First feeders, first photos

Is that the face of a storm trooper?

It snowed most of the way home from Roger Waters' film "The Wall" in Anchorage last night, but not around the house. It did snow here a little overnight and there was enough residue this morning to spur some action on the feeder front and I filled and put out two feeders.

Red-breasted nuthatch.

Mind you I haven't seen a bird around here in about two weeks at least. Drove to town for some errands and when I got home both feeders were crowded with black-capped chickadees and red-breasted nuthatches. The sun peeked out and lighted up the yellow leaves left in the trees so it seemed like time to fool around with that new lens. After wrestling with a new lighter tripod that refused to do what I wanted it to, I went and got my old reliable and set about making magic. About then a woodpecker flew over and I chased him back into the woods by never did see him again.

The chickadees and nuthatches were much more agreeable and I think I managed to pull off some interesting photos at the same time experimenting with the lens to make sure I can use it the way it is supposed to be used.

Female pine grosbeak at twilight

Later in the day a female pine grosbeak showed up and that shot of her was handheld and through a window, but at the shorter end of the zoom lens. The lens does have an image stabilizer, but that was turned off for the tripod work and by the time I thought of it, the bird had departed.

Anyway, a pleasant day to get out in the sun and mess around a little.

It's about all those pine grosbeaks in the neighborhood

The invasion of the redpolls is on

Birds and boys

Owl be seeing you in the polar vortex

The ghosts of Candle's Fairhaven

Fairhaven Hospital in Candle, Alaska. Copyright ©Joe May

I'm trying something new for this blog, a guest post. I have known Joe May for 35 years. I first met him when I was working on my first book, The Last Great Race, and his candor with me was a big part of what made that book much better than it might have been. That was during the 1979 race and the next year he won. Later on he officiated in several races. Most of us who have followed the sled dog race trails and spent time in one of the historic buildings along the way have felt something like this. What follows here is Joe's experience during the All-Alaska Sweepstakes, the 100^th anniversary of the Nome-to-Candle race in 2008. – Tim

By Joe May

I worked as Race Judge at Candle on the 2008 centennial running of the All Alaska Sweepstakes ...  the most enjoyable race I've ever been involved with. Rummaging through old notebooks tonight I came upon a photo and caption that I wrote but never used. Belated as it is, it seemed too good not to share.

Candle, Alaska, 2008

Built at the beginning of the 20th century, it stands resolute, square, and unadorned–like the miners who built it. Constructed of salvaged barge timbers, it stands apart from a gaggle of crumbling cabins on a hillside above the Kiwalik River – as if in quarantine. The linoleum in the pantry is stamped 1902 – as would be the cornerstone of any important building in New York, Paris, or London.

Much of the history in its walls is as lost to time as is the gold from the nearby creeks and the men who dug it. Left behind is an aura, a vacuum, that susceptible minds easily fill with ghosts and shades from Candle's past – the moilers and mushers of Jack London and Robert Service.

Race officials, vets, checkers, timekeepers, and a cook used the old hospital as a bunkhouse and HQ for the half-way checkpoint of the 2008 All Alaska Sweepstakes centennial race. The Fagerstrom and Sherman families, owners of the property and seasonal residents of Candle, had volunteered to help with the race. Peggy Fagerstrom and Mike Sherman, siblings and Alaska Natives with roots in Candle, had been born in nearby Kiwalik and wove the past into the present. Dorothy Sherman cooked caribou ribs and moose stew for the crew. Mike did “water, wood, and turned frozen sheefish into sushi." Peggy Fagerstrom was "house mother" and her husband, Chuck, a man of infinite calm, was keeper of the official time sheet and general custodian of the bubble of time that engulfed us all.

Of an evening, supper done, stories told, sleeping bags unrolled, a single lantern hissed and wrestled shadows in the far corners of the lower room. An unseen presence stirred and claimed the attic spaces for its own in spite of murmurs from downstairs watch-keepers. Rafters shifted, floorboards creaked, and vagrant williwaws whispered a cryptic refrain in the eaves, “time to go ... time to go ... time to go."

A plaintive dog wail from the river – or perhaps an errant echo returned from the hills, a hundred years lost, seemed to say, “we're ready – get your ass down here."

