5/19/05 Long term parking. This is up near Olnes Pond. Rosiekins and I went up there to burn some "sensitive documents" for Martha. There was a party up there that was gettin' . . . pretty wild (even by Alaskan standards). We decided to take off; as we were leavin', we saw two state troopers going hell-bent for leather, where we were comin' from. I never knew how that turned out--but something obviously was afoot with that one, 'n stuff.
5/20/05 This was taken at the house of a friend of mine's from the Chapel. It was taken on the second floor of a very nice, but unfinished, log cabin. (A great deal of peeps in Alaska build their own houses. . . .) The tree on the right is . . . a grapefruit tree!! (I had never seen one before; in fact, I had never even considered what one might look like, 'n stuff---a condition of our modern age.) Plants generally do quite well, up here in the Alaskan summertime---perpetual daylight, and no real heat (USUALLY!) to deplete the plant-dudes' water supplies, 'n stuff.
5/21/05 Every year (Well, almost every year. :) ) I make dandelion wine from Alaskan dandelions. Alaskan dandelions are *HUGE*--due to the perpetual sunlight, and not having to use up resources dealing with a scorching heat (see above). I wondered if my progress through the field in front of the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center would be visible. I see that it is. I picked dandelion heads all the way to the little road parallel to the main one (You can just see it, 'n stuff.) That was one gallon. . . .
5/21/05 Going home, I saw something I most certainly did not expect---some dudes playing . . . cricket!! This is not the sort of thing one expects to see in, say, Interior Alaska!!
5/23/05 Two days later, I got another shock---these dudes were my NEIGHBORS, 'n stuff. -You can just see their homemade posts under the stairs:
5/23/05 I thought that this one was funny. :) Someone threw a roll of paper towels up on a ledge outside the main entrance to Fred Meyers (the local supermarket). :) It is about 25-30 feet off of the ground. . . . (!) :)
5/23/05 More on the dandeline wine. I had been meaning to make a batch of dandelion wine since I was a small child. When I came to Alaska, I made my dream a reality. (I think this well may have had something to do with my *FINALLY* reading "Dandelion Wine," by Ray Bradbury, as well. ;) ) It occurred to me that the vast majority of people reading this page have never seen 8 gallons of dandelion heads. :) So, I decided to post a picture of such---with flash. . . .
. . . And without:
:)
(I find it AMAZING---that--even after being away from their roots for over a day--a few of these flowers insisted on BLOOMING. (!!))
On to more Alaska pics.