Friday, March 13, 2009
Moose visit
This morning we had another moose in our yard. The mother and youngster returned again and we snapped some amazing pictures. I intended to put them on here right now, but I left my cable at home so I'll have to do it tonight. You'll definitely want to see these pictures. The moose was literally peering in our windows and Dominik and Yanik were nose to nose with the moose.
I just received an instant message from Kari and I can't stop laughing. The moose started jumping and playing and running laps around the house when mama showed up. The little one went over to where I park the car and checked it all out and found where I keep my yellow broom plunged upside down in the snowbank. He sniffed it and darted to and fro and then finally trampled it down into the snow! Right now mama and baby are peeking into the garage and exploring the rest of the yard. It's going to be awfully hard to keep a garden this year! I'll publish pictures later today. What a great start to the day!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Light and wood stoves
What a difference we see every day now. Fairbanks is adding about 8 minutes of light daily. Do the math on that and you can imagine how different it is over just one week. It gets light at around 8:00 now and stays pretty light until 7:45 at night. The dark seems to be the only thing that gets people bummed out, so people are really happy now. We're seeing highs of just below freezing on most days, but it still hits around 5-10 degrees by morning. Strangely enough, at 30 degrees we're all good in very light sweaters and 5 degrees doesn't even feel like heavy coat weather anymore either. I guess we have toughened up.
I learned an important lesson in wood stoves. Only get wood that bloody well fits in the stove. Some lessons leave a mark....I had to cut 2 cords of wood so that it would fit in our stove. What a pile of work out of sheer stupidity.
We have not had a return visit from the moose just yet. I shouldn't have told him he'd look good in my freezer. I think he understood me. It's too bad....they're such beautiful animals, but I couldn't help but think..."look at all that lean, hormone free, protein!"
I learned an important lesson in wood stoves. Only get wood that bloody well fits in the stove. Some lessons leave a mark....I had to cut 2 cords of wood so that it would fit in our stove. What a pile of work out of sheer stupidity.
We have not had a return visit from the moose just yet. I shouldn't have told him he'd look good in my freezer. I think he understood me. It's too bad....they're such beautiful animals, but I couldn't help but think..."look at all that lean, hormone free, protein!"
Monday, March 9, 2009
Some thoughts after 6 weeks in Alaska
Our minds are amazing. A quote that screams out to me is, "wherever you go, there you are".
We seem to have a natural setpoint for happiness and we can fiddle with our surrounding, buy a new car, etc., but eventualy we settle in to our original setpoint. The newness of AK is wearing off and I have settled at my original setpoint. I still like chopping wood, but it is a pain in the butt when you have other things to do....and I am a little frustrated that it is 77 bloody degrees in here right now.....a side effect of the less delicate controls of a wood stove. No fear, I can count on 65 degrees before morning! Hahahaha.
The newness of the relationship is wearing off and we are getting more real now. It is certainly more expensive to live here, but the air is clear and people are so darned nice. We still love it here, but we are tempering the reality of being up here, with the distance of family and the ease of life in Idaho...but we are adjusting. I' be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to spring! The weather is fine, but I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike and being free from fossil fuels for a while. My old hockey team played the first playoff game tonight and I felt a twinge of sadness that I wasn't involved. I miss my buddies. That was the best locker room I ever experienced and I miss it. I particularly miss Dan Burgett, Monte and Gary Brookshire and Ken Malach. It's funny how you take so many things for granted until they are no longer part of the norm. There is a price to be paid for a life of adventure. Business is good, but it remains to be reflected upon.....the truly most important things in life. Either way, there is plenty to learn and life is full of surprises. Live and learn! I don't know if it is the wine (Im 3 glasses deep) or just the mood of sentimentality..but I'm missing people right now. I love it here, but I miss my family and buddies. It will take a while to build that here. Come visit!!
We seem to have a natural setpoint for happiness and we can fiddle with our surrounding, buy a new car, etc., but eventualy we settle in to our original setpoint. The newness of AK is wearing off and I have settled at my original setpoint. I still like chopping wood, but it is a pain in the butt when you have other things to do....and I am a little frustrated that it is 77 bloody degrees in here right now.....a side effect of the less delicate controls of a wood stove. No fear, I can count on 65 degrees before morning! Hahahaha.
The newness of the relationship is wearing off and we are getting more real now. It is certainly more expensive to live here, but the air is clear and people are so darned nice. We still love it here, but we are tempering the reality of being up here, with the distance of family and the ease of life in Idaho...but we are adjusting. I' be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to spring! The weather is fine, but I'm looking forward to getting back on my bike and being free from fossil fuels for a while. My old hockey team played the first playoff game tonight and I felt a twinge of sadness that I wasn't involved. I miss my buddies. That was the best locker room I ever experienced and I miss it. I particularly miss Dan Burgett, Monte and Gary Brookshire and Ken Malach. It's funny how you take so many things for granted until they are no longer part of the norm. There is a price to be paid for a life of adventure. Business is good, but it remains to be reflected upon.....the truly most important things in life. Either way, there is plenty to learn and life is full of surprises. Live and learn! I don't know if it is the wine (Im 3 glasses deep) or just the mood of sentimentality..but I'm missing people right now. I love it here, but I miss my family and buddies. It will take a while to build that here. Come visit!!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Ice Alaska
Here are a few pictures from Ice Alaska. They have the annual worold ice carving championships going on now so I'll be adding some really interesting pictures when the professionals come to town and make some killer sculptures! I'll also head down to the ice park and get a few pictures at night time when they are illuminated. Have a great day everyone!
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