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!

Life Goes On

This is the Fairbanks winter weather everyone told me to brace myself for. A high of 33-below is just hard to imagine, but here it is. Even so, life here goes on. People still go to work, school, shopping. It's just another day in this part of our world.

Dress for the weather, not the vehicle. Even in the car with all this on I was still chilly. My big toes were numb in my boots.
Click to enlarge photos



There's lots of smoke in traffic when it's this cold.


Near North Pole on the way home from Fairbanks. 35-below at 2:30 p.m.





The Mother Ship today


Driving up to Eielson. It's always colder here by a few degrees than it is in Fairbanks.

Books With Violins On The Side

On Saturday evening Bren and I went to Barnes&Noble in Fairbanks to warm up, read, and do homework. We were delighted to hear beautiful music when we walked in the door, and very suprised to see it was live, being played by these wonderful people. I wish they had played all night!