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Monthly Archives: October 2021

Thru Ellen’s Lens: The Brown Bears of Katmai, Alaska

13 Wednesday Oct 2021

Posted by Richard in Escapes and Pleasures

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Brooks Falls, Brown Bears, Gulf of Alaska, Katmai National Park, Kulik River, Mount Denali, Natural Habitat Adventures, Northern Lights, Prince William Sound, Talkeetna, Whittier

Ellen and I recently returned to Alaska where we had not been for more than 15 years. We had been in this wonderful part of our country at least four previous times, starting when our daughters were quite young. For us, it has been and continues to be mesmerizing-captivating-enthralling-breathtaking-extraordinary. Definitely one of our favorite parts of this country.

This trip was a combination of six days with the NatHab Adventures group and five days on our own. We started out in Anchorage, visiting a new friend who has lived there for many years and spent the better part of our first day meandering through the Chugash mountain range enjoying the blue skies, clear air, crisp temperatures, and a beautiful drive outside of the city.

The first evening we met our NatHab leader and the eight other members of the group, half of whom were serious photographers (as in more serious than Ellen) and far more knowledgeable than we were about brown bears. We flew an hour and half southwest to the Alaska Peninsula and the small town of King Salmon, pretty much at the beginning of the Aleutian Islands.

For each of the next four days we flew by float plane into the Katmai Natural Park, Brooks Falls, and an even more isolated area on the Kulik River. The object was to photograph and observe the brown bears as they captured the remaining salmon before the long winter ahead. Each day we spent 5-6 hours (in temperatures hovering around the low forties) waiting and watching, watching and waiting. Imagine the clicks of the serious photographers when these wild creatures appeared. (We didn’t have to wait long at any point.)

The seven pictures below are from this part of the trip, and a longer slide show can be accessed from the link at the bottom of this post.

(There will be a second post, probably not for a couple of weeks, from the remaining part of our trip to Whittier and Prince William Sound on the Gulf of Alaska, Mount Denali, and Talkeetna, where for three nights Ellen was learning how to photograph the night sky and the Northern Lights).

To see Ellen’s 47 photo slide show of our time with the brown bears, use this link: Alaska and the Katmai Brown Bears.

For the best viewing, click on the little arrow at the top right of the first page of the link to start the slide show. If the slide show appears to start in the middle, scroll to the top of the page where you’ll see the little arrow in a box. Click on it.

See all the photos in the largest size possible (use a laptop or desktop computer if you have access to either). They are much sharper, and the larger format presents them in much more detail than the ones above or if you only look at the opening page of the slide show.

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What Happens Next Doesn’t Matter

06 Wednesday Oct 2021

Posted by Richard in Go Sox

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

2021 Wild Card Game, Aaron Judge, Alex Cora, Boston Red Sox, Langiappe, New York Yankees, Red Sox, Sox, Wild Card, Xander Bogaerts, Yankees

Whatever happens in the MLB playoffs from this morning forward is OK with me. The Sox don’t have to win the ALDS, the ALCS, or the World Series.

I kid you not.

That my beloved Sox came from last place in the 2020-shortened 24-46 (.400) season to this year’s 92-70 (.568) and a decisive Wild Card win last night is satisfying enough.

Of course, I’d be delighted if they go further into the 2021 playoffs and (unlikely) get to the World Series and even win it for the fifth time in the last 17 years.

But I’m not expecting it. Nor do I hunger for it.

In 2018 I wrote a post on MillersTime entitled For Me, The Sox Don’t HAVE to Win the World Series. A number of you took exception to that article, but much like this year, the fact that the Sox made it to the WS then was satisfying. After all, the long nightmare (86 years) had ended with their WS win in 2004. No longer did I have to hear or think about “Wait ‘Til Next Year.”

So whatever happens against the Rays and any further playoff games would be a langiappe, the Cajun-French noun that means “a little extra.”

And as for last night’s victory over the Yankees, that came in the best way possible.

It was a total team victory: good pitching (Eovaldi was at his best and the bullpen was equally lights out; good hitting (starting with Bogaert’s two run HR in the first); good defense (led by Hernandez, Bogaert, and Plawecki’s throwing Judge out at home to squash a Yankee comeback); good coaching and managing (Cora made all the right moves in this one), and a fan base that kept Fenway Park loud and in support of the Sox.

PS – Although I doubt it made a significant difference, on Sunday, the Yankees had to choose whether they would want to play in Boston or Toronto. They chose Boston. The Sox knew of that decision.

PSS – I have to admit that for most of the time last night, I did not enjoy the game. Given my long obsession (70+ years) with the Sox and how that had left me with “if something bad can happen to the Sox, it will”, I kept a rein on my emotions and only after the final out was I able to breathe normally.

That’s kinda sad, I know.

But it’s all part of being a Sox fan.

2021 was a much better year for my heroes than anyone, anyone, anyone had predicted or expected.

And the fact that they won the Wild Card game over the Yankees was also a langiappe.

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