Snow, snow and more snow!

Home from Talkeetna yesterday and back in Anchorage in time for an afternoon ski on more fresh snow. They had already set a diagonal track on the Chester Creek trail, and we had time for a 10k out and back before we vegged out on the couch and watched a movie.  We didn't take pictures, but one notable thing on the trail were the lovely glass Christmas balls that someone had hung carefully from the tree branches over the trail in one section.

Today we wanted to do something different, so we went to a different section of the trails off of the Campbell Airstrip Loop Rd.  Usually we do the groomed trails on the right hand side, and we took our back country skis and had an enjoyable two hours in some really fresh snow - it was snowing most of the time, and they had about 16 inches overnight in that part of town -- much less where we live.

We saw a moose today in the woods, but perhaps more interesting was the one we saw this morning from our window -- right across the street with his big rump in the air reaching up to eat off the tree, then just casually moseying down the street, just like he owned the place.  We stopped in the pictures above to have some tea.  Our landlords arrived home today from Florida and came for a lasagna dinner, and Jessica arrived for a post-Christmas visit later this evening.  It is supposed to get much colder again tonight, but they did forecast a couple of inches more of snow!

Christmas Day in Talkeetna

We got three good morning texts from the East Coast at 5 am, 6 am, and 6:30 am.  We'll be calling all of you at midnight our time on New Year's Eve!  Seriously, it was great to hear from everyone, and we got coffee and tea and opened our Christmas presents in bed (tiny cabin, remember?) after it was clear we weren't going back to sleep!  We had a great and somewhat unusual breakfast -- eggs baked in the middle of some great bread with pecans and currants and creamed spinach with a tangerine for garnish - very colorful and not everyone's cup of tea but really good!

Some more reading and then we took off for a ski through the same park that we've been skiing but a different trail today as a snowmobile had rolled a trail around the lakes.

It was really a beautiful day, even though the sun never did get very high in the sky.  You can see that beautiful "weak winter sun" here, and the day was lighter than it looks in the picture.  We skied just about 2 hours - warmer today, about 10 degrees, and then back to the cabin for snacks and a glass of wine.  We brought some of the wonderful smoked salmon with us that I helped to smoke and jar in Klukwan this summer, with smoked cheese and apples and pears.  I hope we're still hungry for that turkey breast and cranberry dressing cooking in the miniature oven here!

Back to reading in bed for awhile - Brian's reading sailing stories and I'm starting another book -- or I did bring some knitting with me.  We went to an irreverent Christmas show in town last night at 7:30 but probably won't go anywhere tonight - just a nice dinner when it's done.  Or we may go out to a "town caroling" and local musicians at, I think, the Fairview, which takes place after the last Christmas show is enacted tonight.  The show, Brian says, is like a Saturday Night Live routine about living in Alaska.  It was pretty funny, most of the time anyway and -- support the local arts!  The Denali Arts Center puts it on.

We both hope you all had a day to remember (in a good way!) with family and friends.  We miss all of you but feel blessed to be enjoying Alaska -- we think we were meant to live here and were born elsewhere by mistake!

Love to all.

Christmas Eve in Talkeetna

An invigorating snowshoe this morning when it finally got light about 10:30 - but it was still 10 below 0!  We could see Denali in the background of these pictures very clearly, but you can't see it as well!  The Alaska Range is a beautiful view from here, and the light was just striking the mountains as the sun was rising.

Then we headed home -- to the Munchin Moose Cabin - to get warm.  It was still 6 below when we finished.  

Sooo . . . even after lunch next to the heater, we were still cold!  Back to bed to read and get warmed up there! 

And then back out for the afternoon ski, as tempting as it was to stay inside . . .  diagonal skiing today (or classical).  It was a beautiful day with sunny skies and all of the way up to about 4 degrees when we left!  

Pictures are chosen for when I feel as though I can take my hands out of my mittens to hold the camera and point and shoot without having them completely freeze!

Happy Holidays to everyone - may everyone feel as blessed on Christmas Eve as we do -- even without the friends and family with us -- we're all sharing the same planet!

