Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

I can’t believe another year is ending! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Steve and I had a quiet Christmas Eve, as our original plans to attend a friend’s open house were canceled as she wasn’t feeling well.  Steve was scheduled to work on Christmas Day, but was able to get the day off at the last minute. It was so wonderful to have him home with me.

We spent Christmas Eve watching movies and just hanging out together. It was a nice peaceful day. Suddenly, we heard the crash of a bird on our sliding glass doors. I’ve got bright orange surveying tape hanging from all the glass windows on the back of the house. It has cut down on glass collisions quite a bit, but sometimes a bird still hits after seeing his reflection. A redpoll was laying in the snow on our deck.

Steve scooped him up and brought him inside (it was 25 below and we worried that he’d freeze to death, if he wasn’t already dead). He wasn’t moving, and his eyes blinked slowly. Poor guy… I hoped he’d pull through. Steve wrapped him in a pair of glove liners we had nearby to keep him warm.  His eyes began to blink a little more frequently, but still there was no body movement. I hoped he wasn’t paralyzed.

Steve lay him on top of one of our bird seed buckets. Raven was quite interested in the little feathered creature, but not in an aggressive way. Steve picked up the bird and was holding it in his hands, and Raven approached - touching her nose to the bird’s beak. It was the sweetest thing! I love my girl so much. She is such a gentle dog,

The redpoll soon began to twitch his wings, so I moved him back outside onto the deck in the hopes that he’d fly away. I checked on him every couple of minutes. Raven never left the back door - watching him the entire time. Finally, about 15 minutes after I moved him outside, I saw him stand up and step out from under the glove. And then he flew! What a joyful moment. I’m so glad he survived.

Before I put the bird outside,  Raven checks him out a little more closely:

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I spent the entire day in Fairbanks yesterday. I try to get everything done when I head into town… my errand running, bill paying, shopping, etc. It’s not that Fairbanks is all that far from our home in North Pole (only about 6 miles), but it’s far enough away that I don’t run into town on a whim.

Yesterday, I met up with a photographer friend Colleen. She’s going to have her work on display at the Fairbanks Museum for First Friday in January. It’s her first show and she’s working hard to get her images resized correctly so they can be printed. She’s also learning Photoshop, which is why I met up with her. I was only able to spend about an hour and a half with her, but I think I got her on track. At least I hope I did! I’m excited for her and this opportunity.

After my time with Colleen, I met my friend Kathee at Petunia’s - a cafe at Holm Town Nursery. I always forget about Petunia’s because it’s at the nursery, and I rarely go to the nursery in the winter.  But I was craving a little humidity - along with good food and company with a friend - and Holm Town Nursery certainly filled the bill.

It’s really a cool place to visit. They had some neat gift ideas for Christmas: hand made ornaments, houseplants, gardening gifts, and more. It’s so full of color and it is indeed humid. What a great escape from the winter cold. I’m really going to have to remember to go there more often - especially when it’s 40 below.

We both had the soup and sandwich combo. Kathee opted for the potato bacon soup, while I chose the tomato (served on Tuesdays). The tomato soup was a little heartier than what I’m used to, with large hunks of tomatoes in it, as well as savory spices, onions, etc. The sandwich of the day was a grilled ham and cheese on ciabatta bread. It was great to have lunch with Kathee in such a lovely, WARM, place.

After our late lunch, I followed Kathee downtown and we did some shopping/browsing in some of the shops. I don’t often spend time shopping downtown, which is a shame really, so it was nice to have a gal pal to go with. I would love to see the downtown area come back to life. The big box stores have taken business away from that area, as have the exuberant parking police. There are some nice little boutiques and shops down there that are certainly worth a visit.

After saying goodbye, I drove a few blocks over to Golden Heart Plaza. I was able to find parking on the street, and took a short walk through the plaza with my camera, snapping photos of the Christmas lights.

In this photo of Fairbanks Unknown First Family, you can also see the Immaculate Conception Church across the Chena River:

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It is currently warmer than 30F. This is wrong on so many levels. I’m not complaining too loudly, but the warmth is wreaking havoc with our roads! I am so fearful of driving on slick roads, and the thaw and freeze with these crazy temperatures is making everything a skating rink.

Steve and I had a wonderful dinner at Pike’s for our birthday celebration. The restaurant was fairly empty, as we had early reservations. He had the prime rib and I opted for a pecan crusted chicken dish. Everything was just right. Our table overlooked the Chena River, but it was dark so we couldn’t see much. The river isn’t frozen over yet, so no one was driving across the ice bridge next to the hotel/restaurant. There’s always someone who goes through the ice early in the season, and then again someone tends to go through at the end of the winter. Glad that hasn’t happened.

I think I’m just about finished with Christmas shopping and cards. Thank goodness for Amazon.com and their free Super Saver Shipping. Makes it easy to shop for the grandkids and other family members. I rather like being able to shop from the comfort of my home, in my pjs. I didn’t get the cards to the Post Office until Saturday. I hope they make it in time. I drove to the North Pole PO so they could get their special North Pole cancellation. Not too many people can claim they get Christmas cards from North Pole, and I like having them specially canceled.  ”Santa” sent some letters to the youngest children in the family. I hope they get there in time too.

After taking my cards to the PO, I stopped by North Pole’s Christmas in Ice. There was free admission for military families. There was free food too, but I skipped that. I did a quick lap around the park, and spent a little bit of time watching the kids (and some adults too) go down the ice slides. What fun! Made me wish I had a sled.

I didn’t stay long. For some reason my asthma was really acting up. It might have been due to the cars idling in the parking lot and the overabundance of exhaust. I was glad to take a hit off my inhaler. The drive home was a slippery mess. I realized how tense I was driving when I finally pulled into the garage and my shoulders were aching from the tight grip I had on the steering wheel. I hate driving on icy roads. I wish it would have just stayed cold so we wouldn’t be dealing with this now.

Steve called me on his way home from work yesterday. He sideswiped a moose with the truck. Fortunately, he was able to swerve into the oncoming lane as there was no traffic. The moose was running across the road, so his swerve enabled him to miss hitting her head on (thank God!). The side of his truck did hit her rump as she was running. His passenger side mirror was torn off, and there’s a depression in the rear passenger side door where his truck must have skimmed her. It could have been so much worse! I’m so thankful he’s OK!

Typically in a moose vs. vehicle encounter there is massive damage to moose, driver, and vehicle. The moose seemed to be OK, as she sprinted off into the woods. I bet she’s a little sore. I had a near miss with a moose in my car once. My knees were shaking all the way home. If I hit one in my car it wouldn’t be good, as my car is so small. Another reason I don’t like to drive after dark. Thank goodness the light will start coming back in a few days.

The other day, while walking Raven around the yard, I heard the pecking of a woodpecker. I was able to pinpoint the location of it, and discovered an American Three-Toed Woodpecker tearing the bark off of a downed spruce tree. This was my first time ever seeing this type of woodpecker, and after reading that not many people do see them (as they live in boreal forests), I feel pretty lucky. Here’s a photo I happened to capture. I didn’t have a zoom lens on my camera, and was lucky I even had my camera around my neck! This photo is cropped and was shot at 800 ISO because the light was so low, so it’s not the best quality. I love the pattern of her feathers.

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