Mother nature/earth has provided us a pretty exciting January. We had some extremely cold weather (significantly below zero for a few days in a row) a few weeks back. Observe:
Sorta Cold
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
Also, it's snowed 21 out of the first 24 days this month, for a whopping total of 27.5" of snow in January. That's more than 20" above the average January snowfall of 7". That brings Anchorage's snowfall this season to an outrageous 74", almost twice the average. While this is great news for skiiers, igloo builders (see below), and snow frolickers, it is apparently bad news for moose--deep snow in yards and parks tends to drive moose into the streets and highways with more frequency. Drive carefully, Alaskans! Earlier this month we also had a bit of a tsunami scare due to a large earthquake near Japan. Although this one was nothing to worry about, tsunamis are serious business for Alaska, especially for the Aleutian Islands. Check out this story about what happened to one town in the tsunami following the big quake in '64.
I contiuned my foray into downhill skiing at Alyeska. The second time I went skiing, earlier in January, I made my first trip away from Chair 3 (where all the green slopes are) and went up the mountain BIG TIME. I didn't have my camera with me, but I skiied all the way down to the very bottom of the mountain from where this picture was taken:
Alyeska
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
The run was a blue star, so somewhere in between a green and a blue in difficulty. I tried to do that same run on my third trip--but it was snowing heavily all day and the powder totally destroyed me. But by the end of my third day, thanks to some peer pressure, I was skiing down the steep blues on Chair 3. I can ski!
I've also been practicing my skate skiing. I took a lesson early in January, and have gone out a couple of times since then. A confluence of bad weather and illness has kept me from doing it as often as I'd like, but it's my goal to pick up my pace. It's so fun and a serious workout.
While I was away skiing a couple weekends ago, I had my first moose in my yard, although I wasn't there to see it. When I got home, there were moose tracks and turds, and a big moose sleeping hole right outside my door. I sure would have loved to look out my window and see Mr./Mrs. Moose chillin out there. At least I know they know where I live.
My friends and I tried to build an igloo in Elderberry Park! It was not that successful, although we were able to um, stack up bricks and make some wall type things. The trick was making bricks sturdy enough to hold up when you stacked lots of other bricks on top of them, and to curve the walls inward enough that they had any hope of meeting in the middle. We were a little too ambitious in the hole we dug at the outset, and not conscientious enough in our brickmaking. Eventually, once we'd honed our brickmaking skills a bit, we downsized and tried to make a smaller structure that had a prayer of supporting a roof. But alas, the initial bricks were not strong enough, and it collapsed. Here is Alex looking very sad after the collapse:
Alex looks sad inside collapsed igloo
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
Most recently, this past weekend I attended an amazing Anchorage event--the Great Alaskan Beer and Barleywine Festival. A couple hundred brewers from all over the country set up in the convention center. I was very excited to see the guys from the 21st Amendment in San Francisco--and to learn they're going to start distributing their watermelon wheat--YUM!
21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
You pay an admission fee to get a tasting glass and a booklet of tickets, each entitling you to one taste. In reality, the tasting is nearly unlimited. My favorites of the night were the Rogue Chocolate Stout and a barleywine (I don't remember its name--something with a monkey?) from Silver Gulch Brewery (which my friends visited in Fox on our way to Chena Hot Springs). I didn't enjoy barleywine on my first taste, as evidenced by this photo. All barleywines are not equal, however, and the Silver Gulch variety was delicious. It was a good time and definitely worth my bucks.
1 comment:
so glad you're back!! our experiences couldn't be more opposite...it's cool.
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