Tank

 

Tank with kids soon after arrival in 2013 - immediate hit with family!

Tank died on Tuesday and it has been a hard few days.  He has been a part of the family since March 2013 and we desperately miss him.  Every morning even Brewster has been looking around for Tank.  Tank is the happiest dog I've ever known and his happiness was infectious. He'd just stare at you with happy eyes and it would make you feel good. And I think he too fed off of our happiness.  There was nothing quite like the Tankie trot as he lead out in front of you on a hike - hard to describe but the back legs pistonned up and down and his tail went back and forth, and everything wobbled side to side. His 4 legged happiness trot.

The good thing is that he never had to be unhappy because of his health.  This Fall we did notice that he was slowing down and I suspected something like cancer, but it had not really effected him yet.  He was still climbing mountains up until last week.  And on Tuesday he was doing the Tankie 'two step' dance for his food in the morning.  But in the afternoon he did not want his food and he collapsed when we took him for his walk.  We took him immediately to the vet and found out that he had a cancer on his spleen that had burst inside of him - there was nothing we could do.  

Good old Tank.  He loved to sleep by Stuey's head and Stuey would use him as a pillow.  At night he loved to put his head by mine and I could hear him wheezing.   When Aubrey first picked him up for us at the Anchorage Walmart he smelled of cigarette smoke.  Nora had found him on Craig's List (click here for blogpost) - a family in Stirling was moving to the lower 48, and the family grandparents drove him to Anchorage for pickup.  I always wondered how a family could have willingly parted from Tank.  And it was clear that he had been well-loved even before he joined our family.  

On arrival he did not even know how to swim!  And at Abercrombie he was frightened to cross over the walking bridges.  The first couple times he ran around them.  And we had to teach him how to swim - the first time he just splashed vertically in the water and sank!  But he came to love water, and one of his favorite activities was fetching sticks thrown out in the water.

We miss him but he will always be in our hearts.

Patrick

Tank on his last climb on Pyramid with Stuey in late October 2020

September 2020 berry picking trip on Pyramid

Tank on an alpine lake last Friday - his last long hike

Last picture I ever took of Tank - Pillar Mountain Saturday evening

My first picture with Tank - still smelling go cigarette smoke - at Aubrey's house in Anchorage March 2013

Tank protecting Stuey from the night demons - 2013

The original black pack - Roxy (closest), Tank (far), and Jake - March 2013

Tank and Roxy at Abercrombie - March 2013

Tank and Stuey - Heaven on Earth 2013

Brewster and Tank - 2019

Happy dog on Abercrombie walk with Brewster

Tank just a hanging on my lap - the 'belly up' pose

The black pack 'remix' - Tank, Sheba and Jake

Final pack - Brewster, Tank and Sheba

Early days - Jake and Tank on a Spruce Cape hike

Skiing with the pack on Pyramid

Begging for leftovers at a firepit barbecue

Fetch! Sheba, Tank and Jake

Brewster, Sheba and Tank

Ice AND snow

 

Sunday morning I woke up to almost 2 inches of unexpected snow on the lawn.  Nora called immediately and asked if we were going to go skiing.  But of course!

Unfortunately, it turned out that the highest snow totals were pretty much where I live at the north end of town.  It was 'ocean effect' snow brought to land on a cold north wind - moist air turning to snow over cold land.  Out at Bells Flats they did not get any snow.  So clearly not enough snow to go downhill skiing in the mountains, but just enough snow to go cross country skiing at the golf course.

And since they did not get snow out at Bells Flats there is still good ice for skating.  So on Sunday we got to do the 'surf and turf' double header.  Go cross country skiing on land and ice skating on water.  Patrick

Afternoon Sunshine

 

Still not enough snow on high for downhill skiing, but we do have ice and at least it has not been raining!  I've been getting out in the afternoon to skate and hike, and have noticed that sunset is now remarkably early.  I know that we 'Fall Back' an hour when we go off daylight savings, but it still does come as a shock when suddenly it is dark by 5:30.  These days sunset is before 5 - so if you want to get out and catch the sunshine, you got to get out there early in the afternoon. 

I love Fall sunshine.  So golden and warm.  The sun is always low on the horizon.  It is great light for photography.  It seems like from about 3PM on it is one continuous sunset.  Patrick

Orthodox Church at dawn on was to work

I took this picture before 4PM and you can still see the car headlights on the road

More skating with Stuey

We've been doing a lot of skating lately.  It did warm up after the last cold snap but it has been just cold enough  that we have not lost our ice.

At the beginning of the warm snap when it had just started to rain, Stuey and I went skating to 'catch the last of the ice' before it melted.  We did not actually intend to skate in the rain, but it started to rain while we were driving to the pond.  The water on the black ice made it seem like we were 'walking on water' - you could not see the ice.

The warm weather has melted the ice down low.  So yesterday Stuey and I climbed up to the alpine and went skating on a small pond.  The ice was excellent - smooth and fast.  We played tag.

Patrick

November

Ahh November - and on Kodiak that means not Fall but not yet Winter either.  We had our cold snap and then it warmed up.  Clearly no snow anywhere either.  It's the month where Winter tantalizes us but never quite does anything.  Then sometime in December winter will finally arrive.  Hopefully.

But for now I am happy with ice and low slanting sunlight.  November light is gorgeous.  Also all the vegetation is down and so the hiking is much much better than it was even a month ago.  November 'aint winter but it is still a whole lot better than July!

Patrick

 

Garden Harvested

 

These pictures are from before last week's cold snap.  I barely got my carrots out of the ground before it froze. I got back from my Saltery Cove survey and the next day it got cold.  But I did not get around to digging the carrots.  Then on Friday night it froze hard and I thought I had left it too late.  There was a crust of frozen dirt in the carrot patch.  But once I pulled a few the rest came out - carrots saved!  And good thing too because there were a lot of carrots to harvest.  I filled up 2 5 gallon buckets with carrots.  I think that might be the most I have ever harvested at the end of the season.

This year I also harvested a wheelbarrow full of potatoes and 51 heads of garlic.  So it was a good year.  Just before the cold snap I picked all the lettuce too.  This past week Stuey and I have been having a garden salad every day, and the lettuce I picked got us through yesterday.  So from now on it will have to be Safeway lettuce, but topped with homegrown carrots!

Patrick