2 O'clock light

Cold and clear. That's been the weather for the past few days. We are 2/3rds in to November, with Thanksgiving creeping up on us next week, and we have still not seen any snow in town! Our snowshoes sit idly in their bags, snow shovels gather cobwebs in the darkest corner of the garage, and the trucks with seasonally attached snow plows just seem silly. What's the deal? I was expecting two feet of snow by now, and a White Thanksgiving next week, the kind i've only dreamed about! But instead we get painfully cold temperatures and overnight freezes that leave the grass hard as stone and roofs a deceptive snowy-white color. Bah!

The move is officially complete! Both humans and canines are adjusting to the new house and all of the new joys it has to offer, like a garage and a yard, our own washer and dryer, and everything else. It's great. This weekend has been dedicated to getting everything organized and aesthetically appealing, because I am big on "pretty". Today is picture hanging day. I am having two of my dad's paintings, done on very thin, fragile rice paper, professionally framed. Finally! They have been in plastic wrapping on white foam board since 1992, so this is long overdue. I am even getting the special UV protecting glass. I can't wait to hang those up.

Here are a couple of comical shots from our move... we had to get a king sized mattress down a narrow stairwell.
The solution?



Fold it!


We took a similar approach to get it up there when we moved in, and it was just as hysterical and ridiculous the first time.


Here is the puppy trying to make sense of the move in the new living room.

We've taken Forrest to the glacier a couple times now, and i'll admit that rain-free walks are the only good things about this clear weather.

Here are some shots from the last semi-cloudy day.


Mendenhall Lake before the freeze.


Kodak moment!


Preparing to forge the stream!



And here is the lake after the freeze.














Ice blue.







P.S.

It's been (more than) a month.

I know. My Mom, Grandma, Steph's Dad, Joleen, etc. etc. has reminded me that my blog is in desperate need of an update.

So here it is!

I can't start from where I was, because too much life gets squeezed in to a month. But I can say that this past month has been full of wonderful things, and some not so wonderful things, as any month usually is.

For the sake of time (it's 9:40 and I have to be up at 6), I will briefly cover the highlights.

My training in Denver went well, a lot was crammed in to my head in 4 days, but I now feel pretty confident using Dreamweaver at work. If only they would give me something, anything, to do.. but like I said, I am focusing on highlights only.
I had a whirlwind visit with my mom and sister while I was there, and we went up to Salida, Colorado on Saturday. My Mom and Stepdad are going to be moving there in the distant future, so it was fun to check out their soon to be home, an artsy little town tucked away in a spectacular valley with a wide river cutting through, surrounded by huge mountains. It fits them perfectly, and I can't wait to visit them for Holidays in Salida! So, the visit was short, but I hadn't seen my Mom in 6 months, and a lot of life gets squeezed in to 6 months, too.


Kelli and I


Mom and Kelli


Gorgeous!





On our way back from Salida, we saw a few cars pulled off on the side of the road. My mom assumend they were looking at some kind of wildlife, and assumed correctly! On the railroad track, a few hundred feet away, were two Big Horned Sheep! Just seconds before we pulled off, my Mom had been telling us about how she knew they lived in these hills, but that they were extremely elusive, so it was such incredible timing for us to see them. We watched them for a while, when suddenly, they faced each other, with a few feet of space between each other, reared up on their hind legs, and ran straight for one another. With a huge CRACK their horns met, and then were both jolted back several feet. It was AMAZING, such a once in a lifetime kind of thing to witness.


Right when I got back to Juneau, the opportunity presented itself to bring home a little puppy. I have been clamoring for a dog for months, actually years. After moving to Juneau, that clamor turned in to an uproar. The trails, beach, safe sidewalks, and general relationship with the outdoors in Juneau makes NOT owning a dog seem ridiculous. So, it was only a matter of time before one came in to our lives :D

So, I would like to introduce Forrest!







He was 8 weeks when we got him, and is the most delightful, sweet, outgoing little pup you could possibly fathom. Not to mention the most ADORABLE little thing with 4 legs that I have every seen. He is such a joy, and I am so excited to see him grow up to be the perfect dog.


He has made life very interesting to say the least. He is just about house-trained at this point, but has to go out every night. So, at 3 am, in the howling wind and pounding rain, you can find Steph or I hunched in my down parka, standing outside while little Forrest does his duty. But he is worth everything unpleasant and stinky and exhausting.

The last highlight is that we are moving! Yes, so long overpriced rental, with your endearing noise from traffic, broken washing machine, power line-obstructed view, deadly stairs, avalanche zone, and lack of a yard! We are moving to a 3 bedroom home the Valley, an area that I always swore I would stay out of due to it's suburban feel. But when it comes down to it, housing is much, MUCH cheaper there. And the houses actually have yards! YARDS! Perfect for Forrest, and a garden in the summer. I owe Steph a big thank you for helping us get out of that crazy rent trap, and out of the avalanche zone!

Thank you to everyone who hasn't given up on me!!! Hopefully November will be less hectic.. although it is full of puppy kindergarten classes, moving, cleaning, etc. :)

P.s.
Expect an absurd amount of Forrest pictures in the coming posts.