Christmas in Talkeetna

Since we decided not to go back East for Christmas this year, we thought we'd do something different - a little cabin in the woods for Christmas is one of Brian's long-held wishes.  We started out for Talkeetna yesterday, waiting for the remains of a snowstorm to clear.  We celebrated Brian's birthday the night before (Thursday the 22nd) at the Anchorage Museum's "Muse" Cafe, with friends Diane and Carl.  Some of you may know Carl Roberts from the Utica area - when we came up here, Brian hadn't been in touch with Carl for 23 years - accident of providence that he had a friend here when he arrived a year ago!  The roads were pretty good on the way up, and we had a short ski after checking in just before it got dark.  Our cabin is very "cozy" (read small!), but it proved to be very comfortable for a dinner with some of our last shrimp from Prince William Sound last spring-summer and a shrimp bisque that I made before we came up accompanied by a very nice Sauvignon Blanc.  Then we read and watched a John Oliver stand up comedy show via computer before falling asleep - I said it was SMALL, I didn't say we were roughing it! 

We finished off our dinner with the most beautiful Christmas cookies made by Diane - I can't believe I didn't take a picture of them first, but we started in on them on our way up here.  

They've groomed skating trails since we were here last March in the state park and use it for races, evidently.  The snow was soft still yesterday, but it was absolutely gorgeous with big soft hunks of snow held in all of the trees.  

This morning it was oatmeal with pears and dried blueberries - we're going to fix an entire Christmas dinner in this tiny, inconvenient kitchen so we'll see how that goes!  Best wishes for the  holiday to all of the friends and family we're missing!  

Lots to be Grateful For!

We had an Alaskan Thanksgiving this year at Sheep Mountain Lodge about 2 hours north of Anchorage. It has remained very, very cold, and it was never above zero in the Wednesday - Friday that we stayed at Sheep Mountain - still, as you can see in the pictures, we had fun skiing and snowshoeing and going in the wood-fired sauna.

Our landlords, Mary and Lance Mearig rented the cabin next to us with Lance's brother and sister-in-law, and we fixed Thanksgiving dinner together in one of our cabins.  We took a jigsaw puzzle, we read, watched a movie on Jessica's computer, and had a great time -- maybe the best Thanksgiving dinner we've ever had -- food tastes pretty good after skiing in below zero temperatures!
Jessica was with us for a week and left late Saturday night to go back to LA.

Dinner - we should have taken pictures - turkey, dressing, gravy, roasted vegetables (potatoes, brussel sprouts, beets, onions, broccoli, carrots), yams and squash casserole, broccoli salad, homemade rolls.
Then we had to roll out of the cabins for an after dinner snowshoe before dessert -- dark and crisply cold but invigorating!  Then on to pumpkin cheesecake with a chocolate graham cracker crust and an apple pear crisp.  A valiant attempt to finish the puzzle Thursday night and Friday morning, but it was more important to ski again before we left, and the puzzle went back in the box!

Jessica hasn't been on skis since she was 15 or 16, so she did well.  The scenery is drop dead gorgeous, as you can see for yourselves.  They have about 18 km of groomed trails, though with the cold, it was better for classical skis and not good for skate skiing.  We came back on Friday and went out for a ski again here in Anchorage on the Chester Creek trail late afternoon -- looking for moose for Jessica, but we didn't see even one in the week that she was here (well, Brian saw several, but he did a couple of extra skis at the beginning of the week when it was 5 degrees and the rest of us were resisting!)  Then on to Crush, one of our favorite places to go for wine and little dishes to share.

Saturday was a big craft fair at the Anchorage Museum, a tradition for them and becoming one for us!  Jessica and Judy went for the afternoon, then dinner with friends, and on to the airport for Jessica's flight out at 12:30 am.  She had a red-eye and arrived back in LA at 6:30 am. on Sunday.  All in all a great weekend, with lots to be thankful for.  We were able to talk to the rest of our children - Colin and his fiancee April, Scott, Alex, and Colleen by phone - not the same as being there but we're grateful still!

Town Square in Anchorage - decorated now for the holidays!

Cold, cold, cold here!

There's been a north wind blowing!  We skied over the weekend and also took a walk Sunday morning to our favorite bakery for coffee and a scone - just a couple of blocks.  And . . . the Anchorage Symphony in the afternoon for a little Bach, Tchaikovsky (Sleeping Beauty), and then a really great second half with Step Afrika, a unique dancing phenomenon set to music that premiered here with the composer as conductor.  We're able to walk to the Performing Arts Center from our house, so that's easy and fun (even bundled up from the cold.)  We've had more snow since the picture below, so the piles and the cold seem more like January than November, even here!

