Icewind's Ramblings

This post got buried in my ‘working folder’ from when Scott and I took our families to Mexico on vacation. It’s strange to dig in there after awhile and see what craziness lies beneath the laughter. I’ll throw it out there now to go along with our lengthening days since I had originally wanted to brighten a long dark night several months ago. During one of the many fabulous dinners while at the Moon Palace there was one night where the families went to eat a Cajun meal in one of the 13 restaurants on the compound. After dinner when the families had split up and gone on to other things to do Scott and I headed to the beach bar for a couple of drinks and some laughter before heading to our rooms. We had both eaten big bowls of jambalaya for dinner along with several other spicy entrees and after a couple of hours it was working its way through both of us. The jambalaya was full of some spicy sausage goodness, but about an hour or so later, my intestines were p...

I picked up from the airport this afternoon a friend who is coming back up to Alaska to work with us. He was here briefly almost a year and a half ago working but it was more in the late winter into spring part of the year. It was good seeing him again and catching up on things this afternoon and until one of my out of town projects starts later this month he will be staying at my house. We kicked back for a bit and relaxed and talked about the economy in Montana and Alaska before everyone started to arrive at the house. My daughter and son in law decided they wanted to come over for a dinner of tacos and fajitas and go over some things since they never made it by over the weekend. It was a great dinner and the two grandkids were happy to eat peanut butter and jelly while everyone else chowed down on both chicken and beef fajitas as well as soft and hard shell tacos. We made fresh guacamole and a salsa blend with my “magic bullet” for that quick and easy meal...

My time on Saturday morning is spent for a couple of hours with a few friends during which we talk about all sorts of subjects, tell a few stories, and mainly laugh. It is therapeutic time to decompress the usually busy week. It is normally pretty full of people coming and going during the couple of hours we are drinking coffee. Sometimes watching the other people is fun and can sometimes give you a surprise or two. One couple was sitting behind us and we noticed they were not in a good mood while they waited to be seated. After a few minutes of strained conversation the talk turned serious. Woman: “Just once I'd like to sit down and have a conversation.” Man: “Pass the sugar, satisfied?” See . . . Talking Is So Simple . . . Really. Ice

When all else fails, Read the instructions. Today was one of those almost perfect days of springtime in Alaska . Everyone was out and about, cleaning up the city, taking care of the yard work needed after a long hard winter. There were long lines at the two ‘free dumps’ where the city opens up the landfills for two weekends in the spring to allow everyone to clean up the debris from winter, their garages and sheds as well as get rid of those old tires sitting in the yard the last three seasons. At my house there was pressure washing going on, painting, laying out a new deck I’m about to build. There was a makeover of a bedroom, a quick trip out to buy a queen bed and table off Craig’s List and gathering all the items for a run to the trash dump either tomorrow or next weekend. Lastly I tried to kick back late in the afternoon to sit outside and watch the world go by. It did not last long as I was asked to look at the hot tub so I can demo it t...

I was looking for a flying segment from Alaska this afternoon that I thought might have made it to video on YouTube when in my search I came across an old video from my youth. It is from my hang gliding days when I was a free spirit traveling the world flying hang gliders, tow kites, and hot air balloons. Skydog has put up a video from the Chicago Fest Tow Gliding Invitational that was held each summer in front of the Holiday Inn on the Lakefront. It was a lot of fun as I was one of the “Moyes Boys” flying Moyes Gliders. They were made in Sydney Australia by Bill Moyes and his son Steve. I was flying for a team out of Georgia that owned Hang Glider Heaven. It’s funny seeing this after so many years ago as it reminds us what we have done in our lives and also what choices made or paths crossed over the years. This is footage from the four years that it was held from 1974 to 1977 and more or less was a competition between two Australians who started the p...

I wanted to sit down and write tonight but after a crazy day at work I came home, sat out on the deck and enjoyed the start of a beautiful Alaska evening. It was evening only by the hands on the clock as the sun was still quite high in the sky and an almost summer temperature of 60 degrees kept me hoping that this would hold during the summer months. It was nice just to sit on the deck watch the birds hitting the feeder every few minutes along with the two squirrels who survived the winter months with my feeding peanuts to them all winter. I love to watch the animals within the neighborhood as I await the bears making their way out of a long lazy sleep. It will not be long before we see our trash cans that are not bear proof scattered all around. I enjoyed a couple cups of coffee while I read the paper and tried to ignore Gus while he wanted me to throw his ball over and over again. People are out and about now with this nice weather walking or riding bi...

