Morning Musings

Mornings in the winter in Fairbanks are much different than any morning I have ever experienced. First, you must get used to the darkness that lingers until almost lunchtime. If you were to look outside at three in the morning and at eight in the morning, you would see no difference. But with my amazing dawn simulator( a nightlight that dims to represent sunset and brightens in the morning before your alarm goes off, to represent the sunrise), things get a bit easier as you get used to them.
As we inch closer to December 21, Winter Solstice, Fairbanks is losing about seven minutes a day of sunlight. That means within ten days we lose over an hour of our sunlight, making it easier to know when lunchtime is (when the sun comes up). By the time Winter Solstice actually does come around, we will only see about three and a half hours of sunlight a day, from about eleven to around two thirty, YIKES!!!
While many take showers to wake them up, or drink coffee to get a nice buzz in the morning, my wake up medicine is the frigid cold that I step out into every day to start the car. If it snowed the night before, I brush all the snow off and make sure the windshield wipers aren't stuck and that my keyhole hasn't frozen over. If I know it is going to be an extremely cold night, twenty five to forty below (or worse), then I have to get up about twenty minutes earlier so that the car is nice and warm and functions properly.
There is an elementary school just two blocks away from where I live and every morning I pass it on my way to work. Like most schools, there is a crosswalk guy who stands out on the corner, assuring that each child crosses safely. This is another job I would not want to have. No matter what the temperature is, this guy is always out helping the public. He makes my day a little bit better every time I pass through because he does a nice bow, one foot behind the other, taking his cap off and graciously crossing it over his chest. For someone who has to stand outside in the winter cold all morning, I commend him.
One of the hardest parts about the morning drive is making sure I don't slip off the road with all the snow and ice built up on the concrete. You must give yourself ample amount of time to move into a lane or cross an intersection, as well as room between yourself and other cars. An immediate stop by anyone can create a huge pile-up or just a slippery confusion for all involved. When turning corners you must take your time and make sure a bike tire doesn't catch a small curb and your backside goes flying out behind you. But, sometimes I let the curb hit my tire and have a little fun pretending I can actually drift. I know mom, not safe.

Weather

It has never been easy to move from a place like California to the tundra of Alaska, but this place really does grow on you after a while. As winter has already fallen upon the Interior, it is sometimes hard to remember what it is like in other spots of the world. A normal day lately in Fairbanks has been between about zero and ten degrees above. Last week, as we all woke up for our dreaded Monday morning, Fairbanks residents got a cold surprise of about twenty degrees below zero. Although twenty below is cold, I find it funny how people here react to the situation. For myself, all it was was a switch from my normal down jacket to my Carharrt. For others, it was just one more layer on top and maybe a warmer pair of socks. That same Monday I was watching Monday night football and in Buffalo it was just above twenty degrees and people within the stadium looked as though they were going to die if it got any colder. I looked at my roommate and we both laughed about how big of wimps these people were and that twenty above would be nice at this time. Then it hit me, 'Did I really say that?', Did I really just say that twenty above would be nice weather. Yes, and if you haven't endured the cold here you would never understand. The last two days it has been just above zero, and after the cold snap we felt, that weather has felt so warm. I found myself driving the other day with my window down thinking that the cold air feels great. I come home in three weeks and I really wonder what its going to be like to be thrown into fifty something degree weather. Shorts and t-shirts, here I come!!!!

(I rambled quite a bit in this one. Pardon my grammar mistakes.)

