More Portland Roses

Here are a few more pics from my visit to the Portland Rose Garden last month....












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Birds on the Noatak River

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We Interrupt Regularly Scheduled Programming For...

....knee surgery. I am leaving for Anchorage today. I will be having knee surgery on Wednesday. It will be my 5th surgery on my left knee. I'm not sure what flavor it will be this time...maybe another partial menisectomy or another acl reconstruction, or perhaps both again. I won't know what they have done to me this time until I wake up. If they just work on the meniscus cartilage then I should be home by Friday, but if they replace the acl as well I won't be home until next Monday. I first injured this knee in 2003 and it has been a major problem ever since. I hope that this will be the last surgery I have to have on it for a long time.

Obviously I will be in no shape for blogging for a few days so I have scheduled some posts to pop up while I am away. Some are from a boat ride up the river we took yesterday and some pics that I took around town. Others will be odds and ends of past stuff that I have pulled from the archives. They will be scheduled to post at 9am Alaska time.

Happy Birthday Uyaana!

On this day my boy turns 9 years old! We had his party yesterday.




Here's his cake, it's actually brownies. I baked him a cake but let it sit too long and it was hopelessly stuck in the pan. Luckily the brownies came right out of their pan so I decorated that instead. He liked it so much he said he wants that kind of cake next year too.




My friend Kathy, Queen of Fried Donuts and All Things Yummy, made these Happy Birthday Donuts which were a big hit with everyone.

This Week's Sounder

Well, National Geographic it ain't, but I'm on the cover of the Arctic Sounder.

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Long Billed Dowitchers

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Uncle Ted in the Land of OTZ

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Senator Ted Stevens Arrived in Kotzebue today.




There were a lot of people at the airport to welcome him, including the Northwest Arctic Borough School District's Youth Leaders.




Senator Stevens took time to meet the kids and have their pictures taken with him before he headed over to KOTZ Radio





At KOTZ Radio Senator Stevens was interviewed by Dean Westlake. Dean thanked Stevens for his many years of service and dedication to the State of Alaska.




If you live in rural Alaska and can flush your toilet you can pretty much thank Ted Stevens. If you break your arm and the hospital in Kotzebue, Nome or Barrow patches you up you can thank Ted Stevens. Drinking clean water in the bush? Thank Uncle Ted.




Senator Stevens was also welcomed by Suzie Erlich, General Manager of KOTZ Radio, Chester Ballot, Cairman of the KOTZ Radio Board of Directors, and Carl Weisner of OTZ Telephone.

Senator Stevens will be meeting with the public from 3pm to 6pm at OTZ Telephone.

We're in the Money...almost

The Alaska Department of Revenue has announced the amount of the 2008 Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend. The dividend amount is $2,069 and the new Alaska Resource Rebate is $1,200, for a grand total of $3,269. Direct deposits begin September 12th.





Thank you State of Alaska for my new 21 cubic foot Frigidaire energy saver freezer, and my electric bill thanks you too.



If you are interested in reading how the Dividend works and it's history you can check it out on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Permanent_Fund

Reflections

Pauls Slough, Noatak River