The night before Halloween

That is the amazing scar you too can have if you keep on smoking. CB will be the first to tell you that it just ain't worth it.

The ceremonial mohawk done by the nephew who still smokes. (She did not keep it that way:)

CB and Sho, the happy couple!

Kasim is on the left and Kaliff, my bed pal is on the right.

Over 700 balloons at the 2005 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

My friend Carrie is packing her bag one last time after an incredible weekend at the SouthEast Alaska State Fair in Haines. The woman to the right is Pamela, a deaf woman that I met while riding the ferry. She happened to be from Juneau and took it upon herself to guide us around the entire day to all the sites, something we never could have done in ten hours on our own, and at the end of the day she drove us to our departing airplane:)

I will definitely be back soon
:)

Hoot is my favorite bird at the raptor center. she is a 17 year old barred owl and she is gorgeous. sorry that I couldn't catch her face, but she understands humans very well and likes to play games with photographers. In other words, instead of her face, you got a glimpse of her personality:) 

Ella and I:) 

Oliver is a golden eagle. He came to the center to live as a resident bird after crashing into a power line in Oregon and getting electrocuted. He is missing most of his right wing and can't fly at all, but he is still quite intimidating. Golden eagles have bone crushing capability with their talons and Oliver has taken out more than one crow who tried to steal his food and, many years ago, sent a juvenile bald eagle to our clinic when they stumbled into his enclosure. 

this is how I spend my Saturdays in Sitka. Today, I am working with Ella, a bald eagle who has lived at the center for about six months and is most likely at least 26 years old. 

the water

Just think calm

the old people here look twenty years younger than they should. Water has no reason for boundaries; in the water everything is vulnerable. Except the animals with shells. Maybe I will sleep in the woods tonight. I am here, where I want to be.
(m)