It was no stretch to imagine John “Iron Man” Johnson, Scotty Allen and Leonhard Seppala padding about an upper room in stockinged feet – careful not to wake the competition – gathering up dried harness, parka and mitts, in preparation for another go at the trail – with always a notion to steal a march .... it was a game of “winner take all. "

Listening intently, one could easily imagine a footfall in the dark stairwell – the muted squeak of a rusty hinge–as the outer door closed – ever so softly – and the receding crunch of mukluks on the midnight snow – hurrying away, down the hill – down the hill to the waiting dogs ...

Wavery windows, weathered doors

Papered walls and slanted floors.

Ugruk soles upon the stair,

Sepp's a-stealin

light as air.

John and Scotty—
Unaware.

Entire article and photograph copyright © Joe May, 2015

Gearing up for winter in Alaska

Years ago when he was at the top of his game as an Iditarod musher Rick Swenson told me he liked to look over the outfits of everyone in the race, from the leaders to the last guy.  His reason as he stated it was he had lots of ideas for gear in the race, but every single musher has at least one good idea and if he could spot it he could add it to his kit bag. I started doing the same thing.

As time has passed people in the Big Outside and some who have just moved here have asked me about clothing and other items they should or would want or have to deal with winter in Alaska. I have been able to help but I have a limited view and have gathered what works for me and what might not work for others. A couple of weeks ago I came across a good list given by a top musher these days to the people he hires as dog handlers. This is a good look into gear used by someone who knows. Keep in mind most of us are not going to run the Iditarod, but most of us are going to spend some time outdoors in winter, so anybody can find some useful advice on this list.

Dallas Seavey has won three Iditarods and is still in his 20s with a bright future ahead. He also approaches the race with an innovative intelligence and a lot of thought. This is his list, with some additions and comments from my experience. Keep in mind ski and snowboard gear and other winter recreational clothing are a whole different category and not accounted for here. The clothing and other gear he recommends are for people who spend long periods outdoors working or running dogs in sometimes extreme weather. It is clothing you might put on in the morning and not take off until late in the evening, sometimes working hard, sometimes standing on the runners.

Tips and Suggestions for Winter Gear Systems

Base Layer:

• Poly-Pro blend or other synthetic long underwear- tops and bottoms. There are many weights available. I recommend going with all Medium weight or get a variety. You will want several pairs so you can wear a fresh set every day throughout the winter and late fall.

• Wool socks like Smartwools are essential. Get the heavy or extra heavy weight. You’ll wear them every day, and may find yourself changing into dry socks three times a day or more. Fortunately you can dry them on a heater with the boots and gloves and re-wear them without washing them every time. You may find yourself wearing two pair while mushing in cold temps, and should always have a spare set in your sled on training runs longer than 20 miles. (I have found some great socks at Duluth Trading Co.)

Insulation Layer:

• Fleece pants are a good choice for a versatile layering system, and can be worn instead of jeans or Carhartts while mushing. Plan on at least 3 or 4 pair for the season. Get a

First attempt follow-through

I know there's nothing really remarkable about this photo. There are better moon photos all over the place. The only reason it's here is that is a follow-through from a previous post – the one about the avant-garde evening. That evening began with the nerve-wracking purchase of a camera lens. Well, this is the first attempt at using it. I had to chase the moon all over the neighborhood for two evenings in order to get a photo in focus. but here it is.

The uninitiated may think what's the big deal about finding the moon to shoot. It's obvious the questioner doesn't live near mountains. You see, the moon here this time of year goes behind the mountain in the front yard not too long after it rises. If you miss that window, it doesn't come back until about 4 in the morning. Plus from different angles the moon has varying degrees of visibility during that time. 

The first evening I spotted the moon high in the sky and well to the east of the mountain. That was

from town. As I drove home along a highway that starts out in an easterly direction and then curves around to the south as it approaches home and the mountain, at first it looked like I had plenty of time to get home and gather the camera. However, the farther I went the closer the moon came to the ridge line and then to the mountain. By the time I got home it had disappeared into the trees in front of the house and I had to walk a ways to find an opening where could see it. The speed with which it was moving, I didn't even have time to load stuff into the car and chase it.

The second night I used the Jeep and drove to a couple of more open areas and managed this photo. Unfortunately in that rush I had thought I had dressed warmly enough. That's one problem with photographing the night sky in winter. When it's warm in summer you can't see them celestial bodies in all the sunlight. In winter it's cold, and  I hadn't dressed well for it. With the temperature in the low 30s, maybe high 20s and a wind blowing it didn't take long before I my resolve became severely compromised.

So there it is, an unremarkable photo of the moon, but, the first with the new lens and I hope it's nowhere but up from here.