Thankful

At many times throughout the year we are reminded why we are thankful for certain people, blessings in our life, and the many things we get to enjoy that many others do not. But, as I began to think the other day about what I was most thankful for, I could not come up with any specific thing. It boggled my mind that I was not able to think of one single thing that I was truly thankful for, but that all changed when I entered the Fairbanks Rescue Mission this afternoon for a Thanksgiving preview story, as well as the hundreds of individuals lined up at the church just down the road looking for boxes of supplies for a sufficient Thanksgiving dinner.
Yes, I'm thankful for many different things within my life but I think the one thing I am most thankful for is the love and care that so many people have shown this thanksgiving. It will be exactly one year from tomorrow that I made my journey to the last frontier to chase a job that I had worked so hard for. I am thankful for those so many people that have taken me under their wing while being in such an unfamiliar place and made it feel like home. I am thankful for the memories that I have been able to share with those around me and the many memories that still hold strong in my mind from the past. I am thankful to have a family that cares to know what I am doing everyday and that I am financially stable and able to enjoy the many things that consume my everyday life. I am just plain thankful that I am cared for by so many people and that I am able to care for them in the same way.
It will be my first thanksgiving away from my family, but also the first thanksgiving that I get to enjoy with many of the new friends that have come into my life. My family will always be the first to come to mind when I think of Thanksgiving and things that I am thankful for, but as I sit down and enjoy a delicious home cooked meal, I can't be anymore thankful for the past year and all the experiences that I have endured and the many blessings that I have received. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Never would have thought

A lot of my time here in Fairbanks consists of me driving around town for different stories or interviews, which gives me a lot of time to spend people watching and observing from afar. One thing I noticed the other day was a job that I really would not like in Fairbanks during the winter, Parking Enforcement. Even though this town sees temperatures of fifty below zero during the winter, the parking enforcement officers are always out and ready to give tickets. As many of us dread the walk from our heated cars to the heated buildings we work in, parking enforcement officers are walking all around town throughout the day monitoring parking spots and giving tickets. If you catch them at the end of their route, you can usually notice the amount of moisture icicles that have formed on the hood of their jackets and the cold ice that has accumulated on their face cover as they breathe in and out while they walk. Yes, they walk, they do not have little "meter maid" cars like many of us are used to seeing, they make their trips walking throughout the downtown area. It definitely makes me appreciate a warm car every time I see them.
Another thing that I never thought about before I got here was the use of a cemetery. In many parts of the world, cemetery's can be used year round, not here in Fairbanks. Because of the freezing cold temperatures and the amount of snow that falls so early in the year, cemetery's are shut down at a certain point and then re-open once the ground is considered reasonable to dig. No, people here don't send the fallen out to sea on large pieces of broken ice ( the same notion of no, we don't all live in igloos). I find it quite interesting that they can just close cemetery's for more than half a year and then just re-open for other parts of the year. Strange, at least to me.
And one last observance, except this one is more of a question of logic. Many residents of the Fairbanks area are called Natives. These are the people who have rooted pasts within the Alaskan Interior for hundreds of years and still call Fairbanks home. Unfortunately, many of them live off of the states money and their ancestral savings from their tribe. Okay, back to my point- Ravens within the Interior are some of the biggest you will ever see in your life, these things are just plain massive. Natives believe that all of their ancestors are the Ravens that roam the town and the state for that matter. But I wonder, why believe your ancestors are Ravens? These are the same birds that spend entire winters freezing to death in the sub zero temperatures and picking through peoples trash. When I think about my deceased relatives, I really don't want to subject them to being trash pickers that have to survive these temperatures and being one of the most hated animals within an entire town. I find it odd that one large group would selectively choose this animal to represent their relatives who have passed.
Well, that's all for now from the Last Frontier. Hope everyone is staying warm!

