Open Thread – The Advance of the Termination Dust
It’s here. I’ve been watching it. First, it showed up on the high peaks two rows back. Then Wolverine Peak and the taller peaks of the Chugach Mountains got it. Then Flattop got it. And now, it’s reached the lower peaks… the last line of defense between Old Man Winter and Anchorage. Right now, it’s just called “termination dust” – the smattering of the white stuff that marks the termination of summer.
The torrential rain currently pounding on my roof will soon be silent and white. We are on beautiful borrowed time…
AKM, I saw the “dust” up close and personal early Sunday morning on my deck!… Elevation 2500, top of Hiland!!! It’s baaaaaaaaaacckkkkkk!
All fooling aside,I must say that My siblings and I have never had to face any such crisis with our parents. Mom was the closest as she was terminal and made all her final wishes crystal clear to everyone of her brood. All that was really necessary was waiting a few hours while her organs shutdown and then there was another wait for her pacemaker to expire. Not all of us made it to the hospital in time,some were halfway across the country and kept in touch by phone. I doubt that I could handle the stress of what you are facing,but this isn’t about me. You have all the support and blessed thouights I can send to all of you as you move forward. You will find peace at some point.
Good thoughts, because here we go. Tomorrow, at 9am, Miss Suzie becomes a resident of the Assisted Living facility we both checked out so thoroughly just two years ago, and she remembers nothing of that. We went Saturday with stuff, and today with stuff to furnish her apartment. I have no stinking clue if she has the slightest idea what is going on, but we can hope. Right?
Thank all the gods, two of our children and their spouses were here all weekend to help. And, they both took family pieces home with them. We are talking tables, dressers, beds, etc. all made from cherry cut from the family farm and fashioned into furniture in the late 1700’s.
Tired. You bet. I can’t wait till she is all settled in, because I have scheduled one hell of a freaking screaming mess along about Tuesday.
Thoughts are with you ……. wife going out mid-oct w/sister to try and talk their mom( New Mexico) to return to Bay Area so they can take care of her… somewhere down the road, assisted living will be needed, but the two of them have to try and take care of her first…. I’m just the “support guy”…She was there for us when daughter had major medical issues as a baby, so only right that we be there for her now.
a bit of gallows humor,… but I had a boss that went thru “scream therapy” when going thru divorce….. maybe a thirty minute session would be good ???
{{{{{{{{{{ jimzmum, Miss Suzie, and jimzmum’s family }}}}}}}}}}
Termination Dust sounds like a B Horror Flick!
Oh I remember that termination dust–the air would start feeling and smelling different–it was exciting and depressing at the same time. Everyone check that Bloomberg report–I sure hope they nail the Koch bothers.
wonderful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTOgxccTupk&feature=player_embedded#!
thank you mister President.
Looks like the Koch brothers will be sweating bullets in the next few weeks as Bloomberg Markets Magazine releases their latest edition with a 14-page story about Koch Industries and some of their sleazy, and potentially illegal, business practices. Fifteen journalists in several countries contributed to the story which includes some bombshells about business their subsidiary has done with Iran and bribes they’ve paid to get business in Africa, India and the Middle East.
One of the most potentially damaging revelations involve sales to Iran, which violate the embargo signed into law by President Clinton.
“Koch Industries used the European offices of their subsidiary Koch-Glitsch to sell millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran in an apparent violation of the US-Iran trade embargo, as recently as 2007”
http://politicalgates.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-new-bombshell-story-bloomberg.html#disqus_thread
Oh, how I would rejoice if those two went to jail after all the destruction they’ve caused in our country, both in politics and in industry. The world would be a happier, healthier and safer place with the two of them behind bars for a long, long time.
Just like Haliburton subsidiary KBR selling equipment and operating in Iraq during the embargo with Cheney’s knowledge,they will find a specific loophole to slime through,such as using an offshore based subsidiary to skirt the spirit and intent of the regs.
The wind swept in on the tails of that storm, and all the leaves have blown off the trees here in the Valley. I love the look of the snowline on the mountains (even the lower Talkeetnas–that’s when you know it’s real, when it starts hitting them!), like someone took a ruler to the mountains and painted white above it.
Even so, it’s still in the high 40s/low 50s here.
We’re having lovely, albeit chilly weather, here in lower Manhattan. I’m glad it’s not nasty yet; the Occupy Wall Street crowd needs the help from the weather goddess.
Beautiful photo. It’s 32 degrees here in the Eastern Interior of Alaska. . We are all waiting for winter. No snow yet. The winter gear is washed and ready. I painted the oil barrel gold. Haven’t filled it yet. We are hoping to “just use wood” this winter. Having the oil as a “back up plan” is always a good idea here.
So glad we are still having nice weather. Gets a little cool at night. To get to 70 deg here today and high 70s all this week. our Son is painting the fence around our yard and so far has gone thru 4 gallons of expensive paint. Now he is in the process of painting our shelter house in the backyard.
Right now there is a $2.00 discount on paint—-another reason to get the ball rolling.
Too bad we can’t send the DNR a bill for the two boards that the deer took out on their way out.
Iowa is a fascinating place as far as deer are concerned. Kill one of the little cretins out of season and pay about 2 grand for the deer and have your gun and vehicle confiscated because the state owns and protects the varmints. Hit one with your vehicle and the state swears they’ve never seen a deer and won’t pay for damages.They get it both ways when they make up the rules.
