funny pictures from polar plunge

A friend (who didn't jump in the polar plunge) sent a couple of pictures that she took.  In the first one you can see Steve is pretty much the last one in the water, and that I was holding my nose, which I never do! 

In this one you can see the guys in the water counting us to make sure we all came back up.  Look at the girl on the bottom right's face - that's Molly - she has a great "Holy Crap" expression on her face!  I must have been wiping the water off my face...or playing peek-a-boo.

short (painful) walk at the beach

Sunday the sun peaked out for a bit and we went to the beach to enjoy it.  The clouds lifted high enough to see some of the mountains around us. 

Unfortunately, shortly after arriving, I slipped down some metal stairs (Steve had the dog - she didn't pull me) and landed hard on my wrist.  I think I slid down about 4-5 stairs before stopping.  My wrist and hand hurt something fierce, so eventually I decided to go get it checked out at Urgent Care.  Luckily, the doc on call didn't think anything was broken from the x-rays (apparently some of the small bones are hard to see).  I bruised the 'thumb pad' part of my palm pretty badly though, and that's what's making it hard to move today.  As long as it doesn't still hurt really bad in a few days, I'm in the clear and won't need an MRI.  Already the swelling has gone down a lot and it's getting better.  Today though I am feeling all the other bruises I acquired on the way down - ouch.  Also very fortunately - I somehow didn't smash my camera when I fell. 

Well that was cold...

Steve and I and 5 other friends participated in a Polar Plunge on Saturday.  It wasn't for any cause or to raise money, it was a random student activity and about 33 people showed up to jump into Auke Bay and get a t-shirt to prove it.  And yes, you had to jump to get the shirt.  There were three rescue personnel in the water (in dry suits) while groups of 5-10 jumped at a time.  They were very thorough - counting the number in each group as we shivered on the pier (air temp was actually pretty warm, about 40F, a bit of a breeze though), just to make sure we all made it out of the water.  We had to jump off the side of the pier then swim back up the boat launch ramp to get out.  It seemed like a long ways to swim, but it was probably less than 50 feet.  I don't know the exact water temperature, but it was probably 34-38 degrees.  We counted to three and jumped in.  Steve said he was dreading it and was the last to jump, knowing it would be painfully cold.  I didn't think it through at all, in the back of my head I sort of figured it would be cold, but hadn't really thought about what that would mean.  I think I was unprepared for just how cold it would be and how much that shock would hamper my brain from thinking clearly.

In hindsight, I'm glad we did it, because practically speaking, I know now how I'd react if I ever fell overboard into icy cold water, and it's not good!  First, shock:  COLD!  gasping for air and swallowing a mouthfull of seawater, then surprise at the fact that it was salty, that surprise sticks in my head.  Duh, it's salty, it's the ocean.  Again, I think my failure to think it all through was bad.  Then we had to swim, which seemed unduly difficult and my arms didn't want to respond to my brain saying 'move!'.  The guys in the dry suits at some point said "Ok, swim up the ramp!" I definitely needed that prompt to remember what I was supposed to do.  I was sort of flailing along until Steve came past me on my right and seeing him made something click and I started swimming for real.  Everything was numb as we all made it out of the water, the sharp crushed shells and rocks littering the pier no longer hurt my feet, they were too numb to feel anything.  I remember thinking that that was nice (not feeling anything on my feet), because it had really hurt to walk barefoot down the pier over all the sharp things.  Oddly, I never got goose bumps.  I wonder if you can be too cold to get them?  We took really hot showered back home, but it took me a couple of hours to really warm up again.  I'd do it again.  I wish we had a video of it, because what was only seconds in real time felt like minutes in my head! 

Us, pre-jump.  We look like drowned rats in the 'after' pictures, so I'm not going to post them!

Eagles

Lots of eagles around here.  You can see them all over, but particularly at the dump. So poetic. 

Finally - sunshine!!

