Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

A few nights ago, we had a slight dusting of snow. There are still pockets of snow visible in my yard, but it looks more like powdered sugar that’s been tossed here and there in small areas.  A look ahead at the weather forecast, shows a chance of snow on Friday, but no significant accumulation.  Will we have a snow-less October? Probably not, but I do believe that this is the longest that snow has held off since we arrived here.

The frost in the morning is beautiful. I love the way the grass sounds when it crunches under my feet during morning walks with Sedona. I love the way the air feels; crisp and clean.  In the afternoon, the temperature goes back up into the high 20s and 30s. Except for the last two days, we’ve had abundant sunshine too. Yesterday and today it’s overcast and feels much colder, even though the temperature hasn’t varied too much.

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On Saturday, I drove into town to meet (for the first time!) Karla, who keeps the blog “To Alaska and Beyond“. Karla and her husband moved up to AK last year from Minnesota. They live in Delta Junction, which is about 100 miles from Fairbanks.  Karla was in Fairbanks to get an oil change and attend a surprise birthday dinner for a friend.  We met at Gallos Mexican Restaurant for lunch.

It was a fantastic lunch get-together, and I do hope to do it again sometime. We both talked non-stop and making conversation was quite easy. I’m so happy we finally had the chance to meet in person! (*waves to Karla*)

Karla and her husband recently moved into a gorgeous log cabin that is surrounded by trees. In her blog you can read about the resident black bear who’s been nosing around the property, as well as the cow moose who decided to stand guard over Karla’s car - delaying her drive to work one morning.  Ah! Life in Alaska!  The link to her blog is above, and also in the sidebar.

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A reader commented to my last blog entry with a question about living in Alaska.  Responding to her comment would have taken up a lot of space, so I decided to address it here - in another blog entry. Here’s what she wrote:

I‘ve been following your blog for awhile now, and I really enjoy your writing and your pictures.

My hubby and I are both military and we are angling to PCS to Alaska with the option of retiring there…any advice?  We would also like to plan a trip to Alaska to kinda scope it out.  My husband at the moment is in Iraq, but due back next Aug…that’s when the trip would be…

Could you maybe make a post about “Things to know when you think you want to live here?”

First of all, thank you Summer for your comment, and for your request that I write about life in Alaska! I love living here, but Alaska is not for everyone. In some ways, living here is much more challenging than living in other states in the US, but in other ways, it’s not much different at all. I’m going to write mostly about life in Interior Alaska (Fairbanks/North Pole) as I know it, but if you do find yourself in Alaska, courtesy of the Army, you could find yourself stationed at Fort Richardson, which is in the Anchorage area. Life in Anchorage can be much different than life in Fairbanks.

WEATHER

Fairbanks has long, cold winters and short, comfortable summers, with most precipitation occurring in the summer. On average, the season’s first snow falls in Fairbanks in late September, and the first inch of snow accumulates by mid October. The snowpack is usually established by late October and remains until *breakup* in May. When snow does arrive, it usually falls in large amounts. January is generally the coldest month, with lows and highs below zero. Occasionally, it will warm to above zero temps, but remain in the single digits.  August is generally our rainiest month, and we joke that the rain comes with the Tanana Valley Fair in early August. In the summer, the average temperature is in the 70s, but we can have periods when the temperature is in the 80s and even the 90s.

Dressing for the cold weather isn’t as difficult as some might imagine. Layers work better than just one heavy coat - although a good parka can’t be underestimated.  Layers are perfect if you’re going to be active, as they allow you to peel them off one by one for ease of movement, as well as for comfort.  Layers help trap warm air near your body for the best possible insulation. The stuff those layers are made of is very important. In general, avoid cotton; it holds moisture and will eventually start to chill you.

Although it can get very cold here in Fairbanks, there isn’t much wind, and the cold is dry. Imagine standing in a freezer, as opposed to standing near a lake with gusting wind.  Winter in Philadelphia seemed much more severe than what I’ve experienced here. Likewise, the cold in Wisconsin where my kids live. The cold seems to cut right through you in those places.  While I’m not denying that it gets extremely cold here, having a good layering system can make it possible to be outdoors and remain comfortably warm.

