As the days turn and the darkness crawls across this land that is Alaska, I watch in wearied fascination as the heavy storm clouds push their way across the skyline. Rushing ever forward and backwards in their ebb and flow of weather fronts. The eaves sing their song of drip, drip, drip while the snow cover begins to peel itself back once more from the ground as if a blanket being tossed half hazardly during a warm and toasty night. The trees creak as their arms are flung about, attempting to dance among the torrential breeze.
Such would be the day that has visited Anchorage. A day that has whisked away my love of winter and stored it deeper in my heart. Only to return when snow adorns us once more, covering us in this winter wonderland. Now a new love affair has begun. With my new camera lens and camera flash the UPS man so ever brightly dropped off on my doorstep like a lover sneaking in for the night.
There is no doubt that this love affair will evolve and grow. Especially when my new Canon 10-22mm lens arrives next week. I will step aptly from this doorstep this weekend and use each of these beats of my heart until photos are birthed from my lovely digital camera. Alas now my secret is spilled; that I am a lover of Canon. From a former Nikon girl at heart this is indeed a big change.
And whoever thought I would turn into such a user? That’s right folks, I use each of these lenses and pieces to the best of my abilities. And it’s one I stand so proudly forth and proclaim it.
And while I may not have any family to spend this Thanksgiving weekend with, I am indeed thankful.
That my lovely Canon has so willingly graced my life.
One of the adventures of living in Alaska and South-central Alaska at that is we quickly learn that we are at the mercy of the weather. Those moments when you have things planned might be wiped out with a quick snap of mother nature’s fingers. This especially seems prevalent during the winter months. Now Interior Alaska and beyond doesn’t quite seem to have the constant flux of weather patterns as we do here in Anchorage. It rather reminds me of dominos when you stack them up and switching one can make the heap fall effortlessly to the floor.
Being at the base of Cook Inlet that empties into the Pacific Ocean our weather patterns are often brought from two places - Siberia and the Southern Pacific. The Siberian fronts of course bring with them more frigid weather and usually a lot of snow. However when the Southern Pacific fronts hit we encounter what is known as the “pineapple express”. When warmer winds and thus warmer weather frequent the area taking with it any image of what winter should entail.
When I began to plan my weekend trip to Homer one of those particular weather fronts had been expected to move through the area and then leave by that time. Simply waving as it went on its way. If my timing was right I would travel when that weather front had departed and before another entered. After all, trips such as this are all a matter of timing. The drive to Homer can be rather perilous in winter as it takes you through numerous mountain passes with curving roads and very heavy snow shoots. In a nutshell it is heavy avalanche terrain.
Well my friends that weather front has stalled over us. And because of that we have the remnants of a typhoon scheduled to pound us for the next several days. We went from 28 degrees yesterday morning up to 46 degrees in a matter of hours. What beautiful snow we had is now disappearing very quickly. What’s more?
“Small stream flood advisory is now in effect for streams and rivers throughout South-central Alaska.”
*Winds up to 80 mph
*Highs near 50
*Heavy wet snow projected to fall overnight if it does get below freezing.
*Potential Flooding
*Prime Avalanche Conditions as a result.
One thing is for certain. Mother Nature is definitely on crack. Would anyone with decent weather like to adopt me for the holidays?
To most the two words of “beach” and “Alaska” aren’t conducive to each other. In fact the moment many Alaskans tend to find that patch of sand / dirt near rolling waves they will point and quickly proclaim it there beach. Yet at Southcentral Alaska’s most southern point of Homer Alaska, the Homer Spit spans some 6 miles out in to the shore of Kachemak Bay. Coupled with a somewhat more mild climate than Anchorage and its very own beaches it makes a good get away during the long Alaskan winter.
I’ve been in town every weekend since mid-September. Needless to say I am feeling the wanderlust beginning to build within me and want to get away. Perhaps during the long weekend I’ll take myself and go and find that beach. Perhaps I’ll wander south to the shores of Kachemak Bay.
Because indeed the road trip is calling.
Few people think of spam as being entertaining but I do admit to shaking my head in some of the amusing titles that wander across my e-mail spam box. Lord knows I have seen more than my fair share of Viagra ads over the years. One of today’s titles actually sent me back to a good session on reminiscing. That particular e-mail was entitled was “Someone has a crush on you.” All I could do was shake my head and think “yeah right” before hitting the delete button. Especially knowing those interested in this single girl are few and far between these days.
Crushes are always an interesting thing to me. I can remember my first crush was way back during the dinosaur ages when I was in kindergarten. I guess I started early as I certainly didn’t share the feeling among friends that boys had cooties.
We had just transferred to Las Vegas at the time and I saw the blonde Adonis playing kickball on the playground. Hey I was young. Every cutie looked like Adonis in my mind those days. Fairly shy at the time and new to the school I looked for ways to get into Joshua’s circle of friends. I became the master kickball player and happened to earn his respect through a mean shot with my foot. The reality is I really didn’t mean to aim the ball for his face. But it just kind of happened that way.