Ugh, it's been cloudy and raining for about the last two weeks, and finally today - SUN!  At least for a bit.  I don't know if it's supposed to be partly sunny all day, but if I didn't have classes today I would absolutely be outside hiking. 

Sorry ladies, this one is taken...

Check out Steve’s new (old) leather jacket, straight out of 1970 and hot off the rack at the Salvation Army.  Isn’t it…great?  Now all he needs is a mustache and some retro sunglasses.  Oh, the good news…it was 50% off.  So only $12.50 for this awesomeness.

Visiting scientist

This week at the school there was a scientist, Dr. Phil Levine, from Seattle in town to give a guest seminar.  Actually, we have a guest speaker come to the lab every Friday afternoon, but they’re usually more local speakers, so it was a bit special that we had someone from the lower 48.  He was in town for a few days, so there were time slots set up for people to meet with him one-on-one Thursday, a potluck dinner following the seminar on Friday, then several of us met for a hike at the Glacier on Saturday morning.  Naturally, it was raining, so he got the full Juneau experience.  He had been in Fairbanks earlier in the week to give the same talk up there and mentioned that he was really disappointed about the weather there during his stay.  He said was really hoping it would be bitterly cold in Fairbanks, like -40 or -50, so he could say he’d experienced it.  Sadly, it was a balmy 3 degrees in Fairbanks while he was there...Bummer.  

It bounced between rain and drizzle during the walk to the Glacier.  Not bad, but hard weather for taking photos.  BUT, the best part – we saw two mountain goats up on the cliffs between Nugget Falls and the glacier!  That’s the first time we’ve seen them here in Juneau.  My camera lens was a bit wet and foggy, so my photos aren’t terribly clear.

Who needs groundhogs?

A friend found this article and it made me laugh so I thought I'd share...Add this to the "Only in Alaska..." collection.  :)

Porcupine Stands in for Marmot on Groundhog Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 03, 2013|By KTUU News Staff | Channel 2 News

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
PORTAGE, Alaska — Thanks to the Alaska State Legislature, Alaska celebrates Marmot Day on February 2, which is the Alaska version of Groundhog Day.

This year, Snickers, a porcupine, stood in for Alaska’s furry ground squirrel at a celebration in Portage at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.

AWWC says, like his Punxsutawney cousin, the "prickly favorite" did not see his shadow, which means an early spring.

Sen. Linda Menard, R-Wasilla, sponsored the bill in 2009 and former Governor Sarah Palin signed Marmot Day into law and it became an Alaskan tradition with the first celebration in 2010.

Whoa-February here already

It's been a while since I've posted anything.  Partly that's because we've been busy doing things that aren't very photogenic, like running errands and cleaning the Irv, and huddling inside while it's been alternating between very cold and blustery and warm(er) with rain.  The picture above was on the cold and blustery day, but taken on the sheltered side of the bay.  The sun looks like it should be providing some warmth, but it was an illusion only.  This is what it looked like on the other side...and it was so cold my fingers were cramping up after just one picture!

 Luckily Seca doesn't mind the cold and was happy to romp around on the walk.

But the other problem with the weather here is that when it's pouring rain for days on end, it's hard to make yourself get out and hike outdoors.  We did break out the camera and head downtown this past weekend.  We hit up the local Salvation Army thrift store to see if there was anything fun for sale and Steve found (but didn't buy) a straight-out-of-the-1970s tan leather sport coat.  It fit him perfectly.  After much agonizing over the price ($25) he decided to not buy it, but vowed to go back next weekend.  If it still there on Saturday, he's going to get it.  Someone please go hide/buy it before we go back! 

Downtown Juneau on a rainy Saturday.  We wandered around with the dog, then stopped to buy coffee as a warm-up before heading back home. 

And of course being Superbowl Sunday yesterday, Steve made his specialty taco dip for the party we attended.  Do they actually use black olives in Mexico?  I doubt it.  Tasty dip though!