Paper Bears

I'm not at all stoked about shooting real bears, but paper bears... well, that's something I can get in to! I've spent the past two days in the National Park Service bear awareness/shotgun certification course. All day today was spent on the shooting range, getting used to 12-gauges, learning how to clean them, and firing off tons of rounds. I actually shot pretty well - nice tight groupings all day long! Many thanks to Scott for his patience and good spirits, this was one of the best gun certification courses I've been through!

Springtime in Alaska

Ahhh... spring.  It's finally here!  Plants in the garden are coming up, time to take the feeders down and just enjoy the birds in the trees.  I'm continuing to develop my novice birder skills, trying to ID by sight/sound the birds I've run into so far.  Here are my favorites from this spring:

• ruby-crowned kinglets (lots!)
• yellow-rumped warblers (one pair many times)
• scaups (greater or lesser, I couldn't tell)
• varied thrush

The weather in southcentral AK has been amazing lately.  The cottonwoods are like perfume right now, intoxicating, and I love it.  They draw you out of doors, convince you to leave your books and computer behind to play in the sunshine with friends.  I wonder how people in continuously nice climates get anything done?

greatest email footer ever

I never have footers on my emails.  You know, those one to two line, favorite quote ever footers.   I tend to get a little annoyed at the one's referencing love, kindness, and puppy dogs (I'm sure you've seen them) but to each his own.  Anyways, this is one of the best I've ever seen, from Professor McCallum at Texas A&M.

1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea"   W.S. Gilbert
1990's:  Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution.
2000:  Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations.
2022: Soylent Green is People