Life is so Precious....Jo

Tonight I am grateful that there is a person out there who I truly love and adore and is alive and well and sending me a love message    There are families here who have lost their loved ones in a plane crash.   May they have  some peace and comfort right now as they journey through this dark time. 

I love you, Thom. 

Another Day...by Thom

Well my love, Misawa is about as far from Iwakuni as you can get  ( Okinawa is farther from Misawa....) and still be in Japan.  It is a beautiful part of Japan that I haven't been to (yet.)  The photo is however  of torrey pines, in Torrey Pines State Reserve.  Very beautiful place,  Utah is still hard to top.  The next photo is the sunset from Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Just a small Glimpse....Jo

Today we had a surprise visit from the sun here in Anchorage! We were all smiling. Alaskans are not happy about this summer... all we have seen are the clouds and the rain.  Even I'm getting tired of it.  I wore a wool sweater today all day. What is that?

So the rest of the US is roasting, 100 degrees and more and Thom and I are in the two places where it's actually cool.  Weird.

I am thinking of my answer.

A Day of Rest....by Thom

Today was a good day...and I gave myself a day off from having fun.  I am really tired and I realized that I have not missed a day since I've been here, from leaving work and going out to have "fun."  Had a wonderful conversation with Jo, ( who continues to be wonderful, intelligent and beautiful,) and got to ask her a "deep" question, ...she'll have a good answer, I'm sure.

La Jolla Beach...by Thom

The beach is one of the best in the world, my intent was to hike from La Jolla Beach to Torry Pines State Park up the coast.  I should have checked the tide tables...but I made a four mile hike anyway.  Scripps pier is at the starting point.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park...by Thom

These photos are from before and after my adventure with burrowing in the sand.  Makes me really have some concerns about off rode driving in this region.  Where I got stuck was not "off-road."  This whole region is incredibly beautiful.  The first photo's are of the Salton Sea, just to the east of the park.  These are followed by some photos of sculpture in the Borrego Springs area and some general landscape photos. 

There are an amazing number of dead fish along the shore.  The knee jerk reaction is that it is chemicals or pollution.  Does not appear to be the case.  The lake is dependent on the run off from the surrounding area, which is being diminished due to many reasons.  The lake is becoming more and more saline and it is taking a toll on the creatures that depend on the lake.  It is about a third more salty than the ocean.  We need to take steps to preserve this resource.

The following series of photos are from the Borrego Springs area; I know very little about there origin but they seem to be make of metal which rules out fossilized remains. Actually, the "...sculptures of the prehistoric creatures that were predecessors to modern-day creatures were placed on Borrego Springs Road just south of Big Horn road on April 10. The statues, crafted of metal by Ricardo A. Breceda of Perris, California ..." have created quite a stir.  The following web site offers more information, http://www.galletameadows.com/news04172008.php

There are beautiful plants and landscapes almost any where you look.

This is a barrel cactus.  The endangered Big Horn Sheep break them open for food and moisture.

While the desert may appear to be all sky, brush and sand, it is actually amazingly alive and exotic.

It was 118 degrees This is Thom...this is about as stuck in sand as you can get...when the AAA guy got here to get me out he just shook his head. He then proceeded to get his truck stuck in the sand as deep as my car. The second truck that came to assist used cables to pull both of us out. I couldn't resist asking the first guy if he had "AAA." We all got out about ten in the evening.

This is a  view of the sand I was stuck in,  it did not look like loose sand before I drove on it.

Resting in Rainy Anchorage

Back from kayaking in Seward with my new friend Elaine. We seemed to work together to manuever the kayak although it doesn't look like it in the photo. It was misty, rainy, and mystical with clouds around the mountains. We saw puffins close up.

I miss our kayaking days, Thom. If and when we are ever at home together again, maybe we can find a new rudder for our broken one.

So glad we are posting on our blog again. Yesterday, while I was kayaking, you were stuck in sand from the desert. Such a contrast in where we are physically right now. Wish you had photos to show me of yourself stuck in the desert sand.

I miss you a lot.

Sunny (less than...) San Diego

This is Thom. I'm sitting here in the Library at Marine Corp Recruit Depot in San Diego and thinking about many things. Among them the most significant is how much I miss being with Jo. Some of the less important are to do with working, traveling and playing in the world of politics, both personal and nationally. My rotation here has become tentative and so I no longer know my ending date, but that is not a big issue, just puts me in a little bit of limbo which I have never liked. Now that I have remembered how to get on this blog again I intend to add some photos this weekend. By the way, the title of this blog refers to the state of the weather here, which should be very sunny this time of the year but continues to be foggy and overcast, with the sun occasionally becoming visible late in the afternoon. Makes for good sunsets.