Here Comes the Sun . . .


Nope, not again this week.

Anchorage has been basking in ice fog for the last week which means we have not seen the sun during the brief daylight hours we have this time of year.

Traveling around town has been interesting looking at the many objects covered in the hoar frost makes everything look like the white ice world Hoth in the Star Wars movie, Empire Strikes Back.   

Trees, power lines, or anything outside in the elements is covered with about ¾ inch rime ice.  It looks cold and with the temperatures around ten degrees it feels it at times too.  At least the wind has not been blowing making it even colder but at the same time it would have blown out all of this fog with even a gentle breeze.

The contrasts between things is interesting as the vehicle colors against the white is nice but the real beauty is seeing the dark colors of moose and different colors of birds against the ice or frost.  As they come and go around the bird feeder or a moose by the house with the exhale of frost jogging by looking for that next meal of frozen tree limbs or the buried Halloween pumpkin left from holidays long past now.




Photo by Marc Lester - ADN


At times the fog has been so thick you could not see the houses across the street or while driving vehicles right in front of you.  This makes for slow going at times as many people have a tendency to ‘ditch dive’ from going to fast for the conditions and when they suddenly need to break they go all over the road, ditch, or intersection close by.

It has been a trying couple of weeks with my daughter’s illness as she has spent time in the hospital in Seattle and multiple times for several days once she returned to Alaska.  It sometimes feels like we need an address change to the hospital since so much time is being spent there over the last couple of years. 

She has a more specific diagnosis and after having been admitted to get her body hydrated and balanced she has started new medications.  We all know how tired she is from these episodes as she has not had any semblance of a ‘normal life’ in almost three years.  It shows in her face and body but with these new medications hopefully we will see improvements soon.  I know she is ready for it. 

Also during this time since the first week of November I have been out of work so for me . . . going from a totally hectic pace to zero has also been an adjustment.  I guess it has been good that I have had a couple of bathrooms to work on while I was looking for another job.  In this economy and my age it has been a scary thought at times as to what is available.  I guess I have been fortunate that I have a great work ethic and developed my reputation around town which is very positive so I have had the opportunity to seek out a couple companies I have wanted to work with to sort though. 

I have gone through the recruitment process with one of the companies and after several weeks of tests, interviews, and lately the medical portion I have started.  Last week was one of being poked, prodded, and stuck as I had to go with a drug test, a series of health exams and shots since I will be traveling to some of the remote villages while working.  The H1N1 shot along with a TB screen and also a Hep-A were some of the things given to me as well as drawing blood to see what other vaccines I had when I was young since I have no shot records for the last 35 years.

Needless to say it has not left me much time for writing as both my days and nights have been filled splitting time between the hospital and watching my grandson while his mom was at the hospital.

I will try to get back to a regular schedule and put a few of the funny things down on paper from these last few weeks.

Ice

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