Eventually we returned to Alaska and over the years other crushes of course surfaced. But I found my early ties to being a tom boy and playing kickball remained longer than those crushes. I would play kickball with the boys which eventually led its way into baseball and then football.
I think my biggest crush came in 7th grade and lasted throughout that entire year and then resurfaced my freshman year in high school. I think back and shake my head in wonder what a loser that crushee turned out to be.
It’s amazing the tricks that our minds and heart can play. It certainly leads to those moments of “What was I thinking?!”
I certainly wouldn’t say I have any crushes as of now. It just seems like a subject of times passed.
But I can still play a mean game of kickball.
Some would call it the “12 Days of Christmas” fit into a 10-day stretch. Others would simply call it the prelude to winter haven. My bank account currently calls it evil; that which leads to my demise. Yes folks that’s right. It was the first day of REI’s Winter Sale and it was a sure sign that the moment I stepped foot in the door I should have walked right back out. Surely my wallet would have appreciated it.
But if anything it was a testament to the will of winter lovers here in Alaska. And for me it was a gear head lovers paradise with me walking out the door with new snowshoeing boots, a complete classic cross country ski package, a new camelback pack, winter grippers for my casual shoes and a guaranteed toastyness with new under layers and ski wear. Between that and some new camera gear I ended up with yesterday I’m entering the winter season in style.
We shall not tell my wallet what I have planned in a few more weeks with new snowshoes, skate skis and poles. Less it commit hara-kiri or simply run away screaming.
Though I am all for experiencing the wonders of Alaska in those moments you spend here, I have found that one of the best ways to relive certain experiences around the state is to go and wander through my photo archive to glance at all the images captured. A daunting task in and of itself given I have taken well over 10,000 images in the last year alone. Of course all of them are not quality. There are of course the blurry images, wrong lighting, etc. that everyone else encounters.
But I took it upon myself to start a new project tonight in an effort to eventually get a photography website up and running. That includes wanting to redo my gallery. So I have been pulling images and saving them on my hard drive and sorting/culling them before I’ll eventually create a new gallery and then upload them all. I’m taking additional steps to install a shopping cart to where images will be for sale for those that want them.
Thus I’ve just respent my time looking at the mass amount of eagle photos I took during my trip to Homer last March. Literally a couple thousand images alone. I simply don’t remember taking that many. And some of these pictures I don’t even remember seeing before.
It’s like rediscovering a whole new world. But this is a trip I’m definitely looking forward to doing again. With a better quality camera and better lenses to go along with it.
I do admit to having fallen in love. That is I have fallen in love with the concept of winter. I can’t say this will be a long term relationship but it is right what I need right now. Where the thoughts of spending time with it gets me through the day. Where my first and last thoughts of the day are of it. Come several months down the line we know that an infatuation will build and my lust will turn into an obsession with summer and thus this relationship will be over. But right now, I’m okay with loving winter.
I was on my way downtown last night for dinner when my gaze was so aptly caught up in the snow falling so gracefully down. As I walked down 4th Avenue and listened to the stillness around me that is when it began. First snows are always so beautiful and this one was certainly no different. My mind has been caught up with images of snow shoeing, cross country skiing, aurora photography trips and my desire of the moment - sledding. That’s right folks. I feel like wielding my tiny disc of plastic as I smoke the local sledding hills. That moment when the child at heart rears its not so ugly head. So whose with me?
There are so many things I want to accomplish this winter. Including sledding down Alyeska’s tubing park. More snowshoeing at Winner Creek and Hatchers Pass. This morning I’m curious at what Virgin Creek Falls is looking like with the new snow. Of course I know I would have to muddle my way through 18″ of new snow that has fallen at Girdwood, but my curiosity factor must be quenched.
May this love affair continue for days and even weeks to come.
With the first measurable snow of the season hitting us here in Anchorage it is really no surprise that the inner gear-head begins its winter chant and I find myself caught up in the mentality of not only must I get outside and enjoy it, I must get accompanying new toys to make me relish it that much more. And with it constantly being a struggle to adjust and love winter here in Alaska, these are always “bonuses” I allow myself.
And with that I found myself at REI yesterday afternoon pricing out new cross country skis and snowshoes. I also decided to add some more under layers to my winter wardrobe. Of course as I was pricing all this I was stopped by one of the salesclerks that let me in on a “secret”. That being they suggested I not buy anything yesterday since virtually everything I was looking at would be on sale next weekend. So I decided to hold off.
