Christmas Day back in Anchorage

Cold, cold, cold!  We had hoped to ski at XYZ Lakes going out of Talkeetna on the way home today, but it was 16 below zero when we got up, and 15 below when we left about 11 am.  We were led to believe (weather.com) that it was going to be ski-able when we got home, but instead, we drove through 25 degrees below, 30 degrees below, all of the way up to 0 - and it never got any higher!  So we dumped the skiing plans and moved on to wine and appetizers once we got unpacked -- and opening our Christmas presents, which we left til we got home today!  After planning the food for our few days at the cabin, I forgot to plan for Christmas, but I had a baguette and made some bruschetta and others with pesto -- we were almost done when I thought to take the picture!

We got a start on the second season of Downton Abbey, but we've got to go back for the rest of Season 2 tomorrow -- I hope WWI comes to an end!  We kind of resigned ourselves to staying in for the day -- I forgot to mention the skiing yesterday - we went up to our friends, Laura and Klaus in Trapper Creek, about 28 miles from Talkeetna - and it was warmer there but still never up to 0 the whole time that we skied -- a beautiful trail through the woods on our back country skis.  But . . . when we got back, Brian had locked our keys in the car.  An hour later, with darkness descending and the temperature dropping WAY down further, we were finally in and on our way back to Talkeetna, but I think that it took overnight for me to warm up again.  If you look in the background of our picture, taken by Laura and Klaus, Denali was in perfect form!

Klaus and Laura with "Elfie" on the trail.

Our potluck dinner at The Roadhouse was a short walk for us when we got back and cleaned up, and we brought a great new recipe - Risotto with Saffron and Butternut Squash.  We met a couple who had retired 5 years ago and bought a cabin off the grid - it was fun talking to them about the life they've created up here in retirement.

Back home today, we made our food courses as we went along and got hungry -- halibut baked in parchment paper with pesto, tomato and shredded zucchini!

Very yummy!  I'd planned a big dessert finish - Roasted stove-top pears with a dulce leche sauce -- but I forgot that I needed molasses so we opted for Christmas cookies and a little red wine to finish off the day.  Tomorrow we HAVE to ski - hoping the temperature comes up, but we can manage zero degrees if it's not two days in a row!  Jessica arrives on Friday!  We got very thoughtful and well-appreciated gifts from all of our family.  Merry Christmas to everyone and best wishes for the new year!

Christmas in Talkeetna (and Brian's Birthday)

We got off to a later start than we anticipated on Sunday for Brian's birthday, driving up to Talkeetna for our third Christmas in a row here - I guess that's getting to be our new tradition!  It was snowing pretty furiously all day, and we made a last minute trip to REI for a replacement headlamp, had lunch at the Middleway Cafe, set the car keys down on the counter and didn't notice -- so an extra half hour walking back and forth until we asked at the counter!  We weren't relishing a walk home in that snow and wind!

We got up here to our cabin at about 6 pm, so no ski that we had expected to have, but here's a picture from Saturday -- no better conditions could you ask for!  Almost 20 degrees, perfect snow, and a late afternoon just before dark ski up to Goose Lake and back from Valley of the Moon park - about a 10K.

A gorgeous day - Sunday we drove up mostly in a snowstorm still, but it was very cozy once we got here.  This is the first time that we stayed at Talkeetna Cabins, but it's easily twice the size as the cabin we rented the first year where we were either at a little table or in bed!

And then there is also a loft or second floor with a double bed and a single bed.  We've had "Irish oats" each morning with dried blueberries and honey, and we brought our pizza stone and made pizza Sunday night when we got here - it was supposed to be Arugula and Goat Cheese Pizza with carmelized onions, but somehow I ended up without the goat cheese, so we improvised - it was really good though!  Should have taken a picture!  What I did take a picture of was the annual Christmas puzzle (which I worked on for 4 hours Monday morning, mostly before Brian got up!  This is one that I gave to my mother last year, and she sent it to me because it was such a pretty one and also nice to do - the pieces are heavier and not so ambiguous about how they fit together!

