Icewind's Ramblings

I’ve had one of those ongoing experiences this week with another round of jury duty.  It seems like I am on a rotation of being called every two years which is the time period between set up by the court system.  Your name is pulled from the PFD database (Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend) so if you qualify for the yearly money the state gives out from our oil revenues then you have the honor of serving on a jury if called. The day goes something like this.  You call into a number the evening before to see if you are to report and if your number is given you must arrive between 7:30 am and eight o’clock for roll call.  There are between two hundred fifty and three hundred people in a huge room.  Waiting. And waiting . . . then there is another roll call and people head to the assigned courtroom so you may be asked questions from both sides to see if you are acceptable to serve on that case. The others continue to wait and another group is called for the sa...

There are certain images of Alaska that are embedded deeply within the American consciousness . . . images of sentinel pine trees frozen in time; of glaciers blanketing the peripherals with giant walls of white; of huskies hopping through a snow drift, the tips of their fur crystallized and glistening. But when it comes to the authentic Alaska , these icons are merely the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Here is part 2 of Alaskan Vocabulary to get you in tune with some of the topics in my blog and to enhance your experience if you travel to our great land in the north. Iditarod : Known as the "The Last Great Race on Earth". From Anchorage, in south central Alaska, to Nome on the western Bering Sea coast, each team of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher cover over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days. Ice fog : Is what occurs when water vapor meets bitter cold air that can't hold any more water in 10 seconds or less. Water cooled that fast forms tiny ice particles. Collectiv...