All of this week, it's been so cold and windy that we've been pretty wimpy -- haven't gone out to ski at all!  Brian's been busy with a few home remodeling jobs, I've been busy at work into the evening every day (including tonight - guest teaching a public administration class!), and the big challenge this week has been to make dinner by the time we get home (and also keep warm!).  It was supposed to be below zero last night, and it may be a high of single digits today.  We haven't even seen any moose around this week!  They must be hunkered down someplace to keep warm themselves!

Jessica is coming to visit tomorrow night and staying through Thanksgiving.  We're going to Sheep Mountain Lodge for a couple of nights over Thanksgiving with the couple that we rent our apt. from and his brother and his wife.  We each have a cabin and will fix Thanksgiving dinner there.  http://www.sheepmountain.com/.  It is about a 2 hour drive from here.  Hopefully getting Jessica some rental skis and snowshoes to take with us.  Also hoping to see the Dall sheep that they are famous for.  They usually come down lower from the mountains when the snow comes.

Brian's waiting for the scores on his residential contractor's test - thought he'd get them yesterday so maybe today!  This will enable him to get a contractor's license rather than the handyman's business license that he has now, if he wants to.  And . . .  we may have our house taken care of again on a lease to purchase agreement - will find out tomorrow for sure!  Enjoy winter, whatever it is where you are!

Snuggled in -- It's COLD here already!

When I got out of work and got in my car yesterday to drive home, I looked and it was 8 degrees!  And it was supposed to get to 0 or below last night!  This is earlier than last year - the early snow too.  The moon was full and a very clear night so gorgeous but cold!  We were inside sipping wine and having a halibut stir fry.  Not as exciting as the outside pictures, I know, but quite satisfying and very colorful!

Recipe:

Stir fry chunks of halibut in a little oil with red chiles first (or add chili oil).  Remove and stir fry julienned red pepper and snow peas leaving tender-crisp.  Add sauce that you make with 2 cups of chicken broth, 1/4 c. soy sauce, a little brown sugar, 1/4 c. of lime juice, and then thicken with cornstarch mixed with a little water after it boils 5-10 minutes.  Combine halibut, vegetables, sauce and chopped fresh cilantro and serve over rice noodles.

From:  Marine Cuisine: Recipes from Alaska's fishing families, Alaska Marine Conservation Council (www.akmarine.org)

I love halibut, and it was very expensive this year -- and we weren't here all summer to fish for any!  Consequently we have no halibut in our freezer, and it will be a very special and occasional treat all winter! I bought this at a farmer's market before they closed for the year as "shredded" halibut, which was much more reasonable in price -- good for enchiladas or tacos and a stir fry like this!

Daylight is shrinking here!  I've got to more than double my vitamin D intake, as it is much lower than when I came here a year ago -- and I have Brian taking it now too -- important no matter where we live!

Skiing's Begun!

I was wrong!  We did get to ski this weekend and today, November 6, is one day earlier than last year -- plus we had plenty of snow right here and didn't have to drive to Hatcher's Pass!  We had about 4 inches of snow overnight and already had some on the ground, so it isn't PLENTY of snow but it was ENOUGH snow to have a pretty good ski from Earthquake Park.  Where we more usually ski, there are several tunnels under the roads -- the municipality shovels snow into the tunnels for skiers when they groom the trails, but that hasn't started yet, so we drove 10 minutes or so to get farther out on the trail with Mary and Lance, the couple that we rent our apartment from.  Mary took these pictures of us with Cook Inlet in the background.

Judy was in a "Wisdom Weekend" for the first part of the day.  The Wisdom Course is a course offered by Landmark Education, and since she hasn't been able to lead seminars up here (there aren't any), she's training to lead the Wisdom Course on the web, as that's the only online course offered at the present time.  The Wisdom Course is all about building community and enhancing capacity to live a life of your own creation -- and it's fun!

Stay tuned for more snowy pictures -- let the skiing commence, seriously!