An avant-garde evening: The saga begins

It must be time for the Permanent Fund if something big broke

I would be bragging now if I wasn't so pissed off.

Meme from the Hillbilly Hangout facebook page

Why bragging? Because tonight I drove 20 miles, shopped for and bought (on sale, no less), squeezed most of it into the Jeep and hauled it 20 miles home, by myself wrestled it out of the Jeep and into the house, unpacked and installed a new refrigerator in less than four hours. 

Why pissed off? Because tonight I drove 20 miles, shopped for and bought (on sale, no less), squeezed most of it into the Jeep and hauled it 20 miles home, by myself wrestled it out of the Jeep and into the house, unpacked and installed a new refrigerator in less than four hours.

It had to happen. Last year my grandson was born within days of the distribution of the Alaska Permanent Fund dividends. That's the check everyone gets once a year from royalties collected on the sale of Alaska oil. I accused my daughter of the timing being more than a coincidence. I mean what kid wouldn't want to be born on a day when grandpa was running around with an extra thousand dollars in his pocket? [ An afterthought four years later: I didn't think about it at the time, but this is an annual event now, his birthday a week after the permanent fund check arrives!!!]

Jump ahead to this year. Tomorrow the state is supposed to tell us how much this year's dividend will be, with distribution usually in the first week of October.

So, today, my refrigerator blew its brains out. All that was left was a condenser motor that wasn't doing any spinning or condensing but was making the irritating hum of a frozen motor, and almost too hot to touch. Of course two days ago I had packed a couple of hundred dollars worth of groceries in it against the next two weeks. I only discovered it when I went for a little of my no-fat, no-cholesterol frozen yogurt and poured it out into the bowl. Double crap.

I headed out for the store for some dry ice thinking I could pack the perishables into coolers and hold off for a couple of days. On the way, calming down and thinking a bit I thought why not get a refrigerator coming my way and still pack stuff in ice. Then when the store couldn’t deliver for a week I thought maybe I would buy one of those 7-cubic-foot freezers and still order the fridge. I tried a couple of more stores and then driving back to the first I thought maybe I could pack a whole refrigerator into the Jeep.

Well as it turns out, most of it could fit and I bought a couple of straps to secure it and headed home with half of it hanging out the back end of the car.

My back door is a straight shot to where the refrigerator goes, but there are several large trees out there that might have blocked the way. With some delicate maneuvering, and probably frightening the neighbors when my headlights shined right into their back bedroom windows, I managed to make it around the trees like a rodeo cowboy winding around barrels only slower all the way to the porch. The deck of the Jeep was almost level with the deck of the porch so I could just drag the fridge straight in through the door, stand it up and start the install. Done and done and done.

It is now happily leveled and ensconced and humming away saving my groceries. Mostly I just want that yogurt to harden up. And I can only lament what could have been if just once I got to spend the Permanent Fund dividend on something fun. Have to admit, though, it is kind of fun moving into a new refrigerator.

An Addition: If you think it's a joke about the Permanent Fund and personal disasters, my daughter posted this on Twitter today: @tjonesak Just had a difficult day. Had to replace the furnace so lots of disruption.

An avante garde evening

Still life with Iditarod.

As exotic as a dish gets around here.

An avante garde evening: No TV, different music, exotic meal, wine, one of those nights that when you wake up in the morning you are going to be in a different place. 
I just spent so much money on photo equipment my hands are shaking. So, what else? I had to take a picture. With what? My iPhone. Even the biggest baddest iPhone doesn't cost as much as this lens and the attachments I just ordered. So, I tried for avante garde in a photo. I call it still life with Iditarod. (The lamp is also new, an attempt to save my eyes from watching TV and the computer in a dark room. There are two of them.) 
What remains to be seen is whether expensive equipment can improve my photography any. It never has in the past but I am hopeful.
The second picture is the exotic

Later that same night after another
glass of wine or two. Still life with Tim.

dish I made with every ingredient except spices grown in my own garden. And the music for an avante garde evening? I will attach. BTW haven't had one of those contests in a long time. A nickel to the person who can guess the name of the singer in the video at the top.

Lykke Li "Get some"

Simon and Garfunkel "The Boxer"

Beck "Turn Away" https://youtu.be/bvMCyFlDhuk

Henry Mancini "Love Theme from Phaedra"

Bee Gees "Odessa"https://youtu.be/bMuvTZT0PJI

Take a sad song and make it better 2.0

My son as Paul for a sixth grade project: Note the
left-handed guitar. The map shows all the 
places around the world where the Beatles
played.

