i've been sick, and that is no good for my dog. he doesn't get walked like he wants once or twice a day. so, after the 4 hour nap i took today i woke up feeling better, and took him out for short trip around the neighbor hood.
he was happy, and it felt good to be out of the house for the first time in 3 or 4 days.
we also watched 5 ravens give a pair of bald eagles a hard time. yes, eagles are big, bad, and cool looking. but they really are not all that tough, or at least not very aggresive. the ravens split them up, and chased them away from each other, and then chased them, nipping at them. making them fly in big loops, constantly looking over there shoulders to see who is going to try something next.
now, i'm going back to bed.
he was happy, and it felt good to be out of the house for the first time in 3 or 4 days.
we also watched 5 ravens give a pair of bald eagles a hard time. yes, eagles are big, bad, and cool looking. but they really are not all that tough, or at least not very aggresive. the ravens split them up, and chased them away from each other, and then chased them, nipping at them. making them fly in big loops, constantly looking over there shoulders to see who is going to try something next.
now, i'm going back to bed.
i'm tired of moose.
no matter which way we go my dog and i run into moose almost every morning on our walk. come around a corner, and there is a nine hundred pound animal eating a tree, and staring at me. my dog used to freak out, bark, and try to save me. now he's kind of getting used to it he growls i turn around and go back the way we came and that's that.
i'd just like one morning walk where we didn't have to go back, run through someones yard at 4am, or try to sneak by behind a parked car.
i love alaska.
no matter which way we go my dog and i run into moose almost every morning on our walk. come around a corner, and there is a nine hundred pound animal eating a tree, and staring at me. my dog used to freak out, bark, and try to save me. now he's kind of getting used to it he growls i turn around and go back the way we came and that's that.
i'd just like one morning walk where we didn't have to go back, run through someones yard at 4am, or try to sneak by behind a parked car.
i love alaska.
there is something to be said for sipping. it has it's place in the world of delicious liquids.
but just now, i poured 2 and half shots of good bourbon over a small handfull of ice cubes. i left it to sit on the counter while i made my crazy, beautiful, black dog walk around the back yard, and pee on the fresh snow.
i came back inside, checked on my girls, sat down, down stairs, and took one big, long, slow, drink. done any faster my actions would have defined the word gulp.....
it was perfect. the ice cubes had melted enough to change shape but they were still heavy enough to make that melodic clink on the glass. there was just enough water melted in to chill the bourbon, and ease the burn. but then like the last 3 minutes of a 4th of july fireworks show in kentuky a warm, shower of light exploded behind the darkend walls of my stomach. all is well.
but just now, i poured 2 and half shots of good bourbon over a small handfull of ice cubes. i left it to sit on the counter while i made my crazy, beautiful, black dog walk around the back yard, and pee on the fresh snow.
i came back inside, checked on my girls, sat down, down stairs, and took one big, long, slow, drink. done any faster my actions would have defined the word gulp.....
it was perfect. the ice cubes had melted enough to change shape but they were still heavy enough to make that melodic clink on the glass. there was just enough water melted in to chill the bourbon, and ease the burn. but then like the last 3 minutes of a 4th of july fireworks show in kentuky a warm, shower of light exploded behind the darkend walls of my stomach. all is well.
so, i now consider myself in training for my next work season. i had hoped to get on with a company who had lots of work here in town but, that no longer looks like it's going to happen. and that's cool. i'm preparing 4 months ahead of time for seriously physical/toxic work.
when people say "painter" they think spraying paint on the outside of a house, or rolling the walls in a house. but what i do isn't like that. industrial painting is mostly putting a protective coating system on steel. tanks, bridges, ships(i've never done a ship but, i'd like to), and that's different. even if it's brand new steel it still has to be sand blasted, and that's where the work is.
so, yippee!! i'm running, or something at the gym, 6 miles a day, to get ready to hold on to a fire hose that has 300 mph sand coming out of it for 12 hours a day.
yeah, finnishing my degree was too hard. this is way more fun.....
when people say "painter" they think spraying paint on the outside of a house, or rolling the walls in a house. but what i do isn't like that. industrial painting is mostly putting a protective coating system on steel. tanks, bridges, ships(i've never done a ship but, i'd like to), and that's different. even if it's brand new steel it still has to be sand blasted, and that's where the work is.
so, yippee!! i'm running, or something at the gym, 6 miles a day, to get ready to hold on to a fire hose that has 300 mph sand coming out of it for 12 hours a day.
