Happy Halloween

Mary, at work, in her halloween costume...and yes that is lipstick and makeup!

Daylight Saving Time this Weekend...

October 30, 2008

Total Daylight Today: 8 hours, 36 minutes, 12 seconds

Daylight loss today: 5 minutes, 31 seconds

Sunrise: 9:23am

Sunset: 6:01pm

The Seward Principals

David (the king) - Seward Elementary

Trevan (the Tall guy) - Seward Middle

Ginger (asking - Where am I?) - Seward High

Wayne (Knight) - Spring Creek Correctional Center (Maximum Securty Prison) and Moose Pass School

Just to give you the true effect!

Trevan is 6' 8'' (reminder - I am 4' 10'')

Life is good!

Winter has arrived and the bears are still awake!

The boys waiting for Mary to wake up...

Colder temperatures have settled in along with some nasty winds this week (that returned today). We got a sprinkling of snow yesterday but skies seems to have cleared this morning. We will see for how long? Winter darkness has also slowly creeped in - I noticed daylight arriving at roughly 8:30am - as I was going out to the store for eggs and items for making chicken/vegetable soup (tonight's dinner - yum). I don't mind the darkness too much, it just makes it hard to know when to get up without an alarm. This is the reverse problem of summer when one of my friends sets an alarm for 9pm so that with all the daylight she knows when to go to bed.

The big news of the week is the on-going saga of the bears. They have not had enough to eat this summer and therefore are still out "looking for food" before turning in for the winter. So here is what I know - there are at least three bears in town. (we are down one - keep reading)

Two weeks ago our neighbor's new puppy refused to go outside for her last busy doing of the night. Gary being a smart Alaskan - went into the garage and got in his car to go check things out. When pulling out of the garage, into the driveway - his lights found a large black bear between his fence and his garage having dinner from his garbage cans. (We have bear proof cans - one of which we am currently loaning to Gary and MaryAlice). Needless to say - Gary drove back into the garage and scrambled into the house for the night. The bear did finally move on.

On Tuesday of this week - bears were wondering just a couple of blocks from the house, as reported by friends out walking. Apparently this didn't set well with one "dude" who decided to go bow hunting in town for the bears. (Yes - it is legal to use your bow in town to kill animals - but most sane people do this to protect life and property. Not this rebel - he was "hunting" in town). He did shoot and hit a bear a couple of blocks from our house (mid-day), because it was not a kill shot (which ticks me off) the bear ran three blocks (now around the corner from our house) and ran up a tree in a yard. I am thinking this bear was probably pretty pissed off at this point. The "hunter" tracked the bear to the yard, fired one or two more arrows finally getting a kill shot, dropping the bear from the tree. (I tell you if it had been my yard, that bear would have been mine, because I would have been so mad that I would not have let him trespass onto our property. And I have friends who would have taken the bear for me) - So we are down one bear in town and I am thankful that no humans were hit by stray arrows

Moving through the week - Wednesday morning found "the big bear" going through a locked door a few blocks away into a house, in the early morning hours. I hear it walked around for a few minutes and left. The people in the house were alseep. That same morning a bear, could be the same one, tried to get into the AvTech Culinary Dorms (across the street from our house). And that same morning about 5am - a smaller black bear wandered into the Holiday Inn Express at the harbor. Seems he was checking out the trash can when the automatic doors opened - this one was kind enough to pee in the hotel before leaving.

Needless to say - we are doing a "yard check" before letting the dogs out to do their thing. I sure don't want our boys coming nose to nose with one of these hungry guys. I am not sure either one of them has the good sense to run away.

Fun up north

Mary's work is having an office decorating contest for Holloween. I got the tour of office's today. Check it out! (click here)

Election News

I have worked hard not to include political commentary on the bog but I can no longer hold back...I was a strong Hillary supporter and had a very difficult time getting behind Obama (even though he would be getting my vote) However, after watching the third and final presidential debate of this election season I was won over by Obama. I finally felt that he provided a vision for the future (short and long term) that will impact the majority of the inhabitants on this planet (regardless of political affiliation).

I think Colin Powell stated it nicely on Meet the Press this morning when he endorsed Obama.

So when I look at all of this and I think back to my Army career. We’ve got
two individuals, either one of them could be a good president. But which is the
president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the
nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that because of
his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because
he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical
abilities – and we have to take that into account – as well as his substance. He
has both style and substance. He has met the standard of being a successful
president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational
figure. He is a new generation coming in to the world, on to the world stage, on
to the American stage. And for that reason, I’ll be voting for Senator Barack
Obama.

Time passes so quickly

It has been a busy two weeks...

Mary and I are doing well, settling into "winter" mode. We have had some snow already this month (more in Anchorage than Seward) but a few days of sun has helped to lift our moods. Mary is busy with extra curricular fun in Anchorage such as decorating her office for holloween, (her and her office mate having really gotten into it), taking a pastel drawing class and working with Nikan in obedience training. I on the other hand am busy with work, getting and staying well and learning to tie flies for next summer's fishing season.

I am currently in Anchorage for the state principal's conference - enjoyng the time with Mary and both dogs.

Lazy Saturday Morning

Today finds us hanging out on a cool, wet winter day. (Of course it is 10am, Mary is still alseep - awake late into the morning reading I am sure). The clouds are covering the mountian tops, gently covering them with another layer of snow.

Mt. Marathon recieved an ever so light dusting of snow yesterday afternoon which seems to signal the official beginning of winter in Seward. This week brought clear weather but colder tempeatures. (low 30's in the morning) I actually had frost on my windows one morning - had to go in the house to grab the ice scrapper.

We have yet to put the studded tires on the cars, although this is not to far off - but I did take the boat to its winter home last night. Our friends Trevan and Shelly (he is the middle school principal, she teaches for me) are storing the boat and motor for the winter as they have a huge yard and a heated garage (means I don't have to winterize the motor).

Hey Mary is up!

A small funny to the boat delivery - I took Nikan and Bruno with on the outting - my mistake came in thinking it was a "quick trip" and not crating them. As I was backing the boat into place Trevan arrived home. I got out of the car, leaving it running to verify where to put the boat...When we went to get back in the car...to boys had locked the doors - Did I mention the car and the boat were still in the road! Called Mary for the extra key while Trevan unhooked the boat and pushed it into place. As long as we were at the Walkers, Moose steaks, twice baked potatoes...and some guitar hero rounded out the night.

Today's pictures are my first attempt at flytying. One of our current Friday afternoon enrichment classes is Beginning Flytying. Until we get archery equipment - I am free to explore...of course provided other "duties" don't call me in another direction. So yesterday I went to the class for a lesson. I plan to try my hand at a few more flies this weekend - practice, practice, practice.

A catapilar (or Wooly Bugger)

A Leech

An Egg Sucking Leech (not my best)