Confronting Winter

In the depths of winter, when temperatures drop and the sun barely pokes above the horizon, humans and animals either confront winter's short chilly days or retreat. There are several strategies for confronting the year's coldest days.

Chickadees cache food early in the winter to conserve valuable energy.

Moose and caribou use a circulatory system that warms blood in their legs as it returns to the heart.

Ptarmigan stuff a night's worth of food into their crop while roosting in snow.

Musk ox stand still. And wood frogs freeze.

Here are a few images of the Anchorage Bowl confronting winter.

Making albums

Our friend Bekah atop Loveland Pass - "14ers" Greys and Torreys in the distance

M & B 1st Christmas

Pheasants in WI

With a bit of time off of work this week I have been able to get all of our photos in one place on our new computer. I've making new albums to organize the thousands of photos that inevitably accumulate in the digital age. Combing through the old photos allowed me to free up many MBs of memory and jog memories of years past. The first two photos here are from our time living in Colorado's high country. Meghan and I worked for Vail Resorts and experienced the ski bum lifestyle for a winter. We celebrated our first Christmas together there and hosted Meghan's family in a tiny one bedroom apartment (my parents lived just down the road). The last photo is of Meghan's brother (Patrick), Dad (Tom) and me on the family farm in Wisconsin after a day of hunting. I am about halfway through the old photos and hope to get them consolidated before going back to work next week.

Back to bloggin

A Chugach panorama

The Holiday hearth

Skating on the lagoon with Ben and Laura

Armed with a new camera and computer that makes blogging a snap, N2F is primed to return after a six month hiatus. Don't expect to hear much from Meghan though, she's hard at work preparing for an important test in a couple of months.

Bruin news

Photo: James Poulson

A couple of great shots in the ADN today of a cellist serenading brown bears in an old Sitka paper mill. And a fellow Anchorage bike commuter is surely thanking his lucky stars this evening after a run-in with a brown bear on his morning ride to work. The (defensive) attack occurred less than three miles from my daily commuting destination north of Tudor Road.

T-minus one month

The countdown begins as Megatron and I drift closer toward an officially recognized life together as Husband and Wife. Thanks to all who have helped us ready the matrimony ship for a sail on the Pacific.

Wild Fruits - planting season at the urban homestead

It is a grand fact that you cannot make the fairer fruits or parts of fruits matters of commerce; that is, you cannot buy the highest use and enjoyment of them.

You cannot buy that pleasure which it yields to him who truly plucks it.

Thoreau, Wild Fruits

our prized brown hog

the trees are blooming

veggies and flowers in Bruce's raised beds

Recycled fence post planters

Bird Brains

Arctic terns

This weekend I had the chance to attend a presentation by Badger alumnus, former Kodiak resident, and "twitcher" (Australian parlance for birder) Richard Nelson. Nelson, a cultural anthropologist, is the mastermind behind the uniquely entertaining Encounters radio program. Aired primarily on Alaskan public radio stations, Encounters features 30 minutes of uninterrupted recordings of the natural world. The show will focus on an ecosystem, a specific animal, or phenomena like snow or rain. The first time that I heard the show Nelson was quietly watching a herd of muskox. When the oxen approached Nelson, you could hear their snorts - I was hooked. Nelson also narrates the natural history of the sounds during each show. It really brings Alaska's wilderness to life when sitting in the office or riding in the car.

Semipalmated plover doin' the macarena

During Nelson's presentation he played several of his recordings, many of which were birds. He also told the audience that he would be recording urban wildlife in Anchorage sometime during his visit. I left the talk excited to get into the field and listen. Saturday morning I walked Reb to a pond near our house to spot a few feathered friends. From shore, I was able to add northern shovelers, and a yellowleg to the life list. Later at Potters Marsh near Turnagain Arm I spotted arctic terns and a canvasback. The pictures featured here are courtesy of our Kodiak friend Raymond who has a really nice camera.

Short-billed dowitcher

Whale-less

Looking into Resurrection Bay from Seward Harbor

We've been away from the blog and our readers (i.e., Moms) have voiced discontent. Job hunting, projects at work and travel plans have squeezed out bloggin' time. This here post is a belated entry from our Seward whale getaway last month. We left Rebel the weinerdog with some friends in Anchorage and drove over Turnagain Pass late Friday night after work. After driving through heavy snow and grabbing a quick sleep in the Holiday Inn Express, we caught the first boat out of the Harbor Saturday morning for a glimpse of migrating grey whale.

Aboard the Kenai Star

Before boarding the Kenai Star on Saturday morning we were excited to hear a few people say that they had seen "killers" and "greys" at the mouth of the Bay the day before. We popped in our whale eyeballs and donned raingear (temp: 41, winds: 40 mph, rain). On the way out of Resurrection Bay our captian pointed out a couple otters, several pods of Dall's porpoise, "bald-headed eagles," and a mountain goat with her kid on the shore.

Kittiwake rookery and sea lion haul-out

After passing a kittiwake rookery and a sea lion haul-out we "trawled" the mouth of the Bay for about 40 minutes hoping for spouts or a fluke. Although it felt great to get a face-full of seasalt air, we had to steam back to port with nary a whale in our scopes. The trip refreshed our sealegs and gave us a taste of our all-to-brief year on the water.

Almost Kodiak, but not quite

Know Your Whales

"These go to eleven"

Meghan and I have reservations this weekend to take a whale-watching tour from Seward, AK. Although we have eight inches of fresh snow on the ground this morning and several more inches in the forecast, we're hoping for clear skies on Saturday when we steam out of Resurrection Bay to catch a glimpse of migrating gray whales on their way to the Bering Sea for the summer. The migration route is long and treacherous. Grays are a common sight from the surf beach in Kodiak, where many stay during the entire summer. At times, one could look out on the horizon and see an uncountable number of the gray's low bushy white spouts.

The gray's route north to the summer

along the Seward Highway

Deb slaying the pow' at Alyeska

Jellies at the Sealife Center in Seward

giant squid!

walking the docks...in the rain

eyeing sea otter and surf scoters in Seward

exploring the urban wilderness

skiing along the coastal trail

a little short for a storm trooper?

mmm, Mom's homemade pizza

turning in for the night

wierdness in Whittier

someone was up and about in Whittier...

Bruce spits in Whittier

interesting sights as we wait for the tunnel

gliding amidst glaciers

Kevin laying low at Byron Glacier

Visiting the Begich Boggs Visitor Center at the Portage Glacier.

Skiing to Byron Glacier...

hikin' with the family

Hiking around Flattop, the most visited peak in Anchorage, enjoying the sun and views of Mt. Everest, err...Denali.

Little Deb and Baby Kevin headed home yesterday morning after spending their spring break with us here on the Last Frontier. We skied, hiked, went antiquing, saw wildlife, visited Hoth and its wampa, spit in Whittier, got wet in Seward, went to the movies and

ate lots of delicious food.

Mom thought that she was going home with less than she came with in her giant duffle,

but as we checked her in for her flight we learned that the bag was overweight...

too much frozen fish, I suppose.

We miss you two already! Come back soon!