I usually hit Costco on Saturday mornings after my breakfast meeting. This week was no exception and as I was checking out with just a few items, the lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up one of those dividers that they keep by the cash register and placed it between our things so they wouldn't get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked up the divider and looked all over it for the bar code so she could scan it. Not finding the bar code she said to me, "Do you know how much this is?" I said, "I've changed my mind; I don't think I'll buy that today." She said, "OK," and I paid her for the things and left. She had no clue about what had just happened and I felt like giving her one of those Bill Engvall’s “Here’s Your Sign”. Clueless at Costco Ice

I’m somewhat tired already of the jokes asked of me these last few days since returning from Mexico about the swine flu. Many jokes, many questions about how I feel and then to see the news stories about what is going on in the world around us reminded me of one of my favorite movie mini series, The Stand by Stephen King. It has had me thinking the last couple of days that I could not be the only one thinking about the similarities in context between the two. This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but with a whimper. T.S. Eliot (from the 1925 poem The Hollow Men) I’ve been thinking a lot about The Stand lately. It’s one of those stories that, although fantastic, seemed entirely possible. The Stand was so epic in book form and the movie was a cult success with many reruns on cable channels every few months. In fact, this blog would be a great place to compare dreams. I’m in Anc...

I’m not into watching a lot of sports on television like some people I know, after all I grew up in Atlanta during the lean years when all of the major sports franchises to be brutally honest . . . sucked. I was in the stands almost alone during the Braves years before they developed their farm clubs to later become a powerhouse and I was there during those years . . . somewhat jaded but enjoying their success finally. The Flames were great for Atlanta during the 70’s but being a southern city it really did not know what to do with hockey. Ted Turner brought us the Hawks to go along with his Braves but they never amounted to much of anything and the Atlanta Falcons were laughable every Sunday they played always stating in the post game interviews that “they just couldn’t get their head into it” week after miserable week. The couple of bright spots were the majesty every spring of The Masters and the various auto sports races all over the south. One was just a couple ...

I thought of this one while in Cancun with my toes in the sand after not enough sun block. Reading while sunbathing, makes you well red. Ice

In my travels to Mexico recently you have the opportunity to see how the airlines are doing during this economy and how hard they are working to keep things positive for the passengers. Our group was broken up between several airlines and flights with the Alaska group flying on Alaska Airlines with a layover in Seattle each way. Some of the flights I have made into Seattle have been entertaining as there is usually a pretty decent wind blowing across the runway giving a chance for the pilot to either show off his great skill in bringing several tons of pressurized metal tube full of people down smoothly or allowing the elements to win that landing with a bounce, hard drop, or a controlled crash. One of our flights with Alaska Airlines was both entertaining and slightly different. It was our return leg from Cancun to Seattle where we had a male/female flight crew along with a mixed steward staff taking care of us after a fun week in the sun and warmth of Mexico ....

Animal Planet is now playing a six part series called “Stranger Among Bears” about Bear Haven and a friend of mine, Charlie Vandergaw who is a retired Anchorage school teacher who spends his summers at his compound observing and interacting with Grizzly and Black Bears. I used to work with Lee who also spends his free summer time at Bear Haven helping Charlie keep up his place. It is a truly unique and almost magical place being with these wild animals spending time in what is surreal to most people but to those who have had the experience there a sobering sometimes life changing perspective of Bears, Life, and how you deal with certain situations. The last two years there have been film crews on site for the BBC and ABC’s Primetime staying for several months getting these stories. The Animal Planet story is from BBC who had cameraman Richard Terry alone to cover this story. He was observer, writer, cameraman, participant in what can only be described as an Alaska...

or Feet Wet Again As we gather ourselves on this final day of the trip it seems most everyone in our group has awaken early for the last quick shopping across the street picking up the Cancun Harley t-shirt, Hooter’s wings, or that last piece of jewelry. The rest of us enjoyed breakfast or that last time on the beach or in dip in the pool. My schedule found me having an enjoyable breakfast with our hosts John & Jan one last time with a dip in the pool for that last bit of sun. I wandered around the property and found several people I had met this week and said my goodbyes. A few to mention of note were Ryan & Danielle from Ireland, Kathryn, Blake, Sherri, & Harris (my new found friends from Toronto, Canada), Susan and her son Lance who my roommate Wayne had befriended and joined us for dinner. Everyone gathered in the lobby at noon for checkout and the arrival of our bus to take everyone back to the airport. The mood seemed a mixture of gladne...