Once it warmed up "a little," we went out for a ski along the river, across a railroad bridge and onto the Chase Trail - a little disappointing in that we didn't find another trail through the woods and were on a snowmobile trail longer than we wanted to be, but all in all a fine afternoon!  We kept thinking it felt colder than the 14 degrees that it was when we started, and by the time we finished, it was 8 degrees - that was more like what it felt like!  Here is the sunset over the river as we were coming back -- sunset that is at 3:00 or so in the afternoon!

Then it was back to the cabin for a little wine and dinner - Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp - part of the fun in coming is finding special recipes to try - and then a Downton Abbey marathon for Season 1 that we rented to bring up - we've started watching but missed the first two seasons, maybe 3, not sure where we are now!

Today is Christmas Eve - we're going to our friends Laura and Klaus' to ski this afternoon (and it's REALLY cold this morning - 16 degrees below 0 - more than we expected, so hoping it warms up).  and then back to clean up and go to The Roadhouse for dinner just down the road.  It's a potluck with the owners making a turkey and dressing.  We're bringing another new recipe (and the pre-test says it's delicious!) - Risotto with butternut squash and saffron.  Merry Christmas to all, and we'll add more later - we have check out on Christmas Day at 11 am, then we'll probably ski on the way home and end up at our house for another new dinner - Halibut with Spinach Pesto, Zucchini & Tomatos wrapped in parchment paper.

The Winter Solstice & Time for Holidays

It's the Winter Solstice today . . . the darkest and shortest day of the year. Sunrise will be at 10:14 am, and sunset at 3:41 pm, with 5 hours, 28 min, 11 sec. of daylight.  Tomorrow daylight will be longer, for the first time since the summer solstice! Chance of snow today, and very warm for how it's been lately -- up to 31 degrees, so let's hope it stays in the 20s, a much better temperature for skiing!

Indoors, everyone is getting ready for holidays . . . our table is covered with the cards that haven't been addressed, the Christmas candy and cookies that I made, our calendars that we make each year with Alaska pictures that haven't yet been sent . . . and it's the dark, quiet time of the morning that I like to have to myself.

I remembered to start the amarylis AND the narcissus this year, and flowering bulbs make a big difference in December.  We love watching them grow, especially since they leap up inches at a time, it seems!

This was only about a week from the time it began opening to being in full flower.  Now to get a prettier pot!  The quilted salmon table runner came from a wonderful artist in Talkeetna!  We're headed back to Talkeetna for Christmas again this year, beginning tomorrow for Brian's 60th birthday.  We'll be staying at Talkeetna cabins and having a potluck dinner at The Roadhouse for Christmas Eve. 

The paperwhites, or narcissus, I had in front of the television when they first started, and I'd swear that we could watch them grow!  I eventually had to move them to the side on the coffee table, as they are now taller than the TVand very much in the way! 

And then, what do you do on those long winter nights?  Well, one of the things that I did was to copy an artist friend of mine, Herminia Din, an art professor at the university, who has a "Junk to Funk" project to recycle just about anything!  Here is a crocheted purse that I made up based on her designs, made out of plastic bags from two different grocerty stores. 

No new outdoor pictures today -- the snow has been beautiful!  I think we have more snow at the moment than maybe we've ever had here - two decent snows in a row, about 10 inches and 6--8 inches - that's a lot for Anchorage -- we just tend to keep it, and not go back and forth in temperatures as much as upstate New York has done in recent years anyway.  I predict skiing for today, so maybe some nice shots outside next time!  We'll be in Talkeetna til Christmas day and probably travel home Christmas night.  Jessica arrives on December 27 and will stay until January 5 - can't wait to see her too!  

Between the Holidays!

