Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

As I type this, it is -45F here at my house. I had a portrait session scheduled for this afternoon, but the client canceled last night. Frankly, I’m not upset about that, as today is one of those days I’d much rather be inside where it’s warm.  In fact, it is currently 110 degrees warmer inside our house than it is outside. The furnace is working hard to keep the house warm. I can practically hear the oil being sucked out of the tank.

Up until today, we’ve had temps as low as 30 below, but when it gets to 45 below, there really IS a difference. Taking a breath without filtering the air through a scarf (or your gloved hands) can cause fits of coughing. Touching anything metal without gloves for more than a second or two can burn painfully.

The other night, I touched the metal handle on our storm door when I was letting Raven out (without gloves), and my fingers lingered more than a second or two. It was like getting a burn, and I looked to make sure I didn’t get any blisters. I once got a blister on the palm of my hand when I picked up my tripod (without gloves) by a metal leg, after it had been outside for awhile. Contact frostbite is easy to get when it’s this cold.

The birds at the feeders are gorging themselves on seeds. They need to eat a lot to keep their energy levels up and to keep warm when it’s this cold. I don’t know how they survive. I even saw the squirrel out there today. S/he usually stays hidden when it’s this cold, so that was a surprise.

A couple of days ago, when it was only about 25 below, I stopped at Creamers Field for a walk with Raven while out running errands.  It wasn’t a long walk, but I wanted to take a winter photo of the Creamers Field footbridge as a comparison to a summer photo I have.

Here’s the summer photo I took in August of last year:

And here’s the one I took a few days ago:

I think I have the same photo in the fall. I need to dig that one up and see if it was taken with the same vantage point. It would be neat to lay out a triptych of all three images and print it out. If I find the fall image and do that, I’ll share it with you all.

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It’s been snowing and snowing and snowing. Tiny flakes here, with several inches of accumulation. But nothing like what’s happening in Valdez and Cordova. A huge snowstorm has buried both towns under more than 40 inches of additional snow.  There have been a couple of roof collapses in Cordova and getting in and out of both towns is just about impossible. The snow continues to fall in Prince William Sound - closing the airport in Cordova and causing avalanches on the Richardson Hwy. It’s also snowing heavily in the Anchorage bowl.

The photos we’ve seen posted online are incredible! You can see some images at the recent news story published in the Alaska Dispatch.  There are also a bunch of images in the Anchorage Daily News.

The funny thing is that my friend Lori and I were planning to take a drive to Valdez. In fact, there was a good chance we were going to go next weekend. Neither of us has been there in winter, and have always wanted to see that part of the state covered in snow and ice. It’s beautiful in summer and I’m sure it’s gorgeous in winter too.

Keystone Canyon, just north of Valdez, is a beautiful stretch of highway which parallels the Lowe River. There are several waterfalls in the canyon, the two most popular (and most photographed) being Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls. In the winter these waterfalls freeze and ice climbers enjoy them. I’d love to see that.

So, just as we were discussing the logistics of taking a weekend trip to Valdez, the snow started to fall down there. I’m so glad it happened now, rather than after we had gotten down there. As of now, our trip is on indefinite hold. I think we might try to do it President’s Day weekend.

The winter sky has been gorgeous lately. Not only have the sunsets been beautiful, but the color of the evening sky has been a deep cobalt blue which is just magical against frosted, snowy spruce trees. A couple of days ago, I just had to photograph the moon shining over my yard. It was early evening - about 5pm - when I snapped this photo:

I don’t like that you can see the power lines that run through our yard, and I think I’m going to clone them out in Photoshop and print this image. It would look pretty in my winter photo grouping in my home.

Tonight there were light pillars on either side of the moon, as well as a halo around it. I didn’t get out to take a photo unfortunately. I have seen them in the past. They’re really neat to see and are caused by light reflecting off ice crystals in the atmosphere. I’m glad the skies have cleared. With the snow we’ve had over the last couple of days, it’s been so cloudy that I couldn’t see the stars or the active aurora that was showing up on the cam at times.

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This past Friday, my friend Stella and I met downtown for First Friday events. Throughout the day the temperature was hovering around 10 below. It felt heavenly after several weeks of 30 below. However, by the time I got downtown, we were back to 26 below. This did have an effect on the turnout for First Friday events.

Our first stop was Fairbanks Community Museum, where I had my work on display during the month of August. My friend Colleen was displaying her photography for the first time ever. Her images are lovely - many landscapes and florals - and she was so happy to see several members of our photography group show up, as well as old high school classmates. Her images will be on display throughout the month of January, if you’re local and would like to check them out. The museum is a cool place to visit too, with so much to see!

After the museum, Stella and I drove over to Lady Lee’s Bath House Emporium - an antique store that is just packed with treasures from bygone eras. There is furniture, toys, books and magazines, newspapers, clothing, jewelry, and other old odds and ends. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under OddFellows House. I found quite a bit of information about the building here and have copied a portion of it below:

Built in the gold rush town of Fairbanks in 1907, “Mrs Madole’s First Avenue Bathhouse and Clinic,” located on First Avenue overlooking the Chena River, is one of several early structures still standing in Alaska’s major interior city. During its brief but colorful history as a bathhouse the town’s leading citizens, as well as miners from outlying districts, made use of the baths. Run by Madame Renio, fortune teller, and her partner Doc Overgaard, the baths were a luxury.

