Differences I have noticed...

In Wisconsin the squirrels are constantly in the bird feeder, running across the roof, throwing acorns out of the trees... in Alaska I haven't seen a single squirrel.

Every other place I have lived in for the past 30 years has had Canadian Geese that live in the area all year round.  I didn't even realize they weren't here until they showed up last week.  Apparently, their return is a sure sign of spring.  Same with the seagulls.  There have been no seagulls in the area all winter, but they returned a few weeks ago.

The lakes are still frozen, but the ice is thin and no one should be out on it at this point.  Most of the snow around town is gone, and I think the big ski resort to our south, Aleyeska, has finally closed for the season.  The weather remains dry although we did have a few sprinkles this past week.  The temperature makes it up into the 50's during the day, but when I get up in the morning there is frequently a light layer of frost on the windshield.   The grass is still brown, but I think I saw a few buds on the neighbors bushes today.  The landscapers were out at work, clearing up the winter debris.  Here is a moose who is appreciating all of their hard work. 

These pictures are taken right by the front lobby.  Every time a moose comes near the lobby someone has to go and turn off the automatic doors to prevent the moose from coming into the hospital.  The Security Guard also goes out with an air horn and uses it to scare them away from the building.  It makes getting to and from the car a little challenging.  On this particular day, we opted to use the back door at the far end of the building and not interrupt this gal while she was eating.

As I mentioned previously, we were flying to a different hospital this past week.  Here is the plane we flew on.

My travel companions listening to our wonderful pilot



This is it!  Seats about 9 people including the pilot

 The plane flew at about 500 feet giving us a really great view of the landscape.  The day was a little grey, but not to windy.  Which is a good thing since I tend to suffer from pretty severe motion sickness!  I never leave home without my dramamine!   One thing that really struck me was that the land is covered in lakes.  Our pilot, who has been flying in Alaska for about 10 years said that there are about a million little lakes in Alaska.  So here are some pictures from the trip:

My lovely co-worker

headphones were necessary to hear each other



Anchorage



Kenai River

If you look close, you can see snow-capped mountains. They blend in with the clouds.

Lakes lakes and more lakes

Not much else going on at this point.  It is 9 PM and the sun is shining like it was 1 PM.  The neighbor kids are out playing and laughing.  They are also wearing shorts and sandals.  It's only 52 degrees out and I am holding out for warmer weather. 

Until next week!