man of music Denied a simpler fate He tried to be a soldier once But his music wouldn’t wait He earned his love Through discipline A thundering, velvet hand His gentle means of sculpting souls Took me years to understand. Those words like many others written and sung by Dan Fogelberg over the last 35 years have always had meaning and a place in my ‘favorites’ music folder. We have watched the mechanism of music change over the years from vinyl to tape, whether it was my trusty reel to reel or a great 8 track player in my Mustang or Dodge Charger to the next must have format the cassette tape. We survived the disaster of laser disc as everyone switched to compact disc and now DVD and Blu...

I know some of you have been waiting to see what Observation # 69 was going to be so hopefully I’ll not disappoint you. Many of you also know I love little bits of trivia from obscure and off the wall places. # 69 is one of those . . . enjoy! Neil Armstrong and Mr. Gorsky When Astronaut Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, he not only gave his famous one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind statement but followed it by several remarks, usually between him, the other astronauts and Mission Control. Just before he re-entered the “Eagle” lunar lander, however, he made the enigmatic remark, "Good luck Mr. Gorsky". Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the “Good luck Mr. Gorsky” statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled. Four years ago, whi...

My long time friend, Scott, a great guy and good American decided last week that we wanted chicken wings for lunch. In Anchorage my favorite place for that fare was a place called Wings N Things which closed its doors a few months ago. There are not many really great places for hot wings now around town . . . as The Peanut Farm is about the only place that offers some decent wings. Several of the sports bars have them but many are not my kind of place. I had not been to the local Hooters in a couple of years so I pressed the issue so we could go and have a little chicken delight over Scott’s repeated objections and kidding that he will follow me anywhere. I really wanted to try those Hooters again as The Peanut Farm is a place we frequent on a regular basis but for some reason I usually pass on their wings. I’m getting this funny line from Scott that his wife didn’t want to join us as it was “Hooters” and she did not want to ruin the experience for us. That for us ...

The trouble with doing something right the first time . . . is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was. Ice

Winter is coming in Anchorage. Another strange sight around town for tourists and first year residents of Anchorage Alaska was spotted this past weekend. The mountains around town are white with snow of the upcoming winter so the moose have started moving into lower elevations and easier walking terrain. It is an annual occurrence as the thousand plus moose population come back and occupies the city with the humans and other animals. One large Bull Moose was spotted on Saturday downtown in Town Square Park and surprised several visitors later outside the Captain Cook Hotel. He was having a great time eating on the trees downtown and easily walking the streets since we are lacking our normal snowfall this time of year. I drove downtown several times over the last few days and spotted him either walking or eating within a several block area. He was happy to be there and spent time lazily hanging out watching those that were watching him. This moose has become...

It’s funny when you think about all of the millions of people in the world and some of the funny and stupid things we all do . . . From politics . . . to real life . . . we see many things that may go unexplained. I haven’t had time to write much lately as these are busy times trying to get everything done before the hard winter sets in upon us here in Alaska . We had snow for several weeks but then had a small break with above normal temperatures and ‘break up melting’. Do you realize how much junk you can collect when you let your guard down? I have been going through things trying to weed out the items I have hauled all over the country and then not used lately. Get rid of it if there is real reason to hang on to such nonsense, especially if you have just packed it away somewhere only to find it again after looking for something else. Ice

Yesterday was one of those days that one wish for . . . over and over. In the darkness of the morning I awoke and went to my coffee pot so I could pour that first hot cup. I set the timer so I could smell the aroma when I first gained consciousness. The morning as all are this time of year is slow by most people’s standards to arrive. The first rays of dawn tried to peak over the mountaintop about nine o’clock but it was a grey drab cold winter day, with not much wind. As the darkness turned to light the first glimpse of a very fine mist of a snow was falling. As the morning progressed the size of the flakes continually grew larger as the accumulation on the ground or the deck railings approached six inches. It would have been nice to sit and watch as the flakes made their way from the heavens to the earth but that was not to be for most of the day. There were other more pressing things to take care of around the house. Every time I took a break, looked out...

We are finally cooling down to normal temperatures for this time of year. The weather patterns now have started moving again and we are getting a snowfall or two every three days it seems. There were the early dustings but them we seemed to return to an ‘indian summer’ weather pattern. As we continue to lose our daylight the ability to heat the daytime also continues to drop off and colder weather is here. We had about six inches and then another 4-6” in the next round or two. Its ‘plug-in’ time again when the temperature drops below 20 degrees so our vehicles start easier and pollution is less with the warm engine. Some people tend to think that there are no cars in Alaska because it's too cold for an internal combustion engine to work. If an Alaskan wants to travel, he must either use a dogsled, or carve a car-shaped, Flintstone-like vehicle out of ice. There have been a few of these over the years . . . which have improved and with a l...