Election Season

I know many of my critics have been waiting for another blog, aka mom and grandma, but I am now finally able to post again. For the past months election season in Alaska has been quite the up and down roller coaster. With Gov. Sarah Palin being announced as McCain's running mate, Stevens going to trial and being convicted, and Don Young, "Poor Don Young", also being investigated... this has been quite the political scene so far in Alaska. As it came closer and closer for voters to make their decision for 2008... it has only made my job and daily duties even more stressful. I have been at sign wavings at 7:30 in the morning just to catch candidates with their volunteers, I have been to more political rallies than I ever thought I would attend in my life, I have talked to a convicted felon that the people still continue to support for Senate (Ted Stevens, as if you didn't know), and I was at Election Central all night last night until one in the morning. As election season has almost come to a close, I can finally take a big sigh of relief. Although I enjoy hearing the different sides of issues all day long and the political jargon that many candidates try and use to mix up your thoughts, and Joe Paskvans mother endorsing all his commercials("I'm Joe's mother, and I approve this message")... I can finally say that I am quite glad Election 2008 is over with. It's been real... It's been fun... But it hasn't been real fun.

Watch your step

When I woke up this morning, I first noticed the immense amount of snow outside my window and that it was coming down pretty hard. I looked on the net for what the temperature was (So I know what to wear, of course boots) and noticed that we are in the midst of a storm advisory. When i think of storm advisory, I think of wind and rain. Nope, this is a snow blizzard storm advisory, up to ten inches of possible snow and decreasing temperatures(possible ten below tonight). But there's one thing you have to be most careful of when it snows this hard, and that's the ground that you are walking on. As snow begins to accumulate and gets smashed down day after day, it becomes frozen solid ice. The streets are like hockey rinks, the sidewalks like greased pavement, and take nothing more than a half step at all times. As I pulled out of the parking lot I watched as a man and woman crossed the road with coffee in hand. The women was taking her time, while the man walked as though he was perfectly fine. As you may have guessed, two seconds later the man slipped, his feet flew up in the air, and he was on his back in the middle of the street with hot coffee all over him. Although I felt sorry for him, because I know how much that hurts, I couldn't help but laugh. I didn't feel too bad, because the woman he was with laughed as well, shaking her finger at him while he still was on his back. I made fun of them before I got here, but I definitely have to thank my mom for getting me the first pair of shoe spikes that have saved me from being the idiot in the middle of the street many times.

Take a look at Fairbanks

I found another site that I thought may be interesting to all of you that read my blog (not very many, haha). It's a site that has pictures from all over Fairbanks, mostly in the summer, but they are really nice photos that give you a sense of where I am living and the beauty that it holds year round. I haven't checked out all the albums, but if you can see, it is a nice town in a beautiful setting... just way out in the middle of the largest U.S. state. Check it out! Let me know what you think!

http://www.alaskaphotographics.com/alaska_fairbanks_photos.shtml

See what it's like

I can't believe it took me this long to find this site!!! On the local newspapers website, which I read everyday, there is a link to a camera that sits just outside their office building. The camera is on about a ten minute delay, but it's pretty cool for people to see what it's like here in Fairbanks, especially during the Winter. Go to www.arcticcam.com. See what it's like here in the Last Frontier!!!

Shoveling

As the snow continues to fall for the last three days, the one thing that I have to remind myself to do everyday is to shovel some of the snow around the house. Because it gets so cold here, if you don't shovel the snow early enough it turns into ice very quickly, which is very dangerous during the Winter time. Every morning before I go to work, my roommate and I both grab the shovels and make sure that we at least get the previous nights snowfall and clear the usual paths and the backyard area. It is quite the task. In the Interior we also have some morning rituals that you may not find in other places. First, you have to plug your car in at night to make sure that your radiator heater is warm throughout the night and that your car starts the next morning. Some people have auto starts, which will start throughout the night if the car reaches a certain temperature, but other folks, like myself, have to plug the car in to the side of the house or the garage area. This means walking to your car in the morning at least twenty five minutes before you want to drive it and letting it heat up throughout.
Second odd thing about the Interior, is that once you get used to the cold, it doesn't really bother you at all. This morning was just below zero, which wasn't too bad, which means if it gets to about fifteen or twenty, it will feel like a heat wave to many people in this town. At thirty degrees, I am more than comfortable with a nice fleece or sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. Who would have though a California Kid would say zero degrees isn't that bad?