A friend of mine put up a post on her blog the other day about a misfortune she had encountered and titled it "I should have known better." The minute I read that, I sang, "with a girl like you." the next line of that song in my head and the melody stuck with me for the rest of the day.

As I read down through her post I learned an 11-year-old relative whom she labeled a Beatlemanic, had suggested that title. In a subsequent exchange of comments, she said she was glad younger people were liking the Beatles and they were holding up through the years. I agreed with her and mentioned my own son who had grown up with them and they remain among his favorites.

And, of course a thought train began running through my head until it stopped at a date when the Beatles played a very important role in our lives. At the time, I was involved in contentious custody battle coming out of a divorce with his mother. I had tried to protect him from it as much as I could but I knew it was affecting him. We lived together week on and week off. He was of an age, maybe 9 or 10 when he was discovering music. He was trying just about every instrument around and eventually settled on the guitar which came later. At this time he was using one of those Casio keyboards.

Blues Brothers for Halloween around 2000.

Around that time he also discovered the "Blues Brothers" movie and we must have watched that a dozen times. One night after watching it, he asked me how you play the blues. The best I could come up with was that blues expresses emotions and to play it you have to feel every note deep within yourself and the note has to come out of you. Of course, the next question was what does that mean, feel every note?

That stopped me for a moment. But for once I had an idea when it was needed, not two days later after he went to his mother's house.

Knowing his interest in the Beatles, I suggested we listen to "Hey, Jude."  While we were listening I asked him if he knew what that song was about. There are some pretty obscure lyrics in it, for sure. He shook his head, "no." And I told him Paul McCartney wrote this song for John Lennon's son Julian when John and Julian's mother were going through a divorce. And I told my son maybe he could understand that and feel it considering it was a lot like what he was experiencing. Then I went through it line by line and did my best to explain them and how they spoke to what Julian might have been feeling.

On the cover of the Rolling Stone, 2 extra Beatles.

When I'd finished, we got out the keyboard. That song has a very simple melody and I was able to work it out for him note by note and before long he could play it. We did that often – I wish I had recorded our version of the Star Wars theme song which we also worked out note by note. I don't think we ever got to a really expressive bluesy rendition of "Hey, Jude," but it had served its purpose and I noticed through subsequent years he found solace in music, often with the Beatles.

A few years later we flew to Tacoma, Washington, to see Paul McCartney in concert. just the two of us and just for a weekend. Toward the end of the concert, Paul hit those first notes of "Hey, Jude," and I think we both shivered. I remember putting my arm around my son and I also remember fighting the tears welling up in my eyes as I recalled how important that song had been to us at a moment in our lives.

Listening to it as I write this and I can feel it all over again.  Try it.


Take a sad song and make it better, the first time around

A post for Suzy

Photo by Charles Earnshaw Phtography on The Alaska Life facebook page

A bull moose and a bicyclist face off on an Anchorage bike trail.

A few days ago, someone I have come to think of as a friend online and whose blog I enjoy saw the post about the moose encounter I had in the yard. Being from the Other 49. she had never encountered a moose and wondered if they were dangerous. I assured her they were under certain circumstances, and today this picture showed up on facebook that illustrates the danger. As moose are in the rut now, this could have developed into a serious confrontation. This is a common occurrence on the bicycle trails in Anchorage and people have learned to be patient until the moose moves on. Best advice if one charges is get behind a tree. They are amazingly fast for their size but not as maneuverable as a human and keeping a tree between you and them usually works.

But they can be incredibly belligerent. One year on the trail to the East Pole a group of us came upon a young moose lying down in the trail that had been packed down with deep snow on both sides of it. There were seven of us in a line back down the trail but that wasn't fazing the moose which was determined to stay where he was. They do get stressed in winter with a food source difficult to find and they do what they can to conserve their energy often preferring packed trails to slogging through deep snow. We tried everything we could think of to nudge him off the trail. I even hit him in the head with a jar of baby food but no deal. Someone else fired a gun into the air but the moose would not budge. What moved him was when a man maneuvered around behind him in the deep snow and he jumped up and ran off the trail. Finding himself in deep snow again he curved around and headed back toward the trail in the middle of the line of snowmachines. The woman in front of me stood frozen as the moose came directly toward her and I shouted and waved my arms enough that he turned away again.

