Kinetic energy

for those of you who don't remember chemistry, is defined as the energy an object possesses due to its motion.  I think this is how I survived for months prior to our move.  For so long I was in school, raising a family, working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs... and just when school finished it was time to look for a job in a new state, pack, move.... I had energy just because I was in constant motion.  However, I must admit that somewhere near to the actual moving date the kinetic energy became frenetic energy.  Frenetic energy is wildly excited or frantic energy.  Now that the move is over and life has settled into a real routine (something I have not had for a few years now) I find myself faced with an alarming amount of free time on my hands, and no energy.  I think I have no energy because I am not in motion.   I am also facing what countless generations of mothers before me have... children leaving home.  I would think that for most moms they get to watch children go out the door one by one with a little space in between.  I had one son leave and then 3 months later I left my daughter and her family.  Kind of a double whammy.  There is one kid left at home and he is kind enough to give up a day now and then to spend with his mom and dad.  Good thing too because I don't think I could take being left by all three kids at one time!

I have pretty much kept up my resolve to walk the dogs on a daily basis.  The weather has cooperated by staying above 15 degrees, but when I come home by cheeks are stinging from the cold and the skin on my thighs is pink and cold even under the lined jeans.  I have started to vary my routes a little and by doing so found a couple of house for sale on the next street over.  This is not a prestigous area, but the asking price of the houses is about 360,000.  That's a whole lot of money for a very moderate amount of house.

Today Steve joined me on a walk.  We went down and walked on the lake.  When I had passed there the other night, I could hear kids playing ice hockey on a patch of ice by someones beach.  They must have made a skate rink on the ice because the lake ice is covered with snow and is not at all suitable for skating.  There were some folks out ice fishing and a few cross country skiers.  That's a sport I would like to give a try, but not quite yet.  On the way back we saw a couple of moose.  It seems I can't go anywhere in this neighborhood without running into them.  They pretty much ignored us as they were chomping down on some saplings by the shore, but we gave them a wide berth and I was quite happy that Rosey did not pick up on the fact that they were there. 

Another thing we did this weekend was to head over the the Univ of Alaska - Anchorage (UAA) for the final weekend of the folk festival.  On Saturday we caught the final 5 minutes of a banjo contest and then a couple of local performers before heading over to a guitar workshop.  Jake plays and Steve used to play so watching the workshop and the performers was really all the incentive we needed to head over to the music store.  At the store Steve bought himself a new acoustic and I got one too!  Hopefully it will help to energize me and help restore some of that kinetic energy.  So Sue - I know you are reading this - here's the challenge - pick up your guitar and practice and maybe in the summer we can play together! 

On the way out of the store Steve said - maybe we will become the new Partridge family.  And Jake asked, with all the innocence of youth - Who are they?

I don't have a lot of pictures for you this week.  But here is what I have -

Normally you hear about Seattle and how all the folks in Seattle like their coffee.  Well, apparently they like coffee in Anchorage too because you can find these little booths in parking lots all over the city

coffee to go - Alaska Style

For my biking friends - here are a couple more shots.  Notice how fat the tires are and the mittens that appear to be attached to the handlebars

There appears to be a lot of pride in the Native Alaskan heritage, and much of that is expressed in public art.  This sculpture is around the corner from where I work, not too far from downtown.  I can't wait to see it when there is no snow on the ground so I can get the full effect.



Having troubles figuring out what this is - think about a fish that swims upstream and is famous all over Alaska



Downtown Anchorage is very tiny and there are few high-rise buildings.  Here is one that is kind of all by it's lonesome



I guess there is two in this shot, but not exactly what you would call a skyline!  This isn't all of downtown, but still it is the city of Anchorage

 And what would a post be without a picture of the mountains?  It is about 10:30 AM in this shot.  The sun has actually been out for about an hour, another reflection that our days are getting longer.  In fact, at 0800 when I was coming home from the grocery store I noticed some tiny tendrils of light stretching out into the dark.  However, the most dramatic change can be told in the evening, or at least that is how it seems to me.  If I leave the office late, it is still light and stays that way until about 5:30 PM.  That's about an hour later than it was when I first started working two months ago.

Here is your weekly dose.

Until next week!