Spring is in the Air

It reached 40 on Sunday. It was hot.
Sure it gets to the teens at night.
But every day it has reached above freezing.
So what's a person to do...
get out the studded tire bike and get ready to ride.

Sure, you'll need your special equipment:

1. Snowboarding helmet: it is more solid so rain doesn't seep in as much. AND it has ear muffs to keep out the cold.

2. Face cover: to keep the snow/sleet/rain combination from making your face cold.

3. Reflective waterproof worker's jacket: to let drivers see the crazy folks riding in the snow and rain.

4. Waterproof pants: there are few things worse than getting your legs soaked as you pedal to work.

5. Extra Tuff waterproof boots ( sometimes called " Kodiak Sandals"): because worse than wet pants is dripping ice water into you shoes.

6. And don't forget your waterproof bag to carry your stuff in the bike basket.

Now we are ready. Let's pedal!

What to do in Kodiak during a March week?

I got a message questioning if counting eagle whiskers was because there was little to do in the winter.

No, that is not right.

Here are 2 pics form Wednesday's Kodiak Daily Mirror of what to do that day.

How about climbing Pillar Mountain and skiing down? (There are no lifts here. So if you want to ski down, you have to climb up.)

After that run, why not go inside and listen to Tito Puente Jr. give a presentation form Mambo to Jazz? Yes, the famous Mambolero's son is right here,bringing both styles for the locals to compare!

If you are a thespian instead, how about participating in this weekend's play?

Or you could go to any of the various lectures or presentations during Bear Week at the National Wildlife Refuge. Whether an adult or a kid, there is stuff for you there to learn.

But if doing is more your style, you should have signed at Kodak College for classes leading to becoming a bear guide. Just you, taking a small group into the wilderness to see the biggest bears in the world.

Alas, there are some things that are coming to a close. The ice rink for hockey tournaments is being dismantled next week, making room for covered basketball and tennis practice.

All this week. And all within 2 miles form the house.

No, this is NOT a boring place to be, even when winter is still around.

Eagle hairs.

Did you know that eagles have hair? I never did till a few days ago.

I was taking pictures by St Paul Harbor when I noticed an eagle just sitting on the snow. As they often do, he turned his head completely around and looked at me.

Then he turned back to stare at the water...perhaps longing for the the sunner's salmon.

I continued to zoom in since I did not seem to be bothering him at all.

When I got home I loaded the pics to the computer and looked at a few.
It looked like there were hairs from the side of its face!

So I looked at a few more when he was turning his head back at me.
It sure looked like whiskers on his face. What do you think?
Around it's beak...aren't those hairs?



I wonder if they help him fly?

Anyway, when my cold fingers could no longer put him in focus,
I decided it was time to head towards home.

Near Island walk

Near Island is just over one of the Million Dollar Alaskan bridges to a little isle where there is one of our 2 marinas and the sea plane community airport. It has a nice, easy trail for a hike under any condition. Trees protect you form rain and snow. And great views are just around every corner. It's a great place to get away form the "hustle and bustle" of civilization. So take Saturday's walk with us.

Looks like they cleared the trail for us.

Sleepy eagle.

No, this is not South Texas after a freak snow storm!

Good views and over 20 degrees!

And happy hikers.

What more could you ask for?

Fur Rondy & The Iditarod

The Iditarod is quite popular in Alaska. And these races seems to be popular with you, in the Lower 48 as well.

In fact, I read that the National Geographic Traveller magazine declared the Fur Rondy in Anchorage as the "event" to attend this year. Fur Rondy is the week before the start of the Iditarod. They have all sort of events, competitions, and auctions of furs by the State of illegally hunted animals.

And..... on the afternoon after the ceremonial start of the Iditarod in downtown Anchorage, they have the Running of the Reindeer. See, you don't have to go to Pamplona, Spain to run down the street like a crazy man and try to stay alive ahead of charging animals. You can do it right here in Anchorage. Admittedly, a reindeer is not as large as a a Spanish bull, but those Spaniards aren't running on ice and snow covered streets while being chased.

On the other habd, if you are not taking exogenous testosterone, you can just watch the start of the Iditarod.

In what other sporting event can you get so close to the stars and have a short talk with each of your heroes?

Dee Dee Jonrowe

The Berington twins


Lance Mackey


Get to see the equipment and dogs up-close-and-personal




And get a front row view, without an admission fee???



Just think, these people are racing over 1,000 miles of wilderness for a grand prize of $ 50,000. I don't think some baseball players would even swing a bat for that amount of money.

For the "inside" information ....go to:

http://iditarod.com/

So, tell your boss you want your next vacation in early March, and get yourself up here to see the Fur Rondy and real "The Last Great Race" in the world!

Enough snow!

We had snow and we had rain. Sure, we are nowhere close to Cordova's snow load experience. But it has been enough to cause concern.

Last week at the fire station, the snow load on the roof caused enough compression on the building to crack a window.

This week melting snow and rain caused Safeway to close.