We had a very restful Thanksgiving holiday -- a ski mid-day, pretty cold but bearable, on the Campbell Creek Trail, not tracked but we diagnol skied for an hour or so.  We were downstairs for h'or d'oeuvres at 4, then dinner at 6 and lingered over wine then coffee and a game of dominos before pumpkin pie.  I'll have to insert a picture of the turkey when I get it from Lance, as he really takes care in carving the turkey - it's worthy of a picture!  And we bundled up, pretty cold by evening, and walked up to the Town Square to take our December picture for our annual calendar.  Here it is - preview:

I thought that we would ski all weekend, but not only was it minimal snow - it was probably a high of 5 degrees on Friday, Saturday & Sunday!  Friday we went to a movie - The Dallas Buyers Club - it was a good movie and one Brian wanted to see.  Then Saturday after yoga and a long, quiet afternoon of working on photo albums of all things, we bundled up and walked up to Cyrano's a community theatre and saw Madeline L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time."  Pretty interesting!  REALLY quiet weekend - tried some new recipes (and they were really good!), Christmas cards, a bigtime trip to Costco -- who wouldn't want in on THAT?!

Since then, what are the highlights?  I joined a gym - finally - it's gotten to me when it's too cold to go and we don't end up getting regular exercise - so I've found this week, working out 3 mornings, I have more energy, my brain works better, and I ended the week in a WAAYY better place than usual!  Yay for Anchorage Athletic Club!!

Brian has been working on a greenhouse here in Alaska for my hairdresser, and that's been an interesting project - a big greenhouse - 10 x 12 and 10 ft. high.

He's always got unusual jobs - the last one was making a door for a German shepherd to be able to get in and out of the house but also stay separate from the ferrets - now THAT's a specialty!  Or he's replacing toilets or putting in a new outlet for a damaged one that almost started a house fire or putting in floors or figuring out how to fix something someone tried to do for themselves that didn't quite work -- he's quite the creative problem solver!

We're hoping for snow but the last two days have been freezing drizzle off and on instead . . . Sunday we may get snow, and all that we need is a little bit to be skiing again!  Happy holiday preparation to everyone in the meantime!

Two months later!

Wow, where did October and November go?!  We spent about 2 weeks of October or more on the East Coast - Judy at 3 conferences - and Octoberfest at the Cooley's on Piseco Lake!  Imagine America was Oct. 4-6 in Syracuse, NY - Arts & Humanities in Public Life - and The Unspoken - Refugee Resettlement and Torture Survivors - Oct. 14-16 and then a flight back the same day.  I had a poster session at the first and was the last presenter at the second, and a Wisdom Course Leaders weekend in-between!  Brian hiked Algonquin with Roy and biked with Scott Manley, Peter Molesky, and Paul Poling on different days - he had a lighter schedule!  And we had a little time to get together with friends - here at Packy's in Washington Mills, NY with John Cappelli & Jim Hayes.

Back in Alaska, we were waiting for snow, which was a LITTLE late this year -- I skied tonight for the first time, but it was the 5th time for Brian!  I had a birthday yesterday, and Brian made me a beautiful little cherry desk and workspace -- and I had lots of wonderful birthday wishes.

No pictures from skiing tonight, but take our word for it . . . it is beautiful and snowy and mild - about 30 degrees and predicted to get much colder again.  We were out for a short walk last night for my birthday as it began snowing and a light dinner at Crush.  Then back with Mary and Lance for the Mexican Chocolate Tort she made for my birthday cake!

Getting ready for Thanksgiving along with everyone else . . . we're not going to Sheep Mountain this year, as we have the last two years, because they decided to close for the winter.  So we're having dinner downstairs with Lance & Mary, our landlords, so we have the relatively easy task of bringing some great vegetables - maybe there will be pictures tomorrow, depending on how they turn out!  And there is a package of our wonderful shrimp thawing for the pre-dinner gnoshing too!  The snow is good enough to be out for a ski earlier in the day.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

What a Weekend - Fall in Anchorage!

Saturday mornings are special times to me, especially through the end of September when the Farmer's Markets pretty much end.  This Saturday was no exception, and when my 8 am yoga class was over, I went across the street to the Spenard Farmer's Market.  I like to buy from several different people, and you can tell the lettuce and tomatoes were coming to an end, even supported by greenhouse growing.  The broccoli still looked good, and Alaska's real strength is incredible carrots and many different varieties of potatoes - little purple ones, red ones, a blush color, etc.  Nice golden beets, swiss chard, and naturally I bought too much considering we're leaving for the east coast for 2 weeks on Thursday - but we'll eat as much as we can before then!  And another quart of honey, which I've been using to make homemade granola, as well as in the other usual things - tea when I have a sore throat!

