Alaska Pictures

I'll never get tired of looking at the mountains and am
really missing that view.

A month after returning, I am finally posting my Alaska pictures.  I am very ashamed it took me so long to get it done, but I did learn another valuable lesson along the way:  Never delete the folders on your camera until you are finished removing ALL pictures from the memory card.  Accidents do happen that can lead to a small melt down as you realize that it deleted all folders rather than the one empty folder you had intended.  Fortunately they make programs for just such problems so I was able to retrieve most of my lost pictures, but not all - hopefully I only lost the bad ones, but we'll never know for sure.

Salmon berry blooms

It's not in great focus, but I won't get many chances to take
a picture of eagles fighting over food.

Mike cutting salmon - mmm yum!
(I know this time last year I was saying
that I was sick of salmon, but I've
since decided that I didn't really mean it.)

Fish hanging in the smoke house - mmm
yum in a few days!

A magpie sitting on the top of the smokehouse hopping to
get in on some of that mmmm yumminess inside.

Catching salmon makes for a good day!
(unless you're the salmon, then not so much)

 

The blooms pictured earlier were starting to produce the
beginnings of salmon berries before we left.  If I remember
correctly, they'll be getting ripe the end of July and into August.
When ripe they're an orange-red color (hence the name) and
taste like blackberries, just not as strong.

Eagles!!  I really miss their chirping.

More eagles

Hanging fish in the smokehouse

Suppertime - everyone takes their fish
scraps to the beach for the birds, who seem
to appreciate it very much.

Magpie sunning.  I think they're cute, but Carol does not
appreciate their efforts to protect their nests, especially
whey they choose to build their nests close to the clothes line.
Having wondered too close to a crow's nest a couple times,
I can understand her point.

Nanwalek's park overlooking the bay.  We're still asking ourselves
often "What were we thinking?"  Stupid retirement system -
keeping me from one of the most beautiful places on earth.
I don't want to be looking for work at 80 years old, but do
sometimes wonder if it isn't worth it.

Diaper lilies - I'm told they are named because they are stinky.
I decided I did not need to find out for myself.

Young eagle losing his juvenile feathers.  You can see the head
is starting to stand out as a lot whiter that the rest of the body.
He'll be an adult before summer's over.  I wonder if they ever
miss their childhoods like we do some times?

Sunset over Iliamna

Mike fussed at me before I headed down to take more sunset
pictures (at midnight - insert a small grrrr! at the sun) saying
I already have a million sunset pictures, why would I need
more?  I may have a million sunset pictures, but I didn't have
any with an eagle silhouette and would have missed it had
I listened.  Wouldn't it be nice if not listening always worked
out so well.  It usually just gets me into trouble and listening
to an "I told you so." when it's all over with.