As snow starts to melt, some of the remaining moisture freezes and dams up, preventing drainage. Any additional rain can accumulate. In this case, the accumulation and weight on the roof caused the decorative walls to crack. So, they closed the grocery. It's better to be safe than sorry.

They measured the depth of snow, ice and water and calculated the weight to be 30 pounds per square feet......well within the building code requirements of 40 pounds per foot.

So, Safeway hired workers to shovel it off, and kids from St. Ignatius Academy came to help. As their director said, "That a good thing about la small town. Everybody could drop what they are doing to help out."

Sunday before the snows

Yesterday I went to the marina to snap a pic or two of the ice and boats.

I was supposed to fly out this morning, But, it dumped snow on us last night. Enough for me not be able to catch the plane. So I stayed home and had time to play with pics, as I waited.


As I was watching a sea lion come out between the ice,
suddenly I heard something close over my head.




A parade of eagles flew over me. Over twenty, it seemed. Suddenly form the canneries, over the water, they came to the parking lot where I was.

Turns out a fellow threw some food out to the ravens and
the eagles must have noticed from over a quarter mile away.




So, they came to watch, hoping for their chance
of a little meal in the 20 degree cold day.


And one landed close enough for me to take my best picture of the day.

Big waves on a cold day.

A scene you'll often find in Kodiak is people stopping at Mill Bay whenever storm comes up.

Here's what I saw last week. It was 20 degrees and windy. In fact, just a few minutes taking pictures made my fingers colder than they have ever been. I apologize for not zooming the pics the same size. But avoiding frostbite seemed like a good idea at the moment.

For comparison, let me show you a picture form last Fall: Two Coast Guard helicopters practicing rescues off the tip of Spruce cape.
I want you to notice is that the cliff is over twice the heigth of those helicopters.


Compare that to last weekend's waves (taken with a lot less zoom).

The spray seems as high as that cliff, 2 helicopters high....
but that wave was much further out to sea!

And...if you look North....
the other end of Mill Bay doesn't look any more inviting to a boater.


Check out our video of the waves:



20 degree air, 30 mph winds, and 37 degree water.
Can you imagine falling from a boat in those waters?
You have five minutes to say your prayers!

PS We're not planning on taking out the kayaks for a while.

It's been cold here!

It's been cold here!



So, how do we stay so warm?



Answer: our wood stove with soapstone walls.

But don't think we keep it at 81 degrees inside. No, we forgot to open the door in the basements room with the stove. That made it really hot down below.

When the wife is not here, I keep the upstairs at 53 degrees and the bedroom at 62.

Warm and toasty, compared to the single digits we are having these days!

Alaskan oil, part 2

You've heard of the Alaskan pipeline.


Well here it is.



From the northern shores in Prudhoe bay to the shipping terminal in Valdez,
800 miles.


Travelling under ground, above ground, and on bridges over rivers and streams.


48 inches wide.
Capable of holding 9,000,000 barrels of oil when filled.



But, that's the problem. It is not filled.

In fact, it is only carrying 1/2 the volume it did during its peak. Plus the oil is not he same quality it used to be. It has a lot more paraffin (eg wax) than it did originally.

The low volume and extra wax means it is likely to solidify in the pipe at our cold temperatures. There is talk of adding heating elements to the pipe to keep the oil moving.

Those are not just problems for us. They are problems for you in the lower 48 as well. You can no longer count on Alaska's current oil fields as a reserve in case foreign oil to the US is cut short. You'd better be thinking of expanding production.

There is much debate these days in the Alaska government on how to do this. Oil income is what funds the stat treasury: itmakes up to 90% of the state's "unrestricted" income.

Governor Parnell wants to decrease the taxes oil companies pay the state to stimulate exploration drilling here in AK. That is counter to ex-Governor Palin who raised taxes during her term. Parnell thinks there is now too much competition for exploration in the oil sands down below so we have to make it more attractive to the drillers.

According to the Kodiak newspaper: "Under the current tax structure, which features a 25 percent base tax rate, a progressive surcharge is triggered when a company's net profits hits $30 a barrel. The idea when the law was passed in 2007 was that the state would help companies on the front end, with things like tax credits, and share with them when oil flowed and prices were high.

But critics, including Parnell and the oil industry, argue the surcharge at times of high oil is excessive and a disincentive to investment."

So, if oil production is really going down, we have a problem. On the other hand, something has apparently come out in the courts. British Petroleum, a major producer here, has in its records that the pipeline is expected to keep working well till 2060; not 2025 like the tax cutters claim.

I don't know what is best. Our state government will decide on a tax rate during this session of the legislature.

But, I have to tell you this story. I asked a VP of Exxon-Mobil a few years ago what they felt about the high taxes in Alaska. Here is his response: "The tax is higher than we'd like. But the Alaskan government is fair. We know we can count on them not suddenly pulling the contract out from of under us." And that was way before Chavez took their assets in Venezuela away form them.

(PS I must say that in Kodiak, I would deny that I know anyone who is a leader in Exxon...since the Exxon Valdez oil spill it is a company-non-grata around here. More about that another day.)

Anyway, what would your state do if it had resources that were being drained?