Raven swoooooop!

Happy New Year, y'all! Proceed as the way opens!

Photo dump

Even in deep, dark winter, the sun does not forget that we are his children:


Linden being ridiculously adorable:

And spoilt. Definitely spoilt.

Fuzzy profiles:

Bird Feeder 2.2

Friends, please meet Bird Feeder v2.2:


It is about 12 feet off the ground. NOW WE WILL SEE IF YOU CAN STEAL FROM IT, MEESE!!! HARUMPH!

In other news, brrrr, and brrrrrrrr!

Merry Christmas!

I wish all nine of my loyal readers a very Merry Christmas, and all the Warm Fuzzies and Couches!





Here are some warm fuzzy headlines for you today:

Parking lot dishwasher theft leads to show of kindness, generosity in Fairbanks

Galena gifted salvaged moose meat to replace food lost in flood

Happy Solstice!

Today the sun was evidently up for 14 seconds longer than it was yesterday. It's turnaround time, y'all!

Here is a selfie with Autumn:


While Linden is all, "Um helllloooo? Meeeeee! Meeeeeee! Look how cute I am!"

Warm Fuzzies from the Minor News

Yukon-Koyukuk students celebrate together while apart

Galena gifted salvaged moose meat to replace food lost in flood

One day shy of full...

Quick reality check

I stopped by the "Christmas wish" tree at my church this morning. I thought I'd pick out a few fun things, buy them, pat myself on the back, get this "holiday giving" business over with right quick, and then sit back and congratulate my generous-ass self. However, the requested "gifts" were breathtakingly depressing--soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, socks... What kind of life do you live if you ask for laundry detergent for Christmas? It made me feel somber and incredibly lucky, in a time of my life in which I am already feeling richly blessed. It's interesting how in that way, the gift-giving project is benefiting the giver as well as the recipients.

Here are some totally irrelevant photos of the girls lounging on the couch:




Linden sez, "I sure like dese pillows."

Floof

A raven floofing himself and gazing at the faraway sun...

Okay. So.

This sign is on the inside of my door, y'all. Someone please explain that one to me.


In other news, the Weather Gods are testy this year. Late spring, late fall, late freezeup, wind, power outages, three ice storms, more wind, and the wind is howling outside right now and has been all night.

I believe that the late Mr. Grumphus Bumfus Bunn B. Doofus, Esq. would have shared my feelings on this matter. He always made his opinions clear.


The Minor News informs us that it's windy.

Distracted

I have a looooot to do, but all I can do right now is stare out the window at the moon rising and think of inappropriate things.

Po’ina ‘oe i ka pa’anaakala,
A ia kahi mea nō ka mahina a me na hōkū, ea.

Makemake ia ‘u ho’oulupuni nō ‘oe ‘a
‘oia i ka mahinahina, ‘ike ‘oe, ea.



Makemake au e honi ia ‘oe I ke au mahinahina...

Lyrics by Nathan Aweau

Sunrise over the power plant

This is from last week. It is overcast right now, and temperatures are dropping after yet another alarming warm spell.

Not much else to report. I will be moving my office this week, and I am feeling ambivalent about it. It will be a good move, and I'll be closer to the people with whom I work directly, but I'll be sad to be away from my colleagues in this building. Over the time I've spent here, we've become genuine friends. Well, I'll still have to visit them to shower. :)

Disapproving Skwerl

"Um.."


"You thought it was okay to leave the house looking like that?"

Cucumbers and Prayers

All day long
The earth shouts
“Gee, thanks.”

Such an exuberant gee,
It starts throwing
Things

As if God were passing by in a parade encouraging
Rowdy behavior
By looking so beautiful –
That a whole avalanche of mania swoops in!

I like the idea of throwing things at God,
And especially – His making us rowdy!

Thus, as soon as Hafiz is out of bed
I start stuffing large sacks
With old shoes, cucumbers,
And
Prayers

For the upcoming
Consecrated

Free-for-all –
And who knows
What else.

--Hafiz of Shiraz

Notes from Here and There

Sorry this will be a bit disjointed of a post, but all nine of my loyal readers are probably used to these by now as you've probably already figured out that I am pretty much an attention-deficit goldfish who is surprisingly gifted at abstract mathematics. And who can type. Nevertheless, here is my Thanksgiving report.

First of all, here are the girls is a photo of the girls on the couch.


And of my Thanksgiving contribution, roasted veggies and cornbread:


And of the dowgs sitting nicely for biscuits:


My entry for the annual pie contest:


It's apple with dried cherries:


I didn't win, but I always win first prize in the pie contest judged by my dogs!

The layout:

Note JB2's GIANT KOHLRABI!!

The auxiliary table, displayed by the lovely JB3:


All in all, it was a gorgeous weekend, with treasured friends, good food, and skiing every day!!



Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me...

Sunrise/set from the ridge top:


The sun at dusk this time of year is the exact color of a lotus blossom. It washes the trees in pinkish orange:


Autumn and Linden are very happy: