Half moon rises over Wasilla; black cat waits in the house; Kalib moves out, part 5: after a bit of exploration, he joins his family in the dining room

The half-moon was out this morning. I made a big mistake, though. I had just taken a picture inside, with the ISO on my pocket camera cranked up a bit and the shutter speed down to 1/40 of a second. When I saw the plane coming, I quickly twisted the ISO down to 80, but forgot to change the shutter speed. The plane was coming fast, so I had to lift the camera fast and shoot.

As a result, I got a bit of camera shake. And probably, I will never see an airplane fly under a half moon in quite this manner ever again.

Oh well. The picture is what it is.

This was the scene that I had photographed at 1/40 of a second, taking my time, trying to hold the camera steady. The other day, as Margie and I went through the drive-through at Metro Cafe to order our hot drinks, Carmen pointed to a sign that told us she was now serving breakfast sandwiches.

I promised her that, sooner or later, I would come in and try one out. So today, Margie had to go to Anchorage to see the dentist and get some teeth drilled and filled. This meant that I would be without a car, so I had her drop me off at Metro Cafe so I could try the sandwich.

She had sausage and eggs and ham and eggs, both with cheese. I ordered the ham. It is not the same as having ham and eggs-over easy, hash browns and mult-grain toast or pancakes at Family Restaurant, but for a coffee shop stop, particularly if you are driving to work, it's pretty good.

And the coffee is delicious - way better than Family Restaurant coffee.

When she found out I was going to walk home, Carmen was worried that I would get cold. She offered to give me a ride. But it is only about two miles, the temperature was a very pleasant two degrees above zero (-17 C), so I set out walking.

Pretty soon, I saw a man and a black dog ahead of me. They were moving slow. I quickly caught them, shot three frames, then walked along with them for about 100 yards, until they turned off on Mulchatna, were they live.

"What's your name and the dog's name?" I asked.

"I'm Brian, he's Bubba," he spoke in an accent that reminded me a bit of the Kennedy's - JFK, Bobby, and Ted.

"Looks like kind of an old dog," I observed.

"Yes," Brian answered, "he's getting old." 

"You sound like you're from the Northeast?"

"Massachusetts. I'm from Massachusetts."

"How long have you been in Wasilla?"

"Eight years," he answered. "I came here eight years ago to visit my daughter for two weeks and I never left."

"You must like it alright, then," I mused.

"I like it allright," he said. "I don't even mind the cold that much. There's nothing I can do about it, so what the f..."

I have spent enough time in the Arctic and the Interior that it always strikes me as a bit odd when people speak of Wasilla as if it were a really cold place - although for sure, from time to time, it can get pretty damn frigid, but today was not such a day.

We exchanged a few more pleasantries, then came to Mulchatna, where he and the dog turned right and walked away.

I continued on. Often, the half-moon was hidden from my view, but sooner or later it always reappeared.

Half moon.

And then, all too quickly, I was walking down my own driveway, toward my own house and there was my own, good, black cat-buddy Jim, looking at me through the window.

Once he realized that I was taking his picture, he tried to act indifferent, but I knew better. He was very pleased.

Now... I hope I am not drawing this out too long, but right now, these pictures are the only contact that I am having with my little grandson. So here I am, back to last Friday evening, continuing the "Kalib Moves Out" series. And here is Kalib, exploring his new house with his mom.

He observes as she hangs the curtains.

As mom cleans the refrigerator - which she plans to replace with a bigger one as soon as she can, Kalib tries to get her attention.

This is the dining room. They plan to replace the carpet, perhaps with the flooring that they all stand on here. They wanted to try it out. They liked it.

I will have two more entries in this series and then it will be done.

Then I must find an excuse to go into town and spend some time with my grandson.

Or he could come out here.

Royce, the elderly orange cat, misses him terribly.

Moose poops on the run, Tequilla acts angry, I find three moose and the lakes finally freeze over

I set out on my walk a bit before noon and soon came upon this moose poop, scattered down the road. All I could conclude is that the moose who dropped these dozens of nuggets was running and pooping simultaneously. Why? A dog? Naughty children, throwing rocks?

Or was the moose just in a hurry to get somewhere and couldn't wait?

Maybe it was this dog - Tequilla. I don't think so. Tequilla lives too far away from where the moose poop was spread down the road. True, I walked the distance easy enough and she could have, too, but I doubt that she did.