Even though I have a pair of adequate snowshoes, I will say they are not my favorite. Tubbs has changed their bindings on their snowshoe designs in the last year and as a result it left my feet falling out of the shoes a couple of times last winter, despite having the bindings cinched as tightly as possible. When I was in REI yesterday I was specifically looking at the Crescent Moon Gold 9. From what I can tell online the bindings looked similar to the ones I had on a pair of Tubbs I no longer had. I was really impressed with them and they will of course be what I pick up in the next few weeks. So with new cross country skis, bindings, skiing poles, boots, new snowshoes, flick lock poles, snowshoe boots, under layers and a new camelback - obviously my REI dividend will be loving me at the end of the year.
Perhaps, just perhaps I’ll have enough accumulated to obtain that Marmot Aeolos 2-p packing tent that I’m drooling over.
Indeed folks, this is a definite sign of the gear head at play. Forget jewelry. I would much rather have an REI gift certificate and outdoor goods in my stocking from Santa.
When it comes to the world of movies and motion pictures there are times I have found there is that rare movie that doesn’t necessarily offer an action packed entertainment picture but rather serves as an emotional reminder of what is going on in this world. A time when so many avoid the news because of the constant depressing topics that tends to go with it. Lions for Lambs directed and starring Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise is such a movie. Now obviously if you’re one that would rather keep their head buried in the sand in an effort to avoid the real world, this would not be the movie for you.
Under snowy skies and rain slicked roads I decided to venture out early Saturday in an effort to see this movie. Not being a fan of Tom Cruise I tend to avoid any and all movies he is in. But drawn by Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, I decided to go and see it on an otherwise quiet day. No sooner had I stepped into the theatre when I found the back row occupied by a large group of gentleman. About 4-5 in numbers. And with their cropped hair and obvious boisterous mentality I knew I was gazing upon some boys from one of the local military bases. Anchorage is after all a military town with home to thousands of soldiers at Elmendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson Army Base.
I later learned out that these gents were in fact some of the Airborne Brigade that is in the process of returning from Iraq. Given they were here to watch a movie that focuses on of all things politics and the deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, I admit I eavesdropped a bit with interest on their conversation. Quite honestly it was difficult NOT to hear them given their loud tones. One thing I did hear a group of them say is they wholly expected this movie to bomb given most movies out with military action “simply aren’t realistic”. So I was interested to see what their reaction would be after the movie.
After wading through some great previews of upcoming movies, I began to watch in earnest as Lions for Lambs filled the screen. Broken down into three separate ongoing stories Lions for Lambs explores the tense reality of our situations over in Iraq and Afghanistan. Meryl Streep stars as reporter Janine Roth who is summoned by Tom Cruises senate character who hands her a story about a special forces mission occurring over in Afghanistan even as they are speaking. Over the next hour of their meeting you watch the two verbal volley back and forth at each other about the relationship between the press and the politicians. In my opinion Streep advances to such levels in her quips over Tom Cruise’s character that you are left with a realism feel of today’s political endeavors through the hands of our illustrious (gag) president. After watching their exchange on camera I do admit coming away feeling somewhat dirty. Finally a movie that finds a place where Tom Cruise belongs - cast as a slimy politician. How fitting.
Robert Redford plays a Californian political science professor who spends an hour meeting with his star pupil in an effort to gauge why his star has stopped showing up for class. The two run around and it is during this time that perhaps one of my favorite lines in the movie appears. “Rome is burning son and the problem is us –” says Redford. In his calm but very direct facade Redford hits all the obvious points about today’s political hijinx surrounding military action.
And why I can’t say that Lions for Lambs is the best movie out there, it did leave me with a need to voice my feeling for change. It was not a good escape from reality if that is what you are seeking. But rather it served as a show of living real in today’s society.
As I was exiting the theatre my eyes caught on those soldiers mentioned above. In hushed tones and many of them looking at the ground they were obviously reminded of the times they had just spent in the sand box.
Indeed, they were Living it Real and will continue to every day until change happens.
When, if, and ever, of course remains to be seen.
To most the word Alaska brings to mind images of a remote land filled with ice, ruggedness, brilliant cold temperatures and of course - snow. Yet for those of us in Anchorage we are nearing mid-November with no trace of snow on the ground. Instead our images here are filled with bare trees and its carpet of leaves and golden colored grass with temperatures barely below freezing some mornings. Definitely not the wonderland in Alaska that winter is known for.
Now I do admit to enjoying outdoor activities such as snowshoeing and skiing. But I’m usually slow to the acceptance of snow coming as it means there is a long 7 months ahead of us seeing it on the ground before spring bustles in. I’m not one of those diehards that looks to the sky and begans their snow dance chant come the beginning of September. Instead I build myself up to the idea and then slowly begin to look forward to it.
Yet I do admit I’ve reached that point where I’m simply ready for it to snow. The last few days my mind has been filled with images of snowshoe treks, weekends at a cabin filled with a crackling fire and cross country ski trips. This will be my first year back on skis since my knee went out of commission several years ago.
I have finally reached that point where I call. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