With Doc Overgaard from Denmark, Mrs. Madole (Madame Renio) built the bathouse on First Avenue, opening for business in 1907. They were in competition with five or six such businesses operating in Fairbanks at the tirne–hot running water was a luxury and bathhouses served the entire population of the town and mining region. Not surprisingly, some of the bathhouses were less respectable than others and Doc Overgaard, not a real doctor, did a brisk “health clinic” trade sobering men. An excellent description of the bathhouse in these early days can be found in This Old House: The Story of Clara Rust written by Jo Anne Wold, prominent Fairbanks journalist.

In the winter of 1909-1910 the water pipes froze, forcing the business to close. Soon afterwards, the Oddfellows Lodge purchased the building. Since this purchase, the “Hall” has matured as a focal point for the activities of civic organizations essential to the cultural growth of the community. This change in ownership paralleled the changing social character of Fairbanks from raw mining town to more stable permanent community.

Stella and I had intentions of going to more venues to check out other artists’ work, but got so caught up in the antiques that we lost track of time. By the time we left the shop, it was past 8pm and the close of the other venues. I will definitely be going back to the shop again. I did a lot of reminiscing while there. So many things reminded me of my grandmother’s house. If you’re local and you haven’t been there yet - GO!

It was a lovely evening spent with a gal pal, and I’m glad I went out despite the cold temps. I took my camera and tripod with me in hopes of seeing an aurora display, but was out of luck. I hope the lights come out again soon.

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Our SIL, France will be here at the end of February. I am getting so excited about her upcoming visit and have quite a bit planned for her. I need to make a trip brochure for her and mail it out, so she will have an idea of what we’ll be doing. Although Steve will be working a couple of days while she’s here, we won’t have much down time. She’s coming at the perfect time. I hope all goes as planned, but most of all I hope the aurora comes out for us. She’ll be here for 10 days.

Before I close, I just wanted to wish my step-daughter Kayla a Happy Birthday! I hope she and her husband are enjoying their trip to New York!

Until next time…

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Happy New Year blog friends! I hope you all had a lovely transition from 2011 to 2012. Steve and I met friends for dinner and then watched the annual fireworks up at UAF. This years’ show wasn’t quite as nice as last year, but I wonder if the cold had anything to do with it. It was about -35F, but that didn’t keep the community from coming out to watch and celebrate.

Steve and I parked at the Botanical Gardens. It’s one of our favorite places to park, as it allows us to beat the traffic when the fireworks are over. I tromped through the deep snow with my tripod and camera and set up on one of the decks in the gardens. Although I was wearing boots that are supposedly rated to 30 below (as well as thick wool socks), my feet were soon cold. Standing in one place didn’t help. I was so happy to be back in Steve’s truck 30 minutes later!

We were home before 9pm, and I called my kids in Madison to wish them a happy New Year before their clock struck midnight. Then I called my brother and SIL in Philly, who were already into the new year and full of holiday cheer (and perhaps a little too much champagne!). Then Steve opened the first of two bottles of champagne, even though we still had two hours to go before the New Year arrived in Alaska.

We watched a little of the Times Square Ball Drop (re-run), and heard people in the neighborhood getting a head start on their own fireworks. Poor Raven jumped in Steve’s lap, shaking. Airborne was hiding somewhere in the house. I hate what the noise does to the pets.

Steve and I actually made it to midnight. This isn’t a usual occurrence for us, and we often joke that we made it to New Years on the east coast. But this year we actually made it long enough to celebrate midnight in Alaska. With another toast of champagne, we watched the ball drop in NYC and wished for continued good health and another year of adventures.

Every color of fireworks lit up the sky:

Steve is off until Thursday, which is really nice. Last night he grilled steaks on the BBQ. We BBQ all year round up here, despite the cold. Unfortunately, propane doesn’t work very well when it’s 35 below, so we have to bring the tank into the garage to warm before we can use it. But after about an hour it was OK. The steak was delicious, as was the au gratin potatoes and veggies.

Tomorrow I’m going to enlist his help in re-arranging the living room. I took the Christmas tree down a few days ago, and I’m itching for a change of space. Our living room has been pretty much in the same position since we moved in, only because it makes the most sense. I don’t know if I’ll like the new arrangement, but we decided to give it a try. If we don’t like it, we’ll just move it back in a few months. It’s been fun to read status updates from facebook friends saying that they were rearranging their living room too. Must be a New Year event!

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Our home is a ’shoes off’ home, as are most homes in Alaska. While I don’t enforce the rule 100% - especially in the warmer months - we do prefer that you remove your shoes in the winter, when it’s wet and snowy, and in the spring, when it’s usually very muddy.

Most people here don’t have to be told to remove their shoes. It’s something we do automatically. Much like Hawaii, Canada, and Nordic countries, it’s just expected that you will be removing your shoes at the door. Some homes provide slippers or flip flops for guests, which is a nice touch. We don’t, but most everyone wears socks so that’s not really an issue.

Since it’s been very cold, Raven has to wear booties to go out and do her business. She has four sets of red booties. Last winter, she lost 9 out of 16 of them in deep snow. Steve found them in the spring when he was mowing our lawn for the first time.  We chose the bright color so they’d be easily spotted - both in the snow and in the grass.

We swap out a dry set for a wet set when she goes out, so there is always two sets laying on the rug by the front door. Sometimes she kicks them all over when chasing her ball, or playing with her toys. I had to take this photo to show that not only humans remove their shoes at the front door.

Every man should be born again on the first day of January.
Start with a fresh page.  Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary,
or let down one, according to circumstances;
but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more,
with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.

~Henry Ward Beecher~