Despite the high cost of living, have you noticed how it remains so popular? Ice

Fallen Heroes To commemorate a fallen warrior, an inverted weapon and bayonet -- a tool of war and an instrument of peace -- was placed in the ground to symbolically mark the spot where our friend had fallen. A pair of polished jungle boots, fully laced, was placed at the base of the weapon to symbolize our brother's place on Earth, that he had fallen while standing up for liberty in the same manner as patriots of past wars who made the same supreme sacrifice. Finally, the helmet was placed atop the weapon to protect our brother and friend. He would suffer no longer the pain of war. What have you done for your Country? All Gave Some . . . Some gave All We will always Remember. Ice

In this place I fondly call the ‘far north’ today was one of those very lucky days that don’t come around very often. I awoke and saw the light dusting of snow on my deck as I poured my first cup of coffee. Winter is finally settling in here in Alaska so it was still dark outside. A Sunday morning like many others where the newspaper is out by the street in the box but I really did not want to go outside quite yet to read about many things I’m not really interested in. I showered and noticed my wife had fallen asleep on the couch probably watching the snowfall outside the sliding glass of the front deck. It is Veterans Day but many will observe it tomorrow so they can take time off from work. It seems somewhat funny to me now as I think about how things have changed over the years. Later in the morning I phoned several friends and asked what they will be doing on Monday. They all said the same thing: working. Me, too I thought as I was going to take time off but I...

"There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive." -- Jack London, The Call of the Wild Sometimes we may forget . . . But I try not to let the things build up and overwhelm me into forgetting. Ice

Spending my Alaskan summer off the map and under the midnight sun, I can truly say that I leave the summer’s light and warmth without regrets. I can also say that one day in the months ahead, I’ll look forward to the “breakup” and winter’s horizon sun slowly climbing higher into the sky. When that happens . . . I’ll be back to that mindset that is the Alaskan summer. Ice

Today is the 25 th anniversary of “The Wall” in Washington D.C. and it still moves me anytime I visit or see pictures. The Vietnam War Memorial for those that have not seen it is cut into the ground into an inverted V shape that starts on one side by date (1965) and as the list of fallen grows it continues to go deeper into the ground with the maximum height about seven feet tall. As the war wound down and the number of fallen decreases the reverse happens and the list of names shorten (the height decreases) until it returns to ground level on the far side (1973). The back granite is polished so there are reflections of those looking at the names. You may make etchings of the name of a loved one on “The Wall” or leave a tribute to the Fallen if you choose. They will start today reading the 58,000+ names of those who lost their lives and it will take until Friday or Saturday to finish the list. To our brothers who are the Fallen we ...

After last night’s rant I thought I would share a little ditty that hopefully will bring a smile. OK, I know it’s been a little while since I posted one of those wonderful (at least to me) stories from real life . . . Many may not be like me to revel in the fact that the human experience is one of those funny things that can bring a smile to someone’s face. That trying day or night is why we spend time sharing stories so we can make people laugh or smile when they may not feel like it. My house lately has been one of those places where it is hard to find that private place to get away from all of the people in the household. It has been a full house with my father in law in town the last couple of weeks and my brother in law in from his work rotation out on Shemya Island . My son and his daughter are around as well as my wife so needless to say it has been hard to find a quiet place. One of the few places that I can spend ‘alone’ with a house full of people i...

What in the world were they thinking? I like many Alaskans are beside myself trying to figure out how we have gotten into the state we and much of the nation is in right now. Alaska teens can make own abortion decision. Last Friday, November 2, 2007 the Alaska Supreme Court threw out an embattled state law that required parental or judicial consent before a teenager can have an abortion. Do you understand what I just said . . . It is now legal in Alaska for a girl who is 12 or 13 years old to walk into an Alaskan abortion clinic and pay with her own money (from selling Girl Scout cookies) to have an abortion without her parents being notified by anyone? On the flip side if she is injured in an auto accident and taken to a hospital for life saving surgery the parent has to sign permission before the hospital will operate. There are many things that occupy our time lately in The Last Frontier . . . The gas pipeline project possibilities . . . the rising...

“The user does not know what he wants until he sees what he gets.” For some reason it seems every Saturday morning at breakfast I experience that little observation. I meet up with several friends at a local eatery every week and the people who drop in are a mixed bunch of interesting people. Most of us have either worked together at one time or another or in one of the related trades associated with the construction industry. It seems as we sit and drink coffee and swap stories over the course of several hours there comes the time when we need to order our breakfast. Most of us know the menu from memory as we have been coming to this restaurant for over four years now. Every week there is at least one or two people who cannot decide what to order . . . every week the same thing. Eventually we all order and receive our food and as soon as our waitress put the plates down one of us will say something on the order of, “Man I wish I would have ordered that!” Or...