I Did It Again!

Woke up early and began playing around with the blog. Now the colors are all different! Dark to go with my darker nights up here.

We have a dusting of snow this morning and the Christmas tunes are in the iPod!

I like listening to the story of Jesus Christ coming as a Babe. He is my willing Savior.

Out Of Hiding

The moose are out of hiding now. We have been watching four moose across the lake in our neighbors yard. Our neighbor has a lot of land. He did cat work and made an airstrip which he then hauled topsoil in and grew a beautiful lawn. The moose come to nibble on his grass.

There was a cow with a calf and a bull and possibly another bull. It was not a big moose but the cow was busy trying to chase it off. I think it must have been her older calf. The vanquished moose just stays out of the way but has not left yet.

Here's some video of those moose, but the one hiding in the trees didn't get into the video. Isn't that sort of sad? Chasing away your offspring? Awwwwww, that is so sad, but necessary in the wilds, I guess. :-(

My Buddy

Life is a book that we study,
Some of its leaves bring a sigh.
There it was written, my buddy,
That we must part, you and I.

Nights are long since you went away,
I think about you all through the day,
My buddy, my buddy, no buddy quite so true.
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,
Just long to know that you understand,
My buddy, my buddy, your buddy misses you.

Buddies through all the gay days,
Buddies when something went wrong;
I wait alone through the gray days,
Miss your smile and your song.

Nights are long since you went away,
I think about you all through the day,
My buddy, my buddy, no buddy quite so true.
Miss your voice, the touch of your hand,
Just long to know that you understand,
My buddy, my buddy, your buddy misses you.

Gus Kahn

The Swans Stopped By Again

"O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen - even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!" Psalm 8

The Trumpeter Swans stopped by this morning, beautiful and elegant birds. In the early 1900's they were considered endangered. Biologists then said that only 69 trumpeter swans were known to exist in the wild. Back then it was not known that Alaska had these large, white birds too. People in the Lower 48 had been hunting them so extensively for their meat and feathers any further hunting of swans was prohibited.

In 1990 the census of this graceful bird indicated that over 13,000 trumpeters are in Alaska (80% of the world's population) and their numbers continue to increase. Today some of the increase decided to fly in and grace our lake view. I hurried down to bring them some of our bread.

One of them didn't take too kindly that I was close to her/his babies and began to hiss at me while walking out of the water - even with Chevy sitting right there. Now --- that is one brave parent!

The swans stop by here in early spring on their way up to the top of Alaska, which I call the North Slope regions of Alaska. They raise their young there and then while on their way back South they will stop by once more.

During the winter months they hang out along coastal waters from Cordova, Alaska to the Columbia River in Washington State. (Information is from Alaska Department of Fish and Game.)

Good bye Beautiful Swans! See you all again next spring, if God should tarry.

Whoopin' It Up!

Pertussis has been making its rounds up here in Alaska. My brother Don and his wife are just getting over it but Edna, Don's wife is still battling with the very overwhelming whooping cough. My youngest brother Mark had it after attending a conference in Kodiak where he believes he was exposed to the bacterial infection.

Whooping Cough Cases Climb in Alaska. Medpage Today (From 2005) "The incidence of pertussis is four times higher in the state this year than in 2004, including a rise among adults, although improved diagnostic specificity may explain some of it."

Whooping cough made the news here in Alaska in 2006. It showed up in an eight week old baby girl from a Southwest village. I remember this is about the same time our little Raegan Mae was sick and Karla was concerned she may have the whooping cough. She was checked out to be okay. Tundra Medicine Dreams did a great write about this outbreak in our coastal village.

I thought that "the hundred day cough" was eradicated in the United States. Apparently not, since I've read several sites claiming an outbreak of this sickness in recent years, with each following year the disease is increasingly reported.

The illness, caused by a bacterial infection, is characterized by coughing spells lasting several seconds. The coughing fits are followed by a "whooping" sound as the person struggles to inhale and may cause vomiting or choking.

Whooping cough can last for weeks and lead to pneumonia and seizures. It is most dangerous in infants and young children. From (www.schsa.org) Stanislaus County Health Services Agency.

Whooping Cough No Cause For Alarm - Mount Mercy Times, A Student Publication (PDF file). "Most people are vaccinated against the disease as children, but the immunization usually wears off by adulthood. Adults and unvaccinated children can harbor the pertussis bacteria for up to three weeks before showing symptoms."

From April 3, 2007, Study Finds Parents Pass Whooping Cough to Babies, The New York Times. A collection of whooping cough information, including New Booster Vaccine Urged To Fight Whooping Cough.

Whooping cough is most contagious before the coughing begins. Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for information about the pertussis vaccination and booster vaccination for adults.

After doing some study on this disease I disagree with whomever wrote the article "Whooping Cough No Cause For Alarm," because this cough is something no one should get! It sounds horrible and it begins as a common cold/sore throat then progresses to the violent cough. One is treated with antibiotics in an effort to get rid of it. See from this picture of the child how violent the cough can be even causing broken blood vessels under the eyes.

Hopefully Mom was not exposed to pertussis, I would hate for her to get so sick with coughing.

Please pray that this cough was not passed on to Mom and also pray for my brother Don's wife Edna. She is still struggling with this and is not well yet. Don and Edna have a Christian ministry with the Native peoples of Alaska and work with them via the Anchorage Native New Life Fellowship in Anchorage.

And remember, wash your hands and one should stay home if not well.