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.