May Day -- May 1, 2015

We did not make little paper baskets and fill them with candy and flowers, and hang them on doorknobs, push the bell and run away to hide. That's what we did as kids in Buchanan Michigan. Those were delightful days.

Today was a pleasure too, but not at all the same. May Day passed in Anchorage in a more subdued style with sun, a cool breeze, and more spring time action around town.

Construction downtown, with pedestrians barred from sidewalks everywhere by stretches of orange netting.

Boy with a kite -- the south wind was good for something besides keeping me chilly. The boy in blue behind him is playing Frisbee with his dad.

The kite aloft.

Picnic on a sunny Friday afternoon at Valley of the Moon park.

Basketball on the Park Strip near the old Pete's City Gym building. A couple of months ago, this was in use as an ice hockey rink.

Anchorage has some odd sculpture. This one is in front of what used to be a telephone company building on E Street. Jim thinks that it dates from the early 1970s, and that its name was something like Discovery (perhaps some readers will know more about this). White paint has been added to Dad's, Mom's, and Baby's faces. They are looking in awe (apparently) at a telephone handset.

A log home with a miniature cache in front, and wood flower carving on the front door.

None of the birds (or moose) got around to eating these berries on the mountain ash tree, and the new leaves are pushing out to the sun anyway.

Green grass in the evening sunshine. In a week, this will be so common that I will quit posting pictures of it.

Evening did come, and with it a nearly full moon.

Mt. Redoubt, seen on the other side of the airport peninsula. That's either a small cloud or a puff of smoke (it's a volcano) on its right side.

A lot of people came out to see the sunset, including a small pod of bikers.

Three Alaska Airlines flights landed, one right after the other.

Sun setting behind Susitna. A few days ago, it was to the left of the mountain.

Magpie at Westchester Lagoon.

Sandhill cranes, and a moose -- April 26, 2015

We went hunting for sandhill cranes today. The Alaska Dispatch News had an article about them the other day, saying that they'd been seen in the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. That's the stretch of land from Point Woronzof to Potter Creek, 16 miles. Potter Marsh is the southern end of the refuge, and it's not very wide, but still -- finding where a few sandhill cranes might be hanging out took a good half hour of intensive Internet research. Campbell Creek Estuary is a municipal park located in southwest Anchorage that was supposed to be a hot spot for them.

The crane-viewing blind at Campbell Estuary. The cranes we saw were at the Eco-Tone viewing platform at the foot of the bluff.

So here it is -- the pair we saw mostly had their heads down in the grass feeding (this seems to be a trait of many of the birds we've seen recently -- swans, ducks, you name it -- they're too busy eating to pose for the camera). This one finally got its head up and I pushed the button at the right time. But it was far away, and very much the color of the winter grasses. They'll be easier to see later in the season, when the grass is green and they are not. We heard them -- a series of hollows calls. Jim found an app on his phone that called back to them. After a bit, they got bored and went back to dinner.

In the same stretch of grassy flats at the bottom of a hill, we saw this moose, took a few photos, and then climbed back up the hill to the Meadow Loop Trail, and continued on it back toward the car.

After a bit, Jim wondered where the moose was, and looked to his left and found it just on the other side of the fence along the trail. We decided to backtrack, and take the long way around to the car.

Not too bad -- a moose and two cranes, so we headed to Potter Marsh to see the swans. Except, they'd gone, leaving some gulls, and a few ducks (mallards and scaups) and Canada geese, and not many of those.

Disappointing to not see the cranes better, but, it was warm (60-ish), not much wind, peaceful, and we got to explore two parts of Anchorage that we hadn't seen much of before. This is Fire Island with the wind turbines, from a different angle (from Campbell Estuary) than we usually see it.


Signs of spring today --

A boat headed south on the Seward Highway for the beginning of the season.

Something green taking root on a decaying tree trunk.

Fishing at Jewel Lake -- I don't know what is on the shore -- an overturned sail boat?

Playing Frisbee-something on the Park Strip -- which means that the ground has dried out enough to not squish under every step.

Bergenia blooming -- one of the earliest flowers.

Gulls and geese at Westchester Lagoon, sorting out who gets the last of the crumbs that someone was feeding them.

A cat enjoying the late afternoon breezes at an open door.

