It’s been one of the most interesting years I can remember. I have learned a bit more about myself and what I think I want over the next couple years and I continue to enjoy the little wonders of the area. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized during my December trip to Seattle how anxious I was to get back home.
Catching glimpses of winter wildlife is quite unusual but now that spring is here, there is a lot more to be seen. There is evidence that there was a moose in the front yard yesterday, bear will soon be leaving their dens and one of these days I will suddenly realize that I'm hearing the songs of the birds and not just the wonderful vocal range of raven. I also now have a better appreciation of why residents are so glad when break up begins to take place!
Daylight hours are back up to over 12 hours each day with a gain of close to 6 minutes each day. I didn't realize I'd been so "starved" for daylight until it seemed to suddenly be back in my life after being in Seattle and Maui for over two weeks.
I have now experienced two solstice extremes and if I had to say one was more memorable and awesome than the other it would be summer solstice. Winter solstice was awesome in it’s own right but it really didn’t feel much different than an overcast Seattle winter day when there isn’t much light in the sky. To experienced the shortest daylight time of the year I went to the furthest north place I was could (Fairbanks). 
Here is a picture of Denali from the north taken around 3:30 in the afternoon. Hmmm, to the untrained eye it looks kind of the same as from the south. How many pictures of trees and sunsets can one person take?! :0)
Fairbanks is fairly flat so I had a good view of the late morning sunrise and, soon-thereafter, sunset from the 3rd floor of my hotel room. I sat at the window knitting and reading from just before
11:00 a.m. until 2:30 or so p.m. and the sun managed to rise maybe 20 degrees or less above the horizon.
Thankfully there was very little snow and the roads were quite clear so I was able to get some driving in. I visited North Pole during my quick trip so I could mail a Christmas card to a special 9-year old and took the long drive out to Chena Hot Springs. Speaking of not very much snow...I heard on the radio the other day that snowfall in the Fairbanks area was close to 40-inches less this winter that normal and is the 3rd lowest in recorded history.
During my two-day stay, I experienced -35 degree temperatures as I gingerly made my way to and from the rental car. Pardon my French but, DAMN, it was cold. The rental car agency supplies, and highly recommends renters make use of, a heavy duty power cord. If a person doesn’t plug the car in and the battery dies, they are on their own! After deplaning from the small passenger plane back at Anchorage the weather felt downright balmy at 21 degrees.
Fairbanks is fairly flat so I had a good view of the late morning sunrise and, soon-thereafter, sunset from the 3rd floor of my hotel room. I sat at the window knitting and reading from just before
11:00 a.m. until 2:30 or so p.m. and the sun managed to rise maybe 20 degrees or less above the horizon.Thankfully there was very little snow and the roads were quite clear so I was able to get some driving in. I visited North Pole during my quick trip so I could mail a Christmas card to a special 9-year old and took the long drive out to Chena Hot Springs. Speaking of not very much snow...I heard on the radio the other day that snowfall in the Fairbanks area was close to 40-inches less this winter that normal and is the 3rd lowest in recorded history.
During my two-day stay, I experienced -35 degree temperatures as I gingerly made my way to and from the rental car. Pardon my French but, DAMN, it was cold. The rental car agency supplies, and highly recommends renters make use of, a heavy duty power cord. If a person doesn’t plug the car in and the battery dies, they are on their own! After deplaning from the small passenger plane back at Anchorage the weather felt downright balmy at 21 degrees.
The picture of the spruce trees was captured on the way to Chena Hot Springs. They are close to 100 ft tall!
Anchorage experienced a somewhat unusual winter as well. Snowfall was much less than normal, we had very few days with extremely snowy or icy roads and most of the winter I was driving with studded tires on dry pavement…not a good thing. I miss that we didn’t have much snow because I was actually looking forward to shoveling the driveway so I would look buff in my sleeveless shirts this summer but, alas, I’ve had to take other measures to work on the arm muscles. I'm fairly sure that I only had to shovel the drive for a total of 30 days or less all winter and now it’s over. I do regret that I didn’t take advantage of the really good snowfall we had early in the season to build a snowperson when I had the chance. I was going to put an old Starbucks apron (shhh, don’t tell) on her before I put her head on.
Anchorage experienced a somewhat unusual winter as well. Snowfall was much less than normal, we had very few days with extremely snowy or icy roads and most of the winter I was driving with studded tires on dry pavement…not a good thing. I miss that we didn’t have much snow because I was actually looking forward to shoveling the driveway so I would look buff in my sleeveless shirts this summer but, alas, I’ve had to take other measures to work on the arm muscles. I'm fairly sure that I only had to shovel the drive for a total of 30 days or less all winter and now it’s over. I do regret that I didn’t take advantage of the really good snowfall we had early in the season to build a snowperson when I had the chance. I was going to put an old Starbucks apron (shhh, don’t tell) on her before I put her head on.
With such a small amount of snowfall the ceremonial start of Iditarod, which
took place on March 6 in downtown Anchorage, occurred on streets filled with trucked-in snow. It was fun attending the event and observing the dogs, their handlers and the set ups that are used. You know how many parades begin with a police escort on motorcycles or in patrol cars. The Iditarod started with police officers on snowmobiles!
I hope this post doesn't seem too disjointed. It felt that way when I was writing and editing but if I continued to attempt to perfect it I'd never get done (one of the reasons I've not posted much lately...this takes more than a little bit of time and it's way past my bedtime!). If you've gotten this far, thanks for persisting!
I'm glad to have been able to see many of you during my recent trips and hope to catch up at a later time with those of you I missed.
TTFN!
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