White caps

on the mountains and in the channel today; the peaks on Douglas island saw their first snow of the season last night, and the Gastineau Channel is churning and swirling from the heavy winds blowing from the ..west? today. I still feel directionally challenged in Juneau. I blame the sun. I can't see it rise and I can't see it set. Actually, maybe I should blame topography.

I flew down Egan on my way to work this morning, going 60 and creating a trail of mist. My wipers worked over time, battling the trail of mist from the car ahead, as well as the pounding rain. My car jerked with ever gust of wind. As I passed the wetlands, I admired it's sparseness and changing colors, as I do every time I pass it. In the small parking lot on the edge of the wetlands, three people stood in the freezing wind and rain holding "Vote NO on prop 2" signs.



I really hope they don't build a causeway straight through this place.

On the corner by my office building, a larger group was standing with "vote YES on prop 2" signs.
They get no pity from me.

Here are some shots from around town this past week..


Seagulls attacking the coast guard building!


Finally got to use my fog lights!


This past weekend, on our way to Freddy's, we saw the end of a rainbow. Alas, no pot of gold because the dang thing kept moving!





A favorite walk of mine, the Flume!

Oh dear.

It's a sure sign of back to school month when I suddenly abandon my summer hobbies. Case in point: my blog!

How terrible. If it's any consolation though, little blog, I am in a web design course and will be making you a newer, fancier, custom home complete with a separate photo gallery by the end of the semester!

I have had a few adventures and lovely autumn walks since I last wrote.
First, a few things happening in Juneau right now:

fallen leaves line the sidewalks and cemetery path, making a very satisfying crunching sound during my daily walk. A chill is now in the air, and this morning, when I left for work, it was 32 degrees outside! The tops of the mountains are turning to fall colors. Brown bear hunting season has opened, and the men in my office share tales of duck hunting and weatherization. The sun has been shining for two weeks straight. That's right, two. weeks. straight. It's the talk of the town, I tell you.

And with me:
I am trying to learn xhtml and css, and that's pretty much all I do at work. A few projects that take about 15 minutes of my time here and there, but for the most part I sit and read and try to absorb information. And they pay me for it! It's a riot. What's even more of a riot is the fact that in October, I get to fly to Denver for a week to take a Dreamweaver training class. No, I will not be learning how to weave your dreams, but rather how to build web sites using a specific kind of software. And what else will I be doing in Denver? Visiting with my mom and sister!!! Albuquerque is a convenient 1 hour flight from Denver, so they are going to come up for a few days, and it is going to be an awesome time. And I won't have to pay a dime for the trip! Even my meals will be paid for by the State. I'm so excited.

Stephanie and I have scared ourselves smart by watching Food Inc. and The Beautiful Truth, two movies about how nasty the food most Americans eat is, so we have decided to radically alter our diets. Don't worry, we aren't going to become vegans, but we are going to stop eating all animal meats that aren't natural and free-ranging, and most processed foods. Unfortunately, having standards for what you eat isn't an easy thing in Alaska. We had previously been eating costco lunchmeat and pre-packaged chicken breasts almost daily. Now our freezer and pantry is filled with fresh fish, Boca burgers, Morningstar chicken patties, organic and humanely raised Italian chicken sausage, Adam's natural peanut butter, and so on. And lots of veggies! Produce here is a nightmare; seeing moldy fruit and slimy lettuce on display at the store is commonplace, but costco sells huge bags of organic frozen vegetables. It might cost more, but I think a more pure diet will be worth it in the long run.

Apparently the fillings in our teeth release mercury gas, too, but I can't do anything about that right now :o

On Sunday we went boating with our new friend Joleen, her husband and their 3 year old son. It was a beautiful day, but the wind was bad and the water was a little choppy. Because of this, Steph and I bounced up and down like a couple of ping pong balls at the bow of the small, open hull boat as we cruised across the channel to Admiralty, and then back around a few smaller islands. It was fun being on the water, sipping beer, bouncing about. Unfortunately, my body didn't find it very amusing, and I have a big bruise on my butt to prove it. My back has been sore, too. Ow! Hopefully next time we go out it will be a little more calm. We may go fishing after work this week, which will be exciting!


Starfish!


The inexperienced boaters got to wear these really fashionable orange life jackets..


Steph's looked particularly hysterical ballooned up from the wind :D






The famed Admiralty Island, home to the largest number of brown bears in the world. We wanted to see if we could spot any from the boat but didn't see anything.


The Fairweather, one of the ferries that services SE Alaska


Before we got to the harbor, some guy gave Joleen a bunch of crab he had just picked from his pots(?) So we went over to their house and boiled fresh dungeness crab at the end of the day.


Steph trying to psych herself up to eat it, ha!


Fresh as it gets.


Joleen and Jessie!

Here are some backlogged photos!




4 cruise ships hogging the port downtown




The wonders of nature :)


Creepy old house we passed on a semi-hike last week. I say semi because I was feeling extremely bear-phobic that day, so I made us turn around a few minutes in..


Same hike, same water source!


Here I am on a boat standing next to a map of this fine state on a recent whale watching cruise supporting the Juneau Symphony. Hoity-toity!


Awesome.


Herbert Glacier, the glacier we hiked to in the last post.


Whalespotting