Merry Christmas!

Things have been really busy lately, so it's been quite a while since I've posted. I am back in MN for Christmas. It is so good being with family and friends, but it has been really hard for me to adjust to all this bright sunlight. My inner vampire is missing the darkness!

I came home on the 21st, so I did not get to experience winter solstice and the shortest day of the year in Alaska. It was worth it though to get home before the bad storm started in Washington.

Nothing really exciting has happened lately, a lot of cramming in work before the kids leave for break. I played in three different orchestras for three Christmas concerts three weekends in a row, so that took up most of my time. When I told dad on the phone that I had played in Amahl and the Night Visitors, he asked if it was a nice mall. :)

I was down in Seward the other week working on a case, the drive down was incredibly beautiful. The trees are all frosted in thick snow. The Seward Highway has a lot of avalanche zones, because it's through the mountains. At Thanksgiving an avalanche blocked the highway and it took dynamite and many hours before they could clear the road. There are avalanche zone signs, and you aren't allowed to stop at all in the zone areas- just need to get through.


The drive in the morning was through darkness, when I reached the school at 10, the sun was just starting to rise in the east, and the moon was still out:


It's fun to see Seward with snow, the mountains are beautiful


The Seward train:


The drive back was in the light, and it was a beautiful drive. The trees were all frosty and covered with snow


Nearing home: Mt. Redoubt in the sunset


I also had some beautiful drives to Nikolaevsk in the past few weeks, the trees are all beautiful and frosty:


This is the basin- it's a really steep hill down and back up, and sometimes you can't get to the school if the basin road is in bad shape; it's really steep:

There have been tons of moose up in the hills. I had to come to a complete stop to let this baby and mom cross the road, so I snapped a few quick pics:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was my first time not being home, and while I really missed Uncle Mark's stuffing and Grandma's pumpkin pie, no one fought me for the dark meat! I had dinner with some school psychs, and it was really nice.

It snowed big huge flakes Wednesday night, and again Thursday during the day and night- we got our first snowfall that was large enough for the plows to come through the driveway. It was beautiful- here's what the backyard looked like:


Mr. Darcy got to experience his first snowfall outside- I don't think he liked it much! (Notice the mohawk)


Anyway, nothing exciting to report this weekend- I'm just trying to get all my intern requirements done for the semester since I kept putting it off all fall. Can't wait to see everyone at Christmas!

November

We finally have snow- it came really late this year. But with it came a cold snap- below zero weather all week. My shower pipes froze and we had to thaw them with a hairdryer. So now the heat is cranked in my apartment, and the taps are on and dripping to try to keep the pipes from freezing again. I don't think my apartment is very well insulated. At least I'm just renting (and don't have to pay for heat).

The cats got outside in the snow for the first time. They didn't like it, especially Bear:


The smaller rivers and streams are freezing over, but the Kenai's so big, it's still running:


Because the Kenai is still running, there are tons of bald eagles down here. I heard that they move down to the peninsula from the mainland for the winter because it's warmer here. They are all over the river:


I was down in Seward the other week doing assessments. The mountains look so much bigger now that they are covered with snow, they just tower over everything, it's pretty cool:

Halloween Concert

I've been playing in the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra, which has been fun. There was a concert this weekend, Friday night we played in Homer, and Saturday in Kenai. Some friends came to the concert, both in Homer and Kenai, and it felt good knowing people in the audience.


It was gorgeous driving down to Homer Friday afternoon- it was sunny and cold, and all the mountains were covered in snow. I still take pictures every time I'm in Homer- it's too pretty not to, and the mountains have more snow than the last time I was down- now you can't tell where the glaciers end and the mountains start.


The Spit:


Me and Harold:


We still don't have snow, but it's cold now- 20's and 30's, so we should have snow soon.

Long Fall

I haven't posted in a while- it's been a quiet October. Everyone up here swears it's also been the longest fall they can remember- it's beautiful and sunny and in the 40's, but I hear winter is coming. The sun doesn't rise until around 9 now- I really enjoy driving to work in the dark- the sky is still pitch-black at 8, without even a glimmer of sun. It's great because when I scrape my windshield in the morning, I don't get that terrible sun-glare if the window isn't fully defrosted before driving. The sun's been setting around 8 at night, so there's been some great daylight after work.

The leaves are gone from the trees now- but I got a few pictures along the river before they fell.Here was the view from my backyard at day:


And at sunset:


The boys have liked being out by the river too- bear will sit with me on the bench while we read outside, and Mr. Darcy does more exploring than he should:


There's a really friendly bluebird in our yard- when I sit outside, he comes and perches- I didn't know what he was- he's really dark, but my neighbor said he thinks they darken for winter to blend in better against the trees.


It's pretty bare here now without the leaves- the evergreens are everywhere, but they're all thin and scraggly, not like the ones in MN:


Not having snow is interesting- there's lots of hiking paths open, with no one around- even the long lengths of fishing boardwalks are completely bare:


There have been a lot of moose around lately- this mama was right by our house, the baby was further away, I didn't dare go further than my doorstep:


There was a mama and baby right by the post office in town- it's neat to see how much the babies have grown- they are a lot bigger than they were.
Here's the baby:

With mom watching nearby:

My weekends are pretty full with orchestra practices- it takes up most of the day- we practice in Ninilchik, halfway between Soldotna and Homer- at the fairgrounds. We have a dress-rehearsal tomorrow and concerts next week, so that will be fun.

Fall foliage with snow-topped peaks

This past week we had a conference in Anchorage. The trip up was an incredibly clear day with blue skies and beautiful scenery. The hills are all filled with fall foliage (strictly yellow and green, with a little orange), but the mountain tops are covered in snow from the first few snowfalls. It was so beautiful, I wanted to get out and take pictures, but a co-worker was riding with me, so I didn't. It was really beautiful, like seeing fall and winter at once. I got one shot:


On the way home, it was raining (and snowing in the mountains) so I wasn't able to get the incredible pictures I was hoping for. It was neat to see the scenery change though.

Turnagin Arm with snow:


Seward Highway: (it was cool to see both rain and snow simultaneously, I think it was my first time seeing that- but it was dark and so the pictures didn't turn out as well as it looked in person)


On the Kenai:


I have to go back to Anchorage next weekend to get my studded tires put on- hopefully it won't snow before then so I can get there safely. I am hoping that there will still be leaves on the trees and a beautiful clear day to see the nice scenery again.