So no more Farmer's Markets - outside anyway - there is one indoors at the Sears Mall on Wednesdays all winter.  We also got all of our winter clothes down from our "attic storage" - a concession to living in an apt. and finding a place for everything -- so all of my warm clothes are lined up in my closet now, and summer is officially over.  We went for a bike ride in the afternoon with Lance and Mary, but no pictures - a beautiful fall day, and the mountains are beautiful enough to bring tears to your eyes.  Then we had dinner at their house and walked to the first concert of the season for the Anchorage Symphony!  Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major, Op. 83 with a visiting young Russian pianist, Ilya Yahushev, and Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique.  What a full day of many different activities, and we are grateful all over again for our lives here!

Today was another hiking day from the South Fork trailhead in Eagle River, aiming first for the Hanging Valley trail, but we were lured up over Hunter's Pass by two hunters - who told us they didn't shoot anything but found blueberries!  We hiked up the nearly vertical trail for 30 minutes or so, and we did find blueberries, but only enough (maybe :-)) for breakfast!

Picking low-bush blueberries - the leftovers from summer! 

Hiking up Hunter's Pass from the South Fork Trail

Down on the main trail again, we continued on towards the Hanging Valley Trail to see how far we could get.  The trail is fairly wide and well-maintained (some very muddy spots) for the first two miles or so from the trailhead -- once across a built little bridge over the river, the trail narrows and eventually separates and turns off to a narrow herd path making its way up to a "hanging valley."  It was a good time to climb it -- the guidebook says that the trail can be very dangerous in wintertime, as the area is prone to avalanches.

The main trail continues on to Eagle and Symphony Lakes but the Hidden Valley Tarn is said to be a great destination with outstanding views - maybe next time - we had to turn around before we got there to get back home in time for a scheduled webinar for me -- maybe if we hadn't made that detour for a 1/2 cup of blueberries!  We'll go back here again and explore more.  It was absolutely gorgeous and a fast and easy way to get into the mountains only about 30 minutes from home.

A chilly weekend of hiking!

Yesterday was pretty much a stay at home day, a catch up day for yoga, Farmer's Market, cleaning up the house, picking up the pants that I had hemmed (boy, will I have clothes to wear this week!), and then . . . about 8:00 I remembered that the Light Brigade was scheduled to do this fantastic event at the Anchorage Museum, rappeling down the face of the museum, which is kind of glass with several different decks/roofs/staging area.  I had hoped to get better pictures, but they were broadcasting no flash photography once the show started!  See the Anchorage Daily News for better pictures!

It ended up being even better than I thought it would be - we walked uptown about 9:00 or so, and the lawn and walks in front of the museum were already covered with people.  We got up pretty close, and the show started on time, about 9:30 and went for almost an hour -- lights and colors and patterns broadcast against the building, figures in black rappeling down the face of the building, all to music, and figures in white doing a modern dance performance to the lights and the music.

Sunday . . . ah, I love Sundays!  I did some work, REALLY early, then we had a late breakfast and left for a hike, look at a house, another hike, both in a misty rain turning a little bit to snow, and then home. Both were places that we'd never been -- Thunderbird Falls on the way to Big Lake (where the Open House was), and Ptarmigan Trail off the North Birchwood exit on the way back to Anchorage.

Home again, home again, for a Team Call for Wisdom for me at 5, quick visit with Mary and Lance who just returned from France and Italy, and then pizza and the Emmy's!  Planning to fit in a couple of hikes next weekend too, since we'll be out East for 2 weeks, and I'll be tied up for the first 3 weekends in October with various things.  I love weekends in Anchorage!

A Reprieve from the Rain!

