Icewind's Ramblings

I have had several comments on my travels around the State of Alaska and going up north specifically ‘above the Arctic Circle’, places with names like Kotzebue, Selawik, Barrow and Point Hope to name a few.   Time of year comes into the equation but only slightly as it can snow or have freezing temperatures there even in summer.   For many of those who ‘work’ in the arctic it is a place where seasonal changes do not hamper the operations of providing much needed oil and natural gas to the nation.   It is a place where things continue to move about and work performed even in the harshest conditions known to man.   60 below zero with a 70 know wind many times is a common event with things moving a little slower and with safety always forefront in everyone’s mind as a misjudgment can be tragic to those who are complacent and not fully aware of their surroundings and wildlife. When I moved from Atlanta to Alaska, I learned what a “winter coat” really meant.   Whe...

Living in Alaska brings with it many varied and sometimes unique opportunities to Life from a slightly different viewpoint. When I first came to Alaska I worked for a time above the Arctic Circle in a couple of villages “at the top of the world”. One was Point Hope and the other was Point Lay as well as the northernmost ‘town’ of Barrow Alaska . I was working there building power plants and water treatment plants bringing the village into a new age of comfort and convenience. The villages are mainly subsistence communities where hunting and fishing are the main means for survival. There is no real viable ‘jobs’ like manufacturing or sales in these villages but there is a great community sprit of their past and the traditions the elders and forefathers have passed down over the generations. Elders have regaled the stories of the villages’ whaling past but they have been denied the traditional Natukataq blanket toss for many years until now when the daylong cel...