". . . and the pursuit of happiness."

Folks, let's remember that life isn't just about keeping up with every tweet and facebook post or hearing the minute details of every shooting or every insult from Trump before anyone else hears it.

Yes, we need to stay informed so we can take the actions citizens of a democracy need to take to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but we don't have to do that ALL the time.  Or we won't have time to live that life, take advantage of that liberty, and find that happiness.


We can take breaks and marvel at the amazing world around us. We can explore the amazing gills of an amanita mushroom closely

Then turn it over and look at the top.

Enjoy the beauty of a pair of red dianthus.

We can take pleasure in the things my mom collected that were light enough to pack home and that we can use, like this insect blocker as we put out food on the deck for a dinner on a delightful Alaskan evening.  It was still wrapped and sealed.  But my mom saw it somewhere and thought it would come in handy.  And it does.  Though the insects haven't been nearly as bad this summer as in the past.

So get away from those computers and smart phones and go natural for a while.  Talk to the people around you about what makes you happy.  Breathe the clean air.  Ride a bike.  Bake a bread.

Shaggy Manes Pop Up And Campbell Creek Rises

The big storm didn't quite materialize, at least in our part of town. There was enough wind to move the leaves around, but not enough that we heard it like last week.

And it's raining sometimes harder, sometimes barely a drizzle. I took advantage of a lull to bike over to someone's house where I found a bunch of shaggy mane mushrooms.  These are very distinctive mushroom that I know is safe and tasty. 

They weren't as excited about the mushrooms as I was and gave me a plastic bag.  I picked a few. 




While I was out I checked on Campbell Creek.  It was up above its banks a bit, but nothing serious.  At the two spots I checked.  Though later I learned that a friend whose house is next to the creek had nine cottonwoods down in his yard.

The winds did stir last night.  The trees are dancing gently to the beat this morning.  Predictions are for rain until Thursday.  

 The mushrooms, by the way, were delicious. 

A Slice of Wednesday in Anchorage

This isn't even everything I ended up doing, but it's a few snapshots of some things that were happening in Anchorage yesterday.

An Alaska Common Ground committee was planning for their September 18 public forum on Corrections at the Bagel Factory. 

Someone lost their cockatiel. 

New Student orientation tours were happening at UAA.

Senator Ted Stevens was memorialized at the Anchorage Baptist Temple. 

Some bicyclist were enjoying the sun at Goose Lake.

As was a grebe.

Even this amanita found a little sun.

The UAA Masters of Public Administration (MPA) program had a reception for new students.

A family rode their bikes for pizza at the mall on East Tudor.

And this bull moose strolled along the perimeter of McLaughlin Youth facility.  (I know, I already put him in, but this is a different picture.)

Twenty Eight Days of Rain, But Who's Counting?

The Anchorage Daily News calls it "Anchorage's meteorological misery streak" which set a record of 28 days of measurable rain in a row.  But the moss and mushrooms are thriving. 

Identifying mushrooms, except for the few I know for sure, is always iffy.  Even with my Audubon Field Guide.  This appears to be a polypore, but that's as precise as I think I can get.  There's a penny in the lower right to give you a sense of scale.  Maybe we can call this the catcher's mitt mushroom.

This is a concrete step in our yard.  The little mushroom in the lower left is the one in the pictures below.

This is a blackish-red russula with a white stem as opposed to the rosy russula which has a pink stem.  Someone's been lunching on this one.

This mushroom is past its prime and naturally recycling. 

As our front yard raspberry patch goes through a period of serious decline, our backyard raspberries are making a resurgence. 

There is something called a cup mushroom, but I think this one is simply old and its cap has curved up as it decays. 

And here's a very fine spider web, low to the ground that seems to be capturing more moisture than mosquitoes. 

And all over Anchorage the amanitas are popping up and offering some color. 

Mushroom Run

After I finally put up a post about all the rain on Saturday, the sun was out Sunday.  So I really had no more excuses for not doing a run.  Besides, I figured there'd be lots of mushrooms. 

There were.   This one looked like a golf ball on the moss. 

They were all over the place but I was supposed to be running so I limited my stops to take pictures to within ten feet of the trail.

This one was just emerging.

This one is clearly a young amanita before it opens and looks like a pizza.






















I'm not sure what made these markings, but they rubbed off, so they weren't part of the mushroom itself. 

Here you can see these mushrooms all over the place.  Those white spots in the back left is a long line of mushrooms too.

And while most attention is on road construction during the summer, at least one of the bike trails got new surfacing as well.  This is along Northern Lights just east of Goose Lake. 

Rainy Summer

We had about double our normal July rain.  But it isn't about how much rain we get - double means a little over 3" for the month.  Parts of Iowa had 3-5 inches in 24 hours in June and in Jamangar in India's Gujarat state, almost 3 inches fell in 2 hours in July.  But in Anchorage that 3 inches was spread out over most of the month.  So, how many days of rain is as important to know as total inches.  

And August has been much the same.  But nevertheless, my nasturtiums are starting to bloom.  And we've had breaks in the clouds.

And, of course, rain means mushrooms.  Best as I can tell, these are a kind of coral fungus growing in our yard.  The biggest are under two inches.  My Audubon Field Guide to North American Mushrooms  (the link goes to a cool section of the book with mushroom silhouettes that make it easier to find the mushrooms) says:

Coral fungi resemble pieces of underwater coral, and are club-shaped to many-branched, white to yellow, ochre, orange, pink, red, or purple.  Most grow on the ground, some on logs and stumps, and all seem to be most plentiful in late summer and fall in coniferous woods.  Many coral fungi are eaten and, although a few are known to cause a laxative effect or gastric upset, no serious poisonings have been reported. 

So, when I got a call asking if I wanted to meet a friend on the Coastal Trail, I jumped at the chance.  But even the ducks were trying to get out of the rain.

I don't recall doing this trail by bike in the rain before.  It's a little less crowded and it felt good to ride.


Since he had started at Kincaid, and I started at home, we met up around Pt. Woronzof and then went back (for me) toward downtown.













The trail is what is sometimes called a multi-use trail. It goes right near the north-south runway at the airport and you're sharing the trail with 747's. 

JL saw a moose and two calves between Kincaid and Pt. Woronzof.  I saw Sandhill Cranes out of the mudflats.

Resurrection Trail Flowers, Mushrooms, Bugs Near Hope

My book club met this weekend in Hope.  I'll post on that later, but on the way home I checked out the first mile and a half of the Resurrection Trail which I haven't been on for years.  Here are some of the things I saw.

As much as I encourage biking, I'm not amused by bikes that leave ruts on trails.  Even without bikes here, there are muddy spots.  But the bikes make it much worse. 

Monk's Hood

I'm assuming this is a type of puffball. 

Devil's Club

Some sort of fly on the tiny yarrow flowers.

Do I need to say this is a fireweed flower?  Well, not everyone knows.

And here's my dirty windshield with Alaska in the background.  

Headed north toward Portage.  There wasn't a lot of blue, but some.