On the upper marsh, I found this puddle frozen into a deep gouge left by someone on a four-wheeler.

I descended into the lower marsh, where I found a momma moose and her two yearling calves. Was it one of them who had ran, pooping, down the road?

Finally - Wasilla Lake has frozen over! Now, all we need is snow. On the other hand, the ice skaters will probably be glad if it doesn't snow for awhile. There are places near here where an ice-skater can go for miles and miles and miles, between freeze-up and the first snow.

I just heard the Anchorage forecast on the radio: zero to ten degrees (F) tonight, depending where in town one is. Tomorrow, even though it has taken so long to cool off this year, a warm front will move in already. El Niño. That's probably why. Temperatures will rise into the 30's and bring rain or snow, or snow and rain mixed.

During a cold snap, we tend to be markedly cooler out here than in Anchorage - just as we are hotter during a heat wave. I hope there is no rain, but only snow.

I did not go around to check all of the many lakes in this area, but, if Wasilla Lake froze, then you can be reasonably certain that all the lakes did.

Just in case you are wondering, I was on my coffee break here. Margie stayed home to watch "Countdown" and had me drop a couple of bill payments off and that is why I came into this part of town.

Closing view of Wasilla Lake, finally frozen over, at the beach I call "Wasilla Malibu" in honor of the bikini-clad gals who gather here in the summer to taunt the guys who want them.

Insundry Images from today: Kalib on walk; Muzzy misbehaves; cell tower goes up, airplane passes by moon, cop-stop; kids on Schrock

This morning, I cooked eggs, bacon and hashbrowns and afterward I needed to go on a walk. It was a warm day, so Lavina put Kalib in his stroller and the two came with me.

Ever since Margie got hurt, I have had little exercise. I have taken only three walks and all have been short. I have eaten a great deal of junk food. I could feel it on this walk. My breath headed in the direction of short on slight uphills that, at the time of Margie's accident, I would not even have noticed.

Lavina asked me if I was going to go snowshoeing anytime soon. Ha! Before I even think about it, I've got to turn this around. Today was a start. A small start.

Muzzy misbehaved. But only because he loves to play with other dogs so much that sometimes he forgets who is boss. So he chased after a dog, hoping to play with it. The poor dog fled in terror. Afterward, Lavina reminded him that he is not the alpha male; she is. No striking, no violence - she just spoke firmly and he submitted.

A bit later, we saw some goats. She put the leash on him, just in case he forgot.

In the afternoon, I drove to Little Miller's to get some coffee for me and to bring back a cup to Margie. The coffee was very hot, much hotter than she likes, so I meandered a bit on the return, until finally I came down Wards Road. I was surprised to see the cellphone tower up. Given yesterday's entry, I don't know why I was surprised, but I was.

Cellphone tower and moon. The coverage here is still weak and spotty. I wonder when they will turn it on?

As it looks now, coming down Wards.

After I park the car in our driveway and get out, an airplane flies by. Moonlight grows.

Come night, Margie and I needed to eat. Everyone else was gone. So I went to Carr's and bought some food, including fresh raspberries and blackberries. They were identical to raspberries and blackberries that I had bought in Washington, D.C. and that Mary Ann had fed us in Salt Lake City.

As I drove home, I passed a "cop-stop." The officer had just returned to his car from the Chevy Trailblazer that he had pulled over and was about to get into it. I can only speculate as to why he had pulled the Trailblazer over to begin and that speculation could be completely wrong. On the other hand, it could be absolutely true, too.

Still, I will keep all such speculation in my head.

As to this photo, I place it here only to remind myself that it exists - assuming that one day, I will come back and read this post, because I will forget all about it, otherwise. It is a picture that I think has potential, but the foreground is severely underexposed and the sky, overexposed. So here, right now, it will look like nothing.

But one day, maybe, if I can spend some time working on it, drawing out what is in the foreground and smoothing out the resultant noise a bit (this will be difficult) and bringing the sky back in line (this will be easy) it just might be a good photo.

It might not be, either. It might be beyond hope.

Right now, I don't have the time or energy to fool with it.

Speaking of energy, sooner or later I must deal with Margie's accident in here, and the aftermath. Maybe tomorrow. No, wait! Grahamn Kracker has been promising to get a certain post up on his Kracker Cat blog, so I think perhaps I should hold back here, keep tomorrow's entry simple, and let him get it done.