Uncle Sugar Stimulates Me

Well, well...a little fiscal stimulus from the U.S. Treasury. A whopping $429.65 which will cover my lightbill of $304.92 with a little left over. I'm actually proud of my lightbill. If I had not brutally conserved electricity I'm sure it would have been well over $500.00. I took all my showers at the Club, installed energy efficient lightbulbs throughout the house, turned down the heat to 58 degrees at night and when I left the apartment, limited my cooking to stovetop stuff, and made sure I had a full load whenever I did dishes or laundry. Nothing that was really a hardship...and it appears that I cut my use by between 30-40%. Cool.

The hounds and I are getting along better all the time. Lots of exercise really makes a difference for them. Jasper is demonstrably less neurotic and Tucson's endurance has improved considerably.

A happy hound.

Yesterday was quite nice. We took our walk at Auke Rec. I was surprised how many people were on the beach - lots of moms with kids. Everyone was in good spirits in the sunshine. Tucson said hello to everyone (hoping for a hand-out) and Jasper kept himself busy in a futile chase of birds of various species. Several ravens found Jasper most amusing and led him down the beach...repeatedly landing a hundred feet or so in front of him then flying-off when he tore-off after them. Mighty clever them ravens.

When we got back to the house, Rocket J. Squirrel was sitting on the ground by his feeding station. I had not seen him since the hounds moved in. He appeared glad to see me hoping, no doubt, for some walnuts. He was extremely offended when the door opened and a black torpedo in the form of Jasper shot-out yapping frantically. Mr. Squirrel beat a hasty retreat up the tree and proceeded to chastise us both.

Although I do not speak Squirrel, the message seemed pretty clear and I'm sure Rocky was accusing me of being a traitor and a sandbagger. I will have to hire one of the neighbor kids to start my gas grill for the rest of the summer. Last summer Mr. Squirrel sabotaged the landlord's grill by chewing a hole in the gasline. The landlady got real concerned when one day the whole front porch smelled like propane...

I have been taking lots of pictures of local flora and am now trying to figure out what to do with them. I borrowed "Flora of Alaska" from Alison and have been trying to identify various species. The book is the most definitive guide to the vascular plants of Alaska. I owned a copy many years ago - I think I gave it to my cousin about the time my interest in plants changed from the wild variety to the smokable variety somewhere around my sophomore year in high school.

I thought the book was the height of sophistication thirty-five years ago. Today, I find the volume largely impenetrable. All the descriptions of plants are highly technical and I have long since forgotten what little botany I once knew. And the pen-and-ink drawings now strike me as something akin to prehistoric cave drawings. A senior moment...

Nevertheless I am persevering and get considerable satisfaction when I positively identify a species. In a bow to 21st century technology, I can verify my identification by Googling the scientific name and an image of said plant magically appears on my computer. Pretty cool.

All of this is a long-winded way of warning you that you may be seeing lots of pics of plants. Exemplia gratia:

Trientalis europaea (Primrose Family) Airport Dike Trail June 15, 2008. Low ground cover. This is probably subspecies arctica.

So there you have it. Yet another pointless retirement pastime that gives me pleasure and satisfaction.