Still snowing

Hiked Flattop and Peak 2 on Wednesday.  Lots of clouds, rain and then snow.

HOMER

This past weekend we road tripped to Homer.  Camped on the beach in 45 mph winds.  Had a great dinner at Cpt Paddies.  Saw eagles and moose.  Speaking of eagles, the eagle lady no longer has her place on the spit.  She passed away in 2009 and now the eagles fend for themselves.  Probably better that way. 

SPRING

Signs of spring abound in Anchorage.  Ravens doing crazy aerial mating rituals, Magpies building nests, and best of all the return of our duck and geese friends.

WEATHER STUFF

Have had a string of really nice sunny days.  Lows at night are just below freezing but warm up quickly after sunrise.  Days are getting longer... up to 14 hours now.  And we gain more than five minutes every day.  Sweet.  Snow is mostly melted in the city, but at elevation it lingers.  Hiked the Turnagain Arm Trail from McHugh to Rainbow and back Tuesday evening.  This south facing trail was in good shape. 

I'M NOT FROM HERE, I JUST LIVE HERE

Any James McMurtry fans out there?  If so you recognize todays blog heading as lyrics from one of his songs.  Kind of sums up how I feel about being in Alaska. 

I'm not from here
I just live here
grew up somewhere far away
come here thinking I'd never stay long
I'd be going back soon someday
It's been a few years
since I got here
seen 'em come and I've seen 'em go
crowds assemble, they hang out awhile
then they melt away like an early snow
onto some bright future somewhere
down the road to points unknown
sending postcards when they get there
wherever it is they think they're goin'

I'm not from here
I just live here
can't see that it matters much
I read the papers and I watch the nightly news
who's to say I'm out of touch
nobody's from here
most of us just live here
locals long since moved away
sold the played-out farms for parking lots
went off looking for a better way
onto some bright future somewhere
better times on down the road
wonder if they ever got there
wherever it was they thought they'd go

hit my home town
a couple years back
hard to say just how it felt
but it looked like so many towns I might've been through
on my way to somewhere else

I'm not from here
but people tell me
it's not like it used to be
they say I should have been here
back about ten years
before it got ruined by folks like me

we can't help it
we just keep moving
it's been that way since long ago
since the stone age, chasing the great herds
we mostly go where we have to go
onto some bright future somewhere
down the road to points unknown
sending post cards when we get there
wherever it is we think we'll go

WINDY

Alas, yesterday's sunny skies have yielded to what so far has been a gloomy, windy day.  Weather folk are calling for winds approaching 50 mph at higher elevations while down here at sea level we're getting sustained gusts of 20.  It looks like a B&W photo out the window.  Temperatures are fast approaching 40 so the slight snowfall from this morning is already history.  We move slowly toward springtime, but at least we are moving.  Think this might be preferable to what my friend David is experiencing as he works a job near Carrizo Springs, Texas.  There, right on the border of Texas and Mexico, he has already put spring in the memory bank.  Temperatures of 100 are starting to be the norm.  In APRIL!

Sunshine

Today is sunny!  Beautiful blue skies and temps that are only mildly cold.  Springtime in Alaska is just around the corner.  Trying to decide what fun stuff to do next week while Nancy is in Florida.  Decisions, decisions.

Sunsets

A snow storm yesterday morning dumped about 3 inches of amazingly white snow on Anchorage.  Despite the overcast skies, by early afternoon most of it had melted away .  For the most part a cloudy overcast day. So we were surprised when we left the gym at 8 pm and discovered the sun had decided to make an appearance.

OOOPs

Looks like I spoke too soon.  Had a nice snowstorm this morning.  Maybe 4 inches total.  With temps holding right above freezing, will melt away quickly but just shows you can't speed up the process by wishfull thinking.  Supposed to get cold again tonight so roads will get a little worse.  On the bright side, snow makes everything look so damn pretty!

Winter is leaving

Last night we had our first above freezing lows for this year.  Its been almost five months but looks like winter is once again going away.  A new season of adventure awaits.