Catching up with news

We've been short on Alaskan outdoor adventures in the last few weeks, but not sure on adventures!  Judy spent 5 days in Southern California at a writing conference (Ojai), and Brian has been taking classes on home remodeling and contracting -- just finishing a 3 day course now that could lead to his contractor's license in Alaska.  He has just now started his own home remodeling business. The trip to California included seeing Judy's daughter Jessica and her sister Christine, so that was a good visit!

We have snow in Anchorage -- we'll get some pictures today and add them.  Judy came back from California in a blizzard Monday night, but it quickly calmed down.  We could have been skiing already, but work and courses have kept us too busy -- maybe this week.  We started on Nov 7 last year, so we don't want to get too far behind!

Visit Judy's work website and see what she's been doing: www.uaa.alaska.edu/engage.  This weekend is the 4th weekend of the Wisdom Course, which Judy's in training to lead, so another busy weekend plus Brian's last contracting training day.  Hopefully they'll be time for a walk later.  Our house in NY hasn't sold yet, and we've just put it up for rent as well as a lease purchase option, so please be our ambassadors and spread the word!  We won't be back East at Christmas this year, as Judy's son Colin is getting married Feb. 6, and we'll be back for that.

Weekend in Homer

Finally, our first weekend in Homer, about 4 hours south and west of Anchorage.  Homer is on the southern end of Cook Inlet and at the mouth of Kachemak Bay.  One thing that we found out is that pretty much everything shuts down in Homer around Labor Day -- and certainly before Oct. 7 when we got there!  We had a GroupOn coupon for Peninsula Suites, a new place that opened in June with a cottage, a log yurt, a tree house, and two subterranean rooms overlooking Cook Inlet, with a beautiful view of water and mountains. 

This is "Otter Cottage" -- it had a gas fireplace for heat, and it was very comfortable - just one room with a small kitchen, double bed and couch, TV and table and chairs.  We got their on Friday night, and since a guest hadn't checked in yet to one of the "subterranean rooms," we were able to go in and look at one of those.  Look and see how it's built into the hillside - pretty neat!  

The round part up above is the entrance, and the underground units are built in a horseshoe shape.  Right out our window was a beautiful vista of the mountains and Cook Inlet, and we took a beach walk just about a mile up the road with a longish hike down to the beach from the bluffs and back up again. 

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Homer was mostly shut down for the season, but we took a beautiful drive along Katchemak Bay, stopped at the Bear Creek Winery, the Homer Brewery (and brought a growler home), lunch at Sweetberries Cafe, and then the beach walk at the end of the day.  Sunday was a long exploration on the route back home -- a drive along the Kenai Peninsula and another couple of beach walks



-- a walk on the nature trail at Kenai Peninsula College, and then a stop near Hope, AK where we took a picture of the Chugach Mts. from the old road, now used as a walking and biking trail.  The mountains on the drive back are spectacular, and as you can see, already snow-covered on top -- more than on top!

Last Day for Farmer's Market

So sad -- last day for Spenard Farmer's Market -- my favorite Saturday morning routine, yoga at 8 am and across the street to the Farmer's Market.  Today what went in my bag was fresh beets with some great looking greens, carrots (Alaska carrots are really good), some tiny purple potatoes, the last of the celery, mixed greens for salad, fresh mint, and a jar of homemade salve for the winter.  I know those of you from warmer climates have these things all year long, but it is special here -- food has to be shipped a long way, and it's a reminder not to take it for granted!

I'll savor these last "fresh out of the ground" things until late spring next year.  I also get a homemade piroshki with cabbage every time that I go for a combination breakfast-lunch prepared right there.  I'll miss those too!

Brian has a small job today and is looking forward to getting new business cards in the mail today or tomorrow!  He's taking some classes here on cold weather building and preparing to launch a business on his own in home remodeling -- something he was doing in Central New York too.  We've been social butterflys all of a sudden -- we've been busy the last two weekends both nights for the first time since we got here -- we've got friends!  It takes a while to become a part of a new community!