Everyday Sightseeing

When I first got to Alaska, all I heard was talk about how cool the wildlife can be throughout all times of the year. After my friends and I were done sledding on sunday, we got stuck behind a car that was taking it's sweet time to take a picture of three moose on the side of the road. What really made me laugh is when my two friends and I started yelling at the car to move and that it was only a moose, nothing special. I find it funny that once you get used to the lifestyle up here and the wildlife roaming all around you, things that once used to be so fascinating can become just another small event within your 24 hour day.
But, I did see a beaver the other night. That was pretty awesome. Beavers up here are abnormally big compared to others, because they must contain more body fat and fur to survive the frigid temperatures of the Arctic. The one I saw had a tail that looked almost two feet long and was the size of a medium stature dog. Whoa!!

October!?!?!

October throughout most of the country is time to look at all the beautiful leaves falling from their branches and enjoy the ever changing colors of the landscape. Here in Fairbanks October is practically the opposite of anything like that. September was a time of change, rapid change at that, and October has turned into quite the cold and snowy month so far. This morning we reached almost subzero temperatures, which isn't that cold, if you've been here through a full winter. But, we also received over six inches of snow this weekend, which meant sledding all day long on Sunday. Cowabunga!!

First time for everything

As I walked out my backdoor yesterday afternoon to take a bike ride, I noticed the most unusual thing sitting atop our wood storage shed in the backyard. It was a long, thick piece of something wrapped in almost a potato-like sack, but it was dripping red residue everywhere beneath it. Upon further investigation and a good whiff of the odor coming off of it, I realized that it was a full leg of Moose. I was mesmerized. I have seen many moose in my time here in Alaska and had talked to many people that had been out hunting and had "nabbed" one, as they say. But to see a full Moose leg, skinned and ready to carve was one of the coolest things in the world. i asked my neighbor what it was doing there, and she explained that it had been brought to her father as a gift from a friend who had been north for the last three days. At night, Eleanor, the woman who lives next door, and her sons carved the meat up and even gave my roommate and I a hefty bag of the succulent red meat. I don't know how to prepare the Last Frontier mascot, but I do know that I look forward to eat bullwinkle for the next couple of weeks. So long from the Last Frontier!


P.S. If you have any suggestions of how to cook it, let me know!!!

Freezing

My last post I spoke about the coming winter and it really came back to bite me. This weekend... Sunday morning specifically... Fairbanks North Star Borough (we have boroughs here not counties) was thirty one degrees... marking the first below freezing temperature of the season. Oddly enough, though, we are actually two weeks behind than the average time of year that these temperatures begin. It is forecasted that this winter is supposed to be a bit warmer this year, but much more wet, meaning more ice to slip on and more ice fog to dread in the mronings. It is weird to live in such a different community than the Bay Area. Here, winter is talked about all year long, even in the summer, people make comments like "Wow, it's really nice out today, can't believe winter is only 56 days away". They count down the days until the first official day, and no one seems to care that it gets close to fifty or sixty below!!! Well, I guess it's time to pull out the scarves, gloves, snow boots, and the all important shoe spikes so that you don't slip on the ice every five seconds.

P.S. Sorry for any grammatical mistakes Mom.

Fall Time

In Fairbanks we have two seasons, winter and summer. Right now we are just getting done with summer and waiting for winter to bring its cold snap. While many other places around the country have a couple more months until they feel the freeze of winter and the looks of it, for the last week or so, we have been expecting snow to fall. The trees have really changed colors within the last two weeks... going from birght green to yellow and red. It really is an odd spectacle when things change so quickly. With the winter cold also comes the darkness that we have to deal with here. During summer we were getting almost twenty one hours of sunlight and not even a hint of darkness for about two months. Right now we get about a normal days worth of sunlight and it really stinks!!! But, it is much better than twenty one hours of darkness that is creeping upon us. I'lll be updating this blog every couple of days so I hope you all enjoy!!!!