iPhoning it with Rex and Ama by the Little Su, where a spineless moose lost his head - and his antlers, too
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 12:13PM 
Rex and his girlfriend Ama showed up yesterday about 1:00 PM. They had wanted to take Margie and me out to lunch, but Margie had gone to town to babysit Kalib and Jobe, so they just took me. Afterwards, Rex drove Ama through his boyhood haunts toward the Little Su.
To Rex, as it is for me, the tour was one of lament, for what he saw was all the places that had been so wild and free now ruined and cut off by the development that has put an end to the hiking, skiing, and mountain biking that we used to do through all this country, but can't do anymore.
To Ama, who grew up in New York and now hails from the San Francisco Bay area, it appeared as though we were driving through a rural, nearly pristine area, with just a few houses here and there, and a gas station.
Ama and Rex met last summer when she came to Alaska to do some adventuring and they hit it off. She had a great time in Alaska and did some things that I still haven't done - such as kayak in Prince William Sound, but she was pretty certain that she would not want to be a winter-time Alaskan.
Rex went and spent some time with her in the Bay area in September and, judging from Facebook, they had a great time.
Now she is back in Alaska. She might have even found a job here. She is ready to try winter-time Alaska, ready to become an Alaskan.
You will note how bundled up she is - hat, gloves, multi-layers and what she probably believes to be a winter coat.
You will note how Rex is not bundled up at all.
I was even less bundled.
It's often like that, when people come to visit from other places.
Next year, I suspect, she will be dressed just like us.
To me, the air only seemed disgustingly warm for this time of year. The ground should be covered in snow. All the lakes should be frozen over. Some are, and some are freezing, but some have little ice at all.
The bank of the Little Su should be completely rimmed in ice.
It's disgusting, really. I can hardly stand it.
The other day we were talking with Jacob and Lavina about Halloween, and how the kids would go out, sometimes in sub-zero weather, and come back with icy pant legs and their costumes crisp and frozen.
It could still happen that way this year, but I wouldn't count on it.
Rex skips a rock.
What is that he has spotted? A log, drifted almost to the bank?
Why, it's a moose head! As you can see, someone has cut the antlers away from the skull. Soon, perhaps, they will hang on someone's wall, or be placed over a doorway or put on display in a yard. Maybe they already have been.
I wonder where the moose was shot and butchered? This is a place by the road and bridge where many people gather to picnic, skip rocks, cast a line, drink beer, smoke dope or do whatever. It would be very rude to butcher a moose in such a place and just leave the leftovers behind, so I speculate that perhaps it was done upstream and the skull just washed to this place.
;)
A short distance away, we found the spine. There was a significant amount of moose hair on the rocks on the bank.
So I am not sure. It might have drifted down, but someone might have butchered it right here.
Coming into the main channel is a little estuary that has frozen over.
Whoever left this to freeze into the estuary definitely is rude. I hate to say it, but an awful lot of this kind of thing happens around here.
There are many people who live in this area who do not know where they live.
Oh, yes - they will tell you, perhaps proudly, "I live in Alaska!"
But they don't even know it.
Frozen moose print. I had forgotten my camera, by the way. I had to take all these pictures with my iPhone. I like the iPhone camera, but the lens has become very smudged and hazy.
Ama studies the scientific properties of a frozen puddle.
I find a nice little shell along the bank - a 9 mm. I still have it. It's in my pocket.
Ama observes a scorched tree trunk. Trees here do not have long tap roots that extend deep into the ground. Here, the roots spread out beneath the tree and form a platform for it.
;)
Rex gets an idea for some iron art involving salmon that he wants to create. So he takes a few pictures of this dead one for later study.
The dead salmon.
Later, we go to Little Miller's for coffee as we listen to the afternoon news on the radio. We could not go to Metro, because Metro is closed on Sundays.
The lady at the window accepts Rex's cash.
Such was Sunday.
Now it is Monday.
I don't want to do anything.
I suppose that I had better.
I am tired, though. Really, really, tired.
I don't want to do anything.
But how can I do nothing at all?
That would be boring.
Reader Comments (8)
Glad to hear of and see Rex's friend. What beautiful photos you took. Even with the iphone. Amazing what that little bugger can do.
I didn't know Rex did iron art. We will have to talk sometime.
Hi Ama! Welcome to Bill's blog! We are happy to meet you!
(presumptious? maybe, but this blog is what it is) :)
Bill,
Who are you voting for Senate next Tuesday?
Yes, Little Sister - you and Rex must talk. You and me, too. That was one frustrating thing about my trip to Utah - I never even got to have a decent conversation with you.
Michelle - Naw, it's not presumptious. Thank you. Ama is welcome everywhere this family is, including the blog.
Sambone - While I try to keep this blog from getting too partisan, I think some of my past writings, such as when I went to the Tea Party rally and those articles that I have written in favor of Health Care reform should make it pretty clear that I won't be voting for the Tea Party candidate, nor the candidate who has boasted of her efforts to undo health care reform and who promises to continue those efforts. That leaves only one, who, fortunately, is proving himself to be a well-spoken, thinking, independent, articulate candidate with the guts to say what other candidates, even of his party, lack the courage to say.
Bill,
Good deal. I'm a southern republican, but I sent McAdams some $. Keep up the good work!
when i was 21, i made a list of the three most horrible things i'd yet experienced and 'being cold' was one of them. can't imagine how i'd survive in alaska much less the frigid weather we're having now in PA - why it went down to 60 degrees last nite! how on earth would i keep warm? yes, voting day is very important. we've gotta keep realists in power, people who know how to think logically. those photos of the little su are so beautiful i just may call alaska airlines to see when's the next flght outa philly, cold be damned!
hi im back and asome photos
i like this post.
the first the pictures,seem to represent you.
the rest of them are just nasty.
stream seems pretty clean till i saw the rest of the pictures.