Salmon Fishing and hiking AGAIN

Another Alaskan weekend - hiking up McHugh Peak on Saturday along the Turnagain Arm (along Cook Inlet).  The trail goes straight up with an elevation gain of 4200' - we didn't quite make it to the top, as we had a dinner party to get to, but we had a 4 hour hike on a beautiful sunny day with views of Cook Inlet and the Chugach Mts. all of the way up with some great "resting and viewing" spots.  Right after we started we saw a young bull moose right in front of us on a crossing trail.  He stopped and turned around and looked right at us for a long moment, but he was on a mission.  He loped off moving faster than we'd ever seen a moose move!  We stopped for awhile at OUR top before starting down, and when we turned around about 10 minutes later, we saw three grizzly bears not too far from where we'd been sitting, a mother and two cubs! 

Sunday Brian went salmon fishing again on the Kenai with 2 friends, and I went hiking again in Kincaid with the Meetup group -- a hike along the bluffs trail, beautiful views again of Cook Inlet with the tide out -- mud flats and the Alaska Range clearly visible off in the distance with the Chugach Mts. in the foreground.  What a beautiful day again.  Brian was fishing for silvers again -- successfully, as you see here.  Our freezer is completely full of salmon, so it might be time to stop.

Moose on the Trail Again!

Brian managed to snap a few pictures while out for his bike ride without running into 3 or 4 moose along the way.  Hope you enjoy the pictures! 

He "ran into" this cow and her calf first and a couple of out-of-towners not sure what to do.  Brian told them about running into a big bull moose the day before, and as he bike ahead, guess who was in the trail?  the same bull!

New pictures from Klukwan

               Ready to deal with fish!  You wear a mesh glove on your left hand - if you're right-handed!

My partner who went to Klukwan with me in August just gave me new pictures today after we spent the "debriefing" weekend with 30 other people who went to Culture Camps all around the state of Alaska with Alaska Native communities.

I wrote "travel haiku" everyday while I was gone, having heard something about it on NPR just before I left.  We learned to process the salmon (sockeyes), from the time they were caught (we didn't do the fishing) through cutting, brining, preparing, drying, smoking, canning, processing in the pressure-cooker, etc.  We were a group of all ages from a 4 month-old baby through - well, maybe I was the oldest, but there were several of us "there-abouts!"

Drying fish point upstream
Our lives are close by our food
Their spirits live on

Everyday I awoke to the mountains in front of me, often partially obscured by clouds and fog.

Shapes emerge in gray fog
The mountains revealing themselves
The Chilkat rushes by

Alaska Native villages hold these culture camps primarily for youth around the state of Alaska, often so that Native youth will remember and carry on the traditions of their culture.  Many of the camps include the Native language, which often has been lost and was for years forbidden to them to learn or to use in the public schools.  Klukwan has few children in the village, but a few of the youth performed dances and traditional songs for tourist groups in the summer.

Renewal and remembrance
Old ways, forgotten in new times
We reach back to learn.

The Weekend in Anchorage (and beyond!)

Brian went to the Kenai fishing by himself for a few days - well, 2 days by himself and the third day on a charter.  The first two days were on the Swanson River, but the salmon had moved on, so no luck.  Today he was on the Kenai River with a charter (small boat) with 3 other people fishing and caught two big silvers - could have kept 3 if another one had shown up!

Here is a picture of the Kenai River, which is more perilous than it looks.  It's cold, and it's rushing, moving deceivingly fast!  Because it's been doing so much raining, it's high also.  They left in the pitch black dark, 6 am, and you had to put your faith in the captain!  The fishing charter is at www.kingoftheriver.com.  Here is the captain filleting the fish -- Brian said he did an excellent job -- we'll see when we eat it tonight!

The others with Brian were a couple and their daughter -- the woman caught three, had a fourth on the line that took off with her pole!  Husband caught two and daughter caught none.

In the meantime, back at the ranch, I was INSIDE all weekend so far, which I intend to correct as soon as Brian takes a shower and gets cleaned up -- I had a debriefing weekend for the Educators Cross Cultural Immersion program from going to rural Alaska (Klukwan) in August.  It was very moving to listen to everyone's trips - there were 32 of us and think about what we were taking away as our gifts from participating.   I wrote "travel haiku" while I was gone in my journal and shared it as my experience of the trip.  Here is one:

Our life is close by our food,
Our drumbeats close by our hearts,
An ancient village, Klukwan.

Hopefully a FULL day of hiking tomorrow in the Chugach Mts. -- more on that later!