Getting Creative

The 2-inch sheet of ice covering Anchorage has made it pretty difficult to get around these past few weeks. But people here are quite resourceful and don't give up. For example, a friend of mine has taken up the new sport of jogging......indoors......around his living room. Yeah. Pretty funny to picture, but I think this one wins:
Crutches with CLEATS!

Geez, and I thought studded bicycle tires were bizarre...

You can see why I must carry my camera with me at all times.

Chinook Meltdown

Today was the warmest January 16th in Anchorage's recorded history! Quite a shock considering the recent subzero temperatures. The weather suddenly changed dramatically this week due to chinook winds, a weather pattern that brings a midwinter heat wave. Last week the low was about -25°F, and today the high was 50°F.

My neighborhood is flooding. We live right next to a creek at the bottom of 2 big hills, and it's been raining for the past 3 days, melting 3 months of snow... The end of my street is blocked off, submerged in a huge puddle of water. Our house is about 5 houses down to the left of this picture:

This is the greenbelt trail tunnel underneath the street where that big puddle is:
And a neighbor's house down the street, near the flooded intersection:
Tomorrow morning when the sun comes up, I'll go check on my neighbors—and keep an eye on my own backyard!

A Normal Day Until...

On this fine -7°F afternoon I started my car, unplugged the block heater, and walked back to the house to hang up the extension cord. (I know, yawn.) But out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone slowly walking toward me, so I looked up—right into the enormous face of a moose! 4 or 5 feet away at most. I gasped and in a split second debated whether to back away slowly or just get the hell out of there. I bolted (knowing that might be a bad decision but unable to stand my ground in front of this massive animal), ran back to the front door that I had just locked, and knocked as hard as I could for Stephanie to let me back in since my keys were still in the ignition.

Once safely inside, I tried to catch my breath as we watched the moose casually continue to cross our yard and begin chomping on the neighbor's tree.

This gal was HUGE! She dwarfed my neighbor's car:
And she spent a good ten minutes eating that tree:
I just can't believe the moose walked right up to me! It certainly was an exciting and terrifying close call. I'll have to pay more attention from now on...

A New Low

This morning, I walked to work on apparently the coldest day so far this winter: 23 degrees below zero. (My car is in the shop, otherwise I might not be so brave.) No more than 5 minutes into the walk, frost sprouted on my neck warmer, gloves, and eyelashes. That's right...my eyelashes. The moisture from my breath actually froze on my eyes! By the time I got to work, I had to be careful not to blink too hard in case my eyes might freeze shut.

Even the banana I was carrying got frostbitten in a matter of minutes:Tomorrow it's supposed to get up to a whopping zero degrees, and after Thursday we are expecting temperatures around 20°F for the next week or so. Woo hoo!

Subzero Lessons

I just returned from holiday vacation in Oregon (a balmy 35-40°F) to find Anchorage in record breaking low temperatures—the coldest subzero stretch in 9 years. I picked a good year for my first winter in Alaska! I am certainly learning a lot already...

In the cab ride home from the airport yesterday morning, the driver told me (in a thick Polish accent) all about how the recent cold spell has been so nice because of the clear skies and "crispy" air—ha ha. But he's right that when there are no clouds and it gets super cold, the bright sun and glittering snow make it all worth it. And the low light makes the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises I've ever seen, especially with the Chugach mountain range as a backdrop in Anchorage. I saw this jaw-dropping sunrise one December morning walking to work—I could not believe the deep pink all over the sky. I couldn't get high enough for a great shot, but here's the view from our office:My favorite new thing about winter is hoar frost, a beautiful thick layer of ice crystals that builds up over time in super cold weather, sometimes in feathery patterns. It looks almost like snow, except that instead of covering up everything, the hoar frost has this way of accentuating it instead (if that makes any sense). It's so gorgeous in town right now with everything frosted over: You can see the crystals if you click on this close-up:
Unfortunately, my car is not nearly as thrilled with winter... Along with problems starting the reluctant engine, I have discovered additional subzero surprises. This morning, at -17°F, I found my car seat was as hard as a rock. At first I thought I sat on something, but then realized the cushion itself had actually frozen—seriously! And aside from the ongoing annoyance of having to scrape all the windows and mirrors and lights on my car every single time I go anywhere, there is the new issue of stubborn frost inside the windows.

Well, I just hope it warms up enough to be safe to play outside again! My new cross-country skis are waiting patiently.

Flashback: Photos from the Move to Alaska

In case any of you missed this and care to see, here are some photos of my journey to Alaska last April. Click on the picture to open up the photo album.

Part 1 - Ferry ride through British Columbia and into Southeast Alaska:

Part 2 - Road trip starting out in Southeast Alaska, through British Columbia and Yukon Territory, and ending in Southcentral Alaska: