Winter's Arrival

Sending I Love You's to all my blog readers. Wearing my 100% real rabbit trooper's hat that was Made in China (where else?) The coat was purchased a year ago in Sioux City. It fits in perfectly with Alaskan fashions (if you can call it that).
A decal in the back of a pick-up window depicting Alaska (center) and snowmachiners with 907 - the sole Alaska area code.










Snow covered trees along the expressway.
The street we live on...we live by the 1st and 2nd electric pole. Snow removal equipment is scarcely seen. Streets have no curb/gutters and most neighborhoods no sidewalks. Small rock (no salt) i used on major roadways when needed-nearly guaranteeing broken windshields we're told.

The front of our house. The left portion is our living/dining area. The front part is an arctic entry. Basically one door on the outside...step in 4' to another door to the inside.
Lutheran Church we visited today. Interesting picture on the wall as well as pulpit, candleholders, etc.
Snow covered trees by the Fairbanks library. Guess you could call these government trees if you'd like.

The back of our house. To the right (back door "wall" is our kitchen, the window is to our bedroom and to the left of bedroom is the bathroom. Oh yeah, and our $23 snow shovel we purchased at Sam's Club.

Snow piled on top of trash container.

Nate waving hi next to his vehicle parked in our yard.

Not only are we IN Alaska, Alaska promotes Alaska. Familiar sites are Alaska Made sweatshirts, Alaska girls kick butt and Alaska Girls - Attitude is everything. They strongly support Alaska grown vegetables in the summer too. Alaskans are proud, yet humble.

We received snow last weekend which melted Friday and Saturday, only to wake up to more snow this morning. I'm guessing we received probably 4-5 inches. With no wind here the snow falls straight down. It makes it much brighter outdoors - something I'm sure we will appreciate during the shortened daylight hours over the next few months.

I've been browsing some websites and came across a neat one which provides a web cam which records the overnight sky, providing a view of the aurora borealis (northern lights). According to the forecast, we have a very good chance of seeing northern lights October 12 and 13. If you take a look at the link near the top of the page you can indicate the date of the recording you would like to view. Check it out: http://salmon.nict.go.jp/awc/view_movie_e.php?date=20081010

Note: the 20081010 indicates 10-10-2008. That evening the chances of seeing it were predicted as LOW, and you could actually see the northern lights, so I'm looking forward to seeing that October 12 and 13 have in store. Camilla spoke to someone who said if you get close to the northern lights you can hear the energy snapping and popping.

Yesterday was Camilla's 30th birthday. She spent the day with her husband, Brian, then I picked her up and she and I went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant then to a live theater production Omelet, Prince of Danish, a takeoff on Shakespeare's Hamlet written by a couple of local gals. Nate and I went to the production on opening night, Thursday. While he was getting our tickets I struck up a conversation with a young boy, probably 12, sporting a broken arm. He indicated he and his father are the only two people in his family that are not in the play. Him because he didn't want to be, and his dad because he's in Iraq fighting the war. (Heart string tug) His mother, brother and sister were all in it, with his mother playing a large role. I thought what a great way for the mother to keep her kids active and the family together!

When Camilla arrived at the theater Saturday night he recognized us and we again chatted. The people of Fairbanks are so friendly. They live a slower-paced life and dress very casually. I've also noticed that the beauticians and barbers in Fairbanks more than ikely aren't making a lucrative living, as many folks have very simple hairstyles, and many, many men, especially those 50+ have beards. In addition ponytails on men are very common. Therefore Nate fits right in with the beard part. He won't be joining those with ponytails.