A flock of geese circling over Westchester Lagoon.

The Alaska Range, faintly outlined behind the lagoon.

Evening sky at Westchester Lagoon.

Tulip.

April 23, 2015 -- What we saw

Gulls on a Spenard Road lamppost.

Some days there's not much of a narrative; just what we saw. We walked from Valley of the Moon Park to Fire Island for ciabatta rolls, and then to Title Wave. Along the way we looked for swans at Westchester Lagoon (none), flowers (a few distant dandelions), and green (some buds, some grass).

Bigger than buds! Almost leaves.

Canada geese and mallards at Westchester Lagoon (east side). This is a good shot --usually they had their heads down poking around for food.

The two closer geese set up a big flapping fuss, for no reason discernible to us, then chased the front goose out over the Lagoon. Within a minute though, everyone had settled down and gotten back to the real business at hand, namely, eating.

This set of structures intrigues us -- it's a house with an attached, church-like structure on a sizable chunk of land on the alley between F and G Streets.

Besides a steeple, the stone structure has a plain rose window, with a plain white sheet in front of it. Did they run out of money for stained glass? Maybe they weren't able to agree on a pattern for it?

Not far away in the alley was this old Chevy in excellent condition, ready to roll out in the sun.

A glimpse of Mt. Susitna, taken through the heavy wire fence along the bike trail going up Romig Hill. The east side of Westchester Lagoon is in the foreground. Traffic on Minnesota Drive, then the west expanse of Westchester Lagoon with the ice still covering most of it; then the railroad, the Inlet, and the mountain.

By Chester Creek, a multi-trunked birch tree hugging the stream's edge.

In the park, people walking a dog, sitting on the park benches; kids on the playground.


And that was about it.

Daisies and goldenrod at Fire Island.

More Little Free Libraries, Anchorage Kids' Day, and Saturday in April

Turns out that after we left books at four more Little Free Libraries today we have at least another fifteen to track down. I found a new list on Google for them. It's likely that there are even more, home-built and not registered with the Little Free Library organization. But here's what we found today:

This one, with its backdrop of spruce trees and the Chugach range is at the Hope Lutheran Church on Northern Lights, just west of the post office across the street from Carrs Aurora Village.

One Little Free Library was listed on F street; we found the address, but not the library. There was this toadstool carved from an old stump however.

Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop has one near the corner of 14th and G streets.

This one at 1436 O Street near Westchester Lagoon has a bench (with a cup holder) for sitting on while perusing the books.

Last one for the day, at 1518 West 14th, also near Westchester Lagoon. Someone left a jigsaw puzzle for the taking, along with books.

In other spring news around town:

Almost no birds on the east side of Westchester Lagoon today -- this pair of geese, a couple of ducks and a few gulls. Maybe there's so much other open water around the city now that the birds feel no need to stick around.

A well-reserved stand of yarrow that survived the winter without getting broken and battered.

Rolling baguettes at Fire Island.

Gulls on the west side of Westchester Lagoon, which still is mostly ice-covered (the est side is nearly ice free).

It was Kids' Day at the Denai'na Center, an opportunity for every kid-related business and organization in town to pitch their programs. Theater, karate, Pre-K, summer camp programs, the military, Franz Bread, banks, and dozens of other groups showed up. The stage at one end of the first floor had shows, and lots of small groups of performers waiting their turns (or having already performed) wandered around in costumes. Kids got face paint, balloons, pencils, chances to make crafts, balls signed by sports personalities, and opportunities to toss basketballs, win prizes, and watch puppets.

Several sports personalities were signing balls -- I don't know who this guy is, but the boy was very happy to have the signed football that he's holding.

A ballerina from Alaska Dance Theater was demonstrating en pointe for the girls who were watching.

Magician Don Russell, an old friend  -- Anthea was a student of his when she auditioned for (and got onto) the Tonight Show some years ago.

A runaway balloon.

Festivities always involve food, and in Anchorage that means reindeer sausages, best if prepared at an outdoor food cart.

Free rides in the horse and carriages -- even longer lines for these than for many of the activities at Kids' Day.

The west side of Westchester Lagoon, with its persistent ice, and the Chugach Range beyond.

A cluster of crocuses.