ImagineandCreate

hello mr. 5 months old!

Ian is wearing his new animal ears hat from this etsy shop!

beautiful beach - arctic ocean

I love the colors of the beach today! The sun was out- the gulls were swooping- the ocean was loud- it was fabulous! 

new toy

It was time to get a new toy for Ian, he's so curious now and loves tummy time. So this one has lots of bells and whistles for him to explore. As you can see he's growing right along! My lil' chunky monkey.

and so it goes...

The frost crept in last night and we woke up to a, well, frosty sort of morning. I think this particular frost is called hoar frost. I think it's beautiful but I feel for all those poor blades of grass. I hope they had a happy life.

Fall is upon us

Early morning walks on the tundra, while the world is still quiet...foxes run and owls watch. Discovering frozen puddles to skate and draw pictures on in the fallen snow.

lucky day

This pretty girl just landed on the closest power pole to our house. She and a white male have been hanging around catching lemmings. I took a similar photo last September, here. 

Tundra and Tundra-Goers

More lichen! I love them. 

Really beautiful colors this afternoon out on the tundra. It is flat as far as the eye can see.

September already?

Its been a whirlwind the past few weeks! My daughter came down with the flu and I had to bring her to the hospital for breathing trouble, and she was then medivaced to Anchorage. It was like a nightmare. I was scared for her, my little girl, and I had to leave the baby with formula which he has never had. Luckily she improved quickly and we got to come home the very next day. She got sick after 3 days of preschool, which I had been worrying about sending her to just for this reason. She is otherwise very healthy, and I was actually worried more that the baby would get sick. But he has not. Anyway I am thinking of the blog often, and know that some day my life will slow down again enough for me to post more often! I am working full time again so that takes up most of my time, for now. If I were to compare my life to surfing- I would be right now in the middle of a giant wave, like those photos you see of the rider inside a tunnel of water. Some day, I will come out the other side, the wave will roll away and I will have some breathing room to focus on my art and blog again. I did have some time at my lunch break when I walk my dog, to take some photos of the tundra really really close up. I cant get enough of those tiny lichen- fairy cups? and a goose down feather with dew.

Geese!

Each year about this time, the geese that are migrating south appear seemingly out of nowhere on the tundra all around our house and general area. Their calls echo across the land so beautifully! To some they may just look like regular old geese, to some they may look like dinner...to me they are symbols of the changing seasons and our fragile and magnificent existence. I blogged about them here in 2007 and here and here in 2008. It blows my mind how cyclicle and consistent the natural world is. Here are some photos that I took this morning from my kitchen and bedroom windows. I love how the light shines on their feathers and outlines the form.

bears in the 'hood

no walk for the dog this morning due to a pile of polar bears about 1/2 mile from our door! A mother and 2 cubs! The wildlife people are near and watching to make sure everyone stays safe. Fingers crossed they make it back out of town safely. 

polar bear came ashore today

It looks like a small, young bear to me. Or maybe a skinny older bear? Photos taken by Victor.

Hi!

Ian is 6 weeks old!

after such harsh winters, I am always amazed at what appears on the tundra in summer.