Traveling with Ellen

For the past 4 weeks, I have been watching this little boy on the playground and he puts all sorts of bowls and pails on his head.  He was never in my class.  This week, I moved to another classroom, where the teacher is fairly useless and demanding to her assistant and the intern.  The child to adult ratio is 10 to 1 in Alaska.  She always manages to have 21 in her room so that she has 3 people.  Sometimes, she has 4!  Anyway, I still love the kids.  They are all unique and individual!!! Today, when I went to work it was 46 degrees.  At noon (when we went out on the playground) it was 54 degrees.  They have an plexiglass wall for painting and it was dirty so the teacher put out easel washing and I took a few pictures.

Today I went birdwatching at Lake Hood.  It was a beautiful day with the sun shining bright but the temperature was only 59 F. and the winds were blowing strong.   Lake Hood  is the local place for float planes.  Anchorage Montessori is right in the flight plan of Lake Hood.  When we were there today we kept seeing signs that said something like don't go near the water, this is a aerodrome area.  Neither Eleanor nor I knew what that meant so I had to dictionary.com it and this is what it said:  "a landing field for airplanes that has extensive buildings, equipment shelters".  In other words, it is a water air strip. The only birds we saw were airplanes and not very many seabirds.  I couldn't get a shot at the seabirds because they were too far away but Eleanor did. Here is what I saw: Lake Hood Seaplanes Coming in for a landing Wildflowers This plane couldn't get off the ground Couldn't...

Today I met Eleanor at the Botanical Gardens  and had a really nice afternoon.  We walked around the gardens and it was fun to see the new plants that are native to Alaska as well as plants from my childhood thru early adulthood in New York.  Since I moved the North Carolina, I had some childhood memory plants that I couldn't grow, especially in Charlotte.   The one tree I loved growing up was the lilac bush.  I could never grow it in Charlotte but once I moved to the foothills, I could grow it again.  I now have two Lilac bushes in my NC home.  Lilacs are abundant here in Alaska as well as beautiful and fragrant.  They are finally going out of bloom here. I took a bunch of pictures.                                                                        ...

Today, I had off work and decided to go birding.  I wanted a short day trip and not to be gone too long because I need a rest.  I went to Potter Marsh: Potter Marsh Wildlife Viewing Potter Marsh, at the southern end of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, is an ideal break from Anchorage for birders and other wildlife viewers. From the Seward Highway just before the left turn into the Potter Marsh parking lot, you are treated to a stunning view of Turnagain Arm. A wooden boardwalk winds 1,550 feet from the parking area through the marsh and across watery openings and sedges, perfect habitat for a rich variety of birds. From late April through September, Canada geese, northern pintails, canvasback ducks, red-necked phalaropes, horned and red-necked grebes, and northern harriers use this wetland. Look for eagle nests in the cottonwoods near the base of the bluff using binoculars or a spotting scope. Eagles have a sharp sense of sight and can see at least four times bette...