Icewind's Ramblings

Here we are going into the last week of March and many of us in the Anchorage , Alaska area are finding that it has once again been lightly snowing for the last couple days with forecast for temperatures to warm up a bit by Monday with wet snow falling and melting on the way.  I am sure everyone is ready for “break up”, the yearly ritual of melting snow, muddy water splashed on vehicles leaving them filthy.  Everyone waits until the snow melts and things dry up a bit before finally cleaning up all the cars and rigs on the highways making Alaskan vehicles in springtime probably the dirtiest in the country. With the snowfall yesterday and today it seems like most people enjoy watching it fall out the windows, I know I do.  I kept hearing something like someone knocking on my door only to look and find no one there.  I looked out my back deck door and saw what was making the knocking sounds.  It seems that spring has sprung and the birds are returning to Ala...

These last few weeks we have really been soaking up the daylight as we anticipate the arrival of our Alaskan summer.   We broke our annual snowfall record in April and once things pushed past that it has been mostly nice as spring has taken hold of Anchorage and most of Alaska.   Bright sunny days . . . shorter nights is always something to celebrate in the northland.   Things make the transition from the ever present white through the browns, muddy water, dampness, to the greening up and colors again. This has led me to contemplate the differences between our winters and our summers. The contrasts are as extreme as the landscape found within this state.   Moose roam the streets.   Dogs are on leashes or locked up in yards or houses. Winters of cold and constant darkness while the summers of never ending light.   It seems like everyone carries a gun . . . but me (seen enough of them for one lifetime). There are not a lot of people here . . . compar...

The weather since the 8 th of April has been gorgeous with clear skies and warming temperatures.   The snow has been melting and ‘break up’ went really smoothly this year with only about a week of wet roads and muddy water splashing on everything. As the last couple weeks have progressed the white everywhere slowly turned to a wet brown as the daily melt was on.   After a few days of sun the wetness quickly vanished and the brown ground gave way to dormant grass.   The grass is slowly greening up and the trees have the first signs of budding. Once these bud break apart there will be an explosion of color all over the city.   Trees will be green as the leaves awaken from a long winter’s sleep.   The bushes will also go through a transformation into their summer finest look.   The natural flowers are still some time away but the city’s greenhouses are ready to provide many areas with bright colors in the abundant sunlight. Our dark cold winter seems li...

I had posted this in 2007 and thought it appropriate to re-post again this year and with FaceBook now in the forefront it can go around once again. In our troubling times that we live today and the uncertainties that face many peoples and nations, I am reminded of an earlier time in a place called “No Man’s Land” during World War I.   During that time an act of humanity happened that went beyond rank and reason . . . and so . . . Christmas Truce . . . * The truce began on Christmas Eve , December 24 , 1914 , when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres , Belgium , for Christmas . They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols , most notably Stille Nacht ( Silent Night ). The British troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols. The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were calls for visits ac...

Wednesday afternoon heading back to Kodiak - 5/27/10 The pilot taxied out to take off for the flight along the coast to Karluk and as we broke ground and climbed to about 50 feet above ground level (AGL) to the end of the runway as we flew past the lodge we banked sharply to the left and headed out over the bay.  We climbed to about 300 feet and bounced our way around the island toward Karluk.  We flew just off shore along the rock outcroppings and worked our way to the homecoming for a mother and daughter with the family.  As we flew along they kissed each other and glad to be returning home after a few days in Kodiak for a school function.  There had been a music function and many of the kids on the island were brought to Kodiak to participate.  This happens all over the state with school kids flying to sporting events, music outings, and other functions as needed giving some sense of normalcy within the communities. As we flew over the village along the...

A wonderful Blue Moon on the rise. When I left for work this morning in the predawn hours before first light there was a waxing almost full moon smiling at me, a midst the two December moons.  Once in a Blue Moon . . . is a common way of saying not very often, but what exactly is a Blue Moon? According to the popular definition, it is the second Full Moon to occur in a single calendar month. It is a lunar event that happens ‘once in a blue moon’. This phenomenon has nothing to do with color, everything to do with time. The average interval between Full Moons is about 29.5 days, whilst the length of an average month is roughly 30.5 days.  This makes it very unlikely that any given month will contain two Full Moons, though it does sometimes happen. On average, there will be 41 months that have two Full Moons in every century, so you could say that once in a Blue Moon actually means once every two-and-a-half years. While a blue moon consistently gives poets fo...

Many of us look for the end of the rainbow and sometimes a few of us may actually luck up and find it . . . Was it what we expected or really wished for? Sometimes . . . and we may find a few unexpected things along the way. Land of the midnight Sun . . . Alaska Scenes . . . Alaska , Bringing our Natural Resources to America A Quiet Place And a song . . . Ice

I picked up from the airport this afternoon a friend who is coming back up to Alaska to work with us. He was here briefly almost a year and a half ago working but it was more in the late winter into spring part of the year. It was good seeing him again and catching up on things this afternoon and until one of my out of town projects starts later this month he will be staying at my house. We kicked back for a bit and relaxed and talked about the economy in Montana and Alaska before everyone started to arrive at the house. My daughter and son in law decided they wanted to come over for a dinner of tacos and fajitas and go over some things since they never made it by over the weekend. It was a great dinner and the two grandkids were happy to eat peanut butter and jelly while everyone else chowed down on both chicken and beef fajitas as well as soft and hard shell tacos. We made fresh guacamole and a salsa blend with my “magic bullet” for that quick and easy meal...