Snow is Here :o)

I took the pics above and below one Sunday morning at my girl's boyfriend's house when we were picking him up for church. It was a beautiful snowy morning just after sunrise.



The two below were taken here on Eielson around French Creek

Two Seasons

People around these parts say there are only two seasons in Alaska: winter and construction. I have found this to be very true. Here it is the end of August and I can't help but wonder how some of these projects are going to get finished before winter sets in.


The center of town in North Pole is very small, so it's been a huge headache moving just a short distance all summer. I'm thrilled with the new road layout, however, and look forward to traffic flowing better through town.


Seven years in England made roundabouts second nature for me, but the new additions have left many locals scratching their heads and honking their horns.

Literacy Council of Alaska

Over the summer my daughter volunteered well over a hundred hours at the Literacy Council of Alaska in Fairbanks. LCA runs a summer tutoring program for teens called Cross-Age. The teenagers are assigned elementary students to tutor in reading, writing, and math three days per week. It was a very rewarding experience for Bren, as I'm sure it was for the kids that were tutored.

The Literacy Council is supported in part by their bookstore, Forget-Me-Not Books, where most books are sold for just two dollars. I've grown to love that place!

Summer

I never thought I would take a nearly 6-month break from blogging when I began this back in September. Alaska has bumped over the peak of the summer solstice and is now back to losing light every day, for which I am thankful.

Being a night owl, if I had to choose between the constant light or constant darkness, I'd choose the darkness. Maybe that says more about my personality than I'd care to admit, but there it is. I find myself more disoriented and sleep-deprived in the summer than I did in the winter. I feel at home in the comfort of darkness - more secure inside. Yeah I know, I'm weird.

So I'll stop with all the psycho-babble and get to posting some long-overdue pics for the one or two of you who still happen to stop by on occasion. I took these on June 21st at the Summer Solstice Festival downtown.


The main street - Cushman - running through downtown.


The folks in this pic above are panning for gold.

Today's Stats

Sunrise: 9:43
Sunset: 4:26
Length of day: 6h 42min

And this was our beautiful sunset this evening:

How Marvelous God's Greatness

This little stream is just around the corner from our street. I love passing it every day!


How marvelous God’s greatness, how glorious His might!
To this the world bears witness in wonders day and night.
In form of flower and snowflake, in morn’s resplendent birth,
In afterglow at even, in sky and sea and earth.

Each tiny floweret whispers the great life-giver’s Name;
The mighty mountain masses His majesty proclaim;
The hollow vales are hymning God’s shelter for His own;
The snow-capped peaks are pointing to God’s almighty throne.

The ocean’s vast abysses in one grand psalm record
The deep mysterious counsels and mercies of the Lord;
The icy waves of winter are thundering on the strand,
E’en grief’s chill stream is guided by God’s all-gracious hand.

The starry hosts are singing through all the light-strewn sky
Of God’s majestic temple and palace courts on high;
When in these outer chambers such glory gilds the night,
What the transcendent brightness of God’s eternal light!

~Vladimar Briem, 1886

Pics From The Hill

These are just random pics I took while waiting for the girls to get done with their ASL class at UAF. 26-below zero F this morning. Brrrrrrrrr

More Ice Ice Baby (sorry, couldn't help myself)

While I was up at the University today I walked around taking pics of some of the ice sculptures that adorne the campus. It was nearly 20-below F and my camera quit working after awhile so I missed some nice ice art. Maybe next time; it's not like they're gonna melt or anything :o)

click pics to enlarge
This bear kyaking was my favorite. Even the water was carved out.






A bear with a degree

Ice Sculptures

This past weekend I went with Bren and Abbie to the Regal movie theater in town, and as we were leaving I spotted this wonderful ice sculpture display of the barnyard from the story Charlotte's Web. If we had turned the other way out of the parking lot we would have missed it. I'm so glad we didn't.

I am so looking forward to the World Ice Art Championships in March.

click pics to enlarge

Lovely Sunset

This photo was taken by my friend Abbie yesterday near her house on base.



The sun with royal splendor
Goes forth to chant Thy praise;
And moonbeams soft and tender
Their gentler anthem raise;
O’er every tribe and nation
That music strange is poured,
The song of all creation,
To Thee, creation’s Lord.

~Thomas R. Burks, 1874