The moose only went a few steps and then curved back toward the trail, this time toward me. I had my pistol out and had leveled it at him as he charged toward me, but at the last second he turned and tromped his way across the sled I was hauling behind the machine and this time went into the deep snow and trudged off a ways, lifting his knees high as they do, churning up the snow. As I was the last one in line this solved our problem and we moved on.

At least I thought the problem had been solved but there was one more issue. You see, that sled was full of Christmas presents for the holiday celebration with my wife and son at the cabin. Several items had taken a hit from his hooves as he ran across the sled. Nothing was damaged beyond repair but in subsequent years we always laughed when we pulled out a board game or jigsaw puzzle with its box broken or partly crushed to remind us of the moose who stomped Christmas.

In Alaska you have to pay attention all the time

In Alaska, you have to pay attention all the time

By the time I got back with the camera and a long zoom lens he was
moving on.

Years ago my neighbor, an electrician, helped me install a darkroom in my basement. At one point he bent a piece of conduit the wrong way. When he noticed it, he shrugged his shoulders, looked at me a little sheepishly and said, "You've got to pay attention all the time."

It's a phrase I took as my own and I have repeated it many times over the years as I shook my head and examined a mistake I had made.

The phrase is one particularly to take to heart when moving about in the Alaska Bush. When there could be a grizzly bear around the next turn or a horny moose standing just off the trail as you pass by, you really want to be aware. Paying attention all the time is a matter of course. Even when I am splitting wood right near the cabin, I stop every once in a while and look around, listen for any noise out of place. That time I had the run-in with the bear on the porch I had heard a larger twig snap in the woods maybe half an hour earlier during one of those attention-paying interludes.

Deeper in the brush but antlers visible.

So, today I am outside cleaning up the garden, potting the rose and geranium to bring indoors and taking down the chicken wire that I use to support tomato and pea plants. All of this involved facing the house for the most part with my back toward the yard and the street. Around here I seldom stop to look around or listen. I haven't seen a moose in the yard in two or three years. Today I probably should have paid better attention.

I was immersed in wrestling a 10-foot length of chicken wire into some sort of form where it could be stored. When I finished, I stood up with it and turned around to take it to storage. That's when I saw the moose.

A young bull, still in velvet, he was nibbling at leaves in a tree next to the driveway not 20 feet away. He barely flinched as I laid down the fencing, backed away slowly and headed for the house. Mind you he made no threatening movements toward me and the hair never rose on his neck and I wasn't running from him. I was slowly racing for my camera.

Of course it had the wrong lens on it but there was no time to change. I managed to snap a few shots, but spooked him at least a little. He ambled off into the pucker brush and disappeared toward the deeper woods with me following carefully behind him.

That's when I started to wonder how an animal that big could sneak up on me that close without making any noise. It wasn't a predator stalking, it was a clumsy moose nibbling his way through the trees, but very quietly. As I think about it, I never heard anything as he meandered off into the woods either.

While it was a thoroughly enjoyable encounter, it reminded me too, yet again, that I need to pay attention all the time.

President Obama is visiting Arctic Alaska, so shut up already

Posted on Twitter by Kate Zuray

President Obama spends a happy moment on the beach at Dillingham.

Read this, then pause and reflect on it for a moment.

For the first time in history, a sitting United States president is visiting Arctic Alaska.

Now, to top that off, he is here at least in part to examine first hand and also to highlight the effects of climate change in Alaska which is the front line where changes due to global warming are most obvious.

Yesterday he visited a glacier.

Then he was criticized by a supposedly intelligent Alaska writer who said melting glaciers aren't necessarily indicative of changes in global climate. That may or may not be. However it is not the only indication and in part is why President Obama is visiting the Arctic. Incidentally that writer who has been a controversial outdoors reporter over the years, with this visit sounds like he is auditioning for Fox News, as he nit picks anything he can find to criticize about the president's trip.

Here are just a few climate changes recalled off hand without looking anything up:

Thinning and retreating levels of polar ice to perhaps unrecoverable levels.

Melting of permafrost which has the added result of releasing methane into the air to add to the greenhouse gases that lead to warming.

Shoreline erosion along the western and northern coasts of Alaska caused in part by a lack of ice which in the past dampened the intensity of waves attacking the shore.

Northern advance of species never before seen in Alaska including one of those huge sunfish picked up in the Gulf of Alaska this summer.

Northward advance of the tree line.

Record or near record temperatures across most of Alaska over the past several years.