What a weekend . . . maybe we appreciate them even more when there have been 18 straight days of rain.  August in Anchorage has been like that in my experience of 4 Augusts here.  Yesterday and today were brilliant sunshine, about 65 degrees, great weather for being outside, and everyone came out!  Saturday, after yoga and the Farmer's Market, Brian and I went for a long bike ride, then up to Palmer for dinner at Turkey Red with friends who invited us up.  Dessert afterwards at their house, and a 3/4 moon over the Chugach Mountains off their deck.  Hmm, maybe we should end up a little outside of Anchorage!

This morning, after a lazy start, we took our mountain bikes about a half hour in from Prospect Heights down the Powerline Trail to the trailhead for Wolverine.  That, I have to say, is my first real mountain biking - I am not a mountain biker - and it was not easy for me.  Too much uphill and over bumps and rocks, through water and mud - I don't mind getting dirty, but it was certainly different.  Brian said I did a good job, but I ended up walking my bike a couple of times going in.  We had gotten started too late to get to the top of Wolverine, but we stashed our bikes and hiked up for as long as we thought we could before we had to turn back -- above the cairn and before the ridge!  The sky has been so clear the last 2 days, Denali seemed much closer  and was so sharply in view.

The ride out was easier unless you count being nervous about careening out of control, downhill over the same rocks, ruts, water and mud!  This isn't the most flattering picture of me, but I wanted it documented, mud included!

We were both tired enough and happy to have been out in the mountains for the day!  Two more weekends to spend in Anchorage, and then we'll be out east for 2 weeks.  By the time we get back it will be almost ski season -- have to get in some more hiking before then!

Mid-August - Trying to do everything before the start of the semester!

Just back from the east coast on July 31st, we had a big agenda for doing things in Alaska before I went back to work for the start of UAA - only partially fulfilled!  Brian and I flew into Denali from Talkeetna on Talkeetna Air Taxi - present from Scott, Alex and Colleen for Christmas, and something we tried to do in the spring, but the weather didn't cooperate.  It did on this day, and we had a memorable trip flying around the southern side of the mountain!

It turned out that our pilot WAS the one we'd read about in the newspaper the day before who had to abort a flight and land right on the highway!  Raised our confidence . . . what were the chances he'd have to do that two days in a row?!

Brian and Carl took a long boat trip from Whittier to Cordova and were gone 4 or 5 days - they picked up Carl's brother-in-law and were able to catch both halibut and salmon on the way.  We have our freezer (the one on the refrigerator is the only one we have) packed entirely with salmon, halibut and shrimp - nothing else, not even ice!

Settled Back in Anchorage

It's been a long time since we've put anything on our blog, between spending 5 weeks on the East Coast and then catching up when we got back to Alaska!  Our posts may be out of order as I find the pictures and remember what we've been doing!  Most recently, I flew to Detroit for my niece's wedding over Labor Day Weekend, and Brian flew to Galena, AK to assist other volunteers in rebuilding houses for people who were displaced from flooding of the Yukon back in late winter.  In Detroit, I got to see a lot of family, which was very fun, and I'm so glad that I was there for a great wedding with a wonderful young couple . . . I found it very heartening to witness them beginning their life together.

Meanwhile, Brian was being mistaken for a plumber (in the absence of a real one) and problem-solving getting running water, working sewage, etc. back in Galena with church volunteers, FEMA people, and seeing what life is like on the Yukon in a village of about 500 people.  He particularly liked the flight from Fairbanks to Galena on a small plane where he could look right up the aisle and see what the pilot was looking at!  He enjoyed it enough that he'd like to go back!  These two pictures are of the "FEMA tents" and the plane from Fairbanks - notice the "baggage claim" in the foreground!

This is a "typical house" in Galena - some have plumbing, others don't - this one is still waiting for the plumbing to be repaired.  Waste is pumped into a holding tank and then pumped out by a truck periodically.  Nothings buried, because it's permafrost.  Everything comes in by a weekly barge (for 6 months of the year) or by plane, but the planes are small - anything big has to come by barge up the Yukon.

Just before we went on our separate ways, Jessica came from Santa Monica and visited for a week.  It was a busy week, and we didn't get to do much with her, but we did spend one whole day on our boat, picking up our last shrimp of the season and enjoying the views of glaciers, mountains, and the beautiful waters of Prince William Sound.