It was

a quiet week in Lake Woebegone.... Oh, wait.  That's someone else's tag line.  However, it was a quiet week here.  I keep thinking that I will be able to go out and explore, but it is dark and cold at night and not very conducive for exploring.  I had hoped to go out to a place called Earthquake Park yesterday.  There was an earthquake back in the 60's that destroyed a fair amount of Anchorage.  Earthquake Park is apparently a commemorative to that moment, but also a decent place to go see Knik Arm which I believe is the name of the bay by Anchorage.  There have been two earthquakes in the past week, however, we haven't felt either of them.  But I wound up working yesterday, and on the way home I stopped at Costco.  I know Costco is packed on the weekend, but I just wanted soda and a couple of other things. So I delved deep inside myself and found a huge piece of patience and waded into the throng.  And a throng it was.  There were so many people you would have thought it was the weekend prior to Christmas.  It was then that the lightbulb went off and I realized they were getting ready to celebrate the other National Holiday - Superbowl.  Yes, even in Anchorage the Superbowl rules.  Part of that is probably because so many people are from somewhere else.  Part of it is probably because we all need something at this time of winter to keep us going.

As I pushed my car through the 2 inches of slush churned up by the cars in the parking lot I got a glimpse of this

Go Pack Go!  All the way from Anchorage!

Some other things that I noted this week are really just random thoughts...

There is a public bus system called The People Mover.  They have racks on the front of the bus where you can store your bicycle.  And no matter where you want to go on the bus, they take you to downtown first.

I haven't been to the museum in town yet, but I love to go to the Native Hospital.  They have the most fascinating displays of Native Arts, both historical and new.  Anyone who comes to visit will surely get a tour.  We will start on the 4th floor and work our way down the steps because there are little vignettes built into the walls of the staircase.  Each floor has a wall-length display featuring something like baskets or masks. The displays are beautiful, and they highlight how it is to live or exist in such harsh and unforgiving surroundings.  Actually, the word you hear isn't existence but subsistence. The natives are allowed to live off the land for not only food but also clothing, fuel, housing etc etc.  If you are interested in learning more the best website to go to would be this one http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/subsistence.html.

We are gaining over 5 minutes of daylight a day.  The gain remains more noticeable to me at night, but here is a picture from yesterday at 0930.  A month ago this shot would of still been in the dark but yesterday the sun was up and the snow in the mountains was reflecting the pink of the sky from the sunrise.

The end of sunrise at 0930

 I have been trying to keep my resolve and walking the dogs on a daily basis.  I had a pass yesterday as by the time I got home it was just about 15 degrees out.  Today, we went to breakfast and I decided to go out and walk afterwards.  I wanted to go in the daylight and see what it looks like where we walk.  It is bitter out, and even with my flannel-lined jeans the cold bites at my skin.  The upper half of me fairs better so perhaps I need to wear another layer under my jeans.  I have a mental image of myself bundled up like Ralphie's little brother in the movie a Christmas Story where I am unable to put my arms down or to right myself if I fall down because of all the clothes I have on.  It may just be the price I have to pay to keep warm.

I have noticed here that the air plays tricks with the mountains, or rather the distance of the mountains.  Some days they look like they are rising from the next block and other days they look like they are several hundred miles away.  I don't know if it is the light, or the clarity of the air, or a combination of other factors that creates that allusion. It does make me think about people who travelled here by dogsled and how disillusioned they may have become to realize that something that appeared so close was actually not close at all.  So here are the mountains from my walk this morning.  You can see a couple of tall buildings in the distance.  They are the same buildings I took pictures of last week.

Other than moose, I haven't seen much wildlife up here.  I used to feed the birds in Wisconsin, but haven't hung a feeder here.  The only birds I have seen in Anchorage are chickadees, magpies and ravens.  Ravens are everywhere.  They are bigger and heavier than crows.  They are also louder, bolder and more raucous.  And daring.  They remind me of seagulls at the beach.  Today, there was one in the birch tree in front of the house.  Initially, there was a magpie sitting on the same branch and I would have sworn they were in conversation.  Magpies are striking to look at with their black and white plumage, and their voice has a musical quality to it.  I tried to get a picture of the two together, but my cold fingers wouldn't move fast enough and the magpie flew away before I could snap the photo.  I did get a video of the raven.  You can't see him really well, but I think you can hear him...

Some other things I saw/learned this week:  Our nightly news features dogsled race results even if the race is in Montana. 

In a few weeks it is the start of the Irondog sled race out of Big Lake, about 2 hours from here.  This is apparently a big deal here and probably explains the involvement of the nightly news.

I heard a story about someone who had to be evacuated from their remote village by dogsled because at that time there were no snowmobiles in the area.  Their sled was actually pulled by a sled, tandem sledding.  The gentleman will never be able to return home due to his medical needs and the inability for them to be provided where he lived.  I learn everyday what a challenge it is to discharge someone after hospitalization.  Especially if they can't go home because the options are so few. 

Our hospital has a policy for volcano eruption.  Steve tells me that is not unusual for up here.  Earthquakes and volcanoes, oh my!

I think I will stop here as it is time to watch the Pack and whoever the other team is....

Until next week!