yeah, finnishing my degree was too hard. this is way more fun.....
christmas eve, wood stove, log cabin, in alaska. 21 degrees below zero.
we gave my daughter hockey skates for christmas.
santa clause, gave her a baby doll, a hockey stick, and a place to skate for the first time in the front yard.
when it is that cold, and you live somewhere as quiet as grandma, and grandpa do, you can listen to the water freeze... if you are santa claus.
we gave my daughter hockey skates for christmas.
santa clause, gave her a baby doll, a hockey stick, and a place to skate for the first time in the front yard.
when it is that cold, and you live somewhere as quiet as grandma, and grandpa do, you can listen to the water freeze... if you are santa claus.
if bukowski had a beat, he'd be tom waits, and if L.A. had snow, and moutains i'd get drunk there.
call time, and temp. in ancharage, ak today.
you'll get this: high 15 above, low -5. wind cill in some parts of town will be 30 below zero. there will be 5 hours, 36 minutes of day light.
the snow snakes have polishe the driving surfaces in this city to the equivilent of glass, with a heavy coat of WD40 on it.
that's why i like it here. nothing is easy, and a good portion of it takes place in the dark.
you'll get this: high 15 above, low -5. wind cill in some parts of town will be 30 below zero. there will be 5 hours, 36 minutes of day light.
the snow snakes have polishe the driving surfaces in this city to the equivilent of glass, with a heavy coat of WD40 on it.
that's why i like it here. nothing is easy, and a good portion of it takes place in the dark.
i currently lilve in anchorage, alaska's largest city. one would think that lot's of people, their cars, dogs, tvs, and all the other types of noice polution that goes along with large clusters of humanity would cut down on the day to day encounters with wildlife.
no. not so much.
when i lived in portland i'd get drunk at a bar listening to my friends play music, and then i'd walk home. across the river, and 30 some blocks from down town. they thought i was nuts. i think they were worried about me getting attacked or something. by what, another person? people are easy. in the dark there are those who want to be left alone, and those who want to... well, they need to say something, or take something. the second type is totally out numbered by the first type. at least in south east portland. i never had an encounter that a smile, and a smart ass comment didn't take care of.
ya know what's unpredictable, and no fun to walk the streets with? moose.
most of the time moose are like the majority of people out there. they don't care. they don't fuck with anyone who has not invaded there personal space. unless, like me, you are walking a 1 year old labweiler dog who barks at them. then anything goes. i've seen them totally ignore us, i've been charged, i've seem them run like we were going to eat them, and i've watched them watch us like we might try to take their lunch money.
either way the day to day reality of seeing 800lb animals, with pointy hooves, that can, and wouldn't mind stomping a nice guy like me to death, is interesting. no body in portland weighs that much.
so, in about 5 hours, my dog Hunter(named after Dr. Thompson) will want to go for a walk, and for sure, we will one of the 5 or 6 neighborhood moose. it will be dark, cold, and exciting. it's better than coffee.
it's the little differences that makes Alaska more fun.
p.s.
i'm wearing a santa hat.
no. not so much.
when i lived in portland i'd get drunk at a bar listening to my friends play music, and then i'd walk home. across the river, and 30 some blocks from down town. they thought i was nuts. i think they were worried about me getting attacked or something. by what, another person? people are easy. in the dark there are those who want to be left alone, and those who want to... well, they need to say something, or take something. the second type is totally out numbered by the first type. at least in south east portland. i never had an encounter that a smile, and a smart ass comment didn't take care of.
ya know what's unpredictable, and no fun to walk the streets with? moose.
most of the time moose are like the majority of people out there. they don't care. they don't fuck with anyone who has not invaded there personal space. unless, like me, you are walking a 1 year old labweiler dog who barks at them. then anything goes. i've seen them totally ignore us, i've been charged, i've seem them run like we were going to eat them, and i've watched them watch us like we might try to take their lunch money.
either way the day to day reality of seeing 800lb animals, with pointy hooves, that can, and wouldn't mind stomping a nice guy like me to death, is interesting. no body in portland weighs that much.
so, in about 5 hours, my dog Hunter(named after Dr. Thompson) will want to go for a walk, and for sure, we will one of the 5 or 6 neighborhood moose. it will be dark, cold, and exciting. it's better than coffee.
it's the little differences that makes Alaska more fun.
p.s.
i'm wearing a santa hat.