Frostbite is a big concern here, and when the temperature is -40F, it only takes a few minutes to get frostbitten. It is important to keep all skin covered to protect yourself against this. In the winter months, at severe temps, the only thing that shows on me (and most everyone else) is our eyes.

By not being careful, I got contact frostbite a few years ago, when I grabbed onto my metal tripod with a bare hand. In a matter of seconds, I felt a severe burning sensation, and within minutes, I had a raised blister on my palm. You can bet I will never do something that senseless again!

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Thanks to the Chinook wind, Alaska has been having the most splendid *non-winter* weather! While there is frost on the grass in the morning, and the temperature is in the 20s, we’ve been warming up to the 50s in the afternoon.  It’s absolutely gorgeous, and we’re all loving it.

FIRST FRIDAY - NOVEMBER 6th

I’ve been asked to be the First Friday artist on November 6th at the Space for Movement Studio (410 2nd Ave. Located Downtown Fairbanks in the old “Elbow Room),  where I am currently taking belly dance lessons.  I’m excited about having my work on display, and will be including a couple of dance prints. They were taken at various performances over the past year or so, and are more artistic in nature. For the most part, the images are of the human form in motion, showing the curves of the female figure, rather than faces. In addition, I will have some of my Alaskana prints on display and for sale. If you’re local, come on out and say hello.

CALENDAR ORDERS

This is just a reminder that I need all calendar orders placed by Sunday the 18th. I am only placing one bulk order on Monday (19th).  Thank you to all of you who have pre-ordered a calendar. I will be sending out an email with information regarding payment, this weekend. Once payment is received, the calendar(s) will be on their way to you.  I’d like to have them all delivered by the end of the month.

NIGHT SKIES and AURORA

Winter insomnia is beginning to be a problem for me. I’m adding Vitamin D tablets to my daily intake to see if I can find some relief from this annual side effect to losing light. For many, winter darkness has the opposite effect, and they find themselves wanting to sleep. For me, the disappearing light causes insomnia or abnormal sleep patterns. Sometimes I find myself staying up all night; other times I find myself going to bed at a regular hour and waking up at 2 or 3am, after 4-5 hours sleep. These sleep issues always go away when the light comes back in spring.

One positive aspect of my winter insomnia (if you can call it positive), is that I get to enjoy the night skies and all the twinkling stars overhead. There are so many pinpoints of light in the sky, and the more my eyes get accustomed to the dark, the more that appear. Then, when I take long exposure photos with my camera, even more appear. It’s truly amazing.

I was up yesterday morning at 5am, after waking from a really strange dream.  It was still very dark outside, and the first thing I did when I came downstairs, was look out the living room window at the night sky. Right outside my window I could see the constellation Orion.  I took my camera and tripod outside for some photographs.

As I was taking the photos, I saw clouds drifting by overhead. At least I thought they were clouds. As my eyes became more accustomed to the darkness, I realized those clouds were actually the aurora. The green light was extremely dim, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. I walked around to the back yard. The moon was a slim crescent slice in the sky, casting some light over the yard, while the drifting aurora moved slowly over the trees. As I stood on the deck with my eyes turned upward, a shooting star moved across the sky.

The night was nearly silent. Intermittently I could hear the sound of cars driving by on Badger Road, a little more than 1/4 mile away. A few minutes later, I heard several dogs begin to howl. Their song was a perfect backdrop for so beautiful an early morning.  It was one of those moments when I felt lucky to be alive, and even more lucky to have my senses of sight and sound intact.

The Big Dipper over my house:

Millions of stars in the night sky:

I animated this photo of the constellation Orion, so you could see the stars. From Wikipedia: Orion, often referred to as “The Hunter,” is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the largest, most conspicuous, and most recognizable in the night sky. Its name refers to Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology.

Orion includes the prominent asterism known as the Belt of Orion: three bright stars in a row (The Three Kings). Surrounding the belt at roughly similar distances are four bright stars, which are considered to represent the outline of the hunter’s body. Apparently descending from the ‘belt’ is a smaller line of three stars (one of which is in fact not a star but the Orion Nebula), known as the hunter’s ’sword’.

It’s going to be another beautiful, sunny day in North Pole. I’d like to take Sedona for a walk on the trail at Chena Lakes later on. I hope Steve will go with us.

Have a lovely day in your part of the world!

Until next time…