Snowman Bones

He didn't make it.

Stubborn One

We had light snow for a couple of days, followed by a melt. I found this little wilting snowman at a friend's house. He was bravely hanging in there, waiting for the next snow.

Moose Appeal

Even in NYC the appeal of moose marketing for food can't be resisted.

Some Say Fig

I found some yummy-looking fig cake and was surprised to see listed in the ingredients "pigs" - plural. Does that mean 2 or 3 pigs?

No Standing

I'm just back from New York City - thus the reason why I haven't posted in several days. Here's something that you won't see anywhere in Alaska: a sign along the sidewalk that says, "No standing anytime." Keep it moving!

Why Not?

I saw this building decorated in Christmas lights already. I took this on my way to work. Remember those pretty sunrises I posted a couple of weeks ago from my drives to work? Replaced by darkness.

Chickens Next Door

This is the where the horse is going to live. After much debate over the best location for the horse pen, John decided that it should live right next to the chickens. Her stall is actually attached to the coop. It is almost finished. They can all keep each other company during the dark winter days.


"Huh? There's going to be a what living next door?!?"

Drive Through Eye to Eye

I was surprised the first time I went through the drive through in our new tiny car. In our Suburban I had to open the door and lean way down to reach the air tube. In this car I just roll, roll, roll my windows down manually and there it is right at my level. The poor lady in the big truck pictured here wasn't so lucky.

Cold, But No Snow

It was nice and cold, but the day passed without any snow flakes. Fishing today required coats and gloves. It'll be here soon enough!

Spidey - cold

Spiderman check. We had a hard frost last night. Our son was born on the 15th and that year we had our first snow on his birthday. For the next 5 years the first snow was also on that same day. Is the frost today a sign of snow tomorrow? Will the tradition continue?

Most of the guesses about yesterday's picture were by email and not posted. Hmm. I think it was because no one was confident of their guess. Carl gets to move ahead 2 spaces for being the only person to publicly guess something. The picture is of our well. The tarp and rope wrapped around that are to keep out debris, of course, but they are also to keep out daddy long and short legs. We have the yummiest water - spider free, of course.

Quiz Time

B surges ahead on the last post with the correct guess that it is a Volvo! Now, anyone know what this is a picture of? First to guess right gets to move ahead one space. B, you are not allowed to guess since you know what it is first hand.

Light Wipers?

This is the opposite end of the spectrum from the door handle. I had heard of headlight wipers in fairy tales, but hadn't seen one myself. My friend just got a new car with this feature. Good thing, because the rain keeps on coming. Homeland Security has been helping communities in the area because of the deluge.

Elephant Rock

We fished near this rock the other day. The picture isn't completely focused, but you can tell it is the spittin' image of an elephant, can't you?

Fish Schooled

I saw this board in our son's classroom. I hadn't heard of the word redd before (I'll let you look it up in the dictionary like I had to). The kids in the class knew what it meant. In a few days the class will go to the river and collect some salmon eggs (with special permission) that will grow and hatch in a tank in their classroom.

Not News to Me

Unfortunately we know this all too well. Actually, I think the approach of the darkness runs just like the stages of grieving.
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining (we skip this one usually and move straight on to number four
4. Depression
and finally....
5. Acceptance
The article said that we lost 41 minutes of daylight last week. Oops, back to number 4!

Spanky Paine

I love the old boats like this in the harbor. But what is most interesting to me is checking out the names on the boats. I wonder about some of them. What do they mean? I wonder about this one.

A Good Friend

I must not be a very good friend because I haven't been checking on what kind of fish my friends are eating.

Mascot Madness

This handsome fellow in yellow is the mascot for the local high school. He is a Mariner in case you were wondering what he represented. I'm not sure about the guy in the kilt or what the R stood for. He was interesting to watch, though.

Wish You Were Here?

Even though we were putt putting around we were able to find a salmon. An eight-year-old hooked this king salmon and brought it in by himself. It might be one of the last almost-warm days as snow is forcasted for Wednesday.

Riding the Waves

What's better when you are a kid than riding in the bow and catching the ocean spray in your face?
Life jacket under knees to brace for impact? Check.
Buoy to sit on for maximum bounce? Check.
Heavy coats to protect from the spray, thus ensuring longevity on the bow? Check.
Woohoo! We're ready to go fast! Bring on the waves!
A boat that can go fast? Not checked.
New motors have to putt around for hours to break them in slowly. But at least we are on the boat again. Woohoo!