Winter Stumbles Forward

It seemed as if winter was over spring break up was upon us for the last few weeks. Dirt was showing, and snow was melting fast around Victory. The temp read 45 at one point. In town, the Talkeetna Mountains showed no signs of snow on Thursday. It was t-shirt weather, until it started raining. But as I progressed up the highway, I thought of the old quote of "if it was only 10 degrees colder, this could be snow." And it did turn to snow as I progressed into the mountains. In one day I went from 26 to 45 back to the 30s. It went from sunny to rainy, then to white-out conditions, followed by clear weather. Alaska changes so fast. Proof of this showed tremendously last week. The dirt was quickly covered by snow Thursday-Friday. Saturday started with some more snow, and quickly escalated to blizzard conditions, only for the line of storms to break to reveal a beautiful glow from dusk. The stars were out and everything seems perfect and still with the fresh snow.

Now it is -9. The sun is out, and I'm trying to stock indoor firewood to reheat my cabin. It feels like winter again. With our little Day Light Savings "Stumble" Forward, winter seems to have gotten a second wind. All of us in the COTR band felt the missed hour yesterday. My 5:15am departure came much earlier, and my dozing off at my desk is proof my body hasn't recovered.

Even when the Alaskan winter drags on, it holds surprises. The other week, a usually simple walk to the camp wood boiler for firewood duty turned into a mad rush as the night skies explode with greens, purples and white. At first it looked like hazy clouds. But when they turned green, I knew I had to get my camera gear. Even though I have seen the Northern Lights as a haze, this was the first time to actually see waves over green cut across the night sky, and to see a wave of purple stop overhead and spin. All you can do is stop and stand in awe.

(Photos are watermarked. That is why the "H" logo is on them)

Sorry there haven't been any posts. There are some posts that will be happening soon. Some projects were finalized and sent off to the printers. Expect to see some photos and some project notes in the near future.


Grace & Peace,
Daryl

HMUPDATE 021

Good morning (from Alaska).

It is probably afternoon or evening where you are probably at. But that is not important. What is important is there are many drafts waiting to be finished, and there is one draft good enough to be posted. The next update letter is going out into the mail today. For all of the e-mail subscribers, you will get it a little later today! It has been way too long since the last post, or even the last update letter. It is pretty embarrassing on my part. Enough talking. Here is the latest HM Update.

The HM Update 021

- Daryl