Icewind's Ramblings

I finally got through my work week and did not finish this until tonight so it is about a couple weeks old now from reality.   I had finished up Friday (the week before Thanksgiving) and had a few days off until after the holidays.  I needed to use some of my time before the end of the year so as not to lose it so I did not have to be back to work until Nov. 28th which is not bad. I decided that I had worked too hard these last few weeks and needed a break from everything so I decided to drive down to Homer for the day to clear my head and get ready to slow down from work.  I have a friend who has a boat there who had asked several weeks ago to drop by if I was in the area.   With the cold weather he was not there this weekend but no worries.   I have another friend who has lived in Alaska for many years but had never been to Homer so I asked if she wanted to accompany me on what would be about a 10 hour trek.   Several friends thought I'm crazy to dri...

Today dawned clear as first light broke around 10 am. Once the sun rose over the mountains we endured what is called “Horizon Sun” until it set around 3:15 pm. With only about five and a half hours of daylight this time of year the sun barely clears the mountaintops and hangs just above the peaks until it drops below again for another long, cold, dark night. It looks something like this . . . Driving towards the east and south is at times difficult due to the sun peeking in between the visor and the hood of your vehicle. There is no good way to block it so with the glare from the ice it makes things difficult to see. Solstice is approaching in ten days and we will start making our way back towards the light and the warmth it brings. I love winter but on the cold mornings when you arrive to work and four hours later the first light of day is creeping in your window as you take another sip of coffee that feeling of a warm tropical locale seems nic...