Invasive plant species spreading farther and farther north, both aquatic and on land.

These few are just the surface I can recall reading about. A serious look into the science being done these days would probably yield a hundred more.

But this it not about warming it is about a president making a historic trip, the purpose of which at least partly is to highlight the dangers.

Today somebody complained on Twitter about how much all the presidential airplanes and other vehicles contributed to pollution during the trip. Well if a US president making a trip to the Arctic highlights the problem worldwide and more people become aware of it and more people realize the seriousness of the issue and then more people act on it, and it brings about serious engagement, the tradeoff is well worth it.

The same poster earlier had spoken with envy that a coworker had been joined by the president during her morning workout.

It has been typical of Barack Obama's presidency that no matter what he does, he receives massive criticism, even vitriolic. It's a wonder he can show up for work every day smiling and moving forward, a testament to the man. It's been a kick looking at other pictures of his trip. We have a US senator whose name escapes me, elected on the promise to "stand up to Obama" and end Obamacare, who, once elected, disappeared from sight. He's been observed in a couple of pictures near the president grinning like a kid who just received the exact birthday present he wanted.

The point is, at least for Alaskans, lay off. No matter what your issue, he is an intelligent man, he can tell his feet are getting wet while he stands on the outskirts of Shishmaref. (I know he's not supposed to go there – it's an analogy silly). He will hear from folks who live where Shell is drilling.  He will hear about the lack of ice and the stronger storms and the plight of walrus and polar bears who can't find haulouts except on land where they are more vulnerable.

Think of it, this single man like none other, has the weight of the world on his shoulders, but he is taking the time to come to Alaska to see first hand what the shouting is all about and he is also intelligent enough to process what he sees and hears and one hopes lead the way toward finding an acceptable solution. And like it or not, the world is watching. Nothing he does this publicly goes unnoticed. And, the world also watches how we as a people treat our own president. It's not pretty.

In the meantime, nothing said here is going to stop the sniping. That's one failure of the Internet, it has given the critics, haters and snipers (yes, even me) a broader audience.  It's kind of interesting there doesn't seem to be a lot of criticism coming from his usual political opponents.  It is perhaps the continuation of his rope-a-dope method where he takes an action, then ducks and dodges and while the opposition is all fired up yelling about that, he swings again. And BTW today while he was in Alaska, he got the deciding vote in Congress to save his deal with Iran. They are going to be reeling off the ropes for weeks.

This time the day before he arrived the administration announced the official name of North America's tallest mountain would be changed from McKinley to Denali, the traditionally accepted Native name for it, and one a majority of Alaskans have favored since Statehood. While all the Republicans started yelling about it, (after they had checked Google and found out McKinley was a Republican) the president moves on to an Arctic conference and a tour of Alaska to see it all for himself still carrying the weight of the world, smiling with couple of women fishing for salmon in Dillingham dancing with some kids in the Dillingham school and letting the criticism roll off his back, something he apparently does so well.

Perhaps we should all take a lesson from the gracious way the president has been greeted by Alaskans in Dillingham and Kotzebue. And too, from the comment a friend of mine made on another post, "I've never seen pictures of the president smiling so much."

Mitigation actions taken in conjunction with the president's trip

Dancing in Dillingham

Pay it forward: Alaska on the front line

A very satisfying week in American democracy

Rope-a-Dope: When's the last time you watched the news and walked away smiling?

Shismaref,  one storm from washing away

Stop Medicaid enrollment? No and No

Today Medicaid went into effect for the 40,000 or so Alaskans who qualify and who now can find affordable health insurance.

Alaska legislators through the Legislative Council, all majority Republicans, went to state Superior Court and then the Supreme Court seeing an injunction to stop enrollment until the main case against expanding Medicaid could be argued. No and no. Strikes one and two. Denied. And Medicaid moves forward.

There's no word yet on how much of the $450,000 the legislators allocated for the suit has been spent so far; nor has any amount been given for the cost of the administration's defense efforts, or the court costs of judges and clerks and every other nickel and dime it takes to keep the court system running.

And no word from the American Legislative Exchange Council or the Koch Bros. has been heard so far, unless you consider the Alaska legislators who are nothing but mouthpieces for them. Nor is there any offer from them to compensate the state for acting on their behalf. Now that would be a lawsuit worth watching.

And, oh yes, Alaska government is still looking at a budget deficit of more than $3 billion.

What a colossal waste of money

Tracing the actual costs; Alaska firm offers to defend pro bono