Icewind's Ramblings

I was thinking about this the other day while sipping on a Corona out at the lake cabin. Scott and I had several and it was not long before the empty bottles were scattered here and there as we worked getting things ready for winter. It was not long before it was time to clean up and start gathering up our trash and the empty bottles.   It dawned on me that there really is no 'away' to throw things.    No matter what you do or which way . . . away does not exist. When you throw something 'away', you are actually throwing it away from yourself . . . but towards something else.   Think about the concept of “away”.   Away from who or what we might ask?   Away from you maybe, but closer to me.   Away from me maybe, but closer to someone else.   Away from what . . . a ‘thing’ or object?   You can't throw things away, because away does not exist. So don't let me hear you say you are going to throw it away, because you can't.   And you ...

My best friend went through a divorce just over a year ago and at the time there is that feeling of trying to get it right with how you respond to the news. The traditional way upon hearing that word, “Divorce” is the response, “I’m so sorry” . . . But sometimes depending on the people’s circumstances divorce might just be a happy occasion . . . after all, no one hears of a happy marriage ending in divorce.  Leading up to it might have been bad for a time but it’s over now so is it a happy occasion?  Different people probably look at it from many vantage points. Here it is a year later and I am going through it after many years together and it comes with many strange and sometimes challenging expectations. I’m older now so the prospect of getting into the ‘dating’ mode comes with mixed feelings.  The mind plays strange things with one’s self . . . you see that pretty lady and the ‘ego mind’ quickly jumps on your shoulder and whispers (or shouts) in your ear . . . You...

They are starting to take flight all over Anchorage signaling colder weather to come. It’s September now and in the parks, lawns, and bodies of water all over town the Canadian Geese are scrambling for that last meal before they take flight and head south.  When I returned to work at lunch time it reminded me of several scenes from the movie Fly Away Home . The resident geese are taking over the skies around here and are they noisy!  There they were several hundred in various groupings in their awesome “V” formations.  You can’t help but look up as they pass overhead (hoping they won’t crap on you or your car as there are so many of them).  You can see the white turd bombs falling from the formation it is an almost funny sight as long as it is not zooming earthward towards you.  These Canada geese have begun their journey southbound from the farther north land locations for the coming winter.  It’s amazing how they use the “V” shape formation so they c...

In Alaska we have a great group of men and women serving our country while stationed at Ft. Richardson, home of our “Arctic Warriors” and the 172 nd Stryker Brigade.   Their tour was extended over in Iraq and like many other units the number of wounded or killed has grown over the last few years. I saw yet another news story recently about insurgents using car bombs to attack security personnel in Iraq.   This includes the peace keepers and the Iraqi soldiers trying to support the new “Freedom Plan” government being established for this country.   This has become an almost daily occurrence and seems to have escalated in the last few months.   Thinking about this for a little bit, I decided that the major issue as far as I can tell isn't with the feisty-ness of the insurgents or the poor security in Iraqi cities.   The biggest problem I can see is with the cars there.   They are just too convenient and plentiful to stuff with explosives, drive into a c...

We all hear it . . . we see it in the changes as we walk through our daily routines.   Sometimes it subtle when it lasts for several weeks but here in Alaska things seem to be in a much faster progression and sometimes it just jumps out at you. I have been thinking a lot about change lately and what brings on those variances that make up our lives.   Do we bring it on ourselves or by chance did we allow it to just happen unaware that in an instant (or over a longer period) things changed. In my life music has always taken me to many places and in my ipod I have a collection of things that I constantly listen to during my travels or just in my car going between places.   I have certain music that I listen to every morning that hopefully sets the mood of my day and others that I pull up from times gone by that bring back certain memories or events in my life and the music that was associated with those times. Music is dear to us and we tend to hold onto it while techn...

The days are getting shorter now and winters on the way, there’s whispering on the winds telling us it’s that time to pray.   Pray for a quick winter and a return to our beloved summers. We are almost at that time when the frost is on the windshields of vehicles not tucked away in a garage and the time to return to using the auto-start on your rig to warm it up before you get in for that drive to work.   I originally came from the South and I have been surprised that no one there has started selling vehicle auto-starters for the use in summer to cool their vehicle before getting into them in the near 100 degree heat.   Could do well there I bet with a little promotion.   Not I mind you as I could not take the heat full time unless I was on one of the tropical islands somewhere with a drink in hand.   Jeff Foxworthy made famous the “You might be a Redneck” jokes and along those same lines we have our share of Alaskan humor that is a little different than the...

