Melanie and her old friend, Moose Phillipia

One day when Melanie was seven, I heard a rather clattery knock up on the door. I answered it and was stunned to see a moose calf standing there."Hi!" The moose calf greeted. "I'm Phillipia, can Melanie come out and play?" This question put me in a bad spot, but I had to answer truthfully,"No!" I answered "I do not allow my daughters to play with moose!" Dejected and offended, the moose turned and walked away. Later that afternoon, when I was not looking, Melanie snuck out and she and the moose went off to play. They did this frequently and often. No matter how many times I chastised them – and I chastised them both! Today as we were returning to the house from getting coffee at Metro Cafe, Melanie suddenly shrieked , "Look! It's Phillipia!"sure enough, it was. I was very surprised. I did not know a moose could live this many years. 

Text added at 6:39 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues. Note: I did not realize that Squarespace had stripped the photo out of the original post until just now, when I finally got a chance to add the text back in, due to the fact that Squarespace will almost always fail to post both text and picture at the same time. 

The black cat, the polar bear and the lens I bought eight months ago but just had to buy all over again for $1149

The black cat, the polar bear and the lens I bought eight months ago but just had to buy all over again for $1149. Remember how I wrote that every piece of professional equipment I took to Cross Island came back damaged? Most of it still works, but one lens failed altogether - the 24 to 105 mm I had bought last March to replace an identical one so battered up I could no longer rely on it. At Cross Island, the new lens quit communicating with my cameras and so became inoperable. If I have one indispensable lens, it is this one. The week before last, I finally sent it to the Canon repair center, hoping to get it fixed under warranty before I soon go to Barrow.

On Wednesday, Canon informed me the lens had suffered internal water damage, voiding my warranty and it would cost me $900 to get it repaired. Then it would have a very limited six-month warranty. My experience with repaired lenses has not been good. I decided it was better just to get a new lens and have a full one-year warranty. The elements in another lens, my 16-35, must be a bit out of whack because very strange things happen to the focus on any images shot through it at wide-to-mid aperture. This lens has been to the repair shop three times – most recently just before Kivgiq. Now it needs to be repaired again. It is an expensive lens.

My 100–400 got knocked out of action on the island for two days before I got it to work again, but it no longer focuses as sharply as it did when I pointed it at this Cross Island bear (image significantly cropped). I must repair or replace it.

Then there are the two Canon 5D Mark III bodies - still shooting but with cracked glass. I know salt water got into them. It is a matter of time until they go down. I am frustrated. I need a camera budget of 15 to 20 grand a year, just to stay even.

But – once I get something together on Cross Island, if you see it, you'll say it was worth it. 

Text added at 12:06 PM. The Squarespace nightmare continues - 42 days and counting.

Saturday morning backyard moose

Sent from my iPhone

Hey slug! This heatwave won't last forever

Slug! What are you doing?!! How could you grow so lackadaisical? Slither! Slither! Slither! Slither away to wherever you hole up for the winter. This is not normal, you know. Wasilla ground tends to be frozen by now. Solid. And it used to be that the surface of Wasilla lakes would all freeze over right about now, too. Even in this time of climate change, this heat-wave will not last forever. You had better find your winter home fast or you will become an icetube.

Sent from my iPhone*

*I knew it was risky, but since the email workaround Squarespace had given me to fill the gap while they allegedly fix the photo-stripping bug in their iPhone app had worked this morning, after working once and failing twice yesterday, I went ahead and used it again on my coffee break and attempted to post the above post with the slug picture. I made two attempts. The Squarespace email workaround stripped the picture from my post both times. So I have now made six tries with the Squarespace email workaround. Two have succeeded, four have failed - a failure rate of 66 2/3 percent. My fellow blogger Conchscooter from the Florida Keys informs me he has used Google's much maligned blogspot host since 2007, has posted close to 3300 essays and makes frequent use of google's blogsy app, all with great success and without having a misfire that removed even one picture. This makes good sense, as Google is free while Squarespace charges a fee. You do get what you pay for - if what you pay for is frustration, aggravation, huge amounts of wasted time and failed posts.

The moose I came upon shortly afterward - something no good happened here

Right after I took the previous picture of the moose who posed for me at the side of the road, I pulled off into the tiny parking lot at the bridge over the Little Su and made the previous post. I was just about to leave when this sight caught my eye, a short distance from the parking lot. I don't know what the story is here, but given that the rib cage is fully intact, which would not be the case if someone had properly butchered a moose, taken legally or poached, and that whoever left this here as litter alongside a public parking lot has such little consideration for not only his or her fellow citizens but the animal itself, it certainly doesn't look good. I am still in the parking lot looking out over the Little Su River. A bald eagle sits on a cottonwood branch on the other side, maybe 150 yards away from me. I would photograph the eagle, but with the iPhone at this distance there is really no point. A magpie has landed on the moose rib cage and is picking at it. I would get back out and try to go photograph the magpie but it would fly away before I could get close enough. I might as well let it eat in peace.