Still in the 90’s here. I would welcome some rain. We always want what we don’t have.
Family members residing in Idaho were complaining yesterday of the 89 degree temperatures while I was facing 44 degrees and rain. Now it’s up to a whole 47 and still raining, making it feel much colder.
I was able to make it through last night without turning the heat on but the house is really chilled today. I’m still struggling with muscle spasms in my upper back which are not helped by the cold, damp weather.
Oh well, might have to give in and turn on the heat today…
Dear lady come to Mikey’s “if you have back trouble,you have my sympathy” massage clinic. My ice cold hands will make you forget muscle spasms in short order. Plus I don’t guarantee to pray away the Gay or anything else. No guarantees,no cost, no results,no worries.Limited time offer so hurry.
Van Jones lit up this week’s Real Time with Bill Maher as he told all Americans why they should be proud of, and supporting Occupy Wall Street.
http://www.politicususa.com/en/van-jones-occupy-wall-street
These young people are so impressive. They are out there. They are speaking for millions of people. These banksters are some of the worst people in the world. They’re horrible people, because they would be homeless if they were treated based on their performance. The American people stood up and bailed them out. We stood up. Taxpayers and homeowners gave them money to keep them in business.
I have one quibble with what Van had to say. On the basis of their performance, they should be cooling their heels in a prison cell (Club Fed?), before being homeless upon their release.
I suggest maximum security Federal Prison. Those are far grimmer than anything they’ve even been able to portray in a movie or documentary.
I listened to coverage of the occupation of Wall Street and the protests in NYC. It was the first time NPR covered it, that I know of. I also saw it on the evenng news last night.
It’s good to know the revolution has started. Finally. This is a movement that swelled up out of the average struggling american masses.
Let’s keep it going. Are there any links around or info on Alaskan protests?
Here is the hub for all occupy actions: http://www.occupytogether.org/
I don’t see anything posted for Alaska yet, but I do see 3 for Hawaii (my home). The map on the right of the page really, really p*sses me off. Just the 48! I have just written to make my complaint about excluding AK, HI and US territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa, which include millions of inhabitants.
I’m glad the protest has begun, but let’s include everyone!
In Alaska you have cold hearted nutter pols everywhere you look. If there really is a god and she really is merciful,etc. why are you stuck with nutter pols everywhere? I’d seek the answer for myself-god and I aren’t on speaking terms,no offense to any one’s faith and values intended. In Iowa,we have cold hearted pols all around. We don’t have your majestic mountains and wildlife to help suffer the fools easier. We have yummy sweetcorn which I will gladly trade a mountain of for an Alaskan mountain.
Our goofballs ARE pretty goofy but we have sensible hardworking pols too. My borough govt is full of them and my state reps are 2/3 divine , 1/3 ok 🙂
We don’t have to talk about them or keep a bright light on them every minute, because they are mostly doing what we hired them to do.
Keeping track of the goofballs takes a lot of time and energy but we do have some good pols.
a mountain of sweet corn? Might be able to make you a deal for one lil mountain for that 🙂
I meant no disrespect to all pols,basically I was referring to Mayor Sullivan and gummi-bear guv Parnell. Those two are,imho,the epitome of Alaska’s goofy government. If we can agree on a sweet corn for a small mountain swap-how small a mountain are we talking about? Mt Denali has a nice Iowa-ey ring to it.Also it spells denial sideways.
But then Sarah will have to move to Ioway–she’s Queen of Denial!
Better watch what you pray for, whether it’s on bended knee or through sweet corn! 🙂
http://wildernesspeaks.photoshelter.com/gallery/Mountains-of-Alaska/G0000FnOq0d9_Prk/
These are the mountains near me…
Juneau Icefield is inland a very few ridges
We don’t need the tallest one here, we have the most stunning !
Of course, every part of the state thinks it is the most beautiful part 🙂
And we’re many hundreds of miles from Sully and only to have to put up with the gov part time…
and best of all, whatzername despises us and our beautiful area
Thanks for posting these stunning photos.
cloudy in am, warm sunny afternoons, showers due Tuesday- just finished stacking wood for the winter in the shed yesterday..chimney punched, gutters cleared… we be ready for the next season…. of course, we’ll now have an Indian summer heat wave for a week….sigh…
60 and a bit cloudy down here by the sea; supposed to warm up to 70. Looks to be a beautiful day, but I know the rain’s coming Tuesday so I’m getting ready for it.
In central PA, we were still needing the AC on Wednesday. Last night, we had snow! Guess I missed the 3 days of autumn.
I turned on the space heater in the birds room this morning to take the chill off for them. In our extended forecast there will be sun and 70 degrees later this week. I really don’t like letting go of summer.
We have our first frost this morning! Very early for us. Our summer was just awful. Way over normal heat and humidity. Incredible storms. Very odd weather patterns around here.
Still using the A/C. Might get a little rain this week, though…
We are just putting away the room heaters and heavy blankets and airing out the summer clothes. For us, it’s a sign of impending smouldering under a hot sun.
Goo luck with your winter – ours was unconscionably cold for the tropics and long. Normally a Queensland winter is barely 6-8 weeks. This year the cold hit in mid-May and is just now warming up.
Anyone who doesn’t acknowledge global warming is nucking futz!
rofl – meant to say gooD luck… but goo works too I guess 🙂
I kinda like “goo luck” – it has a certain ring to it!
Is that like “Bartholomew and the Oobleck?”