As you go through Life . . . whatever be your goal, Keep your eye upon the doughnut . . . and not upon the hole. Ice

The morning dawned much like it did ten years ago with crispness in the air and clear blue skies.   How likely is that in days of fading summer in Alaska?   The similarities keen within the consciousness of the day for many people but there is also an overwhelming sense of loss . . . both in loved ones and in a broader sense in clarity. Before the events leading up to that tragic day there seemed to be a sense of almost mystical character that was America.   It had been chiseled into our beings by our forefathers and shaped the direction of its people would interact with each other and the world.   It reminds us of all that was good in our world and how things should be for our children.   As a nation we had grown up (from another attack on our soil in December, 1941) and moved to never let such transgressions happen again.   But somewhere as a country we were lazy in not recognizing how the world had changed around us and nothing prepared us for the so...

This summer I travelled to several remote villages in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta area of Alaska or the YK Delta as it is know locally.   Many of these trips start we me leaving Anchorage on Alaska Airlines’ 737 and flying to one of the hub cities like Bethel, Dillingham, or Kotzebue from which I change planes to a smaller single engine or twin engine airplane. I spend time in Cessna 206, 207, and 208 aircraft along with the Piper Navajo which are the workhorses (taxi’s) to travel into the bush communities.   Many times over the course of the summer I fly over literally a million small lakes scattered across the tundra as I visit my project sites.   I find it interesting to see the different wildlife that calls these lands home.   There may be caribou herds transiting the area as they free range never stopping or hardly slowing down as they drop there babies who quickly keep up with the groups.   I have seen a few mush oxen that usually stay within a 10 to 15 ...

Or . . . 72 Virgins and the Suicide Bombers . . . Do the math. I was reading an article about all of the suicide bombings in the Middle East and in Pakistan and how the tactic strikes fear into those regions where it is used.   We have had some experience with its use in the U.S. with the upcoming reminder of the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on American soil. What started out as a semi-comical look into a form of world wide terrorism used to inflict trauma to those close by slowly evolved into another remembrance of a day when America was attacked and many lives were lost.   In vain . . . I hope not but there are still people out there ready to continue their battle just as we continue to defend against it.   Once again, thanks to our military and their families whose sacrifices are given from a grateful nation! In the 1970’s film M*A*S*H the theme song for the movie and the following television series was “Suicide is Painless” a catchy tune ...

It has been awhile since I have written and my schedule is not giving me the same time periods to sit down and write as much as I did for a long time.   We all go through changes and I guess this is my time.   It is not that I do not want to write and I see many observations on so many things each day that I log away into my brain and some to paper to be able to develop later. Work in the Alaskan summers is always busy with the limited construction season and the logistics of getting tons of equipment and materials to some of the remote locations but that is just an excuse.   I have always found the time to write something.   Lately it is not coming easy and is somewhat embarrassing that I just cannot focus on looking at the oddities of the world around me when my own world is in cross hairs of examination.   There are amazing things going on around me with the places and people I meet in these remote villages as well as in my time in Anchorage with the great...

It has been hard to find time to post lately as many things are happening right now so finding time to sit and let the writing flow has been hard for me.   Not writers block by any means but I just haven’t felt like putting words to paper or in the digital age we live in type or text to some machine. I traveled to a couple of villages last week and seeing them in an unfrozen state with children playing and jumping off the bridges into the water (freezing cold to many of us) and swimming in the river enjoying life in a much simpler way than many in the modern cities. I enjoy my time in the villages and talking with the people and children who always seem to come out to see me when I am there.   I do not know if it is because a ‘stranger’ is in town or they are curious to this dude with Hawaiian shirts and baseball cap riding around on a 4 wheeler.   They come out and want to ride or see if I have anything for them, like kids all over the world have done in my travels. ...